Bomb Attack Against Madrid Cathedral Thwarted

Edit: it's refreshing to see enemies now attempting to do in the open what they do from within, behind a Bishop's office or a comfortable University chair.  In Spain a newly minted Anarchist organization, Commando Mateo Morral has claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack on the Cathedral of La Almudena in Madrid.

Among their targets, the Church, they also wish to attack the Bourbon Monarchy as well.

All their majestic appearance is just the fruit of oppression and will be us the oppressed ones who will finish it through insurrectional revolutionary violence. We won't fall in the trap of awaiting for the historical conditions to come. We believe that the conditions for the attack are propitious as long as State, Capital and even more the rotten fascist Royal Family exist. We are determined. We do not wait. We take action. 

We do not have the wrong idea that with just this kind of actions we will achieve the destruction of all that oppresses us. We do not deceive ourselves. We do not fall into self-complacency. This is propaganda through action, which has existed for more than a century among the seditious and conspirators against Power. It is an appeal to war without limits using all our imagination and energy to end with this rotten reality.

The bomb was hidden in a trash bag, and was found by the local priest in a confessional, who then evacuated the church and called the police.  The bomb was made of 200 grams of gunpowder in a can of nails with an alarm clock, which they successfully deactivated.

Another interesting detail from a Spanish language blog writing in English is the following note:

Note: Mateo or Mateu Morral was a famous Catalan Anarchist who attempted to kill King Alfonso XII in 1906 with a bomb hidden in a bunch of flowers that he threw against the royal parade in Madrid, killing several but not the monarchs. A historical video can be watched here[es].

Swiss Bishop Attempting to Derail Reconciliation with the SSPX

Edit: His Lordship, the Bishop of Lausanne, appears as ill-informed about the dialogue as he is unwilling to concede good will on the part of Bishop Fellay. For someone who had participated in the dialogue, he is suspiciously unwilling to admit what other Church figures have been willing to admit, that there are two forces controlling the dialog. There is one which is willing to grant the SSPX recognition without any expectations, and there is another force which is completely uninterested in reconciliation and will look for pretexts and attempt to create an atmosphere of distrust.

Many blogs have pointed out that Protestant heretics are allowed to use Church property in the Diocese of Lausanne, but will dissident groups also be allowed to use these facilities? It seems to us that the SSPX's only true crime is that they have the temerity not only to hold, but to teach the Catholic Faith as well.

Here's the article in German from the Radio Vatican webpage:

Switzerland:  "The Society is Irresponsible"

[Radio Vatican] The Bishops of Lausanne, Genf and Fribourg, Charles Morerod reiterates his skepticism about the SSPX. In an interview with Vatican Radio, Morerod, who was before his episcopal ordination part of a Vatican dialogue commission with the Society, made a statement on Wednesday evening about a decree that prohibits the use church space in his diocese by the Society.

"I am surprised that we're speaking of it now, because I have published this decree. It was the decree but in September 2011 was decided by the Episcopal Conference, from when I did not even belonged to it! So I thought it was already prepared on my desk when I became a bishop, and was told that the Bishops' Conference each of its members were given the freedom if they wanted to publish it or not. The Bishop of Sion and the abbot of Saint-Maurice have therefore published a decree in January 2012, the bishops of Basel and St. Gallen then in February 2012. When you consider that the seat of the SSPX is located in the jurisdiction of the diocese of Basel and the seminary at the area of the Diocese of Sion, I am astounded that they did not show any reaction, more than that year. "

Moreover, the decree also say regarding the SSPX anything new compared to episcopal directives from the year 1999.

"There's really nothing new in this regard - almost nothing new. Except that at one point there is an update, because the text of Benedict XVI was quoted from the year 2009. So I waited before the publication of the decree for a year because I wanted to see, first of all, the evolution of the dialogue. And I have to say I was disappointed in how the dialogue developed " [Wishful thinking, perhaps?]

This disappointment was associated mainly with a book of one of the bishops of the SSPX: It examines the theology Benedict XVI. , accusing the Pope several times "without talking about the grist" before, to be heretical. That was indeed "serious" says Bishop Morerod.

"But I said then: After all, not even the Superior General of the SSPX, who wrote that. This one - that Bishop Fellay - but had asked the other bishops to be more conciliatory. So maybe there was hope? But then I see in November 2011, the text of a sermon by Bishop Fellay, who said among other things: we can not recognize the so-called New Mass as it is allowed. I said to myself: Well, really - this shows that our dialogue did not help much. And then Fellay said in a sermon: We are in terms of the dialogue now, back at the same point where we were in 1975 already. He asserted practical: What we have done, has brought nothing, except that it has probably worsened the situation even "!

[Bishop Fellay has never said anything about the way the Holy Father says Mass. We're afraid that such gratuuitous leaps are unhelpful, unless they're meant to help those who don't want the SSPX situation resolved.]

"Serious problems for Unity"

"Deeply irresponsible": this is what Bishop Morerod took from what the head of the SSPX then declared in December during a visit to Canada. There are, according to Fellay, the "enemies of the Church," namely "Jews and Freemasons" who sabotaged the talks in the Vatican with the Society and halted it.

"This is deeply irresponsible, not only because it is a very harsh criticism at the Vatican, but also because the story we ought to have taught that one should abstain from such a manner of speaking about the Jews better! The Council's teaching and the visits of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. in the Roman synagogue, which have criticized the way the SSPX always show a different face of the Catholic Church! And I do not want priests, who claim to be Catholic, the Catholic Mass as, classify bad 'or the Jews call enemies of the Church, because I think this is disturbing. "

And yet the western Swiss Bishop was afraid to flatly describe the SSPX as "schismatic". Their classification by the Roman Catholic Church is currently even now "unclear".

"It's not clear, because the Church sought to use its benevolence in its approach. But when a bishop of the Society, without being denounced, accuses the Pope of being a heretic, the Superior General, then the describes the Eucharist, which the Pope celebrates, as ' bad ' rank and insist that it brings 'the loss of faith with itself', I would say: This provides at least serious trouble for unity! "

Morerod indicates that he has not spoken with members of the SSPX in his diocese. Although he was willing to meet, but there is in the west of Switzerland not so many SSPX. That talks with the Society could ultimately lead to their agreement with the Vatican, the Bishop looks decidedly skeptical. Finally, the attitude of Fellay has "hardened since last fall even further."

"But when I'm away too pessimistic now - all the better! Finally, I would be the first one would be happy if things should be all right after all. A decree as what we - I emphasize: not only I, but we bishops - have signed, can be indeed change again if the situation changes. That would be even better. "
Link Radio Vatican ...

The Tragedy of the Sisters of St. John and St.Dominic

A big storm around the contemplative women's branch of the Community of St. John.  In the background there was a struggle about changes in the charism and questions of power.   There are vocations of young women still in the drive way.

Vienna (kath.net/rn)  The Community of the Sisters of St. John, the de facto women's branch of the Community of St. John, has been stuck in a deep crisis for years.  The Community has recently revealed this information.  The Community of Contemplative Sisters of St. John was founded on the 8th of December 1982 by P. Marie-Donique Philippe.   The Archbishop of Lyon established it as a Congregation of Diocesan Right, among others there is a Cloister in Austria, that after years of preparation, large charitable gifts and yet even now stands empty.

