Loreto: No Altar for the Old Mass

It is sad but true: Pope Benedict XVI is not in any position to correct the situation in Italy. by Claudia Bucker

(kreuz.net) In the middle of July, a German priest visited the Italian pilgrimage site near the border, Loreto.

The Basilica of Loreto is next to the St. Peter's Basilica, the second most important pilgrimage destination in Italy.

The Basilica contains the house of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

The Guilty Party is Archbishop Giovanni Tonucci

Immediately after his arrival the priest visited the Basilica.

In the Sacristy he asked if he could say Holy Mass in the Old Rite.

The concern for the Basilica has been entrusted to the dying Capuchin Order.

The standing Prelate for the Basilica is Archbishop Giovanni Tonucci (69).

He was named in 2004 and was previously the Apostolic Nuncio in Scandinavia.

The Sacristan was a grey haired Capuchin.

On instructions from Msgr Tonucci the Sacristan began to lecture the priest.

Hunted by the Devil

The celebration of the Old Mass is only available to be said in the Basilica at the altar of the Polish Chapel -- and this only between the hours of 13.00 und 14.00 hours.

That is the point of the Italian midday meal.

There the Polish chapel, however, is closed due to restoration work, so there is no altar available for the celebration of the Old Mass.

The astonished priest then dared to suggest that it really should be possible to use another one of the approximately thirty altars of the Basilica.

Then the Capuchin waved him briskly aside and admonished the pilgrim in the Sacristy.

Link to kreuz.net...

photo: © gemeinfrei

The Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis Actively Promotes Sodomy

Purple Lights on Basilica Look Gay

Editor: [Minneapolis-St. Paul] We thought that a very small and ineffective contingent of homosexual activists did protest too much as they stood outside an infernal event held for the last decade or so to raise money for a parish so devoid of Catholicism that if the supports for the building were Catholicism, it would have fallen in long ago, irrespective of the fund raising attempts.

Now the Archbishop is protesting the insignificant and mostly elderly CCCR, but he'd probably be better off getting rid of those people who say they are Catholic and work for him. This is most quixotic since the Archbishop assigned the homosexual enabling pastor of the Basilica to oversee the parish closings this winter, but still, they weren't even publicly admonished for allowing a Reform Rabbi to "preach" on Good Friday from the ambo. The homosexual enabling pastor of the Basilica was permitted to close one of the parishes offering the Immemorial Mass of All Ages at St. Augustine's parish in the Archdiocese.

The following is an eyewitness descriptions of events are links from various publications about what took place at the Basilica Block Party... which is gay.

We've been sent purple lights highlighting the dome on at least two occasions, we've shown how the Basilica gives tacit approval of homosexuals by participating in a booth of area churches that are ,promoting, not so much as admonishing sinners who have fallen to the sin of Sodomy as is the duty of the pastor and his staff.

Degenerate Art

Even fired artist Lucinda Naylor, who was relieved of her post as "artist in residence" last year during the Bishop's campaign in defense of marriage, where she took a collection of as many of the informational CDs she could find and made a sculpture out of them. For a few weeks, her "artwork" which was briefly taken down, have now been put back up on display for almost a year now, although they don't resemble the story of the passion in the slightest.

Alleged Fifth Station

Basilica Block Party Best moment from day 2: During a song break in
the Drive By Truckers show, the Basilica bells began to chime, and the
band launched seamlessly into an amazing version of Hell's Bells by
AC/DC, as reported from the anti-Catholic Tribune.

"Let's party as if we already have marriage equality," read one of
the signs belonging to Catholics for Marriage Equality, whose stickers
("I support marriage equality") were plastered all over concertgoers.
Co-founder Michael Bayly said his group did not want to discourage
people from attending. "We want people to feel welcome and know that
there are many, many Catholics who believe in equality," a homosexually disturbed activist said, according to the Tribune.

One headliner, Michael Franti, met with members of the gay rights group OutFront.org and pledged his support to them, here.

Local rockers the Jayhawks dedicated a new song, "Hide Your Colors,"
to "free choice in marriage."
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/125251709.html

Illinois songstress Lissie drew cheers when she said, "It's really
not anyone's business how people choose to love one another. Love is
always a good thing."
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/125251709.html

"I'm taking 10 percent of the fee that we're getting, and I'm
donating it to a pro-gay-marriage organization," said Franti, and here.


