Latin Mass in Hanoi: Travel Impressions of a Healthy Church

(Hanoi) The situation of Christians in Vietnam, one of the last Communist "paradises", is very difficult. The regime varies in its dealing with the Catholic Church and sees it as a competitor of his absolute claim to power. Vietnam still triggers shudders from Americans of the middle and older generation and is equally known by Europeans. The north of the country in 1954 of Indochina under Communist control prosecuted a war against France, then south in 1975 during the Vietnam War against the United States. A success that was only possible because it was primarily a struggle for national liberation from foreign rule in both wars for many Vietnamese. "The prospect of seeing their own daughters grow up in a Communist, but Vietnamese country, the majority Buddhist Vietnamese were less horrified at that time less at a Communist takeover for them, than to imagine a future in brothels for GI's and rich Americans," [You mean the Socialists don't frequent brothels?] said a French Foreign Legionnaire, who fought at Dien Bien Phu. The Catholics chose between unfreedom and poor experience of freedom, for the latter variant, which could secure them the necessary freedom to develop and to deal with the scale of Christian freedom. The Americans were defeated in a fierce battle. Since 1976, Vietnam was reunited under the official designation Socialist Republic of Vietnam. For Christians, the country brought hards times. Already in 1954, all of the parishes of the North had fled to the South. Nevertheless, the Church has survived.

Elisabetta Galeffi has returned from a trip to the Southeast Asian country. She does not report on religio-political issues, including the persecution of Christians under the Red Flag. It is characterized by empathetic, attentive observations, the image of a vibrant, healthy Catholic community that experienced a large influx of vocations to the priesthood and the religious orders.

At Mass in Ho Chi Minh City

To cross the square, to reach Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), requires a cool head. The slalom between hundreds of motorcycles, the only escape for a breath of pedestrians in the maze, is a thrilling endeavor.

The large cathedral with two towers was built by the French in 1877-1880, with red bricks, which were specially imported from Toulouse. It is the largest Catholic church in the country. It forms the center of the Place de la Comune de Paris in the city traffic. The distinctive French main post office is on one side of the square. Opposite the gardens with the large statue of Mary, a true urban and literary monument in numerous articles of war correspondents from around the world and the novel The Quiet American by Graham Greene, which takes place in Saigon, is described. Here in the most elegant part of the economic center of Vietnam you can still imagine the old capital of Indochina. On Sunday the whole city convenes together here, sitting at the tables of the cafes or picnic on the expansive lawns of the gardens, the girls and boys have their pictures taken around the cathedral and the statue of Mary.

At 11 clock in the morning, a favorable time throughout the world, to attend the Sunday Mass that doors of Notre Dame remain closed like an impregnable fortress. Only in the early afternoon do they open and the cathedral is filled with believers within minutes. All benches are filled to the last seat. The people bring tiny folding stools and jostle in the aisles until not a meter in the church is free. The latecomers must celebrate the Mass in front of the entrance gates, many sit on their motor scooters, hundreds.

Once the celebration of Mass begins, the noise of the continuous space traversing motorcycles gives way to church music, which is transmitted via powerful speakers into the open so that they can be heard in the coffee houses and the side streets. There are often repetitive melodies in the standard national style, as you can encounter them in Buddhist temples, but are sung with Christian texts, as they are known in Western churches. It's a meeting of cultures, carried out by the graceful voices of the Vietnamese and their passion for the beautiful song.

In Hanoi, a concert of brass and drums happens at Ly Quoc Su, attracts at the center of the old town. At the end of the narrow streets appears unexpectedly, the majestic Cathedral of St. Joseph in neo-Gothic style, reminiscent of Notre Dame in Paris in miniature. A huge procession of devotees follow the white-clad brass band and children in long blue robes, carrying a canopy with a small statue of the Virgin Mary. The clergy in solemn liturgical vestments stops in front of the facade of the church to bless the faithful, incense rises in dense swaths. The Joseph Cathedral was built in 1886 by naked concrete. The concrete is old and dark, capable of displaying a place of deep spirituality.

A garden behind the church offers with tropical plants and fragrant flowers offers some cooling for the rectory, a school for poor children and a dormitory. A magical garden breaks the ranks of the small streets like an oasis in the bustling chaos of the densely populated residential area of Hanoi. The Mass is an ancient rite. For those in the Vietnamese capital 6 o'clock in the evening is an exciting return to the past. The women wear their best Ao dai for the occasion, the national dress with wide-legged silk trousers covered thinly over long tight knee-or ankle-length silk robes in bright colors. They look very elegant and move with the utmost grace. The liturgy is celebrated in Latin, which emphasizes the brotherhood, even here, in the midst of such a different culture, with an indecipherable signature. The familiar Latin invites you to join in the singing loudly, to share with these people a faith that seems so honest.

In Vietnam, 9-10 percent of the population are Catholics. [They were a majority before the War] The number of practicing Catholics is very high and the vocations are numerous. They form by the Buddhists, the second largest minority in a country that in its overwhelming majority is atheist, according to official figures.

Traveling the country from south to north, you will encounter along the main axis, numerous churches that were built during the French colonial rule from 1858 to 1954. In addition to the churches in the cities, especially the elegant religious architecture surprisingly amidst the emerald landscapes and before the deep blue backdrop of the great Vietnamese rivers, the South China Sea or the Gulf of Tonkin. Even the wood and straw hut churches in the north on the border with the People's Republic of China in the rice fields of the mountains around Sapa are inviting and decorated with pious devotion and all are filled with believers, no matter where you go, and with music and songs. For the Black Hmong, an ethnic minority of the Catholic faith, the churches are the center of life of their small farming communities.

Text: tempos
 Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Tempi
Trans from German: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Today He Would Have Been Aborted --- This Genius Composed the "Salve Regina" 1,000 Years Ago

(Althausen) Today he would have little chance of seeing the light of day. The "humane" and "democratic" era of mankind is also the most dangerous, even deadly of the human race. In the "dark" Middle Ages, he was but allowed to live. He was born on the 18th of July exactly 1000 years ago in Altshausen in Upper Swabia, district of Ravensburg today. Hermann von Altshausen-Veringen, better known as Hermann of Reichenau.  From the Benedictine Order, on the island in Lake Constance, he was called because of his disability by the less sympathetic epithet, Hermann the Lame. He gave the world one of the most extraordinary, perceptive, and most wonderful compositions, the antiphon Salve Regina.

The small Hermann was visibly shaken, sick and physically deformed to the world. Perhaps because of a neonatal brain injury or an open back today, he would be killed, "out of charity".  However, his parents and Wolfrat Hiltrud of Altshausen were devout Christians, and also worried about the little Hermann, as well as his other 14 brothers and sisters.

