Commissar Closes the Cloister of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in Teramo

Teramo

(Teramo) The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate are leaving Teramo, the capital city of the Italian region of Abruzzo. As the religious house of Teramo announced in a statement, the closing on February 11th of the Monastery of Teramo is "based on a decision of the Apostolic Commissioner," Father Fidenzio Volpi.

As a reason, a "decline of Brothers" and the "departure of some religious" were mentioned. In both cases, these were direct consequences of the provisional administration of the Order which had been blooming till July 2013.  The "decline" is due to resignations, which were triggered by the radical intervention of members appointed by the Commissar appointed by the Roman Congregation of Religious because the original charism of the Order was destroyed. The "departure" means forced displacements and exile of the friars by the Commissar.

On October 6, 2007 Bishop Michele Seccia of Teramo had entrusted the parish and convent of San Domenico to the young Franciscans.  In 2008 the  Marian lay community of Missione Immacolata Media Trice and the Third Order were established. Since the same year, the Fathers have celebrated the Traditional Rite since the implementation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, not only the convent's, but public worship, such as the  Office and Vespers. In a pastoral concern for the parish,  the Mass was celebrated in both the traditional and the new Rites.

In 2005, the Dominicans had Abandoned the Monastery for Lack of Vocations 

In 1287  the Dominicans in Teramo established  the church and convent of San Domenico. After a long flowering, the Dominican convent was dissolved in 1809 by the Napoleonic storm, the church  was converted into a stall and the monastery into barracks. After the Congress of Vienna, the Confraternity of the Rosary, founded in 1556 by the Dominicans in Teramo for the care of the restoration of the Church. Because of the anticlerical attitude of 1860 by the newly created Italian state, it would take 130 years for the Dominicans were to return to Teramo. Only the Lateran Treaty made it possible that in 1939, the church was adopted by the Dominicans and the monastery was repopulated.

The Dominican church "experienced then in 1969-1971 as part of the post-conciliar liturgical reform, interventions in the design of the presbytery," as it states on the remaining website of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Teramo. In 2005, the Dominicans had to abandon the monastery Teramo "for lack of vocations."

Soon the monastery was empty, then the Bishop of Teramo summoned  the Franciscans of the Immaculate summoned a young  Order, which had no staffing problems and had thus guaranteed the safe continuation of the monastery and pastoral care. Less than seven years later, the tide has turned dramatically through papal intervention. In two days, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate will leave Teramo, but for very different reasons than the Dominicans.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link....

AMDG

Cardinal Burke to Resist

Edit: this might provide a suggestion as to what happened during Burke's audience.  From the SSPX USA site:

Some frank answers from Cardinal Burke during a French TV interview that will be broadcasted on Sunday, February 8th.

We present here some extracts of Cardinal Raymond Burke's comments given during an interview conducted by Lionel Feuerstein, Karine Comazzi, Patrice Brugeres, Nicolas Berthelos and Claire Aubinais for the “13H15 le dimanche” episode of French Television channel, France2.

The complete interview will be broadcasted on Sunday, February 8 onFranceTV.info.

Cardinal Burke: I cannot accept that Communion can be given to a person in an irregular union because it is adultery. On the question of people of the same sex, this has nothing to do with marriage. This is an affliction suffered by some people whereby they are attracted against nature sexually to people of the same sex.

Question: If perchance the pope will persist in this direction, what will you do?

Cardinal Burke: I shall resist, I can do nothing else. There is no doubt that it is a difficult time; this is clear, this is clear.

Question: Painful?

Cardinal Burke: Yes.

Question: Worrisome?

Cardinal Burke: Yes.

Question: In your opinion, can we say today that the Catholic Church as an institution is threatened?

Cardinal Burke: The Lord has assured us, as He has assured St. Peter in the Gospel, that the powers of evil will not prevail, “non praevalebunt” as we say in Latin, that the forces of evil will not have victory over the Church.

Question of the end: Is the Pope still your friend?

Cardinal Burke (with a smile): I would not want to make the pope an enemy for sure. That is fine for now. [from the context: "That is enough for this interview"].

Pope Backs Efforts to Defend Family in Slovakia

Edit: why is this even an issue?
[Huffington Post] As Slovakia gears up for a referendum on same-sex unions this coming weekend, Pope Francis gave his blessing to the country's efforts to block marriage and adoption rights for gay couples.