At every one of my shows, I speak about equality. I have a song I
wrote recently called "Love Somebody" that is specifically about
equality in marriage and people being able to choose whoever they
choose to love. In 1991, with the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, I
put out a song called "Language of Violence" that was about
gay-bashing. In 2000, [Spearhead] had a song called "Do You Love?"
that's about loving whoever you choose to love.
http://www.vita.mn/story.php?id=125095344

Scandal-Diocese Linz Prepares to Showtrial Another Conservative Priest

Editor: A religion instructor has been organizing a smear campaign against the pastor of a small parish near Linz, Austria. She has brought in an Austrian radio broadcaster, part of Hitler's propaganda machine, the anti-Church Reichssender. Of course, this brings to mind the persecution the conservative Father Wagner of Linz suffered when he was named as Auxiliary Bishop last year.

Priest Will Be Publicly Executed by Reichssender Vienna

This clergyman has a full church in his parish.  But that won't help him.  Because the media monopoly have chosen him as a victim.

(kreuz.net)  Old Liberal circles are leaping to a witch hunt against Pastor Andrzej Skoblicki of Kopfing in the Diocese of Linz.

They are supported in this by the anti-Church 'Österreichischen Rundfunk", which is the successor of the anti-Church, 'Reichssender Wien" of the Nazi era.

Yesterday, the broadcaster published a hit piece against the priest.

The population 2000 village of Kopfing is located seventy kilometers northwest of Linz.

A "retreat to the Middle Ages" would be a great leap forward

The clergyman is reproached for teaching the Catholic Faith.

In familiar jargon the 'Österreichischen Rundfunk' explained that Fr. Skoblicki's community is "divisive" or "being led back to the Middle Ages".

The concept "divisive" is a codeword which the media monopoly uses because Father Skoblicki doesn't tell them what they want to hear.

The "retreat to the Middle Ages" means that he declares stone solid morality and doesn't just say yes and Amen.

In the schools there would be concerns about the pedagogical capabilities the clergyman lacks.

An anticlerical religion teacher is behind the campaign

For over two years there have been -- according to the Österreichischen Rundfunk' -- 431 signatures against the priest.

There is an anticlerical religion teacher behind the campaign.

She has allegedly gathered about thirty persons around herself, who have taken up the fight with the monopoly media against the priest.

The priest from Poland is "arch-conservative" -- cursed the 'Österreichischen Rundfunk'.

He demands -- like Christ -- absolute faith and will not allow any question -- is how the 'Österreichischen Rundfunk' characterized his own conduct.

The work with youth is supposedly "disrupted" by this.

The question is, if this is the case in the surrounding country parishes.

The elected Pastoral Council is standing behind this priest

The parish of Kopfing exhibits an above average level of church attendance.

The Catholics of the area are reviled by "Österreichischen Rundfunk' as "hangers on" of the Pastor and "sectarian".

The Hammer: Even marriages are broken up because of "his teaching" -- slanders the broadcaster.

There has been no word from the pastoral council -- because this board stands behind their pastor.

The 'Österreichische Rundfunk' ascribes evil motives to the Priest, that he had said, "The wages of sin is death".

Actually, that is from a citation from the Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans.

The Bishop receives the enemies of the priest

As expected the powerful slanderers of the Priest have been received with open arms in the scandal Diocese of Linz.

There has already been a discussion between Bishop Ludwig Schwarz, the Pastor of Kopfing and the General Vicar Severin Lederhilger.

In the meantime, ‘Österreichische Rundfunk’ have only interviewed the enemies of the Pastor.

Because here is exactly what the monopoly broadcaster company is accusing the clergyman of doing: that the former Fascist Broadcaster will not admit that its attempt at manipulation can be questioned by anyone.

You can see the video of the Divine Mercy sermon given by Father, where he explains a sick call where he witnessed a little miracle from a person who wasn't much of a church goer, but while in terrible pain was able to utter the words, "Jesus, I trust in you" before they died a few days later. Unfortunately, it's in German, but you can really see a devoted and sincere man of God, here...

Bulgarian Church in Constantinople to Be Restored to Bulgarian Orthodox Church

Istanbul, July 19, 2011

The Istanbul Municipality and the provincial administration have joined efforts to restore the Bulgarian "St. Stefan" church.
According to Hurriyet Daily News, "the parts of the church that have become dirty and sooty will be cleaned thoroughly with detergent water, while the missing ornaments on the façade will be replicated using original material. The crooked parts of the roof will also be renewed."
The same publication informs that the restoration is scheduled to begin next month and will cost TRL 2.5 M

Read further, here...

Iranian-American Judge Presides Over Pact With Sodom in New York City

I'm so bored

Editor: Just look at the bored expression on Judge Sabrina Kraus' face. Is she Catholic? If so, she shouldn't be going to Communion. Check out the NYTs fawning article, "after a long wait". What's the difference anyway? It's just a piece of paper, no? Anyhow, most of them will be divorced by next year any way after complications from financial arrangements and the sheer ridiculousness of their position becomes too much to bear.

Of course, Sabrina Kraus is of Iranian ethnicity and belongs to the Jewish Lawyers Association, so the local ordinary is unlikely to have anything to do with that.

Link, here...

NYTs Photo

New Church in Kirkuk Consecrated -- Sign of Hope

[Kirkuk] In Kirkuk a new Chaldean Church has been consecrated. The church blessing took place yesterday in the neighborhood of Sikanayan, around ten kilometers from the old city. The new church will be dedicated to the Apostle Paul, because the Kurdish place name of Sikyanayan means "at the three springs" and lies outside of the city walls, exactly like the Church at the Three Springs in Rome, which recalls the same site, where the Prince of the Apostles suffered martyrdom. Sikanayan is a new neighborhood, which was built by Christian families, who came to Kirkuk from other parts of Iraq. In the mean time there are already 200 homes and others are in a state of construction. The floor will be built free of charge at the disposal of the families.

The church was consecrated by the Archbishop of Kirkuk, Msgr Louis Sako. In his sermon he encouraged the Christians to remain in the land and witness their faith with courage and confidence. Even members of the provincial government, local sheiks and some Imams took part in the celebration. The Chaldean Schola sang hymns and psalms. Intercession was also recited for the Moslem-Arab Sheik, Kurds and Turkmen. An Imam spoke in prayer the petition that the place, "will be always holy" that the Christians might honor and praise God.

The Archbishop of Kirkuk bid reconciliation and cooperation between the Muslims and the various peoples with the following "In this connection I would not only like to thank those who have taken part that this church could be built, rather also all who have cooperated to make this mosaic of Kirkuk."

Original, here...

Butcher of Oslo is Freemason

(kreuz.net) Anders Behring Breivik (32) is a Freemason. Here he is depicted with his butcher's aprons.



This was reported by the Website ‘Daily Mail’ on 23. July
Just imagine if the Oslo Butcher had been a Catholic... Kreuz talks about a bishop in the Philippines who refused to bury a Masonic Politician. Get it? Catholicism and and Masonry are incompatible.

http://www.kreuz.net/article.13589.html

Chinese Government Ordains 7 More Bishops

g papal approval. By GILLIAN WONG Associated Press BEIJING —China's state-controlled Catholic church is considering ordaining seven more bishops, a senior official said Friday, in spite of a deepening rift with the Vatican over recent elevations lacking papal approval. China last week named a third bishop in eight months without the approval of the Holy See, which has escalated tensions. The Vatican insists the pope has sole right to appoint bishops, but Beijing's Communist leaders see that position as foreign interference. China's bishops' council is considering seven candidates who were chosen through local bishops' elections, said Liu Bainian, honorary president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which runs China's Catholic churches.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015691869_apaschinavatican.html

Aussie Bishop Wards off the State's Manipulation of Abuse Hysteria and Defends Confession

Edit: this is simple, but it's courageous and edifying. The message is, "hands off the Church, you vulgarians."

Ballarat bishop says confession is sacred

BY TOM MCILROY

BALLARAT’S Catholic bishop has rejected calls to force priests to report admissions of child sexual abuse taken during confession, to police.

South Australian independent senator Nick Xenophon this week called for priests to be required to report all admissions of child abuse to police, breaching the confidence of a priest and his parishioner.

Bishop Peter Connors called on law makers to respect the sacrament of confession...

Link to original...

You may also read the letters being written in Ireland about this orchestrated dog and pony show, thanks to Father Levi, who doesn't approve of everything we're about here, but provided us with the link, thank you very much. Here's a sample:

Sir, – In the maelstrom of criticism directed at the Catholic Church and some of its hierarchy, we should not forget that it is the State that has ultimate responsibility for the protection of our children. It is right to criticise the shortcomings of the church and set to rights the appalling wrongs that have been perpetrated by some clerics against children. We must not forget, however, that the problem of child sexual and physical abuse is as big (in fact, bigger) in the lay community than it is in the clerical community.