From an early age he was called the "crooked" because his physique was so warped. Just standing was impossible for him throughout his life, nor could he move. Even in the chair especially made for him by his parents, he had  difficulties sitting. His fingers were too weak and too crooked for writing. Lips and chin were so deformed that you could barely understand his words. The family was wealthy and a child like this, would have been hidden by others. Hermann's parents worried about their child's future, decided to put him in safe custody.  A charge that would support him in the event of their death. They handed their son to the Benedictines of the Abbey of Reichenau in Lake Constance, donated by Charlemagne. "Here is the mind which was opened due to religious psychotherapy. Anyway this boy who could give more sounds than words themselves," the modern biographer Cyril Matindale.

There was not a moment in his life where Hermann the Lame could make himself comfortable and cozy. Pain always accompanied him in his infirmity. Nevertheless, all contemporary chroniclers describe him with amazing adjectives, of course, in Latin: kind, friendly, always smiling, tolerant, open-minded, accommodating, helpful, polite with everyone. Everyone liked him, him the crooked, curved, heavy laden.

He was eventually taken up by the monks even in their community. The stabilitas loci of the Benedictines was now not only in the sense of protective parents, but as his true homeland. The abbey was his home, earthly and spiritual.

He studied mathematics, Greek, Latin, astronomy, music and even Arabic. He wrote a comprehensive essay on the astrolabe , an astronomical instrument. What initially seemed a burden to the monastery, was to be its pride. The reputation of Hermann the Lame was so great that the Emperor Henry III. in 1048 and Pope Leo IX. in 1049 visited especially the Reichenau.

But not only as scientists and historians were drawn from Schwabe, but also in music. His great passion for music combined with his great piety and spiritual passion, devotion to the Mother of God and all purest Virgin Mary. It is in fact as certain that the famous Marian antiphon Salve Regina of the Hail Holy Queen, was composed and texted  by him before 1054, the hunchback monk with the crooked fingers,  on the island of Reichenau. His genius gave the world one of the greatest and most wonderful works of sacred music, a plant, a prayer, still resounds today 1000 years later around the world. A reverent greeting, with which Christians seek the help of the Blessed Mother of God. A wonderful song, written by one who himself could not sing.

On his deathbed, he exhorted his brother Berthold: "Friend of my heart, do not cry. Do not cry for me! But think about it every day, that you too must die. Prepare yourself with your whole strength against it, to make the journey, because one day, at an hour that you do not know, will you come with me."

Hermann, died on the 24th of September 1054 at the age of 41, surrounded by his brothers, who were his friends, after he had received Holy Communion one last time. In 1863 he was beatified by Pope Pius IX. 

We hear the famous antiphon, which he which he also composed the simple, impressive and solemn melody written and that he himself could never sing:

Salve, Regina,
mater misericordiae;
vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Clamamus Ad te, exsules filii Evae.

Ad te suspiramus,
gementes et flentes in hac valle lacrimarum.
Eia ergo, Advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos
ad nos converte.

Et Jesus benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, holy Queen,
Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness
and our hope, hail!

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve,
to thee we sigh,
 mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile, show us Jesus,
the blessed fruit of thy womb.

O kind, O gentle, O sweet Virgin Mary.

SSPX Italy Critical of Pope's Take on European Immigration

Edit: some people have friends who think you can make an orderly society where the rule of law out of any culture.  We suspect pecuniary motives for ignoring the problem, among more diabolical ones. Earlier popes were convinced Islamic immigration to Europe was a bad idea.  What's changed?  Certainly, Muslims are as hostile as they ever have been?


(Rome) The SSPX is sharply critical of the visit by Pope Francis on the island of Lampedusa off the Tunisian coast. The Italian District of the Society speaks of a "distorted progressive simplification" of a complex question, like the mass immigration of Muslims and especially to Europe.

"Since the 9th Century the popes, among them saints, have undertaken to equip fleets and preparations to ward off the (armed, of course) advance of the Muslims in the desire to preserve the Catholic faith where it had not been destroyed by the Mohammedan invasion. Pope Bergoglio wanted with his trip to Lampedusa, to reduce the question to a simple formula: There are the destitute, who are appealing to rich egoists, but they allow them to die at sea, and we rich are all guilty," said the Italian district of SSPX in a comment on his website.

"Even if this message should contain a small truth, so that it might be represented without serious complications as a problem. It is also true that no one should be refused necessary assistance in danger, but at the same time the Masonic plan for the creation of a multi-cultural society can not be underestimated, especially when one is Pope, and therefore is responsible for the defense of the Faith," says the SSPX.

Therefore, "the gestures and words of Pope Francis have been characterized by distorted progressive simplification from the celebration of Mass on a boat with sacred objects made of scrap. Gestures, aimed at rapid popularity for a particular audience and especially in the media," it says in the concluding comments of the Italian District of the SSPX.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Mapsfor
Translation: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Link to katholisches...

Francisus: Very Popular Reception for Pope's Latin Twitter

The Latin Twitter account of Pope Francis has a surprising number of subscribers

Vatican / Washington (kath.net / CNA / jg) The Latin Twitter account of Pope Francis has a surprising number of subscribers, called "followers". Even more amazing is the high number of responses, which are also written in Latin.

With 123,000 followers, the papal Twitter messages ("tweets") in Latin have more prospects than their Polish, Arabic or German equivalents. "It is remarkable how lively the Latin Twitter account is," says Timothy Noone, professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America to CNA. "I'm surprised how many people are able to write in Latin," he added. The variety of the Latin responses to the papal tweets contradict the view that Latin is a dead language, Noone said.

He and some of his colleagues were able to speak, Latin. The professor of medieval metaphysics and epistemology sees the Latin activities at the papal "tweets" to be quite positive. Knowledge of the language is essential to understand Western culture, he told CNA.

Benedict XVI. opened the papal Twitter account December 2012 and his first messages were sent in eight languages. Most popular are Spanish and English with 2.8 million and 2.7 million subscribers. In January 2013 Latin was added as the ninth after numerous inquiries to the Vatican had been received. Following the resignation of Benedict the Twitter account had been shut down. Pope Francis has enabled it again soon after his election.

Link to kath.net...

Liturgical Scandal Before Papal Visit in Brasilia -- Archbishop Wants to Ban Kneeling Communion

(Brasilia) Shortly before the visit by Pope Francis for World Youth Day in Brazil a liturgical scandal has erupted in the Latin American country. The Archbishop of Cuiabá, Milton Antonio dos Santos, has forbidden the faithful from receiving Communion kneeling in a magisterial letter to his archdiocese. The Real Presence of Christ was never mentioned Archbishop dos Santos in his encyclical of 11 July. Never that the Eucharist is truly the Word of God incarnate.

Prohibiting because of "unity"

The Archbishop explains his "instruction" to the "unity of the community." The Archbishop saw this threatened by Communion on the tongue kneeling.

"The real fault lays with John Paul II, who appointed him Bishop of Corumba inthe Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2000 and in 2003 promoted him to Coadjutor Archbishop of Cuiba with right of succession, where he became Archbishop in 2004", said the Church historian and Catholic blogger Francisco de la Cigoña. Dos Santos had been installed as bishop a few days before the resignation of the Brazilian Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

The Brazilian Supreme Pastor embarks on thin ice with his ban and his justification. In his letter he refers to the instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium of the then Congregation of Rites in 1967. The doctrinal statements made ​​since then he ignored.

