Benedict XVI for Pope Again!

Pope on his last motorcade.
 [Bild: Maurizio Lupi]

Edit: here’s some coverage of the last speech by kreuz.net.  It really captures the people’s love for the Holy Father in Rome and in his Fatherland.

The Holy Father bid farewell to hundreds of thousands of the Faithful on St. Peter’s Square in his last General Audience as Pope.

The visibly moved, but also exhausted Holy Father was pleased about the throng of believers present:  “I see, that the Church lives!  The Church is not my property, it’s not your property, it is the Church of the Lord, who will never let it fall!”

„Bendetto XVI di nuovo Papa!“ - “Benedict XVI Pope Again!”,
an understandable desire. [Photo: Thomas Drahorad]

“Un Papa non è solo nella guida della barca di Pietro”

Pope Benedict thanked God firstly, but he also thanked those, “who had helped him and remained true to him”:  among the estimable Cardinals, with colleagues, the Secretary of State, with the Curia.  He emphasized  “la mia Diocesi”,  as he mentioned his own Diocese in Rome:  every individual is included in the Holy Father’s prayer.

Thanks to the Faithful and Address to his Countrymen

The Faithful thanked Pope Benedict XVI. for his Pontificate, “Benedetto” cries honor the Holy Father, the Chapel Horn Ensemble of Traunstein, where the Pope went himself to School, played the Bayernhymne (Bavarian Athemn).

I’m addressing my countrymen “I thank you [finally] all, that you have greeted my decision, which I have made before the Lord for the good of the Church, with respect and understanding.  For my part I will accompany the Church on my way with prayer. …

A warm “Vergelt’s Gott” [Bavarian Expression for, God Bless], I say to all brothers and sisters of the German tongue -- you, dear friends, who have come to the last General Audience of my Pontificate, and those at home.

The Lord always carries the Church, he leads it also in difficult times.  This view may never be forgotten.  We must be ever certain, the Lord is near us and surrounds us with His love.

In prayer we remain, dear friends, close to one another, and in prayer the Lord is near to us.  So I greet you all with my whole heart! The Lord blew you and the Church in our Lands!”

"You are our beloved Pope -- and will always be so!”

Some Italians in the square held up a sign which read:

„Carissimo Papa Benedetto.
Tu es Petrus
Tu sei la nostra roccia,
Tu sei la roccia della chiesa
Tu sei il nostro amato Papa
e lo serai per sempre!“

Here is the website of the Vatican with the Holy Father’s speech: L'UDIENZA GENERALE, 27.02.2013

No more Catholic Doctors at Catholic Hospitals

(Cologne) Rudolf Schmidt, Chairman of the Association of Catholic Physicians welcomes the clear stance of the bishops in the "morning after pill" and asserts that now there will be  no  more Catholic doctors  at Catholic hospitals any  more. He responded to the question of whether there were still Catholic doctors who would be concerned  because of the abortifacient effect of the "morning after pill” for Germany radio: "So, I assume that the women who have to go to the doctor in that case, would not find such a colleague. Do you understand? In Catholic hospitals there will be those colleagues who act strictly according to the old rule,  who will not even be in the hospitals. So, I have no doubts about that. "

Text: Linus Schneider

Link to katholisches….

Sufi Dancers in the Church

 Edit: the abomination of desolation. This report comes from the German District of the SSPX.

Incomprehensible but completely in the spirit of the Council, which is stated in the Constitution “Nostra Aetate”:

The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men

We learn how this “adoration” appears in practice from the Augustinian Church in Würzburg. There the Islamic Sufis dance at the beginning of Lent!

The Augustinian Church looks like a museum or a gathering hall after its renovation, than a Church. But as the “Dance of the Sufis” takes place, its formal desecration a church is complete.

Why the Bishop of Würzburg is also “silent” here remains a mystery.

In the announcement on the homepage is is described as an “Ensemble for Islamic Music”:

In the context of the 12th Würzburg Lenten Courses in the Augustinian Church, there will be traditional Islamic Dervishes dancing on Saturday (7:30). The course of the evening will be in the hands of Seref Dalyanoglu, who is also the representative for the Dervishes and other musicians of the Ensemble for Islamic Music.

Worse still is a participant's obituary of the event. It had not only been a dance, “but much more a special form of prayer to God by the Sufis”.

 Source is piusbruderschaft.de, with more photos...

Gary Wills Denies Infallible Dogma on Colbert

Edit: Gary Wills might be a Unitarian posing as a Catholic to sell books, but his claims are as absurd as are his claims to categorically absurd. He denies several points of Catholic Dogma during the interview: inerrancy of scripture, the priesthood, and very notably, the dogma of transubstantiation. He even speciously accuses St. Augustine of not believing in it, which is manifestly false.