I am no apologist for the shortcomings of the church, but the almost exclusive focus on those shortcomings fails to address the overall problem. I would now like to see an equally powerful light shone on the issue of state protection of children. I have very little doubt that another appalling vista of inadequate procedures, dereliction of duty, protection of self-interest and inadequate resources will be revealed.

No doubt our politicians feel a certain sense of moral gratification in wrapping the knuckles of the Vatican and basking in the political dividends of doing so. The overall problem will not be solved,however, until our politicians are prepared to examine the failures of the State in this area with a similar intensity. – Yours, etc,

FELIX McTIERNAN,

Fitzwilliam Place,

Dublin 2.

Irish Government Will Get Its Comeuppances

(Irish Guardian) The reaction of the Irish government to the Vatican's 1997 letter to the Irish bishops as outlined in the Cloyne Report has been one of almost complete hysteria. Taoiseach Enda Kenny's statement to the Dail on Wednesday was delivered against this background. In the sort of language normally associated with a Richard Dawkins or Ian Paisley, he accused the Vatican of "dysfunction, disconnection, elitism . . . narcissism" and effectively of not caring about the "rape and torture of children". Among other things, Kenny's speechwriters included a wildly out-of-context quote from the then Cardinal Ratzinger.

There is a difference between necessary and valid criticism of the church on the one hand, and unrestrained church-bashing on the other. In a similar vein, Kenny added his voice last week to those who believe the breaking of the seal of confession should be required by law. Kenny is obviously no anti-Catholic, but he needs to realise that, historically, only the most anti-Catholic societies have ever done such a thing. I was going to write this week about the need for the church in Ireland to do something very dramatic in order to categorically demonstrate it is deadly serious about child protection.
_
Read more http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/knives-will-be-out-for-the-irish-government-soon-enough-16026394.html

...be a swingeing reduction in the number of dioceses and a new generation of bishops should be appointed to lead the church here. Something along these lines is badly needed, but the sheer intensity an..

Romanian Catholics Persecuted and Martyred by Communists

Johannes Habsburg

In 1950 a prisoner of the communist authorities, held in a Franciscan monastery, Bishop Janos Scheffler managed to send one last message to his flock: "Remain faithful … even up to a martyr's death." Two years later th8e unbreakable man of Satu Mare, Romania, was dead. A bishop who lead by example remained true to his word. (Photos of the Rumanian bishops made at the time of their imprisonment) At the end of the Second World War Romania found itself among those countries dominated by imposed communist regimes. In keeping with communist methodology Georgiju Dej's dictatorship, and later that of Nicolae Ceausescu, was characterized, amongst other things, by an intense stifling of all manifestations of religious life. The main aim of its religious policy was the wholesale nationalization of all Churches.

In 1948 Romania broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See. As so often under communism, the worst repressions befell the Greek Catholic Church, in full communion with the Bishop of Rome by virtue of the Act of Union of 1700. In October 1948 the authorities rounded up thirty-six Greek Catholic priests from Transylvania in the town of Cluj and induced them to sign a document pursuant to which the Greek Catholic Church would "return" to the Orthodox Church. All of Romania's Greek Catholic bishops were arrested, and on December 1st the government issued a decree by which the Greek Catholic Church officially ceased to exist. Over five hundred priests, nuns and members of the laity were imprisoned.

The state confiscated all Greek Catholic churches and property, handing most of it over to the Orthodox Church. It was at that time that the government also banned the Roman Catholic Bishop Janos Scheffler (1887-1952) of the Satu Mare diocese from performing any public duties. Two years later, he was interned in a Franciscan monastery, though he still managed to maintain contact with his diocese, secretly appointed several replacements and was able to send a final message of consolation to his faithful. Because of his moral strength and unbending attitude, in 1952 he was transferred to a secret underground prison in Bucharest. While bathing, guards released boiling water causing serious multiple burns. He died from his wounds on December 6th 1952. 

http://members4.boardhost.com/acnaus/msg/1311221587.html

Guardian Gloats Over the End of Confessional Ireland

Editor: the Guardian would never enable elements hostile to Catholicism, would it? The Irish Republic continues to dismantled and put away the remnants of an Irish confessional state with the blessing of a people saturated with media hysteria.