This saw Communion on the tongue explicitly as the ordinary and therefore actual form of Communion reception. The standing hand Communion has been making the post-Conciliar period only represents a granted exception. The Archbishop, who refers to the "community," is not in communion with the popes, neither Francis nor Benedict XVI., who both offer Communion on the tongue to kneeling communicants.

Archbishop on thin ice

While kneeling Communion is always allowed, the standing may be additionally allowed by the competent Episcopal Conference. Both the introduction to the Roman Missal and the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum from 2002, speak for themselves. In a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship to a diocesan bishop, 1322/02/L protocol , from the 1st of July 2002, set forth the doctrinal and canonical bases.

The Conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium notes in point 22, paragraph 3, that no one is permitted to add anything in the liturgy on his own, omit or modify. According to Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 22, paragraph 1, the sole responsibility for the Liturgy falls to the Holy See, who is also the sole legitimate legislator. Canon 838, Paragraph 1 of canon law repeats this principle of law.

Interesting in this context that the Archdiocese Ciuabá in 2012, conducted an opinion poll in which he asked the believers specifically, whether they received Communion kneeling on the tongue. 57.3 percent of the Faithful answered yes. Conduct that. This has been expressly connected with the imitation of the model of Pope Benedict XVI.

The retraction after protests - 57 percent of the faithful receive Communion Kneeling on the Tongue

The letter from the Archbishop was initially set on the website of the Archdiocese. A few hours after the publication of an article in the traditional we site Frates in Unum on the 13th of July it was removed. Fratres in Unum called on the faithful of the Archdiocese to protest against the illegal ban of the Archbishop to the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome and the Apostolic Nunciature in Brazil. In the Archbishop's palace there were immediately numerous protests received, so that the Archbishop took to retreat. On Tuesday, a corrected version of the letter of Archbishop Dos Santos has been published. "As is usual for Brazilian bishops, it admitted no fault, but, more precisely, "as Fratres in Unum commented on the change. In the new version, the Archbishop explained that it is every believer's right to receive Holy Communion free standing or kneeling, and he "never" would "oblige" someone to receive [Calvinist] hand Communion.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Fratres in Unum

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

Putin Unleashes Largest Military Exercise Since the Fall of the Soviet Union

MOSCOW, 13 July (RIA Novosti) On the orders of President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Defense Ministry has alerted the troops to the east of the country on Saturday. At the alarm exercise, the largest in the history of the new Russia, more than 80 000 troops have participated.

In use are more than 1,000 tanks, 130 aircraft and helicopters and 70 warships, such as the Ministry of Defence announced on Saturday. Army units were involved in the military districts of the center and east, but also the Pacific fleet and Air Forces. The alarm exercise should last one week. It aims to examine the mobility of large organizations. In particular, the ability to be tested is the movementof troops over thousands of kilometers away quickly.

The Russian General Staff in February - the first time in 20 years - had triggered a practice alert that pointed out a number of problems points.

About a month later, President Vladimir Putin ordered on the night of the 28th of March, unexpectedly, large-scale maneuvers in the Black Sea. It was attended by 30 ships, 250 tanks, 50 guns, and 20 aircraft and helicopters. Forces, airborne troops and special units of the General Staff with more than 7,000 men were in use. In late May a practice alert took place on the west boundary.

Video, here....

Critic of Modernist Monastery Banned From Class Reunion

Edit: besides Pat Marker, and the late Tom Roeser, there really have been no serious critics of the Modernist Monastery of Collegeville.  He edits an assiduously documented chronicle of Collegeville's malfeasance with respect to its past deeds and the destruction it continues to wreak as they refuse to acknowledge their misdeeds and pathologically attack those who justifiably expose them.  For all this and despite their interminable and very public dissent from Church teaching and the presence of a very large and dangerous coven of sexual deviants, 23 of whom have been credibly accused (although there are more), Collegeville sails on with generous support from various donors like Tom Petters, Exxon Mobile, UNESCO, Dell Computers, and so on. Even George Bush Sr. wasn't ashamed to appear at St. John's Preparatory, the Abbey's prestigious high school, the receive an award from this same institution.

Part of the reason for Modernist Collegeville's present temperamental outburst must have to do with the fact that Marker has been critical of Father Jerome Tupa, whose pornographic art featuring the use of real gold was recently criticized, along with some credible accusations against Tupa..

We hope some will remember that Tupa testily attacked Marker's work as "calumny" and "being libelous talk" and even attacked the University Newspaper for publishing Marker's words. [Tupa never specifies how Marker's efforts are libelous, but they must not be if the Abbey hasn't taken him to court yet and only resorts to slander.]

Marker was actually invited to his reunion, and was then asked to leave after he had arrived, and was speaking to friends. We're reminded of the strange behavior of other Bishops in the Church.



Here's the story from the St. Cloud Times, where Marker was invited to his High School reunion, but then asked to leave by security subsequently. We think that such pettiness really speaks to the kinds of men who gather at St. John's Abbey.

In defining its core values, St. John’s Preparatory School lists “Community” as its first one — followed by these words: 

“Our school is community, providing hospitality and demonstrating citizenship. Life together in this place is built on trust, love, respect and a genuine interest and concern for one another, which includes welcoming, helping, listening, caring and being present to others.” [Words don't mean what they say, clearly, they can't even abide by this mealy 501-C style statement.]

Framed against those words, it’s hard to understand why the school, led by the Order of St. Benedict, decided now to ban a prep school alumnus from all of the order’s property for a year — even if the alumnus is highly critical of how the order has handled clergy sex abuse cases. 

As reported in the Times, Patrick Marker — a member of the school’s Class of 1983 — first was required to leave the prep school’s Class of 1983 reunion on June 29 despite it inviting him to attend. About a week later, on July 8, he received a letter from the order barring him from its property for a year.

Read further...St. Cloud Times...

Radio Maria India -- Mary as the Foyer to the Evangelization of Hindus, Buddhists and Muslems

(Kerala) Radio Maria, the world's largest Catholic radio network also broadcasts in India. On Sunday, the 30th of June, Radio Maria India  inaugurated it broadcasting studios. The blessing of the premises and equipment of the transmitter located in the city of Kochi in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala was carried out in the presence of representatives of the Government of India and the World Family of Radio Maria. The World Family of Radio Maria is the umbrella organization founded in 1998, in which all Radio Maria stations are connected together. In German-speaking countries they are the Radio Horeb: Austria Radio Maria, Radio Maria Südtirol and Radio Maria German Switzerland .

Father Rapahael Kootumghal, the program director of Radio Maria in India , welcomed hundreds of employees, priests, laity, religious women and men who participated in the preparation and design the programming for the Marian transmitter. The consecration of the station was led by Bishop Joseph Kariyil of Kochi. In his address, the Bishop wished that the broadcaster bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all families and households. India is a land of "rapid growth". The people "need to learn from salvation and mercy of our Savior and Redeemer," said Bishop Kariyil.