 A patheos blogger does some groundwork below the video:

The Colbert Report
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I’ve never read any of Wills’ works, but I’ve read enough of St. Augustine to know that his assertion rings hollow. A quick search on the interwebs reveals a treasure trove of quotes from Augustine’s oeuvre to make Joe Six-Pack pretty comfortable in deciding that I’ll stick with Augustine (and Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Cyril of Jerusalem, etc.) and ignore the self-deceiving sophistry of Wills. Take a gander at the Augustine citations found on Early Christians on the Holy Eucharist, from the Apologetics Toolkit hosted by a website out of Columbia University. Here is the thought that Wills centered his comments around Augustine upon, assuming the rest of us are ignorant of the breadth of commentary on the subject written by the Doctor of Grace, St. Augustine, Explanations on the Psalms, A.D. 392-418, [98, 9]:

`Unless he shall have eaten My flesh he shall not have eternal life. [John 6:54-55]‘ [Some] understood this foolishly, and thought of it carnally, and supposed that the Lord was going to cut off some parts of His Body to give them … But He instructed them, and said to them: `It is the spirit that gives life; but the flesh profits nothing: the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life’ [John 6:64]. Understand spiritually what I said. You are not to eat this Body which you see, nor to drink that Blood which which will be poured out by those who will crucify Me. I have commended to you a certain Sacrament; spiritually understood, it will give you life. And even if it is necessary that this be celebrated visibly, it must still be understood invisibly.

Imkamp Called to the Archive of the CDF

Edit: he’s one of the most conservative Prelates in Germany, his Masses are often packed and he delivers great sermons.

Ziemetshausen (KNA) Wilhelm Imkamp, pilgrimage director in Swabia’s Maria Vesperbild, is the newest member of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith in the Vatican.  The 61 year old Prelate announced on Monday in Ziemteshausen that he had been summoned by Prefect Gerhard Ludwig Müller to the board.

Already at the end of January he was awarded his doctorate in Theology as a regular member of the Pontifical Theological Academy in Rome.  It is one of eleven academies in the field of Catholic Church Government in Rome and serves as a “think tank”, which unifies the various theological schools of thought.  According to the Papal Yearbook, there are 25 more regular members.  The naming is in effective for life.

Kath.net...

Benedictine Monastery Continues to Promote Homoheresy

Edit: the Guesthouse Master at the Modernist Monastery in Collegeville is speaking publicly against chastity and the teachings of the Catholic Faith. When he’s not attacking the Archbishop’s efforts to defend the Catholic Family, he’s promoting nude retreats, and getting away with it despite repeated warnings from the local ordinary.

Courageous  [sic] priest joins us in February to uphold church teaching on the fundamental call to show respect and compassion for LGBTQ persons. 

Fr. Bob Pierson, a Benedictine priest out of the Collegeville MN Abbey in Minnesota, stood forth publicly last summer to emphasize the primacy of the informed conscience in respect to voting on Minnesota's marriage amendment. Since then he's been barred from several dioceses in Minnesota. He'll join us in this QCF conversation to speak also of the church teaching to show respect, love and compassion to our LGBTQ sisters and brothers, and to resist unjust discrimination. How is the whole church challenged by these teachings? 

The conversation begins at 9:00 EASTERN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013. Attendace is free, as usual, and all are invited to submit live questions and comments during the hour.
When 

February 26th, 2013 9:00 PM   through   10:00 PM

Link to “DignityUSA” site...

Cardinal Barbarin Prays in the Grand Mosque of Lyon

(Lyon) The Archbishop of Lyon, Philippe Cardinal Barbarin visited the Grand Mosque of Lyon and prayed here for the release of a seven member French family, which has been abducted in Cameroon and are being held as hostages.  “Will Allah hear the prayers more than our Lord Jesus Christ?” asked the French internet site Riposte Catholique.

Kamel Kabtane, the director of the Grand Mosque of Lyon posted on his web site with “Cardinal Barbarin, Primate of France, visited on the 21st of February 2013 in the afternoon, the Grand Mosque of Lyon to pray with the Moslem community for seven French hostages, among whom are four children.  The prayer too place in the presence of a large public.  Following the recitation by the Rector of the Grand Mosque, Kamel Kabtane of the Koran, he called on the community to pray for a quick release of the hostages.  The Cardinal showed himself to be moved by the brotherly gathering in the mosque of Lyon and prayed with them.

The ceremony was concluded by the Imam of the mosque,  which had included a prayer calling for peace and brotherhood among people, against unjust wars, which affect innocent people.”

The entrance of Cardinal Barbarin to the mosque was not the first.  As Riposte Catholique writes, the Cardinal recited the Koran in 2010 at the end of Holy Mass and said the Shahada, the Islamic profession of Faith, in another place in 2011.  The Secretary of the Archbishop, Renaud de Kermadec, spoke finally of a misunderstood statement in the Cardinal’s address at a meeting of Interreligious Dialogue.

From katholisches...

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Riposte Catholique

Damian Thompson’s Fangs Come Out : Celibacy

The Fourth Estate Continues its Assault on Behalf of Powers and Principalities.

Edit: noting the increasingly and unsurprising hostility of the Telegraph in recent times is interesting, especially in reading Damian Thompson’s diatribe against priestly celibacy.  The boyish, single and industrious editor is now insisting that something which has worked for centuries no longer works.  Like the most annoying heathen media personality, he’s taking a very censorious tone indeed.

We’ve noted earlier that he’s been slyly pushing the envelope on the Gomorrah front for a while.  Did Damian Thompson receive Holy Orders recently?

Thompson insists that having a married clergy was an ancient tradition of the Church, but what he fails to note is that clerical celibacy is of Apostolic origin, as Cardinal Levada himself insists.  Indeed, the Apostles, though married, took up their staffs and followed Christ, leaving their families behind.

He writes:

Yesterday, Cardinal O’Brien was in the headlines for a different reason. He has been reported to the Vatican for alleged “inappropriate acts” with three priests and one ex-priest of his diocese. The papal ambassador to Britain, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, has forwarded the allegations to Rome.

It’s important to say that the Cardinal has not been charged with an offence. But the juxtaposition of these allegations with his claim that universal celibacy is an unrealistic ideal illustrates the sexual tension that is pulling apart the Catholic priesthood. To put it bluntly, the new Pope must confront the suffocating hypocrisy of the Vatican and Bishops’ Conferences on this subject. For example, I’ve never heard a bishop acknowledge what is obvious to so many of us: that in certain large cities in the Western world, a majority of Catholic priests are gay, albeit celibate. If the Vatican were to enforce its current ruling that homosexuals per se are unsuitable for the priesthood, then it would have innumerable empty urban churches on its hands. And furious parishioners, too, since discreetly gay men often make wonderful priests. On the other hand, you don’t have to be a homophobe to wonder whether it’s healthy to have such an imbalance between the sexual instincts of priests and their flocks.

Cardinal Dolan Questioned Before Conclave

Edit: in fine agitprop fashion, the media enters the usual slurs. If the occurrence of a crime, which happens in every other aspect of society at a greater rate than it happens within the Catholic Church, has happened on the watch of this Cardinal or that one, taints his career, perhaps that should go for the media as well?

The enemy is powerful and isn’t interested in anything less than complete subjugation of the Catholic Church to the world. It doesn’t matter that Cardinal Dolan has made conciliatory, if cowardly, gestures at St. Francis Xavier Parish in New York, the enemy only regards concessions as weakness. It doesn’t matter whether or not Cardinal Dolan has many positions which are inconsistent with a census Catholicus, or that he has given aid and comfort to the enemy’s political aims during political elections, he still represents the Catholic Faith, however humanly.

Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York, has become the latest cardinal to be questioned over his handling of sex abuse by priests and victims in Ireland, US and Belgium.

Of the 116 cardinals who will gather beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, several are embroiled in controversies connected to the Church’s systemic failure to tackle sex abuse against children by paedophile priests.

The question marks over the cardinals’ management of sex abuse cases are an embarrassment for the Holy See, just as Benedict prepares to resign the papacy next Thursday.

Link to Telegraph...

Someone else who really needs no introduction is Cardinal Mahony, who, despite his own moral challenges and failures in presenting the Catholic Faith throughout the years, is drawing support from his fellow Old Liberal Bishops, in this case, Cardinal Levada.

Levada Thinks Mahony should Vote for Pope

The former archbishop of San Francisco said Monday that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony has a rightful place among Vatican officials who will choose the next pope, even though Mahony has been battered in recent days by disclosures about his role in covering up clergy sex abuse.

The comments by Cardinal William Levada, a high-ranking Vatican official until recently, came in the wake of a grass-roots campaign to shame Mahony into refraining from participating because of his role protecting sexually abusive priests.

Mahony left for Rome over the weekend after recently released church documents showed he had covered up for other priests who raped and molested children.

Link to ABC News…. With breathtaking shamelessness, Cardinal Mahony writes on his personal blog, as the anti-Catholic ABC writes:

On Monday, Mahony took to social media and his own personal blog to write about persecution and forgiving one's enemies. He said he has a special prayer group for people who "cannot forgive me for my past hurts and offenses," including members of the media, attorneys, protesters and those who "hate and despise me.”

In order for forgiveness to be given, doesn’t there have to be penance as well as contrition?

St. Thomas Aquinas writes in the Summa:

I answer that, As stated above (Objection 2; 84, 10, ad 4), to repent is to deplore something one has done. Now it has been stated above (84, 9) that sorrow or sadness is twofold. First, it denotes a passion of the sensitive appetite, and in this sense penance is not a virtue, but a passion. Secondly, it denotes an act of the will, and in this way it implies choice, and if this be right, it must, of necessity, be an act of virtue. For it is stated in Ethic. ii, 6 that virtue is a habit of choosing according to right reason. Now it belongs to right reason than one should grieve for a proper object of grief as one ought to grieve, and for an end for which one ought to grieve. And this is observed in the penance of which we are speaking now; since the penitent assumes a moderated grief for his past sins, with the intention of removing them. Hence it is evident that the penance of which we are speaking now, is either a virtue or the act of a virtue.

Meanwhile, the German Bishops continue their assault on the Catholic Church in their anti-Roman trajectory by “sparking a debate” about the use of an abortifacient against rape.