[Guardian] There are two parallel revolutions taking place on either side of the Irish Sea that will radically alter the relationship between government and non-state institutions that exercise major temporal power.

In Britain the ongoing revelations of wrongdoing within the Murdoch empire and the public humiliation of a media baron and his son may result in re-alignment in the relationship between politicians and the press, with the former becoming less supplicant to the latter.

One of the most important by-products of the last few incredible weeks has been the end of fear. Specifically, fear of media tycoons who used to boast that some of their newspapers had "won" elections and had left the prime ministerial ambitions of party leaders in ruins. The humbling of Murdoch Senior and Junior this week marked the end of that fear.

Link to Guardian...

Catholic Cartoon blog, here.

Kevin Myers: There's never been a safer time for children - Kevin Myers, Columnists - Independent.ie

Edit: this is the first major journalist talking any sense.

Kevin Myers: There's ne
ver been a safer time for children - Kevin Myers, Columnists - Independent.ie

Prelate Makes St. Pius X Pilgrims Stand in the Rain:

Prelate Ludwig Limbrunner refused to allow the pilgrims to Altötting to use their Grace Chapel for adoration. Only silent prayer is allowed. As some suggested according to the kreuz.net article, it's a shame that other Faiths are allowed to use the chapel, but not Catholics.

[Kreuz.net]The Society of Pius X is to blame: had they been a homosexual friendly group of protestants, they would have been invited into the chapel to the fanfare of trumpets.

[kath.net]Prelate Ludwig Limbrunner forbid pilgrims of the Society of St. Pius X into the Grace Chapel of Altötting to venerate. Indeed, they were informed by Prelate Ludwig Limbrunner, that they would only be allowed to pray silently in the Grace Chapel and otherwise must leave their banners outside. Thereupon the Pius Pilgrims said their prayers, despite pouring rain, in the courtyard of the Grace Chapel. For a short time there were some tumultuous disagreements in front of the Grace Chapel, according to the Neue Passauer Presse.

Kath.net...

The Good Shepherd Institute Establishes Itself in Colombia

Edit: Now for something completely different: good news.  The Good Shepherd Institute has been approved for war-torn and besieged Colombia.

Good news. The Good Shephed Institute (GSI or IBP in Spanish) has recently been allowed to set up a public apostolate in Bogota.  They were also allowed to have a TLM in the Basilica.  To my knowledge, outside of Campos, this is the first official TLM at a major Church/Basilica in South America in the last 30-40 years or so.  Here are some pictures of the TLM.

Source, here...

Assault on Altar in Irish Republic Continues: Sacrament of Confession

Presidential Candidate David Norris: A True Irish Republican in Every Sense

Editor:  They don't mind taking seriously men like David Norris, who are not only advocates for homosexual depravity, but he actually supports pederasty,  and it's hardly surprising since the politician campaigned successfully to abolish the law that jailed child predator Oscar Wilde and the libertine and anti-Clerical James Joyce.  But the double standard is in full play here.  Entertainment and political figures, like Roman Polanski, Micheal Jackson or Peter Yarrow or France's Minister of Culture, Frederick Mitterand, get a get out of jail free card while the Catholic Church's property,  personnel and liberties are under persistent attack.

Meanwhile, the assault on Ireland continues as the Republic sheds crocodile tears over the "problem" of clerical sex-abuse.

Let us remind you that this has been done before in Nazi Germany, Revolutionary France and the Soviet Union.  It's going on in the United States and Communist China.  Of course, there are many interests involved, but fifth columnists within the Church's walls are playing this crisis for all it's worth.  If the Bishops were as adamant at defending Catholic Orthodoxy as they are defending socialist agendas, they might have an easier time maintaining credibility.  Instead, like the homosexual enabling Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, they collaborate on the abuse issue rather than treat the accusations for what they're worth.  They refuse to challenge them, but use them as a means to promote more liberalism, sex-education and political correctness.

The abuse-hysteria has even aroused outcries for the recall of the Vatican Ambassador.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said the government will not exempt priests from reporting evidence of child abuse obtained in the confessional, under a strengthened legislation, reports the Irish Times.

But the Independent.ie reports that the Church is expected to counter any effort to break the traditional seal of the confession box.