The broadcaster company and the further expansion of Radio Maria India was also made ​​possible by donations under the Mariathon, a prayer and fundraising marathon by Radio Maria stations. Mariathon , the Marian marathon, was broadcast from the 10th to 12th of May  (see separate report). With the proceeds, eleven stations established or yet-to-be recently promoted in as many countries. One of these projects is Radio Maria India .

Radio Maria in India was largely at the behest of the currennt program director Father Raphael. As a missionary he had met Radio Maria in Ecuador and recognized the need to build such a station in India. He informed his bishop about the idea of setting up a radio station for proselytizing and evangelizing and made ​​contact with the World Family of Radio Maria. With a visit by a representative of the World Family in 2008, Kochi's early work began. Today India Radio Maria broadcasts on Internet radio. The state of Kerala has the highest with a 20 percent share of Christians in India. There  Radio Maria India also appears in the Malayalam language of the people.

Program director,  Father Raphael, sees an important access to Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims and thus for the evangelization,  especially in the worship of Mary. In Asia, there are three countries that have their own Radio Maria stations: Radio Maria, India , Radio Maria Indonesia and Radio Maria Philippines . Lebanon broadcasts a partner station in the world family.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Radio Maria India

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

A Koran for Pope Bergoglio -- How the "Gulen Movement" Latched the Pope

Edit: inter-religious dialogue puts parties adverse to Catholicism in power?

Wait, there's a Calif of Cologne?  Did someone go back in time and make the Muslims win in 1483 on September 11th?

(Vatican) The Islamist Gülen Movement , always careful to emphasize their cultural side and to "hedge"  influential contacts, now also uses Pope Francis for their "self-promotion".  And the  Osservatore Romano helps. The semi-official newspaper of the Pope recalled in an article about how Bergoglio Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was given a Koran. "The election of  Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio  is greeted by all Argentines with pride, whichever is their creed," writes the L'Osservatore . It reported  a speech by Nancy Falcon, since February 2012 Head of the Islamic Dialogo Centro Intercultural Alba of Buenos Aires, who reported publicly about "cordial relations" with Cardinal Bergoglio. Falcon, says the Osservatore Romano , "explained in a special episode" what has happened in the last year,  "during her visit  in the Archbishop's Palace. The Cardinal, who had on his desk next to a copy of the Torah and the Gospel,  received from the Director of Centro Alba a copy of the Koran."

Torah and Gospel on the desk - Korana as a Gift

A gift that "was very much appreciated" by Cardinal Bergoglio says Falcon. "Bergoglio was well informed about the work of the Centro Intercultural Dialogo Alba and asked them to pray for him, says the Osservatore Romano on  Falcon's comment. "A similar request, which he made as pope to the whole world shortly after his election," said the representative of Islam. "A humble gesture that impressed us even more than we have learned that he is our new pope," said Falcon. The 31 year old Argentine, Nancy Falcon comes from a mixed religious family: father, Catholic, and a Muslim Syrian born mother. The two daughters, Nancy and Gabriela decided to Islam.

Falcon explained  the episode during the visit, which the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Aurelio Mario Poli,visisted the Islamic center Alba  during Ramadan.

Who is behind the Center for Intercultural Dialogue in Buenos Aires?

What is this center and who operates it? The center is part of the movement of the Turkish-Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. His movement, which originated in the Nurculuk Movement has represented pan-Islamic ideas and sharia as the basis of the legal system. Gülen supports the Erdogan government and is one of its most significant pioneers. The Dialogo Centro Intercultural Alba belongs to an international network of Gülen Movement , which is equivalent in Germany the Forum for Intercultural Dialogue (FID) in Berlin.

Gulen, who is presented and revered by his followers as the "Gandhi" of Islam, has created its own Light Houses for training and life models for young Muslims. Gülen, the son of an Anatolian village Imam was later then with the Caliph of Cologne who became known as Cenaleddin, was trained as chaplain at a mosque in Erzurum in eastern Anatolia. In 1999 he fled from a trial in the United States, as a power struggled raged in Turkey  between the Kemalists and the supporters of Gulen Islamic parties. Until then, he had written numerous anti-Western pamphlets on which he has since recanted.  Reason for his escape was in the announcement during a sermon to his followers. In it she pointed to Gülen:

"You must enter the arteries of the system without being noticed here. You must wait until the right moment has come to you until you have taken the entire state power. If we act rashly, the world will fall on our heads, Muslims will suffer everywhere. It would be like breaking an egg without waiting the 40 days until the chick hatches."

The powerful network of Islamic Gulen Movement

The American sociologist Helen Ebaugh estimated its  supporters in Turkey on in 2010 at about 10-15 percent of the population, plus about eight to ten million in the rest of the world. As his followers pay a tithe, Gülen has built up an extensive network of facilities and organizations. This includes having Zaman, today's highest-circulation daily newspaper in Turkey with its own European edition, as well as the television station Ebru TV and Samanyolu TV, a private news agency and the Bank Asya for financial transactions, private schools, a myriad of companies in Germany alone estimates their number in the three digits, and a great humanitarian organization that took in $ 16 million in donations in 2009.

The Turkish journalist Ahmet Sik wrote the book about Fethullah The Army of the Imam . This means that the Gülen movement as the "most powerful brotherhood" in Turkey, which has "infiltrated" the police, military and state apparatus since the 80's, to replace the nationalism of Atatürk by a re-Islamization. Sik's research has not fared well. He was charged with a fanciful accusation in court for belonging  to an ominous secret organization over which he had revealed something in his reports. This is possible because the Gülen movement is very strong in the police and judiciary. His book was banned and could be published only on the Internet.

Gulen Movement "controls trade and economy  and  has deeply infiltrated the political scene has"

Another Turkish author wrote a knockout book about the Gülen movement and he was also arrested with the accusation of belonging to a Left-wing group. The movement "is powerful and to mess with it comes at a high price," said the lawyer Fikret-Sik Ilkiz. In a diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Turkey to the State Department in Washington, it was said in 2009: The Gülen Movement is "controls trade and industry and has deeply infiltrated the political scene. At least one third of Erdogan's ruling party MPs belong to the movement, as well as the Department of Justice and the Minister of Culture, wrote the U.S. diplomat. James Jeffrey, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey from 2008 to 2010, in a report.  It is difficult to prove the infiltration of Turkish police by the Gülen movement, but we have found no one who would deny such. The Marburg Islamic scholar Ursula winder-Stegemann says about the influence of the Gülen movement : "It is the most important and dangerous Islamist movement in Germany." The Gülen movement speaks of itself as cemaat (community).