Catholic schools will be forced to teach about gay marriage

Edit: some may remember when an intemperate Prime Minister threatened the Catholic Church and lectured them about the need to keep with the times.  These aren’t just idle threats, it now seems.

Read correspondence between bishops and Equalities Minister

20 February 2013, 9:00

This week the bishops' conference of England and Wales published its correspondence with Maria Miller, Minister for Women and Equalities, on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.

The Government rejected proposed amendments by the Church to its gay marriage Bill, and said the new definition of marriage will have to be taught in Catholic schools.

The Church suggested a number of amendments to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill during a meeting with Culture Minister Maria Miller in January.

In a letter to Archbishop Smith that was released yesterday, Ms Miller said teachers in Catholic schools will need to reflect the fact that 'marriage is open to both opposite and same sex couples.' She said, however that 'the discussion or criticism of same sex marriage [in schools] would not be ‘of itself' discrimination under the current law,' and that this would only be the case if this took place 'in an inappropriate manner or context' which resulted in discrimination.

Link to Tablet...

Cardinal Keith O’Brien Resigns

He’s not going to the Conclave, either.

Edit: one down, three to go. (There are more than that, but you get the idea)  In his defense, he was outspoken against immorality, and received a great deal of public criticism because of it.  It’s also unfortunate that his resignation will take place in the context of his good remarks, and that this will overshadow the hostility he bore for faithful Catholics in his Diocese.

Also, his statement is very humble, in contrast to others.

It brings to mind another high ranking Cardinal, Cardinal Billot, who resigned in 1911.  Although Cardinal O’Brien hasn’t resigned his distinction as ++Bilot had.

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric resigned today following allegations he behaved in an "inappropriate" way with other priests, and said he would not be going to the Vatican to take part in the election for Pope Benedict's replacement. 

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who had been expected to take part in the conclave, said he had tendered his resignation to Pope Benedict some months ago as he was turning 75 and because he was suffering from "indifferent health". 

The pope, who himself is stepping down on February 28 because of ill health, had decided to accept O'Brien's resignation before he left the role, O'Brien, the archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, said in a statement.

Link to Indian Express...

Should Scandalous Old Liberal Cardinals Vote in the Conclave?

Archbishop Weakland, helping and the like.

Edit: it’s been a frequent lament here that it’s never really the truly Old Liberal Bishops who get rough treatment when abuse claims come around.  Even Archbishop Weakland had been allowed to sort of retain some semblance of dignity in his disgrace by having a hideous bronze statue made of himself in the presence of children.  That’s ironic, but there’s also a pattern developing in recent time which does not fit, exactly.

Now, there have been some interesting revelations over the past weeks in the wake of the Conclave involving very high profile senior clergy who are often darlings of the media barons of the Left.

 First there was Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles who was severely reprimanded by the present Archbishop of Los Angeles, Archbishop Gomes.  Cardinal Mahony has been undermining the Church’s presence in society for most if not all of his tenure during the last decades, and was a frequent target of criticism from the Wanderer, among others for his defense of clerical homosexuals and persecution of conservative clergy.  Indeed, there is a suggestion that he may not participate in the Conclave, here, here, and petition here.

Then there enter Archbishop Mueller of Regensburg Germany, whose heterodox theological perspectives were criticized early on, even before he became the new Doctrine Gardener.  The now highly placed Archbishop, who didn’t receive his Cardinal’s hat, was recently slapped hard and publicly by Cardinal Bertone when he attempted to reinstate the teaching license of a formerly Pontifical university in Peru.

As if that weren’t enough, a soon to be retired, Old Liberal Cardinal O’Brien, has been accused of indecent acts by three priests and one retired priest.   This story seemed to surface with a vengeance in the light of the Cardinal’s revellations  about married priests, he thinks we should have them, and his statements against homosexuality.

The Cardinal even missed Mass this morning.

In addition to this, is a kind of anonymous denunciation on a free website on the internet for Cardinal Daneels.  It’s hard to believe that with all of the skeletons in his closet, well, he had pictures of skeletons in his closet, the exhumation of remains as reported by Cathcon:

Some photos of the exhumation of Julie and Melissa  

Up to 100 photos showing the exhumation of the bodies of the children, but also exchanges of reports between magistrates in the Dutroux affair and large parts of the judicial file were found. The fact is that these documents were only intended for the judicial authorities and, a priori, had nothing to do with the church, explained RTL journalist.

This is not the first leak of elements of the judicial record of Dutroux according to Solimando Antonio. He recalls that Cdrom of the Dutroux investigation was sent to several editors, some who had decided to publish it. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the presence of those confidential files and reports to the archdiocese will once again support defenders of the theory of a paedophile network ... Even if, as a reminder, the court has ruled that it does not accept this theory.

There’s been nothing in the news since then about why these documents were in the Cardinal’s possession, but there’s much more in his past and present which implicates him.  Here’s the article, link:

Cardinal Danneels must not take part in the conclave! 

Does this man have the moral authority to elect a new pope of the Catholic Church? NO, NO and NO!!! Take a look at a few of his "achievements" and judge for yourself:

Appointment and protection of Roger Vangheluwe, child molestor and bishop of Brugge 

When he learnt about the child abuse he tried to cover it up. These were his words to the victim: "shouldn't you try to ask for forgiveness" (!!). He was actually suggesting that the victim would ask his aggressor for forgiveness! The tapes of the conversation were broadcast in all the Belgian media. 

Approval of sexually explicit text books in Catholic schools 

During his time as archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel, a scandal broke out about sexually explicit school books. Children of 12 years old in Catholic schools were being taught how to masturbate and try out homosexual acts. When confronted with these facts, he simply refused to receive the shocked parents and didn't take any action to stop the use of these books. 

Turning a blind eye against blatant abuses 

Fr. Luc Versteylen sj is a very famous person in Belgium. He's the founder of the extreme-leftwing (communist) political party Agalev and for many years led a sort of christian cultic sect in Viersel. In this house, mostly unmarried adolescents were encouraged to explore their sexuality. Fr. Versteylen himself is known to cohabitate with a woman, thereby publicly ignoring his priestly chastity vows. He recently also admitted to raping one of his female sect-members. Danneels never, ever took action against this man. One can confidently say that most Catholics in Belgium know of first-hand examples of priests ignoring their celibacy vows - these things are publically known. Some of these priests are even so proud of it that they like to be interviewed about it in the national newspapers. Yet bishops, whose duty it should be to maintain order, hardly ever took (take) action. 

Good friends with the freemasonry 

The freemasonry, an extremely powerful secret organisation priding itself with facilitating the legalisation of abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage in Belgium, is the biggest enemy of the Catholic Church. Instead of waging war against these demons, Danneels was good friends with them! He even went to give a lecture in one of their temples in 2008. If that is already out in the open, how much more relations may he have had which we know nothing about. 

Condoms? No problem!

Danneels is clearly one of the most left-wing cardinals in the Church. He wants change, that's for sure. He knows how far he can go, but never formally trespasses the line. One perfect example: preservatives are morally legitimate if they are used by a married couple of which one of the two partners is sero-positive. While this is technically true, one can wonder whether it's up to someone in his position to make this kind of statements. He knows all too well how this will be transmitted in popular media: Danneels opposes the pope on birth control issue. Danneels is not stupid. He does this intentionally; he intentionally creates confusion amongst his faithful, while it's his duty to guard and protect his flock as a good sheperd.

His Holiness?

The image was stolen from Southern Orders.

Benedict XVI. Made Changes to the Enthronement Rite of the New Pope -- Ferula Papalis and Tiara?

(Vatican)  Osservatore Romano  published an interview with the Minister of Cermonies of the Pope, Msgr Guido Marini in its Saturday edition. On the 18th of February Pope Benedict XVI. received Msgr Marini in audience. On this occasion he made “in the power of his Apostolic authority” some changes in the Ordo rituum pro minister Petrini initio Romae episcopi.

In the interview Msgr Marini explained the proposed changes by the Pope. What was not also mentioned regarding the use of the Ferula Papalis is that Pope Paul replaced it with a cross staff that was characteristic of the pontificate of John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI. returned the old practice with Palm Sunday of 2008, initially by using the Ferula of Pius XI, then from 2009 a lighter custom made Ferula was found for him. Will the Tiara be reserved, a visible expression of papal authority even if it is only placed on special occasions on the statue of the Apostle Peter and first Pope?

First: What is the Ordo Rituum per ministerii Petrini initio Romae episcopi?

As the introduction to the Ordo under Nr. 2 says, it deals with the Rituale, which the papal celebration of the Bishop of Rome  upon the occupation of his See and the places it governs.

In other words the book contains all of the liturgical texts for the celebrations of the new Pope from the moment of the solemn proclamation of his election to his visit to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The Ordo was approbated by Benedict XVI. with the rescript Ex audientia Summi Pontificis of 20 April 2005, on the day after his election as Pontifex Maximus. I must also add that the office for the Liturgical celebration of the Pope required at that time great subject knowledge and a large work for study and preparation, in order to bring the Ordo in its form.

Holy Father With Ferula

The Pope has now approved some changes in the same way. Can you tell us the reason?

It seems to me that I can describe two in particular.

First of all the Pope once experienced the celebration at the beginning of his Pontificate in 2005.

This experience and the consequent employment with that ended some interventions from him for the improvement of the texts in the sense of a harmonic development. Second, he wanted to continue in this line, that he had taken the steps toward changes in the papal Liturgy.

In other words: for the better celebration of Holy Mass to distinguish it from other rites which are not directly connected.

I refer for example to the rite of canonization, of the Resurrexit on Easter Sunday and the conferring of the Palium to new Metropolitan Bishops.

What will happen in practice?

As already indicated, the celebration of the inauguration of the Bishop of Rome will be ordered just as also with the enthronement in the Lateran Basilica the typical rites before and outside of Holy Mass and no more within the same. What the celebration of the inauguration of the Bishop of Rome involves, so all of the Cardinals will participate in the oath of obedience.

In this way the gestures which the electing Cardinals will perform during the election in the Sixtine Chapel, will again retain a public dimension and with that include all members of the College of Cardinals and at the same time is an expression of his Catholicity.

It doesn’t involve a novelty, which all well remember at the act of obedience in the beginning of the pontificate of John Paul II, in which all the Cardinals at the time participated. It suffices to think on the famous and moving picture, the embrace of Pope Wojtyla showed with the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as with Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

In the interview Msgr. Marini refers to the rite of obedience as reported by Cathcon:

When Pope Benedict celebrated his inaugural Mass in 2005, 12 people were chosen to represent all Catholics: three cardinals, a bishop, a diocesan priest, a transitional deacon, a male religious, a female religious, a married couple and a young man and a young woman recently confirmed.

Among the first acts of the new bishop of Rome, is provided for in the visit to the two papal basilicas of Saint Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major. Are there also some changes in this regard?

In contrast to what was has been envisaged for the Ordo, new pope does not have to do this immediately after the election, but can make it as he deems an appropriate time and do in an appropriate form, be it with a Mass, with the Liturgy of the Hours or special liturgical form, what previously had been required.

Is there anything new in the field of music?

The former Ordo allowed for mostly a new musical repertoire, which was composed on the occasion of the drafting of the Ordo.

The current Benedict XVI approbated version provides more freedom in the choice of the sung parts and allows the rich musical treasure of the Church's history to bring to bear.

Einleitung und Übersetzung: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Wikicommons

The Feast of St. Peter Damian: A Window to the Past

Edit: today is the feast of St. Peter Damian, the great reformer who authored the book "Liber Gomorrhianus” and presided in his office during a time of great reforms as well as tribulations.  Along with the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, it provides a a parallel, a back drop and historical prospective in the face of current events which all too many feel are unprecedented, if not apocalyptic.

During St. Peter Damian’s time, Benedict IX resigned his office to St. Peter's friend, the brilliant John Gratian.  After abdicating in penitence, the very troublesome and corrupt Benedict IX entered the seclusion of the monastery of Grottaferrata.  Here’s an excerpt from Catholic Encyclopedia:

Although living in the seclusion of the cloister, Peter Damian watched closely the fortunes of the Church, and like his friend Hildebrand, the futureGregory VII, he strove for her purification in those deplorable times. In 1045 when Benedict IX resigned the supreme pontificate into the hands of the archpriest John Gratian (Gregory VI), Peter hailed the change with joy and wrote to the pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of thechurch in Italy, especially with the evil bishops of Pesaro, of Città di Castello, and of Fano (see BENEDICT IX; GREGORY VI.) He was present inRome when Clement II crowned Henry III and his wife Agnes, and he also attended a synod held at the Lateran in the first days of 1047, in whichdecrees were passed against simony. After this he returned to his hermitage (see CLEMENT II; DAMASUS II). Pope St. Leo IX was solemnlyenthroned at Rome, 12 Feb., 1049, to succeed Damasus II, and about two years later Peter published his terrible treatise on the vices of theclergy, the "Liber Gomorrhianus", dedicating it to the pope. It caused a great stir and aroused not a little enmity against its author. Even thepope, who had at first praised the work, was persuaded that it was exaggerated and his coldness drew from Damian a vigorous letter of protest. Meanwhile the question arose as to the validity of the ordinations of simoniacal clerics. the prior of Fonte-Avellana was appealed to an wrote (about 1053) a treatise, the "Liber Gratissimus", in favour of their validity, a work which, though much combatted at the time, was potent in deciding the question in their favour before the end of the twelfth century. In June, 1055, during the pontificate of Victor II, Damian attended asynod held at Florence, where simony and clerical incontinence were once more condemned. About two years later he fell ill at Fonte-Avellanaand nearly died, but suddenly, after seven weeks of pain, recovered, as he believed, through a miracle.

Image taken from “Catholic Family Today Blog" Here is also some ongoing analysis by Doctor Moynihan of La Repubblica’s article with some interesting interactions with the clergy…

It’s interesting to note that Moynihan doesn’t seem to think that any documents could have found their way into unfriendly hands by way of Paolo Gabrielle.

It’s also interesting to note that he identified the La Repubblica journalist as having Communist connections.

Priest Forgives His Father, Who Sired Him in Rape

A priest, who was conceived in rape has forgiven his father.  He was penitent and years later came to the Faith and goes to confession with his son.

Loja (kath.net/CNA) A priest who was conceived in rape has forgiven his father.  He did penance and returned to the Faith years later and goes to confession with his son.

“I could have ended up in the dustbin, but I lived”, said P. Luis Alfredo Leon Armijos from Ecuador.  His mother was raped by her employer.  She was 13 years old and worked in his house as a maid in order to supper her family financially.  Her family wanted to abort the child.  She flew to another city where she succeeded in bearing the child.

Later she was able to return with the help of the rapist.  He recognized the child and supported P. Leon’s mother  The relationship to his father was distant, but it was stamped with respect.  At the age of 16 he encountered the Charismatic renewal.  There he deepened his faith.  At 18 he felt called to the vocation of the priesthood and entered, against his father’s wishes, into the seminary.  At 23 he was ordained a priest.  Two years later he entered into the Neocatechumenal Way.  At this time he learned how he came into existence.  P. Leon helped his mother to lay aside her hatred against his father and to forgive him.  And also he learned with the help of the Gospels to forgive his father.

After many years he received a message from his father, who shortly before a surgical intervention was very afraid.  He asked his son, to hear his confession and returned to his Faith after 30 years.  “I said to him:  you have earned heaven, eternal life”,  recalled P. Leon.    His father broke into tears after hearing this.

“If you are a child or single mother, look how God our Father has cared for you in your life”,  recommends P. Leon, when he talks about his life.

Link to kath.net...

Italian “Newspaper” Alleges Curial Blackmail

Photo: Catholic lane

Edit: it’s always a mark of suspicion when a news story becomes universally acclaimed and repeated to the point where its assertions, misapprehensions, inaccuracies or malice become common currency.

Remember when the Eponymous Flower Blog posted the story from Father Dariuscz Oko back at the end of October? The courageous Polish priest is studying the homosexual subculture within the Church in connection with a Vatican investigation. This priest said then that the Holy Father has been persistently working to combat evil within the Church. Still, who can say what his abdication means to this battle. Obviously, there are those who will attempt to portray this as a failure of the Church to act responsibly and will attempt to shame the Holy Father’s efforts. Who will win indeed, the wolves or the shepherds?

Presently the suggestion is that Pope Benedict XVI has resigned not for the reasons he’s stated, but for more pecuniary, and even possibly reasons of a more scandalous nature.

The following is an interesting blog entry from a Doctor Robert Mouynihan who is the founder of Vatican Inside Magazine,  on the Catholic lane blog, with the very encouraging title, “Italian Press Alleges Curia Blackmail".

The story involves the revelation of a study which was ordered by the Holy Father to determine the source of a problem within the Church’s hierarchy and Its employees. Three trusted senior Cardinals were chosen and they very methodically interviewed, compiled charts and information to provide a presentation of the raw material they’d collected. Unfortunately, the information was leaked to other agencies, clearly not trustworthy or ideologically reliable, like the anti-Catholic, and Socialist, La Repubblica.  It has an agenda, shockingly or not, like the New York Times in the US.

The origin of this story and the way it’s being spun is the problem. Doctor Moynihan is going to explore the story by talking to those who’ve originated it, namely it’s principle originator, Ignazio Ingrao, who is known as a Vaticanista, operating the blog “Urbi et Orbi”. It should be clear that no one can deny the pedigree of the Italian paper that is disseminating this spin, but what of those who’ve accepted its interpretation uncritically, and worse, come to more uncharitable conclusions than the originator of this story. Indeed, the publication which hosts Mr. Ingrao’s blog, Panorama.it, is part of the Burlesconi publishing empire. Surely this is an unbiased source, considering the long standing hostility of Mr. Berlusconi for the teachings of the Church, if not the Church Herself.

Doctor Moynhian shouldn’t have to go far to see what’s behind this portrayal.

Here’s an excerpt:

While we were speaking, Italian journalist Iacopo Scaramuzzi, another excellent Vaticanist, came up. He waited respectfully a few steps away, and came up when I nodded to him and stepped away toward the kiosk. I bought the two copies of La Repubblica. When I returned, Scaramuzzi was asking Saraiva Martins questions about the Pope’s resignation, about the Pope’s mood during these days of Spiritual Exercises, and about the qualities of spirit and character that the next Pope will need.

As the two spoke, a reporter and cameraman from Associated Press walked up. “May we?” they asked, with the camera already rolling. For a while they filmed the conversation, and then the AP journalist broke in, asking if Saraiva Martins had read the news that had broken that morning in La Repubblica, about the alleged blackmail of Vatican officials. Saraiva Martins glanced at me, holding the two copies of the paper, then said, “No, I cannot make any comment on that. I haven’t yet read the article.”

A moment later, the interview was over, and Saraiva Martins and I began to walk away toward his residence nearby. I waited until we were under the colonnade opposite the press office, in front of the Ancora bookstore, then handed him the second copy of La Repubblica. He thanked me and he said we could speak again after the end of the Spiritual Exercises on Saturday.

Indeed, some might remember that Vatileaks butler Paolo Gabriele has some possible connections in a Monastery closed by the Holy Father as reported by Orbis Catholicus.

Syria: Christian Dragged From Bus and Shot, Because he Wore a Cross

(Damascus) A Syrian Christian of the Armenian Church was put to death by Islamists on the road to Aleppo. As the news agency Fides reported while Christians were traveling on a bus towards Aleppo,  the bus was stopped by armed Islamists, who had set up a roadblock. The Islamists were scanning the bus, to relieve the passengers relieved  of possessions and looking for potential victims of kidnappings for ransom.  On the 9th of February two priests were  kidnapped in this way. The Armenian Catholic priest Michel Kayyal and the Greek Orthodox priest Maher Mahfouz. Both are still in the hands of Islamist gangs.

As the Islamists in the bus investigated the travelers, they also encountered a Syrian Christians Yohannes an  Armenian, who wore a cross on a necklace. They dragged him out of the bus and shot him at close range. For safety reasons,  as Fides reports, they omitted the messenger service on the publication of his full name in order to protect the family of the victim. As the Armenian Church announced, he is a "martyr", because the Christian was killed in "odium fidei", out of hatred for the Christian faith.

Just recently, a group of Christians to reach Beirut to escape the perilous situation in Syria. Their bus was hit by a rocket in flight. Two Christians, Boutros and his 22 year old fiancée Naraya, who wanted to get married soon, were killed. Islamists then stole everything they could steal in this bus brutally brought to a halt.

The Christian churches in Syria have decided not to pay a ransom for kidnapped Christians. A decision that was made after much consideration, as Fides reported, because Christians do not want to be prisoners of a lucrative Islamist kidnapping industry. If they were to pay, it would just such but inflame.

Instead, call the churches to the international community to take action against the inhumane practice of kidnapping in Syria. The Christians of Syria urge all Christians to support through prayer and spiritual sacrifices. Fides reported that the church tours in Syria, it is agreed that the rescue of the hostages, including the two priests, is to lead a spiritual battle and not as fundraising to collect money  for ransom payments.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Faith

Link to katholisches...

Cardinal Darmaatmadja Resigns -- Only 116 Electors in the Conclave

(Rome)  It will now be only 116 and not 117 Cardinals who will participate in the Conclave in order to elect the next Pope.  The 78 year old Indonesian Cardinal Julius Riyadi Damaatmadja and emeritus Archbishop of Jakarta will “of his own free will” not participate in the Conclave, because his state of health no longer allows him to take the trip, as reported by Asianews.

The Cardinal lives in an Emmaus House because of “worsening” health problems for some time, an elder hostel for priests in Central Java.  As Asianews reports, the Cardinal is among other things almost blind.  A “collected,  independent movement” is no longer possible as he himself explained to the news agency by telephone.  “I am convinced”, says Cardinal Darmaatmajda, “it is not possible for me to sit with the other Cardinals in order to elect another Pope.  For this reason he is “extraordinarily sorry”, but he doesn’t want to hinder the Conclave because of his health and possibly bring confusion to the process of the election.


The Jesuit Darmaatmadja was ordained to the priesthood in 1969  and was named the Archbishop of Semarang in Indonesia in 1983 by John Paul II.  John Paull II. was also the one who raised him to the state of Cardinal in 1994 and called him to be the Archbishop of Jakarta in 1996.


Text: Asianews/Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Asianews

Liberation Theology Will Get a Boost if Cardinal Turkson

Edit: right now, he’s the most favored to be the next Pope. This article identifies some of his political views which are in line with Liberation Theology and Marxist thinking. Right now Cardinal Turkson is the overall favorite to be next Pope according to Paddy Power, despite attempting to take himself out of the running by telling the press what he’ll do when he becomes Pope.

There is a world where it is possible to ‘wipe the tears from the eyes of those who suffer injustice‘. So says the man tipped by many to become the 294th successor to St. Peter as Pope and spiritual leader of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics.

Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who currently serves as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is a renowned champion of the poor and marginalized.

In a lecture at Durham University Centre for Catholic Studies two years ago, Cardinal Turkson argued that:

“…despite the naysayers, economic resources do exist that could help wipe the tears from the eyes of those who suffer injustice, who lack the basics of a dignified life, and who are in danger from any deterioration in the climate.”

In a call to action, he added that the poor “benefit from champions in solidarity who believe that injustice can be reduced, that harmonious relationships can be fostered, that our planetary ecology can be made sustainable, that a world of greater communion is possible”.

In October 2011, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace he heads set out a radical critique of global financial arrangements, which skew wealth and power away from developing countries.

Read further...

Another Bishop with connections to Ghana is Bishop Terry Steib S.V.D. of the Diocese of Memphis Tennessee in the USA. Interestingly, the coat of arms shows a connection to Marxist causes of black power movement and East Germany.

It’s not surprising that this Bishop is a very enthusiastic supporter of aberrosexuality.

 Part of his coat of arms even has a red chicken, symbolic of the Convention People's Party of Marxist agitator  Kwame Nkrumah, who was backed by the Soviet Union. 

Here is a description of Bishop Steib’s coat of arms, since none of the examples on line can be blown up successfully to give a decent picture:

The arms of Bishop Steib feature a tri-colored field - black, red, and green - which recalls the Flag of the Black Liberation Movement [represented by the cockerel]; this in turn is based on the Flag of the nation-state of Ghana, whose independence in 1957 gave rise to the general decolonization of the African continent. The colors represent, respectively, the great people that has sprung from this land, the blood shed in its defense, and the green plains of Africa. [It looks a lot like the flag of Communist East Germany, too]

H/t to Jay’s Analysis