Ian Elliott, the CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, said he welcomed the tough new legislative package announced by Justice Minister Alan Shatter in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne Report. But Mr Elliott said he saw no justification for breaking the confessional seal, which is known as sacredotal privilege.

Read further, here...

Troops march in San Diego's gay pride parade | ajc.com

<>

SAN DIEGO — About 200 active-duty troops and veterans wearing T-shirts advertising their branch of service marched Saturday in San Diego's gay pride parade with American flags and rainbow banners, marking what is believed to be the first time a military contingent has participated in such an event in the U.S.

Sean Sala poses in front of a statue of a Navy sailor kissing a nurse Thursday, July 14, 2011, in San Diego. Sala, a former sailor, is organizing a military contingent of hundreds of former and active-duty troops to lead San Diego’s Gay Pride March set for July 15th, in a show of unity to honor those who serve the country and have died for it. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A Marine marches past a small group while yelling anti-homosexual comments during the Gay Pride Parade, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in San Diego. More than 200 active duty troops and former service members marched Saturday in San Diego’s gay pride parade with American flags and rainbow banners, marking what is believed to be the first time an identifiable group involving active duty troops participated in such an event in the U.S. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Two women, both active duty sailors in the Navy who gave their names as Nikki, left, and Lisa, kiss as they march in the Gay Pride Parade in San Diego Saturday, July 16, 2011. More than 200 active duty troops and war veterans waving small American flags alongside rainbow banners marched in San Diego's gay pride parade in what is believed to be the first time an identifiable group of active duty troops has participated in such an event in the U.S. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A Marine who did not give his name laughs as he marches past a small group yelling anti-homosexual comments during the Gay Pride Parade Saturday, July 16, 2011, in San Diego. More than 200 active duty troops and war veterans waving small American flags alongside rainbow banners marched in San Diego's gay pride parade in what is believed to be the first time an identifiable group of active duty troops has participated in such an event in the U.S. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Many of the active-duty troops said they were moved to come out because it is time to end the military's ban on openly gay troops. The march comes a day after a federal appeals court reinstated "don't ask, don't tell" but with a caveat that prevents the government from investigating or penalizing anyone who is openly gay.
National Guard member Nichole Herrera, 31, said she didn't think twice about marching, even though the policy is back on the books. She said she was "choked up" several times as she walked down a main thoroughfare in San Diego, a major Navy port.


Troops march in San Diego's gay pride parade | ajc.com

P.Hall

Fostering Distortions: Anti-Clerical Paper Attacks Father Echert With Fisheye Lens

A More Accurate Psychological Portrait of Father Echert

Updatsky: We were told by a tipster that the print edition features an advertisement for a Polka Mass right next to this story.  Roll out the barrel... Perhaps the irony will be lost on most?   We also neglected to stress that this is one of the few parishes where the Immemorial Rite of the Mass is celebrated with Diocesan approval.

Local Paper Makes Father Echert Look Distorted, Weird and Scary

Editor:Some may recall a story about the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima where the Masonic, anti-Clerical newspapers came to scoff at the "fools" who came to see a Miracle, well, history has a way of repeating itself, perhaps.


The outgoing Diocesan Communications Director, Dennis McGrath, contacted us and asked us to remove a photo of Father Echert on the story from a Parish in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, about the possibly miraculous Host which did not dissolve and became surrounded by what appears to be blood.  Since then, there has been  a story in the provincial Saint Paul Pioneer Press, describing the event with citations both from the Vicar General, Father Laird and the Communications Director, Dennis McGrath and some comments from Father Echert who was, we presume, photographed for the interview by a professional staff photographer.  Aside from omitting clerical titles in a jarring and offensive way, and not capitalizing the word "Host", which is Christ present in the Eucharist, even when He's been put in a ciborium of water, they also didn't credit us for our observations on a possible scientific explanation for the phenomenon and even misquoted us.  They write:

BACTERIA TO BLAME?
One blogger has raised the red bacterium, Serratia marcescens, as a possible explanation for the communion wafer turning red. According to Microbe Zoo, a website developed by the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University, the bacterium grows on bread and communion wafers that have been stored in a damp place.

We never said probable, we said "possible".   The quote we took to explain the phenomenon was from the unreliable on controversial and religious subjects, Wikipedia, which, of course, has little to no sympathy for the transcendent, but gave a basic idea of the phenomenon itself. Even the Wiki article didn't say Serratia marcescens was the probable cause of the miraculous Host of Bolsena...   Pioneer Press writes: 

The site goes so far as to cite Serratia marcescens as the probable cause of the bloodlike substance that a priest discovered on communion bread in 1263, referred to as "The Miracle of Bolsena."

 Check out the reporter's anti-Catholic bias here as here, almost gleefully describing the poor Catholics who "flocked" to the apparition site only to have their expectations dashed later when the Diocese proclaimed that it wasn't miraculous. 

More-recent incidents have pointed to bacterium contamination, including a highly publicized instance in 2006 when people flocked to a Dallas-area church after a host turned red in a glass.

It would be nice if  anti-Catholic journalists, who routinely flock to the sites of banal celebrities and rock stars, would engage in a little visual as well as factual accuracy in their reporting.

Exibit B

Instead of the attractive photograph of Father Echert which appears on his parish website, we were treated to a bizarre fisheye shot from below which gives a strange effect implying menace and even mental aberration.  It looks frankly nightmarish and spooky like some people imagine Catholics to be.  We'd like to be gracious and assume that the Archdiocese didn't know what the Pioneer Press would do with Father's image, but it's hard to be that generous:

Appalling Fisheye Shot of Father Echert

Apparently SOLT Needed Money to Settle Substantial Abuse Claim Against Another Priest

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Plot Thickens: SOLT and the Diocese of Corpus Christi
Folks,

• I was not going to comment on this topic again, however, the plot thickens and the readership has a right to know what little facts that are known. A report from January 28, 2011 states that the Diocese of Corpus Christi, others settle in suit alleging molestation. These others are the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), the order of which Fr. Corapi was a member. A reader at Facebook suggested the following:
• SOLT in conjunction with the Diocese of Corpus Christi has just shelled out 1.96 million dollars to a young man who a priest in SOLT raped and then contracted a murder on. Bishop Mulvey then conveniantly receives a letter of accusation of everything from sex to drugs - from a pair of down on their luck losers, who for two years were quietly content to live off the departure money they accepted -who are now in financial straits, whose very house is about to be foreclosed while the head of SOLT then orders Father Corapi to "come home" and give his fortune and be a good little priest. It's inexplicable. It's improbable. It's unbelievable. There is something in this for everyone except Father Corapi and we have not seen one shred of evidence to back up SOLT's nameless investigation trio's sweeping claims. Father John has done nothing but maintain his innosense and told the people who have been touched by his ministry to be faithful to the church and to follow Jesus Christ. Frankly, if I were Father, I would tell Mulvey and Sheehan to go climb a tree....

 Link to original, here...


H/t: Gerard on FE

Exorcists Meet in Poland to Discuss Evil Contagions and, Well, Vampires

Edit: the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has one of the longest standing flirtations with Modernism in the New World, but it's also a fairly irreligious place, at least Minneapolis is with a proliferation of Masonic Lodges, New Age non-sense and homosexual advocates, and yet, according to Father Robert Altier, there has never been a single exorcism performed in the Diocese, except an unauthorized one that seems to have brought enough international attention to embarrass Bishop Harry Flynn's homosexual enabling policies and force an end to Homosexual Activists trying to jam sodomy down everyone's throat.

Over three hundred exorcists are meeting in Poland to discuss Vampires and other demonic disturbances.  Perhaps they should dispatch some Vampire Hunters to the Archdiocese of St. Paul?  They could well start at the Chancery and work their way down.  Who knows, perhaps Archbishop Ireland leaves his grave at Calvary Cemetery and stalks the dark alleys and wreckovated churches, Colleges where evil doctrine is taught, and the various remaining witnesses to his fading legacy at his Seminary Library in search of fresh blood?

[yahoonews] Vampires, the devil's deceit and mental illness are among the hot topics for some 300 exorcists who flocked to Poland this week from as far away as Africa and India for a week-long congress.

Held at Poland's Roman Catholic Jasna Gora monastery, home to the venerated Black Madonna icon, this year's congress "examines the current fashion for vampirism in Europe and the world-over, schizophrenia and other mental disorders as well as the devil's deceit during exorcism," according to the monastery's radio station.

Also attending are "priests and lay people who work with exorcists or who are themselves practitioners in cases which do not involve possession but rather other forms of harassment by evil spirits," Polish exorcist, Father Andrzej Grefkowicz was quoted as saying.

Link to remainder...