"The Army of the Imam": Alba Centro in Buenos Aires - FID in Berlin

"More than a hundred educational institutes operate in connection with cemaat: schools, tuition centers." They have established  15 'discussion clubs', such as the Forum for Intercultural Dialogue Berlin (FID). The clubs organize conferences to meet rabbis, priests and imams, they invite you to travel to Istanbul. "

This was written by Der Spiegel in August 2012 after the report on the WDR  The Silent Army of the Imam - Had broadcast on Fethullah Gulen's network. Despite the intense, dutiful preoccupationn with Islam,  Germans hardly know anything about the Gülen movement, although this is largely representative of the Turks in Germany and Austria toward the Erdogan government. This is probably also responsible for ensuring that a number of high-ranking German politicians are involved in the cultural associations of the movement. This protects it. In the Member of Advisory Board, for example, the former president of the Bundestag and unsuitable Catholic in name only, Rita Süßmuth (CDU), a native of Iran Member of Parliament and security spokesman Omid Nouripour (Green) and the last GDR Foreign Minister, Markus Meckel (SPD).  At FID events, the former Senator of Berlin, Ehrhart Körting and the President of the Berlin House of Representatives Walter Momper (SPD), the Minister of Justice, and Minister for Integration Jörg-Uwe (Hessian State Chairman of the FDP) ,  the particularly Islam-friendly chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag and former CDU General Secretary Ruprecht Polenz (CDU) and many others have taken a  prominent part in politics, religion, culture and science.

As in Berlin, they seek all cultural offices in Buenos Aires to make influential contacts. This is more recently from the Gülen  Movement, in which Nancy Falcon has given  Pope Francis a Koran and makes this episode public. Not only is the Italian edition of L'Osservatore Roman of help, but also the German editors of Radio Vatican, from which the message was distributed last Saturday.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Vatican Insider

Translation Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

GalliaWatch: "We refuse to be a political police"

Here's some encouraging news from the French National Police. They are not at all happy with the orders they were handed during the various Manifs, rallies and vigils. Feeling ridiculous in the role of oppressor of individuals guilty only of wearing a sweat-shirt with a certain logo, they are now openly expressing their discontent through two of their unions: Alliance and the SCPN. Le Figaroreports:

A few days ago, in a tract from Alliance, the CRS (riot police) expressed indignation over their "ridiculous" mission against the Veilleurs debout (standing vigils). Today, the anger has spread to the commissioners("commissaires"). In the latest issue of the Tribune du commissaire, two of the three open editorials are devoted to the "growing malaise" within the police institution resulting from the repression of the anti-gay marriage demonstrations. "We've never seen this!" says a member of the SCPN union, which represents 60% of the commissioners, and which has always been very legitimist. "That shows the scope of the discontent."

Read further:

GalliaWatch: "We refuse to be a political police"

Society Still Open as Always to Reconciliation with Roman Authorities

Edit: Rorate just dismissed an Italian blogger Enzo Bianchi who claims to have inside information. In fact, French website Nouvelles de France ridicules him.  Indeed, the Society is open to an agreement with Rome, most likely this is much to the chagrin of those like Curial Archbishop Müller, the Prefect f the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith  as well as  others who've been trying to derail it for a long while.  Here's the passage copied from Rorate:

Let us read this interesting - and real, not imaginary... - 11th paragraph of the June 27, 2013, declaration: "We mean to do the same: either when Rome returns to Tradition and to the Faith of all time – which would re-establish order in the Church; or when she explicitly acknowledges our right to profess integrally the Faith and to reject the errors which oppose it, with the right and the duty for us to oppose publicly the errors and the proponents of these errors, whoever they may be – which would allow the beginning of a re-establishing of order." In other words, a kind of open door is left to the consideration of the Roman authorities. A door that does not require a calling into question of Vatican II, but rather a pragmatic solution. This passage contains a true revolution. But it was curiously ignored. A pity! It was perhaps the true scoop that, unfortunately, eludes newsrooms that are more skilled in spreading gossip than in the study of ecclesiology ...

Schüller Banned in Boston -- "Ultimatum" to SSPX in Regensburg

(Washington / Regensburg) "Helmut Schüller takes positions contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church and therefore may not speak in any community of the Diocese." By that reasoning, the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley gave the Austrian Helmut Schüller, a rebel priests in his archdiocese banned from appearing. Schüller was to speak on July 17th in Boston. The former Vicar General of Vienna and leader of the rebel group called Austrian Priest Initiative with branches in Germany and Switzerland, is touring from July 15th to the 7th of August in the U.S. and expects to appear in public in nine states.

He was invited by the schismatic spectrum of radically progressive circles. Considered in the secular world to be the hardliners of thed left wing church. It is considered controversial whether these groups are still part of the Catholic Church: Call to Action, Catholics s Alliance for the Common Good, Corpus, DignityUSA, Future Church, National Coalition of American Nuns, Nuevo Ways Ministry, Voice of the Faithful, Quixote Center, Women's Ordination Conference.

Schüller's Ban Does no "Damage" to the Church

The decision by Cardinal O'Malley received strong encouragement from faithful church circles that are sorry that some believe in the Church, to have free rein, taking advantage of brotherhood and charity. It has the more weight, as the Cardinal was appointed by Pope Francis to the eight-headed Cardinal group to advise him on the leadership of the Church.

"This is a huge injury to the body of Christ, the people of God," writes the progressive Catholic website Religion Digital about this. That the Cardinal has banned a priest who publicly calls for "disobedience" for his role against the teaching and discipline of the Church, has "harmed" the Church, has been described by the Spanish church historian Francisco de la Cigoña as "nonsense." It was a "duty" of a bishop to protect his flock from division and false prophets.

When do German-speaking Bishops Show Most Determination?

In Germany, the bishops of several dioceses imposed a ban, including Bamberg, Eichstätt and Hildesheim, on an appearance in the Spring against Schüller. As a true rebel it doesn't bother him much. In Nuremberg, a kindred spirit in the clerical habit nevertheless made his church available. For Schuller, who comes from abroad, this is easier. But how is it with the determinations of the bishops against their own disobedient priests? How long will the bishops tolerate an open rebellion as merely flirting with the zeitgeist? No one immediately calls for sanctions. The church has previously employed fraternal forms in dealing with error. However, if it becomes apparent that it is stubbornness, to soar the rebels "morally" and "essentially" jump over the Church, and thus disclosed the doctrine of the Church and its authority to mockery, then the bishops are required, because then there is imminent danger.

Faithful Catholics are waiting in vain for clear measures against the schismatic bishops, priests disobedient rebels in concubinage. The most "stringent" action recently was that an Austrian priest rebel, at the direction of Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna, when could not be elected dean. Compared with the SSPX on the other hand, the bishops have always brave.

The new Bishop of Regensburg Rudolf Voderholzer, yesterday told Munich Radio Church , that he was expecting to give an "ultimatum" to the SSPX. The next step would be excommunication. The Bishop of Regensburg spoke as chief shepherd of his diocese, and did so without a doubt what is rightfully his to do.

Of an "ultimatum" to progressive rebel groups, such as the Pastors Initiative operating since 2006, however, is something completely unheard of. Although the degree of confusion, incited by the rebels in the German Church is objectively greater by far than it could ever have been instigated by the SSPX. This creates the impression that there is a double standard.