Speaking at his weekly general audience on Wednesday, the pope said: "I greet the pilgrims from Slovakia and, through them, I wish to express my appreciation to the entire Slovak church, encouraging everyone to continue their efforts in defense of the family, the vital cell of society."

Alliance for the Family, a Slovak conservative group, has gathered more than 400,000 votes -- representing nearly 10 percent of the country’s electorate, according to Reuters -- on a petition calling for a national vote that could block any future efforts to overturn Slovakia's existing ban on same-sex marriage.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/06/pope-slovakia-referendum_n_6630876.html
.

Update: Swiss Guard Gets New Commander

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appointed Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Graf as the new commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Graf joined the military unit in 1987. He replaces Colonel takes the place of Colonel Daniel Anrig, who retired last month, and had been commander since 2008. For over 500 years, the 110-man unit has been responsible for the safety of the Pope, including the security of the Apostolic Palace.

"The Church Has Betrayed John Paul II"

Archbishop Henryk Hoser:  "The Church Has Betrayed
Pope John Paul II."

(Warsaw) This is what Archbishop Henryk Hoser Archbishop, Bishop of Warsaw-Praga,  said about the Magisterium of the Polish Pope on the family. The reason for the sharp criticism is the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family in October 2015.

"I'll say it brutally.. The church has betrayed John Paul II." With these words, Archbishop Hoser recently caused a stir. "Not the Church as the Bride of Christ, not the Church of our creed, for John Paul II. was its expression, the authentic voice of the Church, but the pastoral practice is what has betrayed John Paul II.,"  said the Polish archbishop in an interview with the Polish news agency KAI.

The focus of the interview was the family and the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Family in autumn. They will be there, said the Archbishop, to talk about the breakdown of the family, about the patchwork family, about the indissolubility of marriage, but it will also be those who demand the admission of the divorced and remarried to Communion.

Archbishop Hoser said the fact that the position representative of Cardinal Kasper started from   a "false premise", because it would be "calls  for God's mercy without justice".  In real life, it would be necessary "that marriage and family life guaranteed justice." The Bishop of Warsaw recalled the words of John the Baptist to Herod: "You had no right to take your brother's wife to wife" (Mk 6:18). What was important is "a need for justice," said Archbishop Hoser referring to Pope John Paul II., who had said that love seeks out "justice with God".

The Bishop of Warsaw called on Catholics to read the Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II. Familiaris Consortio about the family.

Hoser was   the diocesan Bishop of Warsaw-Praga before his appointment as a Curial Archbishop in Rome. The rank and dignity of archbishop he kept ad personam keep after his appointment.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Roman Reproach to the Philippine Bishops for Their Opposition to "Reproductive Health"

Pierre de Charentenay SJ

(Rome / Manila) Just before the pastoral visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines there appeared in Belgium a book that deals with the Catholics of this island nation. The author is the Jesuit Pierre de Charentenay, who is on the permanent staff of the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica in Rome. In the book "Les Philippines, archipelago asiatique et catholique" (The Philippines, Asian and Catholic Archipelago), published by the Jesuit Publisher Lessius éditions in Namur,  de Charentenay criticized the Philippine bishops because of their stubborn resistance to new state laws that aim to legalize contraception, abortion, divorce and "gay marriage." Pope Francis hasn't offered a word to  defend them.

The South and Southeast Asia visit of the Pope from 12 to 19th January, in terms of global media interest, was reduced to the statement that "good Catholics" should not multiply like "rabbits".  One of those tossed in statements that increasingly characterize this pontificate. At this rate, decades later it will be recalled when the pontificate of the Argentine Pope is long past.

The statement was indeed of a general nature, but is easy to apply to  the papal destination of the Philippines. The archipelago forms the largest Catholic nation in Asia. And Filipinos are still happy about offspring.

Hardly Related to Country and Folk Elements in Pope's Speeches

Subjecting all speeches of the Pope, both prepared and spontaneous, an analysis, it is found that it hardly find specific references to the country and people. Here, the Philippines next to the young and small East Timor, the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia huge.

The Catholic church in the country became known worldwide for its leadership role in the peaceful popular uprising that the end of the reign of Ferdinand Marcos brought about in 1986. His widow took almost 30 years later, some with millions of other Filipinos at the Papal Mass in Manila. Otherwise, the Catholic island nation remained little attention.Today Filipinos form an army of millions of Catholic immigrant workers in the Islamic monarchies on the Arabian Peninsula.