In essence it happened that the responsible Bishop proposed reforms, these which the majority of the sisters refused, because these were considered to be against their fundamental charism. In order to manage this crisis, a Papal delegate was named, which clearly accomplished little.  Affected, according to information from kath.net were clearly more than 230 sisters, who in the mean time have even struggled to undertake a new foundation in Spain.  The Institute of "Sisters of St. John and of St. Dominic" was de facto banned.

The reforms, which from reasons not completely clear were imposed from outside, were endorsed only by a minority of the sisters, which led to a tremendous crisis.  Almost all the Austrian sisters of the Community have rejected the "Reforms".  The situation has been so tense and drastic over the years, that many of the younger sisters are now hanging in the air and don't know how they should continue.

Kath.net spoke with a sister concerned, from Austria, who entered the Order with much enthusiasm.  Sr. N.N. explained in the interview that the disunity over the charism began after the death of the founder (2006).  Originally there were many vocations and Bishops around the entire world worked to get them for their Diocese.  According to this sister, who waited years to make her solemn vows, also desired, along with a small minority of the sisters and the men's branch of the Community to "reform" the Contemplative Sisters of St. John. As to the question which "reforms" were meant,  the sister disclosed that the open attitude for interested parties will be limited.  The sisters are contemplative, but not cloistered.  There has always been an openness to receive new people or also to be active outside, for example for perpetual adoration during a youth meeting.  "The youth of today need the witness of sisters, who have given everything to Jesus and are full of joy over it."

According to sister then there were also significant structural issues.  Obviously it was at the wish of the brothers, that the General Prior of the brothers had the highest authority over all three branches of the Johannine family.  Most of the contemplative sisters wanted, however,  to maintain their autonomy and to live the united of the Johannine family on a spiritual level.  The crisis has been growing since 2009 and began concretely with the dismissal of Sr. Alix, the foundress of the contemplative sisters, by Cardinal Barbarin of Lyon.  It was from outside that new leadership was initiated, which in any case was, according to Sr. N.N., not recognized by the majority of the contemplative sisters.

In the Summer of 2012 there were then a lot of sisters, who were not bound by vows (Novices and sisters on the end of their simple vows) who left and founded the sisters of St. John and of St. Dominic, a community, formed under the authority of the Spanish Bishop, Don Demetrio Fernandez and quickly received 150 young sisters between 25 and 30 years of age.  Actually, on the 19th of January 2013 the Institute was suppressed again on the 19th of January, 2013 by Roman authorities, according to Sr. N.N. the sisters there were never party to, visited or asked.  "I would like to make clear, that we love the Church and would like to remain true to the Holy Father.  So we will obey and give up our habits.  We pray, and don't know,  what the future will bring us, but we place our trust in Jesus and it's all we can do now", said Sister N.N. sadly.

Link to kath.net...

Foto: © www.johannesgemeinschaft.at

A Proper Mass for Richard III Isn't Impossible

Update:  there's even a battle going on between York and Leicester.  Indeed, King Richard was the last Northern King.  There's also a petition you can sign if you're a citizen of the United Kingdom.

Edit: a few days ago it was finally confirmed that Richard III, one of England's last Catholic monarchs, did indeed find his last resting place beneath a car park in Leicester, England, after the fateful Battle of Bosworth Field.  It doesn't matter that he is an unlikely cause for canonization and that he did many evil things during his life.  St. Thomas More believed Richard was one of the most evil men of the age and got what he had coming to him, but could St. Thomas More have foreseen the remains of this devout Catholic King resting in unconsecrated ground?

Now that we know these battle scarred remains are those of Richard III, who was a devout, if poor, Catholic, it would be an edifying thing for England's Catholics, to see his bones put to rest according to our own Rites.  Perhaps a few may recall that it was we who first made the suggestion in September?

After all, if Dakota Indians can lay claim to the remains of people almost completely unrelated to them in Minnesota, why can't Catholics do the same for their own sacred grounds and dead?  Richard III was one of us.  He said the same prayers, he went to the same Holy Mass and believed the same Catholic Faith which was handed down to us by our fathers and mothers.  Moreover, is there any point in going into the fact that with its extreme trendiness, enthusiasm for the trends of the day, that the Church of England has long since ceased resembling anything Richard III would have recognized as a fitting Church, much less a Christian religion?

It's not just that it might be done, in a Rite fitting a Catholic King, but that it can be done.  A commenter on Australia Incognita Blog knows just the Bishop for the job, in fact, the local Ordinary of Leicester himself.

Antarctic Researchers Construct and Venerate Wayside Cross With Crucifix and Image of Virgin Mary

(Antarctica) In the eternal cold of Antarctica researchers have erected a wayside shrine. The place, where the wood panel has been planted with a wooden crucifix and a Marian icon, is called Our Lady of the Glacier. "You will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all of Judaea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth" (Acts of the Apostles 1:8). The words, which Jesus gave in his departing message to the disciples, have been adopted by a group of researchers. They have erected a wayside cross in one of the most uninhabitable parts of the Earth, in the middle of the Antarctic. The researchers are active at the French/Italian station Dome Concordia, which lays on an enormous high plateau in the East Antarctic. On the station, laying at 3,233 meters above see level, the outline of Dome C may be found, located about 1,000 kilometers from the coast. The station is part of the European Commission and European Science Foundation funded Antarctic Research Project EPICA.

The chief doctor of the research team, Vincenzo Di Giovanni explains in a letter, that two members of the expedition came by the idea for the erection of a wayside cross and that it was agreed upon by the others. From wood, they set up a box of wood panel with a small roof and put a Crucifix and Marian icon on the panel and between the two is the inscription "Protect Us".

The wayside cross was put up between the research station and the ice field, on which planes land. In the mean time, the Scientists have ceased calling the station Concordia among themselves, but after the Virgin and Mother of God Mary "Mother of the Eternal Glacier".

Last December 8th some colleagues of the research station formed a procession to the wayside cross, and prayed there on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception together. As Doctor Di Giovanni continued to write, that the wayside cross is also "respected by the Moslem scientist or the agnostic or atheist researchers."

"Here on the extreme end of the world we need God's assistance and want to fulfill his mandates", says Di Giovanni in his letter from the place, where the temperature goes 80 degrees celsius below zero. A place in which for six months during the Summer, the son never goes down and in the extreme polar night, an eternal darkness rules.

On the religious topography of Antarctica there is, besides the wayside cross of Our Dear Lady of the Glaciers, still another Christian place. Already since 1976 there is a Catholic Chapel of the Antarctic at the Argentine Research Station Esperanza (Hope) which is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. In 2003 the Patriarch of Moscow established on the island of South Shetland a Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Bild: Religion en Libertad/Wikicommons

Trieste Bishop Fears "Homophobia" Will Become a Crime

It was an issue of the homosexual movement, to explain "homophobia" as a crime. Representatives of the traditional family could expect persecution if they "reject gay marriage" which is feared by the Archbishop of Trieste.

Trieste (kath.net / CWN / jg) The Archbishop of Trieste fears that the homosexual movement is trying to criminalize all who oppose their concerns. The group "Arcigay" demonstrated on 12 January against the bishop. They accused him of being intolerant and racist. Demonstrators had even prevented him from leaving his residence, says the Archbishop. [I hope he plans on taking photographs and having miscreants arrested]

The activists wanted to implement "aberromarriage" and those who were against it, they accused them of "homophobia," said the Archbishop. Their goal is to make "homophobia" into crime. This is a threat to freedom of expression. Who - as the Catholic Church - represents the view of the family founded on the marriage of a man and a woman, would then be prosecuted feared Crepaldi.
Link to kath.net....

Cardinal Schönborn's Yes to Abortion

Follow up:  The payment for activity in Vienna's  Caritas on Fleischmarkt have been revealed indirectly by statements of Cardinal Schönborn on Public Radio.

See also the article about the endorsement of abortion by Germany's Caritas Director:  "The German Caritas Association is headed by an Abortion-Prelate." [Below]

New in Catholic Spectrum:  Cardinal Schönborn Accepts Abortion

"Press hour" of ORF [Austrian Broadcasting] on the 3rd of December 2006,  interviewers: Andreas Koller ("Salzburg News") and Mathilde Schwabender (ORF).  A cited selection.

Koller:  "Your Eminence, you have formulated your affirmation for life before. How can this be understood as regards the law [Fristenlösung] allowing the termination of pregnancy which has been in effect for some time --  the Catholic Church was not happy with this --, I have the impression that the Catholic Church has resigned itself to the situation.  Now there is another representative, Herr Stadler, who said to me, one can even discuss the termination law, even calling it into question.  Will you also go so far,  that is said, there should be a change in the law regarding the time limit [Fristenlösung]."

Cardinal Schönborn: "Our position from the Bishops, from the Catholic Family Organizations, Pro-Life Organizations, was always clear on this consideration: we are not seeking after the punishment of women in distress, but we expect with justification, that what has always been said since the Kreisky government and has never been strictly adhered to, the so-called supporting measures, which means, in one country, in which demographic questions are really a serious question, it has simply been shown that -- we also have no statistics, but the estimates are still shocking --, that for every child that's born, one is killed.  That really must shock us, that it must horrify us.

What are the supporting measures?  Measures that promote, encourage, that help not to take this step, not to take this step, and I think there are three main corrective actions that would be really necessary.

One is the separation of counseling and abortion, which has long been, for 30 years, a requirement that should simply help to really consider the step well.

The second is, what is self-evident in our country, a statistic, if abortion is not a criminally punishable act,  under certain conditions, then it should at least be clear that it happens every day in our country in this regard.

And the third thing is something that is regarded with too much silence, that of Post-Abortion Syndrome.  We know that from numerous experience of counselors, of those accompanying the women in this situation, that a great hardship is often experienced.  And it's better to enlighten that it is often associated with great emotional stress.  And we ask, and we think it is sensible because the affirmation of life is something so important for each individual and for a country, and we hope that it is possible, to speak with the necessary compassion, but also to speak with the necessary openness."

Koller ("Salzburger Nachrichten"): "Why do you think that in the last six or seven years, nothing happens on this issue, even after all the Christian Social People's Party (ÖVP) was in power?  You have since sought contact on that, so have their been discussions in this direction?"

Cardinal Schönborn:  "There have been intensive discussions, there is a bill for accompanying measures, which is still in the drawer, and it would be nice if this bill, which has been developed by very good lawyers came out again.  It's really just an appeal and encouragement for the affirmation of life"

[Then it is noted Cardinal Schönborn elegantly leads away from the topic]

"To this yes to life also consequently belongs something, which, thanks be to God, is exemplary in Austria through a consensus of all parties, that yes is to life to its end.  We have in Austria, thank God, a clear consensus that we are not going the way of Holland or Belgium, in which euthanasia is allowed,    we want, as Cardinal König said famously shortly before his death, that a person should night die by another's hand, but in the hands of another.  And I think that yes to life is something exemplary, as I have also been in France and Belgium, and very publically say on TV as a credit to our country that has managed to really reach a consensus on the 'yes' to life. [...]"

No comment is necessary...

Link to kreuz.net...

Austrian Caritas Pays Abortion Operation

The Caritas Vienna transferred funds from the contributions of Catholics in the acquiring of the destruction of the weakest of men, the unborn. This according to a report out on "Gloria.tv" of November 2010.

In this report, a postal letter from the asylum center of Caritas Vienna (Mariannengasse 11,1990 Vienna) is to see which is addressed to the "Clinic on Fleischmarkt"  (Abortion Institute, now: "pro: woman", Clinic on Fleischmarkt Company, Fleischmarkt 26, 1010 Wien). [Curiously named "Meat Market"]

The document makes a"hearty thanks" to Caritas Vienna, that a client of Caritas had secured a social tarif of 100 Euro for the clinic on Fleschmarkt and that the client had already "received the award" from us (therefore Caritas Vienna) and the amount will be paid in cash.

Caritas is funded by church contributions. According to the financial management report of 2011 by the Church it received 1.5 millionn Euro. The head of Caritas Vienna is Fr. Michael Landau.

Anyone who has doubts about the authenticity of this letter, let him address himself to the responsible bodies, such as the:

- Vienna Archdiocese under Cardinal Christoph Schönborn

- Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vienna under Fr. Micahel Landau

-or to the President of the Austrian Caritas, Franz Küberl.

No one will deny the authenticity of this letter.

In keeping with the practice of Caritas is the de facto consent of Cardinal Schönborn on abortion to the press at ORF in 2006.

Caritas -- Lair of Leftist Catholicism

One can not avoid the impression that the charity is on the way to turn Holy Church into a money oriented, social club, to soften the nature of Holy Church and decompose it from within. Otherwise it's not comprehensible that the Caritas funds from Church donations by Catholics are put to misuse and contributes to the destruction to make an end of the lives of so many innocent people -- even though it is the express will of God, not to kill!

From Caritas to the Anti-Clerical "Green"

So it is no coincidence that the national director of the Neo-Marxist Postmodernist Party "The Greens", Stefan Wallner, who has changed directly from Vienna Caritas to the morally destructive Greens and then from there has raised a visor for the political works engaged in the protection of trees and shrubs, obtaining the destruction of the weakest people, the unborn.

And still further, it is probably no accident that Pope Benedict XVI. has decreed in his Motu Proprio "About the Service of Charity". It says, among other things:

In carrying out their charitable activity, therefore, the various Catholic organizations should not limit themselves merely to collecting and distributing funds, but should show special concern for individuals in need and exercise a valuable educational function within the Christian community, helping people to appreciate the importance of sharing, respect and love in the spirit of the Gospel of Christ. The Church’s charitable activity at all levels must avoid the risk of becoming just another form of organized social assistance

The mission of Caritas is therefore neither abortion, the alienation of church money and the widespread misuse of the Austrian social system, nor the abuse of asylum and the associated degradation of the rule of law.

German Caritas Association is Directed by an Abortion-Prelate

The Tie-Priest Fr. Neher, Caritas, endorsed the use of the abortifacient pill --
when will Cardinal Meisner remove him from ecclesiastical functions?
[Screen shot ARD, Broadcast cited in article]

In the ARD- broadcast "In the name of God -- how merciless is the official Church?" with Guenther Jauch endorsing Fr. Peter Neher as President of the German Caritas Association in a scurrilous erroneous interpretation of Cardinal Meisner's statements on "the morning after abortion pill".

Caritas President for Abortion

As to the question of anti-Church moderator Gunther Jauch, what the clarification of Cardinal Meisner on the "morning after abortion pill" now means to Catholic hospitals,  Suit-and-Tie-Prelate Peter Neher (Broadcast of 3 February 2013, 11:45,  section from 15 minutes and 15 seconds):

Fr. Neher:  "I think it's now relatively difficult to state the Cardinal's relatively clear statements again: did he intend this, didn't he intend it.  He has said quite clearly,  and as I understand Cardinal Meisner, he would never have made this public, if he did not have exact information. ... for me it clearly means, he had plainly decided between a preventative pill and a pill which effects an abortion.  He clearly differentiated that.  And what I find extremely important: he once again made it very clear, that Catholic hospitals also support a woman in her decision and, if the woman then decides to take this pill and that it has an abortifacient effect,  then it also has to respect the Catholic hospital.  And I think that's an enormous statement, because once again clearly establishes the value of personal conscience and the personal decision.  This is not a frivolous concession to the Zeitgeist, but I believe very well that the Cardinal has also made clear that there can be situations which actually lie between life and death and can affect even the woman."

There is no "pill afterwards" without possible death

Previously, the gynecologist Bernhard von Tongelen explained that there would be no "after pill",  which has a preventative effect.  As the fertilization of the egg takes place, these pill work as preventing implantation, and therefore have an abortifacient effect, thus killing a newly created life.

Link to kreuz.net...

More Media Manipulation of Pope's Media Image by the Press

(Marktl am Inn / Rome) It's time again: When pictures lie. Or rather, if people alter a picture in a very different way than it was actually photographed in the content displayed and so that it manipulates its message. The Soviet Union was a master forger and the Nazi era is apparently excellent for manipulation, as not only since the controversial Wehrmacht Exhibition of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research of Hannes Heer and Jan Philipp Reemtsma and the major touring exhibition, images that lie in the Foundation Museum of Contemporary History Federal Republic of Germany are well known.

The prefect of the CDF, Archbishop Curia Gerhard Ludwig Müller said in an on 1 February published an interview with the daily newspaper Die Welt: “The campaigns which are specifically aimed at discrediting the Catholic Church in North America and Europe have led to clerics in some sectors being publicly insulted in a vulgar way. Here is fostered an artificially generated anger that recalls at times a pogrom atmosphere. Germany's Justice Minister Leutheusser-Schnarrenberg described the claims as manipulative in connection to the Holocaust, which was never mentioned by Mueller, described the statement as "tasteless."

What was truly tastily, and not for the first time, Pope Benedict XVI. has been targeted by the manipulators. Just a small example of what Archbishop Müller would have meant. The Pope is often assumed to have been a Nazi in his youth. Hence the accusation is derived, that the Catholic Church is headed by a Nazi, which is of course unacceptable. But first things first.

Manipulation 1 Ratzinger with Hitler at the Sports Palace

Anti-clerical circles have posted a picture on Facebook which is supposedly a young Joseph Ratzinger at a NS demonstrated standing directly in front of the "Führer". A moralizing accusation is offered on the photograph: "Look who we have as a Pope as he was 14 years old then shame on you pray spreading this [photo] before deleting it." The text contains a number of original spelling errors in Italian. "ignorance is a characteristic of  militant anti-clericalism" commented UCCR.The attribution of the photo is clearly manipulation. The photo was not taken in 1941/1942, as Joseph Ratzinger was 14 years old, but on the 3rd of September 1932 at an event of the NSDAP in the Berlin Sports Palace. Appearing next to Adolf Hitler is  Prinz August Wilhelm of Prussia, the fourth son of the last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, who joined Hitler's Party in 1930. Joseph Ratzinger had been born in 1927, where the future Pope was five years old at the time the photo was snapped in Berlin. The one there could not be five years old, would have only a faint resemblance between the unknown SA-Man and today's Pope. Truly, hate is generally known to cause blindness. A fact, for the anti-Church hate for centuries now fills exhibition halls.

Manipulation 2: Ratzinger with Hitler Salute

Already for a few years there is a ripe manipulation appearing on the internet. A photo which shows then Father Joseph Ratzinger as a new priest with his brother Georg, as the faithful receive a blessing at a priest's first Mass and only shows the future Pope with his arms extended in blessing. Then it was alleged that the photo shows the young Ratzinger giving the Hitler salute. This time as the manipulators were anonymous users on Facebook, it was a Spanish Professor of Journalism at the University of Madrid, who published the photo in his first book in all seriousness. Hatred of the Church and manipulation do not even know educational or class boundaries.

It was the Facebook fan site of the Italian Postal Police, who have discovered the new anti-Church attack. Only Just a reminder: Joseph Ratzinger was born in 1927, in a Catholic home to a world that never adhered to Nazism. The future Pope was never a member of the NSDAP and SA, as the circled man in the photo (above) clearly was. At the age of 14, he was automatically drafted to Nazi service which service was compulsory by law in the Hitler Youth, like all German youths. At least on paper, the same was true for the young Ratzinger, however, he was never active in the Hitler Youth. By the War's end he was a 17-year-old conscripted to operate as an Anti-Aircraft Artilleryman.

Mark Twain wrote that the lie succeeds halfway around the world, before the truth has put on the shoes.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: UCCR

Return of the Communion Rail -- Experiences of a Priest

(Madrid)  Don Jorge Gonzalez Guadalix, priest of the Archdiocese of Madrid, has reported on his blog De profon cura about his positive, recent experience with the reception of Communion.  The starting point was a question from  commenters on his blog, who wanted to know and how things were ordered in his parish, and if  there was a possibility receive Holy Communion kneeling also.

The priest saw on the one side, Pope Benedict XVI's example, who has only given Communion kneeling since 2008, at the same time however he has had practical difficulties and a "fear",  that he would be "foisting" something on the faithful.   Only "a few" of the faithful knelt down to receive Communion.  The priest did not refuse them Communion on the tongue but they had to kneel on the floor.  "For older people it's not something that's possible", as he himself writes.

After long hesitation, he could bring himself both i the chapel, where Holy Mass is said on weekdays, and in the parish church, he placed a kneeler to allow the faithful to receive Communion kneeling.  On weekdays in his parish, two Masses are celebrated on Sundays and on Holidays, four.

The pastor gave neither advertisement nor solicitation to use this form of receiving Communion.  After a month, he summed up his first experience:  "virtually all believers" kneel themselves down during weekday Mass at 7:30.  At the later weekday Masses, fairly half.  On Sunday, however, there are less.  "I think this is largely because many of the people who attend Sunday Mass are more agile."

In his report the priest gave the following conclusions:

The installation of a kneeler, which enabled the faithful to communicate kneeling, didn't "complicate" in any way the reception of Communion in either form.

The "freedom" is sufficient to give the faithful room, with the concrete case of the reintroduction of the kneeler,  and the faithful return to the practice of receiving Communion kneeling.  The "faithful are growing" and they will know what they have to do.  The priest did not wish to rise above the norms of the Church, nor could he force the hand or Communion on the tongue.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Info Catolica

The "Confession Mobile" Is Coming to its Next Location

Munich (kath.net/KIN)  The "Confession Mobile" of the worldwide Catholic help organization "Kirche in Not" [Church in Need] is traveling from the 20th to the 24th of February as a guest in Munich also offering free-time Masses "f.re.e".  This one of a kind "traveling confessional" has been set up for talks and pastoral counsel with Father Hermann-Josef Hubka.  Catholics could also take confession in addition.  Father Hubka is otherwise an expert on caravans and camping -- for a year the priest worked as a pastor in the Australian Bush.

The "Confession Mobile" has is a converted VW Bus, which has been under way as a traveling confessional for seven years in Germany.  The vehicle has received the blessing of John Paul II as well.  This blessing is valid also for all the faithful, who seek encouragement and absolution in the "confession mobile".

The "Confession Mobile" can be visited on the 20th of February in Halle B5 of Munich Messe on Platform 463.

With the traveling confessional, "Kirche in Not" recalls the tradition of "Chapel Wagons".  With these traveling converted trailers, the founder of the charity, Father Werenfried van Straaten, helped after the war to secure pastoral care among the homeless Catholics.  Later "Kirche in Not" also has provided floating churches in the Amazon as on the Volga and Don, that the Church can come to people in difficult to reach areas.

Link kath.net...

www.kirche-in-not.de

Kirche in Not
Lorenzonistr. 62
81545 München
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 / 89 / 64 24 888 – 0
E-Mail: kontakt@kirche-in-not.de

Kirche in Not: Spenden online

Foto: Das Beichtmobil im Einsatz in der Erfurter Fußgängerzone (c) KIRCHE IN NOT

No Consequences for Helmut Schüller in Vienna?

Vienna (kath.net) The Irish priest Tony Flannery has been called by the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith to recant his statements on women's ordination, homosexuality and contraception. Kath.net has reported . The Redemptorist Flannery is also founder and chairman of the "Association of Catholic Priests" (ACP), a group of priests critical of Rome that works closely with the Rev. Helmut Schueller, founded by Austrian Pfarrer's Initiative. The CDF asked of him,  that he should distance himself from the ACP.

The similarities with the Pfarrer's Initiative can also applicable the consequences for the staff, priests, especially to its founder Helmut Schüller.

The demands of Pastor's Initiative also includes the ordination of women. On request of the Apostolic Nunciature, kath.net was told that just the Archdiocese of Vienna has jurisdiction over Helmut Schüller. The Archdiocese of Vienna itself announced last week that it had "no specific information" about the case of the founder of the ACP. "Therefore, we do not want to make any parallels to Pastor Helmut Schüller and speculate," it says in their written reply.

The confrontation of the CDF with Tony Flannery goes back longer and affects not only his commitment to the ACP. In an article for the Irish magazine "Reality" Flannery had called the ordained priesthood into question. He was not sure that "the priesthood as we presently know it in the Church today, goes back to Jesus," he cited as saying. He thinks it is likely that a certain privileged group within the community would have usurped the power and authority to themselves and the Last Supper would have been interpreted in a way that was consistent with their wishes. This point was criticized by the CDF in particular, Flannery said in an interview with The New York Times.

Link to kath.net...

Pope Benedict Names Traditional Bishop to Troubled Portland Diocese

Edit:  a correspondent sends us this citation from Archbishop Sample:

"What sparked my interest in it was Pope Benedict’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum [granting greater freedom to priests to celebrate the older form of the liturgy]. I thought, “I’m a bishop of the Catholic Church, and it’s my responsibility to know how to celebrate Mass according to both the new and old rites.” I’ve learned the Tridentine liturgy, and have since celebrated three Pontifical High Masses and Masses for the Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King (in Florence, Italy)."

There's also another take covering the problematic OCP on Chant Cafe.


(Vatican/Washington)  Pope Benedict XVI named the Bishop of Marquette in Michigan, Msgr Alexander Sample, to be the new Archbishop of Portland, Oregon.  The 52 year old Msgr. Sample is then the youngest Archbishop in the USA, and was also at 45, the youngest Bishop in North America.

The new Archbishop was ordained as a priest in 1990.  He subsequently earned his doctorate in Canon Law in Rome.  He was on the marriage tribunal of his home diocese of Marquette and active as spiritual assistant of the Knights of Columbus.  In January 2006 Pope Benedict named him as the Bishop of his home diocese.

Archbishop Sample is a member of the new  Bishops Congregation in the USA, who speaks with a clear and powerful voice in the teaching of the Faith.  He gave seminarians in the Seminary of the Society of St. Peter in Nebraska, the diaconal ordination and on July 3rd, 2012 in Florence even ordained Italian seminarians in Florence also of the traditional Institute of Christ the King and Sovereign Priest for the subdiaconate and diaconate.

Link to original....

Bishop Fellay Vests 16 Seminarians in Flavigny

In addition to Bishop Fellay's recent talk at a priestly ordination (at DICI) on the 27th of January, there's more cause for hope.  This report just in from Society website in Germany:

On February 2nd, Bishop Bernard Fellay vests and tonsures 16 seminarians in the French Society of St. Pius X.

They have received the spiritual robes of clerics.

Here are some pictures (Thanks to the Priestly Seminary of the Cure de Ars in Flavigny)

The SSPX operates six seminaries world wide.

Bulgarian Metropolitan Commemorates Clergy Martyred by the Communists

[Pravmir.com] Bulgaria’s Christian Orthodox Church commemorated for the first time the victims of communist repression on Friday, 23 years after the toppling of the regime.

A special memorial service was held at Sofia’s Alexander Nevski cathedral by Varna metropolitan and interim patriarch Kiril, joined by a number of other Church dignitaries.

“This is the first time that the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has held nationwide commemoration services for the victims of the repressions,” Kiril told AFP.

Addressing the congregation after the mass, he said the Church had identified 152 priests who were persecuted after the communist regime seized power in 1944: 13 were sentenced to death and another 13 were jailed for life.

The Holy Synod, the Church’s top body, is now considering whether to canonise some of them, he said.

“This stance is a crack in the wall of indifference of the Orthodox Church,” former political prisoner Fredy Foscolo said after the service.

In 2011, parliament designated February 1 as a permanent special day of remembrance for the over 7,000 people who were executed or jailed as “fascists” by the communists during their 45-year rule between 1944 and 1989.

These included three former prime ministers, dozens of ministers and lawmakers, royal regents and advisors, teachers, priests, civil servants, prominent writers and journalists.

The regime did not go as far as to close churches but imposed atheism, did not tolerate churchgoing and controlled the priests’ rise in Church hierarchy.

The opening of the former communist police archives revealed that 11 of the 15 Holy Synod members were former secret police agents who collaborated with the communist regime.

Bulgaria’s late patriarch Maxim, who died on November 6, was not on the list, but Kiril was.

A Church Council is due to choose Bulgaria’s next patriarch on February 24.

New SSPX Chapel in Paris

[Piusbruder.de] The Society is going to attend another church in Paris.

It is relates to the church "Our Beloved Lady of Comfort" in the 8th District.

The building came into existence shortly before the turn of the century as a memorial church, which was built in memory of the the fire of 1897.  In this place the Duchess of Alencon, the sister of Elisabeth of Austria, lost her life.

The historically protected church has a large crypt, so that it can also hold large numbers of the faithful.

The 8th District of Paris is northwest of the Cathedral of Notre Dam on the right bank of the Seine, and is the political and economic center of Paris.  Here stands also the Élysée Palace.

Würzburg Vicar Hw. Thomas Eschenbacher and Protestant functionary Kirsten Oldenburg Jointly Organize an Ecumenical Sideshow

New liturgical element: "ecumenical" dialogue
 sermon in rhyme; Picture: Press Office Diocese of Würzburg / Mohr

Once there had been a happy hour in the land, as on the 17th of January 2013 of the first Carnival Society of Elferrat Würzburg publicly held this years church conference in Neumuensterkirche.

"In the thick of things" is the Würzburg Cathedral Vicar with the Protestant official, who -- as explained in preparation -- had decided on the somewhat looser form of Liturgy of the Word,  probably in order not to completely ignore the liturgical progress of the Church.

"Vanishing Justice" of the Preaching Dialog

A modern, zeigeisty innovation, perhaps even according to the invocation of the "sprit of Vatican II" Fr. Eschenbacher put the liturgical elements of the preaching dialog in rhyme:  "... that only talking's not enough, where justice takes a puff" was clearly the dialogs choice piece.

It had been a balancing act, said the Cathedral Vicar.  "I can also understand, that not everyone found it enjoyable."  But: "everything took place with dignity."

Joy of the Instructor of Pastoral Theology

A Pastoral Theologian was also completely overjoyed (a kind of miracle in the Post-Conciliar Church): "Carnival belongs to the life of the people just as to the Church.  I think the connection between them both is very exciting."

In the Diocese of Wurzburg the main goal of the Pastoral Theologian, "the consequent search for the outline of our vocation in the transform of the structures in the Diocese and with thus connected pastoral tasks and focal points.

Exit of the Fool

At the end the fool was applauded to the church door -- and in the midst of it all the Cathedral Rector.

Link to kreuz.net...

CDF Challenges German Bishops and SSPX

Rom (kath.net) The Prefect of the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine and the Faith, Archbishop Mueller, sees a pogrom continuing against the Catholic Church, in and interview with the newspaper "Die Welt", that a "deliberate campaign to discredit" against the Catholic Church in North America and in North America and with us in Europe has accomplished, that priests in some areas are now become completely public pariahs. The Prefect speaks of artificially manufactured anger which already today recalls a pogrom. In blogs and also in television Müller continued, "were attacks aimed against the Catholic Church, whose armaments go back to the assault of totalitarian ideologies against Christendom. "

Archbishop Mueller has directed criticisms also on the dialog process of the German Bishops' Conference and said: "dialog process is good. But the substance must be discussed and not the same old problems on the table as like new." As an example of always new problems on the table, Mueller named "the promotion to sacramental orders for women. It is not possible. Not because women are of less value, but because it is in the nature of the sacrament, that Christ is represented as the groom in relation to his bride." Also, an acceptance of same sex partnerships are not possible for the Catholic Church. These partnerships are not to be compared in any way to marriage " The Prefect also defended celibacy: "Celibacy of the priest corresponds to the example and word of Jesus and has a special spiritual significance in the spiritual experience of the Latin Rite.

There is "no indication that those presiding in the Church would be shaken, from certain false statements, as if it were a necessity, to practice sexuality, within or outside of the Church. The un married state "has been established in the kingdom of heaven in the Gospel." Mueller gave that in so far as there is a "lack of reform" in the Catholic Church, that "substantial themes" are not being tackled.

The Prefect meant here concretely the participation in the Sacraments and the knowledge of the Faith." Also the The theme of the "Pius Society" which he spelled out clearly. The patience of the Vatican with the separation of Traditionalists is not endless: "The Congregation has presented the Society with the Dogmatic Preamble. There has been no answer to it. We won't wait forever." [But the patience is endless for dissident Bishops and clergy]

Daraufhin ist bis jetzt keine Antwort erfolgt. Wir warten aber nicht endlos."

Is Vienna's Cathedral Pastor a Freemason?

In this broadcast the Viennese Cathedral Pastor Toni Faber was given the opportunity, not just to be defiant of the teaching of Holy Church or to be coquettish with the zeitgeist, but in complete meekness and compliance to Freemasonry.

"That can damage your career!"

Then we learn (rom 6:40), that the Viennese Cathedral Pastor has published a dissertation "Freemason and Church",  which Cardinal Koenig had rejected with the following words: "Know this, young man: let this lay.  This can only damage your future, your career.  Let it lay."

At the latest as to the question, what the Church actually has against Freemasonry, the otherwise  generally  unaccomodating to the teachings of Holy Church Cathedral Pastor: The Church is supposed to have "Thank God, developed further" (Faber) and in Codex Iuris canonici of 1983 no longer threatens excommunication for Freemasonry.

In this anti-Roman/anti-Catholic groove of Faber, continued then the former Grand Master of the Austrian brothers of the apron (Masons wear ceremonial aprons), Micheal Kraus: a Catholic may deplore Freemasonry,  that in a so-called interpretation of the former Cardinal Ratzinger returns a certain ambiguity, if it is now possibly lives in serious sin and put in a unpleasant situation with the Church?  That was never made completely clear, insisted the Freemasonic Diabolos, who would like to load the guilt of Freemasonry on Holy Church.

With great verve, the ever erroneous working Viennese Cathedral Pastor continued in the groove of the Freemason:  "If we follow according to Catholic law, there is [Indicative!] no excommunication there, if we then follow the former Cardinal Prefect of the CDF, then it would [Subjunctive].  A certain ambiguity,  which the Holy Father, Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI., has also not clarified." (at 11:45)

Catholic Minority Among the Freemasons

And Michael Kraus is more precise: "That this conflict is a part of the past, which was exhausting for both sides, and that in today's situation, it's clear that one can live very well with the status quo.  Completely well because the Catholic, who belongs to Freemasonry -- it's not a majority, it's certainly a minority --, they are not completely satisfied with the status quo,  as one could be satisfied,  if one has heard what Herr Cathedral Pastor has just outlined.  Catholics are not completely satisfied with the status quo." [Thank God for that!]

How can Catholics be upright, if they don't subject themselves to the teachings of Holy Church?

The Gist of the Matter: Father  Fabers' Contact with Freemasonry

Faber continues: "I personally know many Freemasons, who are convinced Catholics, who also work in the Catholic Church, but also offer their contribution with the Lodge, to work in it.  And I believe with so many people of good will, who can be found among the Freemasons, we could in the main, work for the common good for Austria."

Link to kreuz.net...

ADMG

Church Renewal in Holland-- Priestly Formation in TLM

(Amsterdam) The Netherlands were in the grip of an inner-Church rebellion during the second half of the 60s and the rapid dissolution of the Catholic Faith. A phenomenon that was all the more astonishing since the Catholic minority in Holland had shown great perseverance since Dutch independence, which defended itself against a militant, confessional Calvinism. After a breathtaking devastation, today the signs of renewal are visible in the Netherlands. Three will be described here.

On 13 December, on the Feast of St Lucia, the Seminaryof St Willibrord of the Diocese of Harlem-Amsterdam celebrated it first Immemorial Mass of All Ages.

At Titennergthere is a Philosophy College next to the seminary, which is connected to the Papal Lateran University, the Theological Institute of St Bonifacious for Deacons, Catechists of the Diocese and a center for Catholic social teaching. In Tiltenberg there was originally a Gymnasium (School preparing boys for higher studies) with dormitory which was transformed by the previous bishop into a seminary in 1997.

The first Holy Mass in the "Old Rite" was celebrated for the seminarians by Chaplain Bunschoten. Two seminarians carries out the service of the altar. As the Rector of the Seminary Gerard Beuggnik with the approval of Bishop of Harlem-Amsterdam, Msr Jos Punt explained, the seminary will form future priests in both forms of the Roman Rite, as foreseen by the Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI. In 2007.

In Nobember 2012 an event took place at the seminary Cale's "Liturgy and Sacrum". The speakers were noteworthy members of the Liturgical Movement which had been begun by Pope Bemedict XVI., among them the famous Liturgist Don Nicola Bux and the German Oratorian Fr. Use Michael Lang.

In Leiden, the home of the painter Rembrandt there is in Lodewijkskerk a biritual community. Father Smith celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass weekly in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Soon an Italian Benedictine Cloister of strict observance will found a new cloister in Holland at the desire of the local bishop.

Trams: Tancred
Text: MiL/Giuseppe Nardi
Bilder: Tiltenberg/Lodewijkskerk


Anzeige

The Turkish Parliament Discusses Turning Hagia Sophia into a Mosque

(Ankara) The Islamization of Turkey through symbolic interference continues.  In the Turkish Parliament a debate has begun over a proposal regarding Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, of old Constantinople, to turn it into a mosque.  The proposal was proposed by Talip Bozkurt, a citizen of Kahramanmaras in Anatolia. The Hagia Sophia, the largest and most glorious Basilica in the East, was used for 916 years as a church, till the sack of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, when it was transformed into a mosque.  The typical Christian building style of the church is still unalterably visible.  In any event the church was accompanied by four minarets and the cross on the main dome was replaced by a half moon, to indicate Islamic occupation.

Since 1935, since the national Turkish government of Kemal Ataturk, the church was not a mosque, but a museum.  It counts today as the most visited museum in the world.  In its current form the church, erected in the 6th century is a magnet for people interested in art and culture.

The current petition committee of the Turkish Parliaments took the petition and seeks various organizations and institutions for a statement.  Various Islamic organizations, above all from Anatolia, are speaking out for the transformation to a mosque.  An Anatolian-Islamic youth organization is driving a campaign for it.

The application had been submitted, according to a decision of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan about another Christian church, called to transform the Hagia Sophia of Nicea again into a mosque, which had also been converted to a mosque after Ottoman conquest under Islamic rule and made a museum again under Attaturk. The Council of Nicea was held in the 1,700 year old Basilica in 787, where the Christians of East and West were united for the last time.  From 1331 to 1920 the church had been made into a mosque by the Rum Seljuks.  The Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Bulent Arinc says that to convert the Nicene Hagia Sophia into a mosque: "In this act we have recovered the recognition of our ancestors.  Hagia Sophia of Iznik was booty of our conquest and as such we have a right to it.  A church can be converted into a mosque".

Bulent Arinc was also Erdogan's henchman, in the summer of 2012 in Trabzon, where another famous church of the same name on the Black Sea was again converted into a mosque, having previously suffered the same fate as the other two basilicas which were transformed into museums. The Hagia Sophia of Trebizond, whose model was the famous Constantinople, was built in its present form in the 13th century.  It served as the last of the three churches under Turkish dominance.  1511 led to its profanation and transformation into a mosque.  From 1916 the Christians of the Black Sea were victims of an anti-Christian genocide, which at the same time was aimed at the Christian Armenians as against the Georgians and the Greeks.

"The Turkish Government is making one step forwards and a step backwards in its dialog with minorities",  commented the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeus I in 2012 on the difficult situation of Christians in Turkey.

Link to katholisches...

A Witch in the Sanctuary

This photo is only  a foreboding of that which will take place in many churches in Germany:  Carnival dance and costumes in the Holy of Holies.

Pius.info had uncovered a scandal last year in Ochsenhausen.  Unfortunately, Ochsenhausen is only the tip of the iceberg, as generally it is the case throughout Germany that the church and community halls will be exchanged.

Even Dean Schanzle didn't show the slightest reflection:  he will renew his use of unworthy costumes in the church.

Pius.info will soon write up some suggestions as to how a traditional Catholic can defend against the profanation of the churches.

Link to piusinfo....http://pius.info/archiv-news/933-bild-der-woche/7623-bild-der-woche-hexen-im-altarraum

Christian in Iran Pardoned -- Departure in Next Few Days Possible

(Tehran)  The American Iranian convert to Christianity, has according to his wife residing in the USA as who has risked the death penalty, has been pardoned by Tehran.  As the Iranian Press Agency reports, the Protestant Pastor Said Abedini has stood before the court this last week on Monday.  His attorney says that his client will be free on bail "in the next days" and may "leave Iran".

Abedini was charged in 2006 in Iran for forming an illegal house church.  The complaint charged "endangering the national security", as his attorney Nasser Sarbazi explained.  His bail client had yet never been charged with spying.

Abedini has been since the end of September, under arrest at his parents' house.  His case has been observed by the US State Department with "great concern".  His wife revealed a few weeks ago in the USA, that her husband was under threat of the death penalty.

Abedini was imprisoned for the first time in May of 2009.  Then he was obliged, to engage in any more religious activities in Iran, then released.  The native Iranian, who has American citizenship, then returned to the USA.  Until his second imprisonment, he has visited Iran nine times.

In September the Protestant Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarhani was released, who had been condemned because of his conversion from Islam to Christianity.

The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes the 'monotheistic religions", among them Christianity and Judaism and the "defense of religious freedom". At the same time the majority Shi'ite
Iran doesn't tolerate any conversion of Muslims.  In contrast to other states, there are no anti-conversion laws in Iran.  Yet there can be tensions, as the aforementioned cases show.  The last hanging of an Iranian because of apostasy from Islam and conversion to Christianity happened, according to official sources, in 1990 in Maschad, when the Protestant Pastor Hossein Soodmand was hanged.

The relationship in Iran for Christians which is considered difficult, are in comparison to other states of Sunni imprint,  however, are comparatively better.  Both cases of Protestant Pastors were overshadowed by the tense relationship between the USA and Iran.

Link to Katholisches...

50,000 March for Life in San Francisco

Edit: the new Archbishop was there too, but only a handful arrived to counter protest. Here's a personal account from Zenit.

(San Francisco) My own walk for life started before I had even left the campus of Thomas Aquinas College. For me, it was the sermon that one of our college chaplains gave Friday morning before we left that began this journey. It was the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul that we were celebrating. In his sermon, Fr. Illo compared our drive to San Francisco with St. Paul’s trip to Damascus. He stressed that we should concentrate on our journey as a pilgrimage, and that just as St. Paul was converted, we too should be converted and strive to make this a prayerful event.
Although there was no doubt about our mission—we were going to march for life and stand up for the rights of the unborn—I was glad Fr. Illo clarified what this meant. It is easy to participate in an external way; it’s the internal participation that is a bit more difficult. We were not going merely to enjoy the city, nor to convert abortionists; we were embarking on a journey of prayer and penance to bear witness to the Truth and hopefully to be changed by this experience.
With this in mind, we set off for San Francisco after classes in two buses, with many more students taking their own cars. Our drive went very smoothly. We amused ourselves with sleeping and watching Star Wars movies; to keep a balance in the force, we also prayed a rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet to keep ourselves focused on our mission.

http://www.zenit.org/article-36426?l=english

Ht: Katholisches

The Birthday of Blessed Charlemagne the Great

Edit: the following's a brief translation in honor of the birthday of Blessed Charlemagne the Great by Father Gero Weishaupt.

On January 28th 814, Blessed Charlemagne the Great died in his beloved Aachen Palace.  In 2014, Aachen and Europe will hold his 1,200th birthday.  Charlemagne was, according to Einhard, his biographer, interred in the palace chapel which still is located in today's Cathedral.  Bl. Charles the Great is the founder of the Christian West on the foundations of Greco-Roman antiquity.  He made Aachen his main residence, the "Rome of the North".

Einhard, in his famous Vita Karoli Magni which is stylistically written after the style of Suetonius', reported over the death and burial of Bl. Charlemagne:

"Septimo, postquam decubuit, die, sacra communione percepta decessit anno aetatis suae septuagesimo secundo et ex quo regnare coeperat quadragesimo septimo, V. Kal. Februarii, hora diei tertia. Corpus more sollemni lotum et curatum et maximo totius populi luctu ecclesiae inlatum atque humatum est. Dubitatum est primo, ubi reponi deberet, eo quod ipse vivus de hoc nihil praecepisset. Tandem omnium animis sedit nusquam eum honestius tumulari posse quam in ea basilica, quam ipse propter amorem Dei et domini nostri Iesu Christi et ob honorem sanctae et aeternae virginis, genetricis eius, proprio sumptu in eodem vico construxit. in hac sepultus est eadem die, qua defunctus est, arcusque surpa tumulum deauratus cum imagine et titulo exstructus" (Einhard, Vita Karoli, 30 f).

In the Middle Ages, Aache was the place of coronation of the German kings for centuries.

The Cathedral is, for Father Gero Weishaupt, the place where he experienced as an acolyte, the beauty of the Latin Liturgy and the rich and deep historical connection between his city, the Church and posterity.

In the following selection, you can hear the burial of an Emperor of the Franks and the Romans, sung by the Aachen Cathedral Choir, the oldest German boy's choir, whose founding goes back to Bl. Charles the Great.  In the relief, one sees among others, the throne (of the Holy Roman Empire [German Nation]) as well as the Charlemagne Shrine with the bones of the beatified on the 29th of December, in any case, in Aachen.



ADMG

Cabbalistic-Occult Rituals in a Catholic Retreat House

(Buenos Aires)  In various Argentine retreat houses, Catholic religious communities may offer Magic Seminars, in which occult teachings are introduced.   Here are "alchemistical and cabbalistic rituals" which even yet profane the chapels and altars of the retreat houses.

The most recent incident took place last weekend in the Contemplative House of St. Francis of Assisi of the Capuchins in the Diocese by the same name in the Province of Buenos Aires.  From the 24th to the 27th of January was "Maga Hania & Conspiradores" in the retreat house "in accion".  An equivalent of 420 Euro allows those interested to be introduced to the "cabbalistic rosary" and "alchemistical novenas",  in order to become acquainted with the "Alchemy of Love" and the occult secrets of the attractivenss of "Venus Aphrodite".

The seminar program also included a "magian night ritual" in the "clothing of Aphrodite" in the swimming pool of the contemplative house, in order to obtain the "energetic controls" of the "currents of magnetic love".  All of this are naturally for the "enlightenment of the world and of people".

The Argentinian writer and "Maga" Hania Czajokowski explains on her website, that after taking "spiritual journeys" to Brazil, Africa and Polynesia and  she had then been "consecrated in occult secrets",  which she then wants to give back "for the healing of the earth".  The home cooked, business oriented cocktail of esoterica, occultism, a bit of Marian cult and Padre Pio, a dash of Buddhism, a healthy portion of cabbalism is available naturally for a corresponding payment.  For a  payment the Catholic contemplative house is apparently opened for occultists, including their magic rituals at the altar.

Such contemplative events by Maga Hania and her "conspirators", as she calls her adepts herself, and other purveyors of occult practices already have taken place before till 2009 in the Catholic Casa de Retiro San José in the Argentinian Diocese of Lomas de Zamora, till the Bishop there prevented them.  They still found however a new location.  The operators of the seminar are included in the dubious "Universal Parliament of the Religions of Argentinia".  Yet it doesn't operate like a federation of religions, but clearly as a private circle of pompous names of religious "activists" doing their own thing.  Among them there are also by his own description an Argentinian convert to the Orthodox Faith, who calls himself "Bishop Alexandros" the "Autocephalus Catholic Church and of Orthodox Content" and is industriously consecrating more "bishops".

In Assisi House of the Capuchins, seminarians of the order were included, who in the nearby Jesuit led seminary are preparing for the priesthood.  Because of the lack of growth the house was put to other purposes.  It belongs to the order, but is led by the laity, who clearly allow every paying customer to use it.  A reaction from the current Bishop of San Miguel, Msgr. Sergio Fenoy, who has been notified of the occult seminar offer in the retreat house of San Miguel, is not known at present.  "The current Catholic authorities in the Diocese are showing little discernment in its easy commerce with the occult business practices", says Pagina Catolica.

Link to katholisches....

ADMG

New Study: Suicide Among Non-Believers Higher Than Among Believers -- Lower Among Catholics

by Roberto Reggi, translated by Tancred

Suicide is negatively regarded in the religious and moral view.  In addition it is yet a significant and statistically easy scale for well being. Already, since the clasical study of Emile Durkheim (1897), which is generally considered the first scientific sociological study, it is known that among believing people in comparison to non-believing, there is less suicide.  In detail, there are fewer suicides among Catholics than Protestants.

The interpretation for this phenomenon, which the father of Sociology poses, is founded in the concept of anomie. [A sociological term describing the disturbance of in social relations.]   The decline or loss of religious norms and values (a-nomos, without laws) leads to disturbances in the social order and the loss of social integration.  The results of anomie are for people the feeling of a sense of loss, growing dissatisfaction and fear, which could lead to suicide.  Believing people have however ideals to which they can hold and adjust to every situation.  They have the patience and hope.  Catholics are more tied to a community and social relationships than Protestants, which further reduces anomic manifestations.  The Catholic network is more widely and broadly extended than the Protestant, because the Protestant, lacks the this worldly pressure to perform and failure according to human standards is always circumscribed as a possibility in the Catholic.

More than a century after the ground breaking study by Durkheim there was a University study published in the Summer of 2012. In that the number of suicides in Switzerland was researched between 1981 and 2001,  a country therefore, in which the Catholic Church and Protestant belief systems have historically lived side by side.  The Study Suicide and Religion:  New Evidence on the Differences Between Protestantism and Catholicism was written by Benno Torgler (EBS University for Research and Law, Oestrich-Winkel) and Christoph Schaltegger (University of Luzern).

The study offers valuable information between the homogeneity of the researched cases, which all come from the same political and social back grounds, which marks the Swiss national situation.  The study affirms Durkheim's assertions from the last 19th century: Protestants are more frequently inclined to suicide than Catholics.  In practice:  the same social and economic conditions (income, family relationships, etc...)  show a decline in suicide, the higher the Catholic section is.

*Robert Reggi, Jahrgang 1974, Promotion in Philosophie (1998), Diplomstudium der Theologie (2007), Diplomstudium der Bildungswissenschaften (2007), Lizentiat in Biblischer Theologie (2007), Psychologie (2009), Anthropologie (2011), Mitarbeiter von Radio Maria, UCCR, Mitglied im wissenschaftlichen Komitee von Cathopedia.

Link to Katholisches...