Critical Approach to Council Required for Renewal of the Church

Considering the published opinion of Bishop Voderholzer at Radio Vatican it should be noted: the German bishops should not be behind Rome and Pope Benedict XVI. and remain critical from the Second Vatican Council. After 50 years, the impression should be avoided above all, that the Council should not be criticized.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: La cigüeña de la torre / catholictippingpoint.org Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMGD

"Rebel Pastor" Bernard Kroll Will be the President of the Catholic Workers' Movement of Eichstät

On the 10th Anniversary of His Betrayal of Christ

[Bild: kreuz-net/Archiv]

"Rebel priest" Bernhard Kroll is Programme Director of Pastoral Workers of the Diocese of Eichstätt Kroll was rightly suspended because of prohibited participation in a Protestant communion with the "Ecumenical" Church Day in Berlin by Bishop Mixa. Now he is promised a management function.


"Ecumenism" - A Plague of [Bad] Advice

Driven mainly by Protestants and Leftist "Catholics" as a hobby, "ecumenism" has as its primary purpose to enfeeble, and to pull down Roman Catholic values ​​and beliefs to Protestants level.

To date, it is certainly not known if Protestants are coming to the Catholic Church. The former cult director and current ambassador of the Reformation, Margot Käßmann, who drank her way out of her former office, expects a "positive signal for ecumenism", quite the opposite for the Luther celebration in 2017.

At the same time it is clear: "The divisive - Papacy, Marian devotion, theological understandings of the official Church and the Eucharist - will remain of course."

In other words: the Catholic Church is to move towards heresy after example of the Protestants.

Abusers Lord's Supper

In connection with the "Ecumenical" Church Day in May 2003, in Berlin, he cooperated in celebrating Eucharist with the later banned, Emeritus Theology Professor Gotthold Hasenhüttl, in the Gethsemane Lutheran Church and Fr. Bernhard Kroll, pastor in Franconia Großhabersdorf, had used members of the Protestant cult as lackeys.

Out of sheer greed for public acclaim, he was also filmed here.

Fr. Gotthold Hasenhüttl celebrated Holy Mass in a Lutheran church. For supper he invited everyone present explicitly - Catholics, heretics and infidels.

Hw. Hasenhüttl described in an interview with the anti-Catholic polemic journal "The Mirror", the Papal encyclicals - like those of Pope John Paul II, with which it is clearly presented by the Holy Father that Catholics attending the Protestant type of the "Eucharist" is forbidden - as a "contribution to the discussion by the Pope".

Premeditation

Fr. Kroll continued the compare the celebration of Holy Communion in the Church of the presence of God as the same as a mere memorial by Protestants.

Fr. Kroll knows that the participation of a Catholic priest in vestments in a Protestant wine tasting with bread is forbidden.

But that did not bother him.

On the contrary, he had even accepted the action taken, even expected sanctions by the Church - "but at most with a warning, or a leave of absence."

Proper response of Bishop Mixa

Instead, the then Bishop Walter Mixa had done the right thing: He suspended Fr. Kroll a few days later, prohibiting any celebration of the Eucharist and relieved him of his duties as President of the Diocesan Catholic Youth Community (KJG). The official website of the Diocese of Eichstätt euphemistically describes it ten years later (release: July 8, 2013) with, "In the fall of 2003, he resigned [Fr. Kroll, Editor's note] his pastorate and began further studies."

Church from Below

Then the supposedly Catholic associations of de facto Protestants as "We Are Church" attempted to stage a peasant revolt. In a leaflet of the anti-Roman "Church People's Movement" ("We Are Church") you availed the mobilization effect and asked the recipients "for their generous (tax-deductible) donation - of course for themselves.

Bishop Mixa was fortunately committed in his objectively well-founded decision.

But he also receives unintentional praise from "We are Church": "Walter Mixa, Bishop of Eichstätt, for whom the Pope is a welcome guest, who had already made known his unwavering loyalty to the Roman doctrine on the assumption of office."

Support was received for Mixa from his Excellency Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne and Catholic associations like the "Network Catholic Priests": "Kroll is a further indication of the theological and pastoral nadir of German Catholicism."

However, the network of Catholic priests wished even a punishment of unfair practices in the Eucharist even when they are not attacked in the media.

Press Conference by Fr. Kroll

He had been shocked, is what Fr. Kroll reported. Apparently not enough, at a press conference given after his disciplining he shows himself obstinate and refers to previous misdeeds, "church services, weddings and baptisms along with evangelical colleagues are common in my community. The time was ripe to go a step further. I would probably not do it again in this way."

Commendation by Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke on the 10-year anniversary of the suspension

Almost exactly ten years later the incumbent Bishop of Eichstätt Hanke promoted Fr. Kroll, to the order to the diocesan president of the Catholic Workers Movement (KAB). He replaces vicar Michael Konecny, who is now translated to the parish of Buxheim.

Even before that (early 2008) had his Excellency had appointed Kroll as city youth minister in Ingolstadt - how aptly he could convey his Protestant views of equality to the youth right here.

Bishops Promote Anti-Rome Clergy

The new office is to begin for "rebel priest" on the 1st of September, 2013, coinciding with the disobedience Pastor Strohmaier in St. Veit am Vogau in southern Styria.

But that the episcopate also conveys that it is behind the anti-Rome movement or at least approves of this.

Link to kreuz.net...


Editor: Bishop Walter Mixa was one of the few German Bishops trying to get it right, and he was trammeled and dismissed over very weak allegations of physically abusing his students.  He was "helped" along by the decadent Cardinals Marx and Zollitsch.  Clearly, he was replaced by a very evil Bishop.

Decadent Pastor Still Endorses Gomorrist Parade

Edit: in view of the day’s recent news at Lifesite, regarding the spread of HIV, the decadent pastor of a Minneapolis parish endorses moral evil and does so during a rally conceived to adulate the evils of sodomy, while seeking to impose legislation which ultimately punishes those who oppose it in any way.

The individuals associated with this event were particularly exultant, and the highly visible parish where this event takes place wasn’t so much a beacon, as a siren, luring men to destruction. This lavender Basilica has been a problem for ages. It’s also deeply connected to the Modernist Monastery of Collegeville as a collaborator.

One local blogger was good enough to supply the pastor’s endorsement of sodomy in a blog entry two years before:


I am sure the vast majority of us in Basilica on Sunday were waiting to see what the Pastors Homily would be. There was little doubt about the topic; the only unknown was exactly what he’d say.

Basilica is a welcoming and diverse place, and Fr. Bauer made specific reference to the greeting at every Mass: “Whatever brings you here and wherever you are at on your faith journey, you are welcome here.” It is a theme that the Basilica lives. It fits my Parish.

The rest of his brief message spoke gently to the issue that had Lucinda out on the sidewalk: “Parishes are much like families“, he said, alluding again to something he’s said before: that in his own family, members tend to cancel each other out in Presidential elections. He pulled a quotation from, he recalled, James Joyce: “The word ‘Catholic’ means ‘here comes everybody’ “. And then he quoted from an e-mail someone had sent him during the tense few days preceding this Mass: “I stay [in the Church] because I want the Church to be the Church I want the Church to be.”