De Charentenay's Book About the Catholic Philippines

The eminent French Jesuit, Pierre de Charentenay set himself the task to close the gaps in knowledge about the Catholic Philippines. De Charentenay is the current director of the Jesuit College Centre Sèvres de Paris, and from 2004-2012 Editor of the French Jesuit journal Etudes. Since 2013, he has worked as a regular contributor to the Civiltà Cattolica has climbed the "Olympus" of Jesuit magazines. As is well known, each article of the Roman Jesuit journal appears after prior control with explicit permission to print from the Vatican. Chief Editor Father Antonio Spadaro is currently one of the reigning Pope's  closest confidants.

The importance of the book by Father de Charentenay draws attention to  a barely noticed event. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, also a Jesuit, recommended reading the book in preparation for the papal visit to accredited journalists. "A fortiori, it may be assumed with good reason that Pope Francis will have read the book," said Vatican expert Sandro Magister.

Father de Charentenay has visited the Philippines several times since 1982, and in 2013 lived there for almost a year on the islands. The book reads in one breath. The language is fluid, the details are well-founded, the historical survey is  accurate. The Frenchman appears as an attentive observer, but also holds some surprises ready for the reader.

It's astonishing, for example, that generous public forgiveness and allowances are granted in the Philippines by the state and by the community for serious crimes. The largest prison in the country Father de Charentenay describes as a giant village, within which the prisoners can move and organize freely.

Although these typical Filipino forms could  appeal to the mildness Pope Francis, who made the forgiveness of "mercy" as the core interest of his pontificate, he did not respond.

Praise for Government and their Divorce, Aberro-, Abortion and Contraception Agenda

Father de Charentenay also devotes a detailed chapter to the lengthy and harsh conflict between the Philippine bishops and the Government on the law about "reproductive health".

The author proves that he is by no means "neutral" on this point. He  frankly sides with the "Catholic" President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. and whose government,  which has proposed and passed laws rejected by the Catholic bishops. Against the wishes of the Catholic Church,  the "Catholic" government continues what  the international so-called "Overpopulation" agenda of the Club of Rome has to offer.

Similar positions are taken by de Charentenay in his book and in the Philippines to other controversial issues such as divorce, abortion and "gay marriage". The Jesuit goes so far as to criticize the Philippine bishops for their resistance as backward and outdated. Not only against the pressure of "modernity", but also the expectations of Pope Francis. De Charentenay writes:

"Pope Francis' statement, 'We can not just insist on the issues involved with abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. You can not. These are things that people should not talk about out of context and not constantly' -  while the bishops have been very outspoken and public about their opinion. The Conference of the Philippine bishops has still adhered to its opposition on the grounds of principle. "

Pontifical Silence and a Clear Message

Pope Francis did not address the battle of the Philippine bishops during his stay. Above all, he neither defended it against criticism nor did he encouraged them in their struggle. Since the Civiltà Cattolica is valid under the direction of Father Spadaro as the essential voice of the Pope, de Charentenay belongs to the editorial staff and since Vatican spokesman Lombardi recommended the book as a source of information, the Philippine bishops should have understood at the latest after the Pope's visit, that their position is not desired by current Rome. In a figurative sense, the statement of another Pope's confidant, the Honduran, Cardinal Maradiaga to Cardinal Müller seems to apply the Philippine bishops: "You should be a little flexible."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: UDS / Lessius (screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link...

AMDG

Lombardi Confirms: No Decision on Medjugorje on Sarajevo Trip

(Rome) In connection with the announced pastoral visit by Pope Francis to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, there was speculation that the Pope would visit Medjugorje on this occasion. In the Herzegovinian village, the Virgin Mary has  "appeared" since 1981.  The speculations have now been denied by   Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.

When asked by the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) Lombardi made ​​it clear that there was "no connection" between the trip and the place of pilgrimage not recognized by the church. The Vatican spokesman is quoted as saying: "The Pope has said that he will travel to Sarajevo, not that he will travel to Medjugorje".

"I do not know if and when there will be an explanation of Medjugorje"

Father Lombardi also commented on further speculation  that Francis could occasion his visit to Sarajevo to make a final decision for the Church on the Medjugorje phenomenon. Such has been expected for a year (see Is Pope Francis in Sarajevo decision to Medjugorje? ). The Vatican spokesman said: "I have no idea if and when there will be an explanation of Medjugorje".

Translated it means that there will be no decision on Medjugorje in connection with the planned visit of Pope Francis to Sarajevo for June 6. Church law continues to defer to the decision of the competent local bishops that deny the supernatural aspects of the place.  The pilgrims in the Herzegovinian mountain village seem to do no harm. Inner Ecclesiastically it appears that Rome had not made a decision, are generally being  very tolerant in the handling of the phenomenon.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons

Trans; Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Will Pope Francis Make a Decision on Medjugorje in Sarajevo?

(Rome) During the Angelus on Sunday   Pope Francis announced a  visit this coming June 6th in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Will the Catholic Church leader to announce a decision on the phenomenon of Medjugorje?

The Pope is quoted as saying, according to Vatican Radio : "On Saturday 6th June I will - God willing - to travel to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. I ask you all for your prayers so that my visit will be there to encourage  Catholics, the leaven of good and a contribution to greater brotherhood and peace. And also for inter-religious dialogue, friendship."

Medjugorje was not mentioned by the Pope, but there is presently a tense expectation that the Pope could announce a final decision on the "apparitions". A decision is expected in a year.

Sarajevo and World History

Sarajevo went down in history as the scene of the assassination of the Austrian and Hungarian Crown Prince, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. An assassination which was the immediate cause of the First World War. Sarajevo is also the  scene of a civil war between Orthodox Serbs, Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, begun in  1991, in the wake of World War I, the artificial   state of Yugoslavia broke apart. Sarajevo today is also the capital of Herzegovina, in a once nondescript, but today is a most well-known spot. Not far from Mostar, situated in the mountains is the Catholic village of Medjugorje, a synonym for unrecognized "apparitions" in the Church, which has led pilgrims now for three decades to a largely unknown part of Europe.

Church has Denied the Supernaturalism of the Medjugorje Phenomenon

The two  ecclesiastical judgments on the "apparitions" carried out once through the competent bishop, and then by the bishops of Yugoslavia  are still negative. The competent bishops according to canon law,  were in agreement to deny the  supernatural character of the phenomenon. A judgment is valid until revoked in the Church. Under Pope Benedict XVI. the matter of Rome was investigated in 2010 by a separate commission of inquiry headed by Camillo Cardinal Ruini, who interviewed numerous witnesses, including also examining the "seers" and all available documents.  Although the Commission completed its work in late 2012, so far no result has been announced. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI., who expressed  a detached attitude to the phenomenon, intervened.

For a Year the Medjugorje File is on the Pope's Desk 

A year ago, Cardinal Ruini was received by Pope Francis and presented the new pope the final report of the Commission of Inquiry. Francis gave the still secret report to the CDF. A few days before Cardinal Ruini, the Pope interviewed the Archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljic.

In the fall of 2013, the prefect of the CDF, then Cardinal Gerhard Müller, gave the US bishops statement not to tolerate any events within the Church, where the supernatural character of the Medjugorje phenomenon was claimed.  It was the reason the tour  of "seer" Ivan Dragicevic to the United States was subsequently canceled.

Unofficial Papal Distancing?

Pope Francis has not officially taken a position on Medjugorje. What unofficially became known indicates major restraint. On September 7, 2013, the Pope said in his morning sermon in Santa Marta, there could be "no Christians without Christ".   Here, the Catholic Church leader criticized Christians who cling to "apparitions" and would "look for something special." As far as the Pope's words were in the summaries of Vatican Radio and Osservatore Romano played.Has not been published, that the Pope called as a concrete example of what has been said, Medjugorje and added that the revelation was completed, however, with the New Testament.

Two months later, Francis said during his morning sermon on November 14: "The curiosity drives us to want to hear that the Lord is here or there; or allows us to say, 'But I know a seer, a prophetess, who has letters from the Mother of God, receives messages from the Mother of God'. But the Blessed Mother is a mother! She is not the leader of a post office to send daily messages. Remove these innovations of the gospel, of peace and of the wisdom of the glory of God, of the beauty of God."  The Pope's criticism of the addiction for publication was taken by observers in conjunction with Medjugorje,  and the previously-known and numerous" places of publication, "where" messages "are disseminated on an assembly line. But in Medjugorje  they now number into the tens of thousands.

Since then, Francis has made no more statements that may be directly or indirectly related to the Herzegovinian town.  What is in the final report and what it really means for the Medjugorje phenomenon, is unforeseeable, since there are conflicting signals.

Shortly before his election as Pope  Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio gave the faithful of his archdiocese Buenos Aires permission to participate in the 4th and 6th March 2013, performances by Ivan Dragicevic. More than 15,000 Argentines took advantage of this opportunity to see this "seer" and  whose performance, a year and a  half  later was warned about by the CDF warned

The consent of the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires was explained  because a Herzegovinian Franciscan, Father Berislav Ostojic, had been Bergoglio's confessor since 2010. Medjugorje is supervised by Herzegovinian Franciscans who from the beginning have been as  local priests and spiritual fathers of the "seers", in direct contact with the Medjugorje phenomenon.

That Francis may use his stop in the country in which the phenomenon has occurred for more than three decades, to announce a final decision of the Church, but is expected to be rather unlikely.  Rather, what prevails as seems currently to be the motto in Rome that no decision is the "best" decision.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image Secretum meum mihi

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches....

AMDG

Obituary and Call for Prayers for Hugh McDonald

Edit: we have recently received news of the sudden and unexpected  passing of a dear friend and a great Catholic who was a great scholar, a poet, musician and painter.    Some may be more familiar with his brother, Father Paul McDonald,  who wrote this sad request on Hugh's Facebook page:

Dear friends of Hugh McDonald. Early on Saturday morning, January 31, my brother (this is Paul writing) died suddenly. His funeral Mass will be at Our Lady of the Scapular Church this Friday at 11. Visitation Thursday at Patterson's Funeral Home, Niagara Falls, 2 to 4, and 7 to 9. Please pray for the repose of his soul. 

His work can be seen here...

Immemorial Mass of All Ages Returns to Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice

Saint Mark's

(Venice) On 31 January 2015  the traditional form of the Roman Rite returned back to the Patriarchal Basilica of Venice.

The feast of St. Mark the Evangelist will be celebrated by the Church on 25 April. In the old Venetian Republic whose patron was the Evangelist, also the transfer of the relics of the saint was in 828 to Venice is commemorated for the end of January. As the location where the relics of St. Mark's Basilica unique built by the Venetians.

Last Saturday this feast which took place 1200 years ago was commemorated in St. Mark's Basilica at the altar of Nikopoia in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages. The Icon of the Virgin, the "Bringer of Victory",  The icon of Our Lady enthroned with the Child Jesus   on her lap is attributed to the Constantinopolitan icon painter Luca Cancellari (Λουκάς Καγκελλάρης) in the 12th century.  Numerous representations of this icon of Our Lady, "Mary of victory",  were executed after the Battle of Lepanto.

828  the Relics of St. Mark the Evangelist Reach  Venice

The Nikopoia ("Bringer of Victory") in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice

Mark the Evangelist founded not only the Coptic Patriarchate Alexandria in Egypt today. But to him, the foundation of the Patriarchate of Aquileia is attributed. In the Latin Church in 602, the inheritance of the two Patriarchates was divided in the upper Adriatic Sea into the two patriarchates (old) Aquileia and Grado (New Aquileia). The Patriarch of Grado was also in the lagoon of Venice, where he has resided since 1105. In 1451 the Patriarchate was officially transferred from Grado to Venice.

The celebration last Saturday  was made possible by the Patriarch who since  2012, Francesco Moraglia. Already his predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Scola, now Archbishop of Milan, had established a rectorate in Venice for the believers of the Old Rite and entrusted it to the FSSP. The seat of the community is the ancient San Simone Piccolo church on the Grand Canal (opposite the train station). After Father Konrad zu Löwenstein's  had led the community for  several years, this task in was taken over by Father Jean-Cyrille Sow FSSP.

Patriarch Moraglia  has  a coat of arms is that is modeled on that of St. Pius X., who was his predecessor as Patriarch. The Patriarch of Venice, as Cardinal, wears purple. Unlike his predecessors, the reigning patriarch, however,  has not been considered in the third consistory since his appointment to the cardinalate.

Link Katholisches...

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Wikicommons (Nino Barbieri)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Holes in Papal Calendar: Next "Spectacular" Foot Washing on Maundy Thursday

Humble Foot Washing With Large Media Contingent: Cardinal
Jorge Mario Bergoglio 2008 in Buenos Aires

(Rome) The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Pope published the calendar of the celebrations of the Pope to the Second Sunday after Easter. For the day of the Paschal Triduum all celebrations of the Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning of Holy Thursday until the Apostolic Blessing Urbi et Orbi  scheduled on Easter Sunday at 12 noon clock. Not mentioned is the Mass of the Lord's Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday, where the Paschal Triduum begins liturgically. The calendar was published in the Wednesday edition of L'Osservatore Roman (see picture below).

Vaticanists Speculate About "Spectacular" Washing of the Feet 2015

Bets are being made by  Vaticanists, about who "spectacular" would   Pope Francis wash  in this year's feet washing.

Liturgical Calendar of the Pope in the Osservatore Romano on 01/28/2015

The exhibition on the evening of Holy Thursday is constitutive of meaning for the Catholic Church and its content is heavy with meaning. It is thought the washing of the feet, which the Lord  undertook for the apostles.  is a sign that the apostolic succession must always be a humble service. To express this, popes washed  cardinals' and bishops' feet as it had been directly relegated.

But this is only one element. That same evening, is the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Which is so inextricably linked, the establishment of the ministerial priesthood through Jesus Christ. This double appointment is the center of the Maundy Thursday Liturgy and is closely bound up with the consecrated church  as a sacred space. This requires that the Holy Mass of the Lord's Supper is celebrated by the pastors in their episcopal church with the faithful people.  In 2014 an initiative was launched by the Catholic media to the bishops not to leave their cathedrals on this evening to celebrate elsewhere.

This initiative had a reason and at the same time had to fall into the void because of this reason, as it was the Pope himself, who, left the Lateran Basilica, his Episcopal Church. Some media-savvy bishops announced that they want to follow the papal "model".

Axis Shift Away from the Holy Eucharist Towards the Washing of the Feet

Jesus washed the feet not just anyone, but the apostles

In 2013 the Pope visited a juvenile prison in Rome. He celebrated there with the exclusion of the faithful people in a multi-purpose hall and washed the feet of young prisoners, including girls and Muslims. It looked like a humanly sympathetic, but highly controversial liturgical gesture. It is still unclear whether the Pope indiscriminately gave Holy Communion as well. The Holy See Press Office did not take a position.

In 2014 Pope Francis repeated "his" way and celebrated the Missa Lord's Supper in a sheltered facility in Rome.  He washed the feet of the disabled. Again, in the absence of the faithful people, but not to the public. The media reported eagerly over the papal trip, while the Episcopal Church of Rome, the Lateran Basilica, was orphaned for the second year. This solidified Francis in a shift in  axis of perception away from the Holy Eucharist towards the washing of the feet, which was also subject to reinterpretation. It also raises the question of the Eucharistic understanding.

Pontifical Activism

The Last Supper

The Vatican media adapted themselves willingly to the papal activism and reported in 2014 in advance, the Pope will wash the feet of the disabled of "different beliefs, ethnicity and age'.

The gap in today by L'Osservatore Romano's published calendar of papal celebrations suggests that Pope Francis is in search of an exclusive  Mass of the Lord's Supper, but heavily publicized context for the humble washing of feet.  Among the Vaticanistas there are already are some highly quotable ideas, because  the Vatican secrecy is also quite irritating.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: AciPrensa / Osservatore Romano / Pagina Catolica

Is the Pope Going to Dismiss the Swiss Guard?

(Rome) For months, there have been rumors that the Argentine Pope could abolish the Pontifical Swiss Guard. In recent days, the speculation has intensified. This is due to the dismissal of Colonel Daniel Rudolf Anrig, commander of the Swiss Guard. On December 1, 2014 Pope Francis had fired Anrig a native of the canton of St. Gallen. Reasons were not disclosed. The media claimed that it could have been due to the "severity" of the colonel who commanded the papal guard unit since 2008. Daniel Rudolf Anrig will be  officially dismissed as part of a military ceremony tomorrow.

The fact that Pope Francis has appointed no successor has fueled speculation about the dismissal of the Papal Guard. In an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nacion, the Pope spoke highly of the dismissed Colonel Anrig. He was a "great person, a good Catholic, with a beautiful family." His dismissal was merely concerned with a "healthy and normal renewal," said the head of the Church. Since then there has been puzzling over what Pope Francis mean by a "healthy and normal renewal".

Quirky gestures, telegenic looseness or ...

Pope salutes Guards

In Rome, it is an open secret that the Argentine Pope knows little what to do with the tradition of the Swiss Guards Corps. Because of quirky gestures it has been speculated that the Pope has little respect for order and work of other show. Once he saluted one guard, as US Presidents are wont to do. So it seems inappropriate when a civilian performs a military salute, as well as  the doubt creating the suggestion around the  papal scene whether the Pope maybe just made a joke.  Another time he went in passing a Guard and shook his hand. The young man laughed sheepishly on the out-of protocol gesture in camera flashes. The protocol was not the focus. The Pope had sufficient opportunity to go off the TV cameras to his guards.

Some observers see in Jorge Mario Bergoglio's phenomenal sense of pleasing and being prone to the media as  the surest guarantee of the continued existence of the 500-year-old guard. They are telegenic and strikingly colorful because of the old uniforms, so they will not be dismissed by the Pope. That the announcement of Colonel Anrig's dismissal was carried out during the ad limina-visit of  the Swiss Bishops speaks for others against this assumption. A mere courtesy toward   the Swiss bishops does not fit.

Protecting the Pope Since 1506

Swearing-in of recruits

The Swiss Guard was established in 1506. Since then it has monitored the Pope and the Apostolic residences for their protection.  It is the only guard  from the Papal States, which has been preserved. Most military corps went down with the Papal States in 1870. The enduring guards, such as the Noble Guard and the Palatine Guard were simultaneously disbanded by Pope Paul VI. with the liturgical reform in 1970.

The Pontifical Swiss Guard is not a  guard of Vatican City or the Church, but a bodyguard of the Pope. They agree to defend the integrity of the Pope with their lives. While the See is vacant, the guards have to ensure the safe conduct of the conclave as a new pope is enthroned.  It is exclusively of Catholic Swiss nationals who have already done their military service in Switzerland and must not be older than 30 on entering and must be single.

In some Catholic Swiss Families the establishment has always been a  tradition that a family member serves the Pope. The swearing in of new recruits will take place in a ceremony every year. Each recruit takes the oath in his native language (see  Defending the Pope With Their Lives - the Swiss Guard recruits sworn in ).

Once there were numerous Swiss Guards of the militarily efficient germanic mountain people. Thus  the King of France had a bodyguard of Swiss and also the Roman-German Emperor in Vienna, which is recalled in the Schweizertor the Hofburg. The Papal Swiss Guard is the only one that still exists today and is one of the most traditional military organizations in the world.

A year ago when Anrig's predecessor, Colonel Elmar Mader, retired, he caused a stir when he spoke of the existence of a homosexual "secret society" at the Vatican, which constitutes a "security risk".

To date, there is only speculation and the familiar shooting in the weeds. Remarkable it is that it could ever come to such speculation. This has to do with certain known signals and especially with a perceived climate.

Link to Katholisches...

See the slideshow...

Trans: vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Vanishing Faith in the Eucharist is Reason for Priest Shortage

Bishop Klaus Küng with Graduates of the
Philosophical-Theological College of
St. Pölten

(Vienna) Bishop Klaus Küng of St. Pölten in Lower Austria has indentified that the decline of faith is the reason for the lack of priestly vocations. The bishop described the dwindling "faith in the Eucharist, that Jesus Christ himself is present, that the sacrifice he has taken on the cross is made ​​present," as the reason for the shortage of priests, which is a "'great tribulation" for  the Church.  Bishop Küng said last Wednesday before the Thomas Academy at the Philosophical-Theological College St. Pölten.  There are "astonished eyes" in the church "when we call priests from Poland, India and Africa to us." Often celibacy is responsible for the increasing shortage of priests, but the real reason was the "disappearance of faith," said Bishop Küng. It should also be less the Church, which - as often claimed - a "unintelligible language", but rather the "life of the people, consumer behavior and bustle" that they "hard receptive to the message of Christ" do.

Throughout history, the Church has often resembled a "wild garden". But it has ever been "newly planted and watered" again and again. So in spite of everything today, said the Bishop. "seeds" would germinate and bear fruit and that applies to every believer as well as  family, community and church.  God counted on  a "sower" to ensure "that we lend him voice, hands and heart and through our personal testimony to multiply the faith," said Klaus Küng, who has led, since 2004, the Diocese of St. Pölten. Previously, he was the  bishop of Feldkirch (Vorarlberg) for 15 years.   Küng who belongs to Opus Dei is going to finish his 75th year this coming September 17.  It is believed that Pope Francis is going to emeritus him in the fall.

Eucharist is the "Beating Heart" of the Church

As a consultant   the nun, Sister Maria Lisa Haim, also spoke on the Holy Eucharist as the "vital principle" and "beating heart" of the Church. The entire daily life of the Church would be strengthened and invigorated by it, such as preaching and diaconal life. The Second Vatican Council  Eucharist, therefore,  described the Eucharist as "the source and summit of the Christian life."  The  decree "Lumen Gentium", since it is the sacrament that love, "which comes from God and Jesus bids  his disciples do as he has" says Sr. Haim., who herself belongs to the  pontifically recognized Community, Pro Deo et Fratribus - Family of Mary,  while she is also a graduate of the Philosophical-Theological College St. Pölten. Her community  which belongs to the priestly community Work of Jesus the High Priest (OJSS) has taken over the former Servite House of Gratzen (Nove Hrady) and looks after the nearby pilgrimage site of Maria Brünnl (Dobra Voda) in the former German-South Bohemia (Sudetenland) near the border to Austria.

Protect Life from Conception to Natural death

As part of the Thomas Academy  two theses of the graduates from  the  Philosophical-Theological College  were also presented about the right to life. Julia Blaimschein spoke on "The moral Status of Human Embryos."  She showed five arguments, the "good reasons" there are to protect the human embryo after conception. 

Eva Doppelbauer, former spokeswoman for Gloria.tv, spoke about "Euthanasia as a Conspiracy Against Life". The speaker warned of the "case of pity" and pointed out that  a slow but steady shifting of arguments and steps will lead towards the legalization of euthanasia.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Philosophical-Theological College of St. Pölten (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....
AMDG

Petition to Pope Francis

January 19, 2015:  Dissident Catholic pressure groups -- aided by the liberal media -- are feverishly working to dismantle vital Church teaching on marriage and family at the next Synod on the Family in Rome.

In fact, they are bombarding the Holy Father and the Synod Fathers right now with messages of revolt against traditional moral values as they clamor for "change, change, change" inside the Church.

At this critical time, we must defend the truth and ask the Holy Father to protect the future of the family.

TFP Student Action is joining forces with over 20 more pro-family groups around the world to collect as many signatures as possible before the next Synod starts. This prayerful petition is a worldwide effort.  Everyone is invited to sign.

May God reward you.

Link to Petition...

H/t Mazara

Satirical Magazine "Barcelona" Celebrates Pope Francis' Stance on Aberrosexuality by Calling him "Faggot"

Edit: seems to us that whatever Catholic apologists writing for a conservative audience might think, the overwhelmingly Leftist world press reads his message loud and clear.  Barcelona Revista is a "satirical magazine" with a circulation of 30,000, according to Wikipedia. We got this story from one of the regular posters.  Putazo is a term often used affectionately between males who are good friends in a vulgar but jocose manner.

The satirical magazine Argentina Barcelona published in its latest issue a controversial cover bearing an image of Pope Francis in makeup under the headline "Putazo". [Faggot]

The medium was referring to the opening being impulse by Jorge Bergoglio in the Catholic Church to review aspects as homosexuality and divorce in the Synod on Family taking place in the Vatican .

"Influenced by Francis, the Catholic Church is opened itself for the first time to 'sodomites, inverts and other sufferers of homosexuality'. The decision of the Supreme Pontiff to tolerate Argentine 'effeminates,  depraved', puts an end to centuries of discrimination and moral conviction to begin an era 'friendly to the manfloro [insult against aberrosexuals]'. Are they born priests in a motion as the third sex? Is Bergoglio the 'Pope of the culorrotos'[derogatory slang for aberrosexual] ?"  asks Barcelona on its front.

up"Is a Parody"

In an interview with Radio 10 of Argentina's director of environment, Ingrid Beck , said that only a parody, insisting that there isn't any disrespect to the pontiff. 

"The Church is engaging in a tendency to speak of homosexuals and it was worthy of putting it on the front page," Beck said, adding that "anyway it is about considering whether or not homosexuals are worthy of joining the institution as people, and that is what is disrespectful. "

"It seems there are no limits for humor, you do not have to be, and there are no limits on the news. It's a parody, humor. We work with the absurd," insisted the journalist.

Link to article...