Irish Catholic Primate Advances Economic "Reform"

The Irish Cardinal Primate is eager to hail the Devolution of police and justice powers from London to Ireland, but he is just as eager to use this as an opportunity to advance the cause of greater government control over the economy. We hear, repeatedly, the summons from both individual prelates and national Bishop's conferences to greater government control of the economy. Their cheerleading for more socialism is not accompanied by any explanations, we're simply told that things like Healthcare Reform and federal stimulus packages are a good thing. What's worse is that the Bishops often tell us that they are pursuing "social justice" and "human rights" by helping and encouraging legislators to put still more restrictive chains on human endeavor and enterprise. Ironically, these government stimulus packages actually make people poorer in the long run by their hobby of promoting creeping Socialism.

Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, has issued the following statement in response to the announcement of an agreement on the Devolution of Policing and Justice Powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

I warmly welcome the news that agreement has been reached on the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly and on a range of other issues. As a wider consultation on the proposals begins, my prayer is that everyone in our society will reflect on what has been agreed today with a spirit of generosity and concern for the good of the whole community.

Local politicians are best placed to deal effectively with the issues that most affect the day to day life of people in Northern Ireland, especially the need for a shared approach to policing, security and justice. We need an urgent and united effort to stimulate economic recovery, address social need, to ensure the best possible education provision for children and to build on the vast improvement in community relations which has taken place in recent years. We need to show to each other the spirit of neighbourliness, welcome and generosity which others from outside so often see and celebrate in us. A local devolved Executive, working efficiently and in partnership for the good of everyone in our society remains the most effective way of achieving this.

I want to express my particular hope that efforts to address the issue of parades will be met with generosity, sensitivity and a willingness to go beyond old ways of approaching each other on all sides. Respectful dialogue and a willingness to treat each other with dignity and respect have been shown time and time again to be the most effective way of resolving the issues which challenge our society. This remains the only way forward and the most effective way of refuting those who would wish to bring us back to the futility of violence and division.

independant catholic news...

Filipine Bishop Encourages Astrology

The Diocesan Newspaper reports, unwittingly, some more heresy from the Filipines

MANILA, February 12, 2010—The fact that the Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Valentine’s Day this year should all the more remind Filipino-Chinese Catholics to integrate their faith and Christ’s Gospel values to their culture and tradition.

Abra Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian reminded the Filipino-Chinese Catholic Community that the gift of life and love should always be attributed to God as the ultimate source of all creation—a basic Catholic teaching that he said should not be compromised given the nature of Chinese culture.

He goes on to say:

“God is present in other religion and culture so the belief in Feng Shui, Astrology, and praying at Buddhist temples should be perceived as instruments that all draws us closer to God. As such, we discourage too much dependence on culture especially up to the point that faith in God is compromised,” he said.

Jaucian also urged Filipino Catholics to understand and respect the Chinese’s way of life, adding that their Catholic faith should keep them united amid cultural differences.

“We should respect each otheir’s culture. Let us extend respect, understanding and solidarity to our Chinoy brothers and sisters so we can live harmoniously with each other,” he added. (Kris Bayos)

There can be no Grace in false religions and certainly, practicing astrology which is the occult practice of divination, is also well outside of Catholic belief.


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New Romero Musical

Nothing is guaranteed to undermine a subject more than its adaptation as a musical, here.

Vatican’s Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos Will Celebrate the First TLM at Shrine in 45 Years

Washington, DC- The Paulus Institute announced today that on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at 1 p.m., the fifth anniversary of inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI will be commemorated in the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC, by a Pontifical Solemn High Mass in the “Extraordinary form”—commonly known as the “Traditional Latin Mass” or “Tridentine Mass”—celebrated by the Vatican prelate Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos of Colombia.

This will be the first such Mass said at the Shrine’s High Altar in nearly 45 years. All Catholics are invited, many of whom may never have another opportunity to attend such a Mass. Cardinal Castrillón is the President Emeritus of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (Church of God), where he assisted Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in facilitating this form of the Mass.

In July of 2007 Pope Benedict issued the apostolic (papal) Summorum Pontificum (of the Supreme Pontiff), in which he confirmed the permissibility this Mass. It is one of the two uses of the same rite of the Eucharistic Liturgy, along with the Missal of Pope Paul VI in 1970 (the “Ordinary” form). Evolving since the early days of the Christian Church, the Mass was essentially in place by the 6th Century during the papacy of Pope St. Gregory the Great and codified by Pope St. Pius V in the 16th Century. It was last changed by Pope John XXIII in 1962 and so used during the Second Vatican Council. In 1984 Pope John Paul II permitted use of the Missal of John XXIII, and further facilitated it in 1988 and 1992. Pope Benedict noted that the Latin liturgy of the Church in each century of the Christian era “has been a spur to the spiritual life of many saints and reinforced many peoples in the virtue of religion and [facilitated] their piety,” adding, “What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred for us too.”

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Not guilty plea in Egypt Copt trial | DumbAgent.com - Current Events

Not guilty plea in Egypt Copt trial | DumbAgent.com - Current Events

Florida Womenpriests are Excommunicate

The Diocese of Venice, Florida has issued an official explanation on the need of the members of this organization for "repentence" here on, Fratres.

Those who take part within the ceremony in any manner, as an immediate and direct consequence of their own actions, separate themselves from the Catholic Church by automatic excommunication. Especially grave, and beyond the usual paths of public repentance, conversion and forgiveness, are those instances in which really bad and awkward liturgical dance is admitted causing further harm and division within the community and greater public scandal.

We can think of a few obvious examples related to this Diocesan statement and are cautiously optimistic.

Related Article:

Women priests will no longer be contained.

Orthodox Metropolitan in Rome Affirms Belief in Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus

He was speaking with me about 45 minutes back outside the Basilica of San Clemente,Rome.He was there to attend a religious service of the Orthodox Bulgarian community in a side altar of the Church.

From Eucharist and Mission...

This salutary Dogma was also affirmed by the Holy Father and Cardinal Law in Rome, here.

Pope tells Rome's seminarians to apply missionary ‘dynamism’ to faith life :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Pope tells Rome's seminarians to apply missionary ‘dynamism’ to faith life :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Pope picks once-jailed cleric for Prague post

(AP) – 17 hours ago

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has picked a Czech bishop once jailed and forced into factory work under Communism to lead the Prague archdiocese.

The Vatican said Saturday that Monsignor Dominik Duka will replace retiring Cardinal Miloslav Vlk.

In 1975, Communist rulers of Czechoslovakia revoked Duka's authorization to serve as a priest and made him work nearly 15 years at the Skoda factory in Plzen as a designer.

The Dominican cleric secretly carried out his ministry, instructing novices and teaching theology. He was jailed in 1981-82.

Pope John Paul II, who was a Communist-era cleric in Poland, made Duka a bishop in 1998. Duka led the Hradec Kralove diocese.

Prague archbishops traditionally are cardinals, making it likely Duka, 66, will become one, too.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Biography on the "real" John Paul II

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When it was unveiled in late January, the insider book about the "real" Pope John Paul II looked at first glance like the Vatican's own effort at a pre-beatification biography.

But as the fallout over the next two weeks made clear, the Vatican was not directly involved. Nor was everyone happy that the book was co-authored by the official postulator, or promoter, of Pope John Paul's sainthood cause, using information that is generally considered confidential.

In addition, several officials thought the book's simple presentation of the late pope's reported penitential practices, with little explanation or context, was unwise and counter-productive.

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Linz Communications Director Sacked

LINZ, Austria, February 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ferdinand Kaineder, the former communications chief and spokesman of the diocese of Linz, Austria, has been sacked as part of an agreement reached between the diocese and a group of the faithful who have campaigned for reforms in the diocese. Kaineder has been the focus of criticism for some years as the spokesman for Linz, known internationally as the most liberal of the ultra-liberal European Catholic dioceses.

The “Church Faithful Prayer Initiative,” formed in October 2009, organized a boycott of funds, urging churchgoers to deposit their church tax contributions into a trust fund instead of putting them in collection baskets. Over a period of three years, about 350 parishioners placed 50,000 Euros (US $68,000) into an escrow account, while they demanded the resignation of Kaineder.

“The sacking of Mr. Kaineder was a minimal requirement that we have stated since the end of 2006,” said Gernot Steier, a spokesman for the group and an attorney in Neulengbach in Lower Austria. German media reports that the money has now been transferred to the diocese, with one third of 25,000 Euros reportedly donated to the pro-life movement, Human Life International, and Youth for Life.

In 2006 Kaineder brought down the ire of faithful Catholics when his communications office issued a CD for young people on sexuality, which included information on acquiring contraception and links to websites promoting abortion and the homosexualist agenda.

Kaineder was removed as spokesman for the diocese in July 2009, but was retained on the payroll as “emeritus” head of the communications department. Bishop Ludwig Schwarz was criticized for doing nothing about the Youth CD and for offering Kaineder other positions within the diocese.

Kaineder complained in the press of a “smear campaign” launched against him by “ultra-conservatives” in the diocese, including the internet group Kath.net, who he said has close ties to the Vatican.

“It was always known to me that they worked together,” Kaineder said. “It appeared to me that the information channels between Rome and kath.net functioned well. I believe also that these channels are responsible for my sacking.”

Now Bishop Schwarz is now being accused on the left of bowing to pressure from “ultra-conservatives” in the Church. The notoriously liberal international group We Are Church, said, “The Catholic Church is being held hostage by conservative forces.”

But the Church Faithful Prayer Initiative, the managers of the trust fund, defended their actions saying, “When the chief marketing officer of a company does not know his company’s own product, then he is not doing his duty. So too, if the head of communications of the diocese, which represents the teachings of the Catholic Church, is wrong.”

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Bishops: Romero should [not] be canonised - Catholic Herald Online

Bishops: Romero should be canonised - Catholic Herald Online

Thousands of miles from El Salvador, fellow travellers in the British Hierarchy celebrate Masses in his honor and advocate for his canonization despite his controversial political views. Marxist political views which are as they were the day he died, irreconcileable with the Catholic Faith.

We don't see why a man who wanted to confiscate other people's money and spend it on ineffective social programs should enjoy the honor of being named a Saint. Unfortunately for exponents of this avid socialist, there are still a number of people who remember +Romero for what he was, a socialist agitator and a useful tool to Soviet interests.

Our Lady of the Annunciation in Clear Creek Elevated to an Abbey

Our Lady of the Annunciation in Clear Creek Elevated to an Abbey

Catholics in Costa Rica outraged by disrespect toward Eucharist :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Catholics in Costa Rica outraged by disrespect toward Eucharist :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Bishop Morin Honors Socialist Head of LA CCHD

Bishop Morin, subcommittee head of the USCCB organ overseeing the CCHD, who has been having a lot of problems with telling the truth lately, has honored "social justice" activist who is, coincidentally, the kind of person who takes Catholic's money to fund things that have almost nothing to do with Catholicism. The interfaith agendas she supports may advance Alinskyite social-justice and professional activists who are alien to and hostile to the Catholic Faith, but they are certainly dishonest.

If it weren't bad enough that Bishop Morin is honoring a woman who heads the CCHD in Cardinal Mahony's Archdiocese, but the Harper is herself an avid "Community Organizer" in the Alinksyite vein, and like Cesar Chavez, eager to champion the rights of oppressed workers. The benefit to the workers might be in question, but her political and religious allegiance is not.

For we can certainly question the wisdom of being involved in an labor dispute as part of a Union agenda where Harper was arrested at the Hilton Hotel worker's dispute in 2008, but Harper provided funds for CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), which is a "multi-faith" (you know what that means) organization headed by Rabbi Jonathan Klein who is a "community organizer" and is "passionate" about the environment. We think you all know what a "Community Organizer" is by now. You might ask yourself why Klein, whose pacifist anti-Catholic agenda the CCHD supports, is such an avid Obama supporter who craves after socialized medicine almost as much as the USCCB does.

Is it any suprise that Rabbi Klein is pro-homosexual as well? He writes in defense of homosexuality and attacking free speech in the following paragraph in 2006, here:

I cannot believe the audacity and harm imposed upon us by the Daily Trojan when the editors decided, in the name of a "free press," to print bigoted hate diatribes in the letters to the editor on Thursday. To add insult to injury, Friday's editorial defends that poor decision, arguing that it is legitimate to attack gays since millions of Americans are in their estimations anti-gay. Since many Americans consider a sexual orientation other than heterosexual as immoral, the Daily Trojan argues, it is just fine if a student writes that a gay man’s “lifestyle is sinful, unhealthy and unnatural.” Preposterous!

Like the Communists of old, Harper attacks her accusers with emotional arguments attempting to portray them as mean-spirited and out of touch, but unfortunately for her, their criticisms are quite apt in her case.

"God had a plan for me that didn't include the Peace Corps in Honduras as I thought at the ripe age of 31 but rather a wonderful marriage with three fantastic children," said Harper. "It is through [my husband's] love and the encouragement of my adult children that my ministry 'out there' becomes celebrated and nourished at home."

Acknowledging the pain generated by recent "vicious attacks" accusing CCHD of knowingly and willfully funding groups in opposition to Catholic teaching,[True and justified attacks] Harper commented: "I guess we can take some comfort in knowing that we are doing a good job --- we are ruffling feathers --- and therefore we must be effective. But that only slightly eases the pain of these lies and mis-truths."

"This award today," she said, "is really for all of us --- for our ministry, for our dedication, for staying in the struggle�. I thank God for all of you, knowing we walk this path together."

Link to The Tidings...

Reflections on the Liturgy

by Jonathan Bennett

The sacred mysteries on Earth are reflections, shadows of the ineffable mysteries of the faith, and allow the senses something of a taste of that which cannot truly be perceived by the senses- the incomprehensible is made comprehensible to the limited capacities of man's condition through the rites of the Church. Herein we encounter the commerce of Heaven and Earth, the natural and the supernatural, where, as God was made Man so that man might know God, the faith becomes manifest in tangible forms so we might know the faith.

The liturgy is meant to give a temporal vision of Heaven. How could the sublime and complex rites of the sacred ministers- clothed in sumptuous vestments, bathed in clouds of incense and illuminated by innumerable candles- as they attend to the altar amidst the celestial hosts brought forth in lavish iconography, to the voices of a multitude of choirboys raised in the ancient chants which echo the never-ending praise of the seraphim surrounding the Throne of God, not impose itself in a most magnificent way upon the mind and the senses? Is this not a foretaste-though still inadequate by far- of the Beatific Vision, of eternal contemplation of God?

What a difference then is the state of the liturgy in our own times. Even amongst many traditionalists the liturgy is the subject of much sad neglect. When the priest stomps about the sanctuary in muddy boots, vested in cheap polyester vestments, speeding through the Latin prayers and performing his sacred office in a manner so routine as to strip it of all outward dignity, within a church lacking in any beauty or adornment (or if there is an actual attempt at artwork and ornamentation it is gaudy and banal), the faithful may perhaps be excused for hearing Mass not out of piety but out of obligation, whilst the Divine Offices are relegated to the private prayers of the clergy (meant to sanctify every hour of the day, they are more often than not said all at once, or in two or three sittings at convenient times) and all but ignored by laity.

This of course is neglect in the extreme and not a general accusation, and in some cases more reflective of local conditions than intent, but serves to illustrate to what extent the liturgical patrimony of the Church may be diminished. In other cases it is most certainly intended (the author himself has heard, on no small number of occasions, diatribes against great solemnity and lavish ceremony, interestingly much akin to similar arguments from the Jansenists of previous centuries) and there are those who would pride themselves on the trappings of a persecuted sect- hurried Low Masses at ungodly hours of the day, in tiny isolated chapels, with plain vestments and vessels- out of choice rather than necessity. It might be well to recall the Curé D' Ars, the most austere of priests for whom the vestments could not be rich enough, nor the sacred vessels ornate enough for the service of the altar.

Perhaps what has suffered most from this liturgical minimalism is the Church's immense treasury of music. Not only is the full repertoire of Gregorian chant neglected- in efforts to maintain congregational singing, an early twentieth century novelty for most of the Latin Church, it is often the most simple chant settings which are employed- but choral and polyphonic compositions are regarded as too complex and time consuming for choirs to manage (in fact many Masses and individual pieces were written for a small number of voices for the very purpose of making them accessible to smaller choirs) while orchestral settings, such as those by Haydn, Mozart and Gounod, are unthinkable. Even organ preludes and interludes (not to mention the full organ Masses of the French tradition) are frowned upon in some locales, reputedly for "distracting" the faithful from prayer. Choirs themselves have long been bereft of their hierarchal structure and laicized (no longer even to be found in the actual 'choir' of the church, but in the loft), and in all but a precious few cases have abandoned the once-proud tradition of boy choristers in favor of women to provide the higher voices.

In a like manner has art and architecture declined. From the modernist extreme- that is, those churches of recent decades which on first glance would make one think an airplane crashed into a museum of modern art- many traditionalists have fled to another entirely, in the form of chapels better suited to the Amish than Catholics. Is the answer to near sacrilege (or worse, as exemplified by some of the recent additions to the Stephansdom in Vienna) really to be found in iconoclasm? Fortunately those who really believe so are likely a minority; unfortunately however the majority appears to find their answer deep in the tradition of that golden age of Elvis, poodle skirts and Americanism- the 1950s, from whence comes those almost-infuriatingly cutesy depictions of the Blessed Virgin and the saints, and statuary which resembles sugar candy. Your humble writer finds himself at loss as to whether or not he should concede the excuse that gaudy is better than nothing in that same capacity for which the Church was once the greatest patron of all the arts.

Of course such excuses hinge on two oft-spoken claims. First, that it is just not possible to have "nice things" in this day and age. Tasteful art, let alone entire churches, is a hefty expense and decent choirs demand an amount of time and effort nobody seems to have. That is to say, idealism be damned, it is just not practical to expect such things even if the faithful would treble their efforts should they be made to know just what might come it. Second, that doctrinal orthodoxy is superior to external form, and that this somehow justifies liturgical minimalism. To the former, the author answers that it is better to trust in Providence than to trust in fatalism. To the latter, that the faith cannot be made distinct from form and action- liturgical form is the faith made manifest and is inherently to doctrinal orthodoxy.

In bygone days it was a noted fact that even some of the worst of sinners and the most lacking in faith would attend the liturgy, if not for any remnant of pious inclinations then for the aesthetic beauty of the ritual. Contrary to the belief that the sacraments are rewards for the faithful and virtuous and that the Mass is the privilege of an initiate few, is it not to be hoped that simply being in the presence of the celebration of the sacred mysteries might produce medicinal effect and that these persons may receive even a small amount of grace? Though the very same may be said for all- truly blessed is he who has such faith that it does not need to be strengthened by anything external. Here we perhaps see a part of the motivation of our ancestors in all those centuries of building massive, opulent churches filled with imagery and statues and such things as to delight the mind and raise it from the drudgery of life to thoughts of the supernatural.

What this inadequate and humble writer dares to suggest is that crucial to restoring all things in Christ is the restoration of a liturgical spirituality which sees the august rites of the Church as the living manifestation, the resplendent garb of the Catholic faith and the theurgic act which elevates the mind and soul beyond this mortal coil and brings us into the very presence of God. This demands a perception of the liturgy as something no less than the centerpiece of a Christian society, the fountainhead of all art, the sanctifier of every aspect of earthly life and the means through which we may enter into eternal life, worthy of all the pomp and splendor it is possible to bestow upon it.

Posted on the Feast of the Seven Holy Founds of the Order of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a.D. MMX

Catholic Church’s mission is to continue work of Jesus Christ, Archbishop Niendstedt explains :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Catholic Church’s mission is to continue work of Jesus Christ, Archbishop Niendstedt explains :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

It's hard to tell whether or not Fr. Kung actually believes in the Resurrection or some kind of collective sense of the story's "truth" in a superhistorical sense. Kung denied biblical inerrancy before he wrote "The Church" and has often been a steadfast enemy of the Church, so in one sense it's suprising to hear the Archbishop cite him, however much we might agree with the sentences themselves, we should not overlook the fact that Kung himself was a modernist and liable not to attribute historicity to the Gospel narrative.

He quoted from “The Church,” a work of theologian Fr. Hans Kung authored before his more controversial writings:

“…without the raising of Jesus from the dead the community of believers, the Church, is meaningless. Only the certainty that the Crucified Christ lives on as the Risen Christ, glorified by God, gives us the solution to the riddle of Jesus as a person and makes the Church possible and real.”

The first Christian disciples’ affirmation of this faith gave birth to a new community which celebrated the “breaking of the bread” with “glad hearts,” Fr. Kung wrote, quoting Acts 2.

The theologian said this new group was an “eschatological community of salvation.” He used the theological word for “last things” such as heaven, hell, the general judgment of mankind by God, and the resurrection of the body.

Archbishop Nienstedt explained that the source of the Church’s mission is the conviction that Christ is risen and fully alive and present to the community of believing Christians

But he also says:

The prelate then cited Jesus’ words in Matthew 28: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Pakistani Presbyterian bishop to help prosecute leading jurist for murder of Catholic girl :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Pakistani Presbyterian bishop to help prosecute leading jurist for murder of Catholic girl :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Millennial Catholics’ interest in religious education a good sign, survey suggests :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Millennial Catholics’ interest in religious education a good sign, survey suggests :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Patrick Kennedy will not run for Re-election.

Still another casualty of the Democratic effort to give us socialized medicine. Would that the USCCB would start dropping off like this and annoucing that they are retiring due to family commitments.

Remember, Kennedy was the one who got a catechism lesson from Bishop Tobin.