Of course, the parish continues to be welcome to depravity and unwelcome to Catholics. Nothing appears to have been done by the local Archbishop.

Pope #1 Religious Leader on Twitter

Vatican (Catholic news / RV). Pope Francis is currently the religious leader with the most followers on Twitter. 117 days after taking office, the Pope reached a total of 7.297 million users over the short message service (as of 13:30). Immediately following the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, with 40,000 fewer subscribers. Francis has the most followers, with around 2.78 million in the Spanish-speaking world. 116,000 users in Germany follow the Pope's channel. Available in nine languages ​​in the channel "@ pontifex" Pope Francis has been sent 80 tweets. Most recently, he wrote on Monday during his visit to the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa: "Let us ask a big heart for immigrants. God will judge us according to how we have met the most needy.” [Surely, not according to forced subsidies, enforced from the end of a gun.]

 Photo: Pope Francis - Image Source: Andreas Gehrmann

Link to Kathnews...

The CDF is Preparing a Statement Against the SSPX

Edit: Archbishop Müller is in the habit of overstepping his mandate.

(Vatican) The Prefect of the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, was angry about the recent declaration of the three bishops of the Society of St. Pius X. This was reported by the dts news agency , citing the weekly magazine Focus. The bishops of the SSPX had issued on the anniversary of their episcopal ordination 25 years ago, a joint statement, in which they accused Rome with sharp words of being a being in the grip of a "Liberal spirit". In particular, the New Mass and the positions of the Second Vatican Council were objected to, ecumenism, religious liberty, and collegiality. The explanation was offered that this was a rejection of further talks with the Holy See. The SSPX itself, does not want it so understood.

So it seems, however, that this years acting Prefect of the CDF, the former Bishop of Regensburg, is the way he has understood it. According to Focus, the CDF is preparing a statement against the SSPX. To explain, says Focus , Archbishop Müller is reported to have said: "Well, but it's enough really."

Link to Katholisches...

The Double Standard

[kreuz.net] Gay pedophile crimes - penalties between almost trivializing gentleness and pleasing severity as felony 

Boundless mercy: six months on parole

A 23 year old mother had made contact between her 14 year old brother and a work colleague and advised his brother to accept the "friend request" of pedophiles via Facebook.

The perverts had also offered to pay the woman for sexual acts with the young people.

There were 230 euros assessed, which were to be used for the rent, the woman alleged.

Six months later the contact came to "fruition": It involved sexual abuse by the gay pedophile.

The accused defended herself with mental retardation.

The judge apparently found that the woman knew what she was doing. But did not hold him back from a trivialization for a limited pedophilia-related prison sentence of six months, this by judge Dietmar Wassertheurer.

The correction effect by the judgment will be lower.

With all severity: 12 Years unconditional imprisonment for former priest

The former headmaster of an Upper Austrian school, a now 79 year old laicised priest was put on trial for violent and sexual offenses to students.

Prosecutor Dagmar Geroldinger accused the gay child molester, to have engaged in sexual acts with 15 boys.

The school had reacted immediately and engaged the necessary consequences. Regardless of a person in the statute of limitation there is 500,000 euros and 200,000 euros in reparations that have been paid for therapies: a good deal for psychotherapists, so you would have to pay the cost of around four years of salaried therapists.

The School has Warmly Welcomed the Conviction.

The offenses date back to the years (1971 to 1996). The accused, Oliver Plöckinger had been barred a plea for acquittal. In the case of the rejection of the statute of limitation period, he had expected a sentence of 8 years imprisonment.

Apparently, the defendant had particularly bad cards as a former clergyman.

Judge Wolf-Dieter Graf pronounced a sentence of 12 years. The judgment is not final, it applies to all the presumption of innocence.

Gay, pervert and pedophile

It is again remarkable that apparently, abuse crimes are committed dispoportionately by gays.

Not entirely surprising, however, considering that these perverts have already broken the limits of the natural and have been recognized sexuality in society. Since the threshold for pedophilia is more than just a small obstacle, it is more puzzling that the parliaments have allowed the adoption and custody of boys by homosexuals as it makes the Austrian Parliament with the votes of the supposedly Christian values ​indicative of OVP is these days.

No mercy for pedophile sex offenders!

The call can only be: No related penalties for pedophile sex offenders, no fines, imprisonment exclusively - and especially with the known high relapse rate!

Pro-Life Doctor Xavier Dor Condemned -- A Desire to Save Lives and Mental Illness?

(Paris) Faster than expected, the judges of the 31st Criminal Chamber of the Paris Court have reached their judgment. The prosecution accused the Pro-Life Doctor, Xavier Dor, of recently praying the rosary publicly "without permission" ( see separate report ). In addition, the physician and president of the right to life organization SOS Tout Petits was alleged to have exerted "mental and psychic pressure" on women determined to have abortions, because he had given the gift of baby slipper to two pregnant women who wanted to kill their unborn children by abortion.

Dor defended himself in court with a reference to the right guaranteed in the Constitution, the (mythical) right to freedom of expression. But the 85 year old doctor was found guilty as charged by the judges. Although freedom of expression is a valuable commodity, say the judges, yet it still has limitations: the respect for the other, in the specific case of the women. Given the fact that they were about the murder of another person, namely the unborn child, it was a masterly euphemism.

Because of his age he is expected clemency. The Criminal Court accepted the proposal of the public prosecutor and sentenced Xavier Dor to one month imprisonment and a related 8000 euro penalty. His efforts to persuade women to save the life of their children, was thus declared a criminal offense. But this was not enough, the judge sentenced the doctor also to a "little psychological therapy."

Because the French judge is therefore not so mentally disturbed, he who kills innocent children (or correspondingly demands legislation for killing and decides on it), but who is committed to the lives of the most vulnerable. Yet it is not clear what kind of "psychological therapy" should be imposed on the doctor, given the fact that Xavier Dor sees its struggle as a "spiritual struggle and resistance against the culture of death."

The judgment clearly shows that the attempt to bring into line the (true) right to life for children and the (wrong) right to abortion can not be brought on behalf of female self-determination. The one excludes the other, which all people of good will have always known.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: SOS Tout Petits
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

11 Priests Ordained in Winona Minnesota

Edit: the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few…

Only 11 were ordained in New York, the legacy of Cardinal Mahony can be felt as only 2 were ordained in the Taj by Archbishop Gomez, while 10 were ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.


Here’s the report from a Catholic Life:

Fulfilling the mission of the Society of St. Pius X - to form holy priests - 11 new priests were added to its company on Friday, June 21st, along with one Dominican for the Avrille (France) community.

These young deacons were ordained to the Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta during a beautiful 4-hour long ceremony that included the solemn Pontifical Mass. In attendance were 82 priests, many religious, and over 1,500 faithful, who travelled from all parts of the United States (and beyond) to witness this wonderful event for the Catholic Church, as well as to pray for the increased holiness of the ordinands.

Also, not to be forgotten on that day, was the ordination of 6 subdeacons to the diaconate, though they are not shown in the image gallery below.

Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires -- Archbishop Bergolio and the Scientific Analysis

Edit: when an alleged Eucharistic Miracle was explored in Minnesota recently, I don't get the impression it was investigated with this level of care.

(Buenos Aires) Pope Francis had as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires to conduct a scientific investigation into an alleged Eucharistic miracle, as the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires became known and is said to have taken place between 1992 and 1996. He himself went several times a year to St. Mary's Church, to keep in the visible signs of the miracle and to hold Eucharistic adoration there.

The event is little known, because the pastor and his flock, probably without consultation with the Archbishop, wanted no media furor. Since the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as successor to the Apostle Peter, the message is still spreading slowly. In the German-speaking Catholic internet forum, Viaveritas the first to report about it was in 2009.

The Facts

The event began in 1992 in the same year and month, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio was called by Pope John Paul II from the Argentine Province and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires. Everything has happened in the parish of Santa Maria y Caballito Almagro in the quarter in the Old City of Buenos Aires. On May 1st, 1992, a Friday, two consecrated hosts were found on the corporals of the Tabernacle. At the direction of the pastor, Father Alejandro Pezet, they were placed in a water container and sealed in the tabernacle, as is usual in such cases. After several days, the hosts had not dissolved. A week later, on Friday the 8th May 1992 were soaked with blood as the two hosts. On Sunday, the 10th Were discovered in May 1992 during the evening service on the paten drop of blood on which the consecrated host is placed during the Eucharistic celebration. The blood was examined by a doctor and several hematologists. All found beyond reasonable doubt that it was human blood.

On the 15th, 1996, the Solemnity of the Assumption, when the Communion during the Mass was over, a woman approached Pastor Pezet and told him that she had found on the back of the church an apparently desecrated host. The priest hurried out to pick them up and put these in a glass of water to dissolve them. Instead of dissolving, however, the host turned into a bloody piece of meat. From this metamorphosis, Cardinal Antonio Quarracino (1990-1998), then Archbishop of Buenos Aires and his Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio were immediately informed. They instructed the priest to have a photographer photograph everything. The pictures were made on the 6th of September, 1996 and sent to Rome.

Scientific Research

As several years passed there were no signs of visible decay, the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires who is the present Pope conducted a thorough investigation. A tissue sample piece of meat into which the Host in the tabernacle had changed in 1996, was examined medically by a forensic examiner. It was noted that it is certainly the part of a human heart. As the pathological institute further noted that it had to be the heart of a living man. These are living cells. The coroner had not been instructed on the origin of the sample, so as not to affect the outcome in any direction.

In the same year the well-known, among other things, German trained, Neuropsychopharmacology Physiologist Castañon Ricardo Gomez from Bolivia, was commissioned to carry out some further investigations. This time on two alleged Eucharistic miracles, that of 1992 and that of 1996. On the 6th of October 1999, Castañon took a blood sample in the presence of representatives of the Archbishop and of a notary, and sent it to the  Analytical Forensic Institute Forence  of San Francisco in the United States. The withdrawal was cleared by the Archbishop with Rome. Direct contacts were the Canon Lawyer and Current Curial Bishop, Gianfranco Girotti, the private secretary to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine and the Faith. On the 28th of January 2000, the result was announced. The Institute noted that it was human blood, confirming the previous studies. The DNA code is uniquely human. The samples were also sent to Professor John Walker of the University of Sydney in Australia. Independently of any other studies it was found that the muscle cells and white blood cells originate from a human and are perfectly intact. The studies also showed that the tissue was inflamed, which means that the person to whom it belongs, had suffered a trauma. In 2003, Walker told Castañon that the samples comply with an infected male, according to the signs also still alive according to the state of the heart.

To make matters deeper, then the samples were sent to the specialists for heart disease, Frederic Zugibe of the Columbia University of New York, one of the most renowned practitioners in the U.S. Court. On the 26th of March, 2005, he presented the results of his investigations. He presented the analyzed material as a definitive fragment of the heart muscle, which originates from the left ventricle near the aortic valve. The left ventricle pumps the blood to all body parts. The investigated heart muscle, says Zugibe, is located in an inflamed condition and contains a large number of white blood cells. The example then that the heart was living when the sample was taken from him, because white blood cells die off outside a living organism. More, the white blood cells have penetrated into the tissue, which indicates that the heart has suffered a great stress situation. Also, Zugibe and his scientific team were not informed about the background and origin of the samples from consecrated Hosts.

Witnesses of the studies were the attorney Ron Tesoriero and Mike Willesee, one of Australia's best known journalists, then converted to the Catholic faith. As Zugibe later learned that one sample a month the others were stored in distilled water even for three years, he was completely taken aback. He was even more surprised when he learned of the origin of the samples from wafers. The "living" part of it is a male heart fragment came from a piece of consecrated bread. Zugibe was stunned: How could the fragment of a piece of bread be a part of a human heart? How was it possible that these samples he examined, which must have been taken from 1996, for those who do not believe in miracles, could be from a dead man, still remain "alive" years after removal, meaning that the tissue cells were active and moving?  Within 15 minutes, the white blood cells break down in a dead organism. How was it possible it was still observable in 2005?  Zugibe's response, "How and why can the consecrated Host can mutate and become the flesh and blood of a living human being, remains an inexplicable mystery for science, a mystery that lies outside its competence."

Comparison with Lanciano and the Shroud of Turin

The results of the analysis of the New York Institute were finally compared with those of another Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano that, the earliest known of its kind in Lanciano, both the remains of a bloody Host and preserved human heart, which was transformed from a consecrated Host. The Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano is already 1300 years old, and yet are still remains a Host and part of the heart muscle can be seen and is exhibited in the local Franciscan Church. The miracle occurred in the first half of the 8th Century, when the area of Lanciano in southern Italy was Lombard. From Byzantium many monks fled West due to the iconoclast controversy under Emperor Leo III. (717-741). One of them, a Greek Basilian, doubted while he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Real Presence of Christ. He doubted that the bread and wine would actually convert into flesh and remain the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. During the consecration, the bread turned in his hands and under his eyes actually into flesh and blood. Recent scientific studies have also confirmed it has been a revered relic for almost 1,300 years as human blood and human heart tissue. There were no preservatives found that could explain such a long preservation.

None of the scientists were informed about the origin of the two samples from Italy and Argentina when comparing the studies of Lanciano and Buenos Aires. The comparison showed that the studied samples come from the same person in both cases. The blood type is AB + for each, which occurs in about five percent of all people worldwide. The DNA is the same in the both cases. In addition, there are features that the man came from the Middle East. Further comparisons showed the same agreement with the grave cloth of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo.

The Vatican has yet to recognize the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires. The Church can thus usually take enough time and not be rushed. Nevertheless, Argentina seems to be ripe with a long series of Eucharistic miracles that run through the course of time in Church history in a very special way, against the doubts of priests, recalling for religious and laity that transubstantiation is quite real and vivid in the memory.

Text: UCCR / Giuseppe Nardi
Image: UCCR / Giuseppe Nardi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD