Religious Leaders Demand the Release of Syrian Bishops

Edit: earlier it was reported from many different sources that two Bishops who were kidnapped in Syria were to be released.  It turns out that they are still in captivity, and increasingly, the reports of this tragedy have aroused even the major news media.

[charismanews] Religious leaders from around the world have stepped up their pleas for the safe return of two Syrian bishops who were kidnapped April 22 by armed men as they were driving near the war-torn city of Aleppo.

The kidnappers, who have not been identified, abducted Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, both of Aleppo, while they were undertaking a “humanitarian mission” to help Syria’s Christian minority, according to Syrian Christian expatriates in the U.S.

The bishops’ Syrian Orthodox driver was killed in the attack.

Since 2011, more than 70,000 Syrians have died in fighting in the bloody civil war between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking to oust Assad’s strong-arm regime.

Link to charismanews.com...

Cardinal: Christians Have a Tragic Lack of Knowledge About Islam

(Kah.net) Milan Cardinal Angelo Scola: "In Europe and the USA there is a very significant indifference about Islam. We are, in the truest sense of the word, ignorant. If we ask the average Christian about Islam, we get tragic answers." This is what Milan's Angelo Cardinal Scola said according to Radio Vatican. In a society becoming increasingly more international and in the growing religious diversity, Christians need a fundamental understanding of Islam. Scola sees the metropolitan See of Milan also as "a bridge, it is an opportunity, to meet the East and to understand, upon entering in an inter religious dialog.

Bishop Huonder: Pope "More Conservative than Many Think"

In an interview with the Swiss Sunday Times of 21 April, 2013, Chur Bishop Vitus Huonder: "The new Pope brings  a fundamental faith, which indisputably brings some reforms, which some here expect.  We ought not assign to him the problems we have in Europe.  I believe he is more conservative than many think."

Link to katholisches...

Pentagon: Christians Are Enemies of the People

Edit: Christians who prosylitize are enemies of the proletariat. Of course this is a slight exaggeration. Breitbart reports:

The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: "Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense...Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis...”.

The statement, released to Fox News, follows a Breitbart News report on Obama administration Pentagon appointees meeting with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein to develop court-martial procedures to punish Christians in the military who express or share their faith.
(From our earlier report: Weinstein is the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and says Christians--including chaplains--sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of “treason,” and of committing an act of “spiritual rape” as serious a crime as “sexual assault.”

He also asserted that Christians sharing their faith in the military are “enemies of the Constitution.”)

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/05/01/Breaking-Pentagon-Confirms-Will-Court-Martial-Soldiers-Who-Share-Christian-Faith

Vatican Asks Archbishop of San Juan to Step Down. He Refuses.

Edit: along with the more high-profile case of a priest being excommunicated in Brazil for apparently supporting aberrosexuality, there is another, the Archbishop of San Juan in Puerto Rico, who has been asked to step down by the Vatican.  He refuses to do so.  It’s interesting there’s been on attention put on this yet.  There have been accusations against the Dominican Archbishop since 2011. Here’s the portion as it was reported by the Latin Times.

San Juan de Puerto Rico's archbishop has been asked twice by the Vatican to step down from the head of the diocese in at least two occasions, local newspaper Vocero reports. 

Roberto González Nieves answered in February to allegations made against him in the Vatican, especially the remarks signed by cardinal Marc Ouellet and his secretary, Lorenzo Baldisseri, in a meeting in Rome in December of last year. 

"In such meeting, I was told I had to leave the diocese in San Juan and take another position within the Catholic church. The unfairness, prosecution, difamation can never be sources for the renounce of a bishop, or its fair cause. I want to make it clear that I would never leave the diocese of San Juan when there is no legitimate reason," he worte in a letter dated of Febrary 20.

Link to Latin Times…

Photo..

Dissident Priest is on Sabbatical to Anglican Monastery for Year: Discipline?

Edit: since attacking the Church during the campaign on behalf of marriage which was promoted heavily by the Diocese, involving the prayer, expense and personal time by many in the Diocese, Father Bob Pierson O.S.B. had taken it upon himself to challenge traditional Church teaching and attack that campaign.


Father Pierson is a monk at the decaying Monastery of St. John's in Collegeville Minnesota who has done a lot of things he will one day have to answer for.


He has also been known for other offenses in the past, for example,  he resigned from his job as Campus Minister at Saint John's University when Pope Benedict announced new norms (which are generally ignored in most places) about formation for priests in the seminary, that they may not have deep seated problems with respect to homosexuality.

In the last year, he also hosted a naked retreat which would involve "touching". At the time, we felt that  it was the surfacing of one of the previous Abbot's methods of instruction for his novices, whom he insisted on interviewing in the nude.

Then, Pierson seems to have gotten himself banned from speaking in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, where the Archbishop told him not to speak any longer in his jurisdiction, as a result of attacking the Archbishop's defense of marriage initiative.  That didn't stop Father Pierson from continuing to speak in other parts of the United Stats, and to use his Facebook page to promote his anti-Catholic agenda.

Now, Father Bob Pierson's Facebook page is down and he's on sabbatical for a year at an Anglican Monastery called Holy Cross in West Park, New York.  We hope that he decides not to return after his "sabbatical" and hope that his stay in Holy Cross becomes permanent, barring a dramatic road to Damascus of some kind for this persecutor of Christians.  It would be nice if it were more obvious that this was some part of a disciplinary action on the part of someone.  There's no indication it is, but hopefully, Pierson will follow through with his occasional threat and find the more doctrinally suitable, if unsound, Anglican communion his permanent home from now on.

Link to photo...

Old Liberal Archbishop Advocates Same-Sex "Blessings" and Deaconesses

Edit: in most accounts of this, the homoheresy are being buried in the way this is hitting the US media.  They always seem to miss something.  Cadinal Zollitsch is a habitual enabler of aberrosexualism.

Also, Cardinal Kasper is in the same boat. And there’s some suspiciously sub-par reporting from the commerce bloggers at Patheos, which doesn’t even mention +Zollitsch’s full statement.

(Freiburg im Breisgau) Always the same talk of reform, forever old issues, meaningless language. At the end of  the Freiburg Diocesan Assembly  which met from Thursday to Sunday, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch has announced plans to implement the 300 delegate approved recommendations for developed proposals for church reform. 300 "Christians and experts" from the Archdiocese had worked in groups, such as "Church must change”  to a "changing society” and continuing “to be close to Christ and the people" -  such is the motto of the Diocesan Assembly.  The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference is quoted to say: "Nothing is forgotten or lost. I am responsible for ensuring that the issues remain on the table ".

Among other things, Archbishop Zollitsch wants to make a strong proposal for a "specific diaconal ministry for women". He was doing this "on the basis of the teaching of the Catholic Church." Another point concerns the admission requirements of remarried divorcees to receive the Holy Eucharist. "I am concerned without putting the indissolubility of marriage in question, to take the women and men affected seriously.” [We’d think that has been done already by the Church historically speaking] The Archdiocese of Freiburg is therefore considering a so-called pastoral "handout" to "encourage companionship" for all parishes issue that could officially authorize example remarried to Eucharistic reception under the condition that those concerned acknowledge in conversations with pastors expressed that their first marriage was not terminated lightly. Furthermore, a new form of blessing should be given for a second marriage.

Other reform proposals that Archbishop Zollitsch  would check and implement where possible, relate to Blessing Celebrations for same-sex couples and the possibility that women may preach in Sunday services.

Text: Martha Weinzl
Image: Wikicommons

Link to Katholisches...

Spain: 22 Priests Ordained in Madrid

(Madrid) The 27th of April was a day of rejoicing for Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid. He  consecrated 22 deacons to the priesthood in the Almudena Cathedral in Spain’s capital city. This is more than in previous years. They all have a solid university education and have an average age of 29 years.

18 new priests come from the seminary of the Archdiocese, two from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of the Neocatechumenal Way, and two of the Congregation of  Servi Trinitatis.

"On average, there are 15-18 new priests to be ordained, this year 22.  We are very happy, “ said Fr Fausto Calvo from the archbishop's seminary. In Spain currently there are 1,278 seminarians preparing for the priesthood. Which is 2.3 percent more than last year.

This increase is seen in the Church of Spain to be in direct connection with the World Youth Day 2011 with Pope Benedict XVI.,   as  Jose Angel Saiz Meneses, Bishop of Terrassa, insists. "World Youth Day is among many young people a convenient and great breeding ground for vocations that need to be confirmed after the first sign of interest. The growth and clarification of genuine vocations takes time, but the World Youth Days are for many a first hearing, “ said the Bishop of Terrassa.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: La cigüeña de la torre

Edit: it is what it is.

Pope Francis Uses the Pius IX Ferula Again After the Scorzelli-Staff

(Vatican) Francis Pope used the Pope Pius IX Ferula reintroduced by Pope Benedict XVI during the first weeks of his pontificate.

From the 7th April, the day of his inauguration as Bishop of Rome and taking possession of the Lateran basilica, he used on the other hand, the modern sheperhd’s crook which was commissioned in 1965 by Pope Paul VI. from the artist Lello Scorzelli. The Scorzelli staff in silver has a highly stylized cross, including corpus, and was used by John Paul II during his pontificate as a bishop's crosier.

Every bishop and abbot carries a crosier, which expresses his authority and responsibility to the flock entrusted to him, underlining that he is subordinate to the Pope. The Pope is the only Bishop who uses a cross staff, which brings his supreme authority as leader of the Church of Christ, underlining that the Pope is not under anyone.

The cross of the rod is also a symbol of the vocation to follow Christ to self-sacrifice. Until 1965, or rather until the end of the Council, the Popes bore the traditional gold, corpus loose ferula with the lamb as a sign of the highest power of governance and thus their rule, which is subject to no secular ruler. Paul VI. resulted in the completion of the Council, a modern cross bar which aligns with the ferula, but because of the artistic design chosen by Scorzelli approaches the crook of other bishops.

On Tuesday the Pope again made use of the Ferula Pope Pius IX., he confirmed - as announced - he wants to use alternately the traditional and the modern cross-staff.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Screenshot CTV / Messa in Latino Trans: Tancred

Back to Calvinist Communion in the Hand at Papal Masses -- Priest’s choice?

(Rome) After several of Pope Francis' celebrated solemn high Masses, it is obvious that the canonical “extraordinary form” of Communion in the hand is being practiced again in a big way in papal Masses. And according to the personal discretion of every priest.

Pope Benedict XVI. had only given Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue to the faithful shortly after he became Pope (except Despite some cases like the Queen of Spain). Through the rediscovery of traditional practice, the reverence for the Eucharist should be strengthened to counteract deformation by the erroneous understanding in the minds of believers of a mere meal with common bread consumption.

Newly appointed in 2007, the papal master of ceremonies, Guido Marini said in June 2008, in an interview with the Osservatore Romano he explained that in future papal Masses, Communion on the tongue will prevail in a kneeling posture. This now no longer seems to be the case.

Canon law has always prescribed that Communion is received kneeling on the tongue as the actual form of Communion reception. With the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, the bishops' conferences were granted the right to allow additional and valid exemption of forms for their area of ​​responsibility. From the exception, however, was a rule that made the actual exception to the rule immediately. In Germany, First Communion is almost everywhere taught everywhere since the 70s exclusively Communion in the hand. Of Communion on the tongue or even kneeling Communion in this large-scale re-education program in fact there is no more talk.

During dozens of scheduled Papal Masses, priests were instructed under Pope Benedict XVI. from 2008 to give the consecrated host only on the tongue. With few exceptions, the traditional practice was quickly put into effect again.

Since the inauguration of Pope Francis any uniformity has been lost. The Pope gives the deacons Communion, while it is received kneeling on the tongue. As the head of the Church, however, he gives no Communion to the faithful, as Pope Benedict XVI's example is minimized. Of the scheduled priests a large number only give Communion on the tongue. However, just as many priests give again Communion in the hand according to the Pre-Benedictine exception, when a communicant holds out their hands. A general practice, they know from most the parishes to which they were only taught by priests. Instructions for the priests as under Benedict XVI. is apparently no more. The form of Communion by the priest seems to be merely a option.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Screenshot CTV 28.04.2013 Translation: Tancred

China: Bishop Aloyisius Jin Luxian

Shanghai (AsiaNews) - Msgr. Aloyisius Jin Luxian, official bishop of Shanghai died today at 2.46 pm local time. The prelate, one of the most important personalities of the Chinese Church, was 97 years old and had been ill for a long time. In recent months he had been hospitalized and no one was allowed to visit him.

A highly controversial personality, often accused of being "too patriotic" and friendly with the regime, Msgr. Jin, who was a Jesuit, contributed to the development of the Church in a decisive way. Several years ago he was reconciled with the Pope and the Holy See considered him the "auxiliary" bishop of Shanghai. The ordinary bishop was Msgr. Joseph Fan Zhongliang, who is also very old and sick.

The diocese of Shanghai has not yet set a date for the funeral. According to AsiaNews sources the government has been long preparing for such a ceremony, especially from the point of view of who should preside. For the Holy See, in fact, the liturgy by right should be celebrated by Msgr. Thaddeus Ma Daqin, ordained on July 7. But after having decided to leave the Patriotic Association, Bishop Ma was put in solitary confinement in Sheshan seminary. According to unconfirmed reports in recent days Msgr. Ma has been removed from the diocese, perhaps to impede his participation in Msgr. Jin's funeral.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Msgr.-Aloysius-Jin-Luxian,-official-bishop-of-Shanghai,-has-died-27775.html

Pope Francis: Criticizes the Closed Religiosity of the Jews

Francis Pearl of the day: the community life isolated on itself for the defense of truth is always constant slander and gossip without tenderness in the sole knowledge of duty. By Armin Schwibach

Rome (kath.net / as) “Look to Christ who has sent us to preach the Gospel to proclaim His name with joy": this call by Pope Francis addressed a group gathered this Saturday on the fourth week of the Easter in the chapel of Vatican Guest House "Domus Sanctae Marthae". The Christians should have no fear of the "joy of the Spirit.” That withdrawal to self would be defeated. At the service, the staff of the Vatican post office and the charitable organization "Santa Marta” participated. "Santa Marta” has supported children of needy families, every nationality and religion in Rome for 90 years.

"It seemed as if this happiness can never be worn down," the Pope said on the text of the reading of the day (Acts 13:44-52) on trust in Christ, the community of the disciples in Antioch, when they had gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Thus, Francis wondered why the community of “withdrawn Jews", "a small group", "good people", such were jealous when they saw the multitudes of Christians, and so began to persecute them.

"Simply because the community had a closed heart, because it was not open to the novelty of the Holy Spirit," said Francis, "They believed that everything had already been said that everything was as they thought that there must be, and therefore they felt themselves to be the defenders of the faith and began to speak against the apostles, to slander them ... "

"The slander ..." exclaimed the pope: "And so they went to address the pious women who had power. They filled their heads with ideas, with things, and urged them to talk to their husbands, which they would proceed against the apostles. This is an attitude of this group and also of all other groups in history, the closed groups: to negotiate with the powerful, solve the problems, but between ourselves' ... Just as those who had done on the morning of the resurrection, when the soldiers had gone, to tell them, 'We have seen the' ... ' Shut up! Go ... '. And with the money they have covered everything.”

Precisely, for the Pope, the attitude of this "closed religiosity" which does not have the freedom to be open to the Lord: “Your community life is in constant defense of the truth - because they believe that defending the truth is always slander, chatter ... Really, they are a community of talkers who talk against it, destroy the others and look inward, always inward as closed off by a wall. The free community, however went ahead with the freedom of God and the Holy Spirit, suffering also under the persecution. And the word of the Lord spread through the whole region.”

Preceding the spreading of the witness is just the property of the congregation of the Lord, "because the good thing is this: it spreads more! The good does not retract into itself. This is a criterion, a criterion for being Church [sic], for our conscience: how are our communities, religious communities, parishes? Are they communities that are open to the Holy Spirit, Who always brings it forward to spread the word of God, or are they closed communities with very specific commandments that are unloaded on the shoulders of the faithful as the Lord had said of the Pharisees?”

The persecution begin "just for religious reasons and because of jealousy." Yet the disciples "were not only full of the joy of the Holy Spirit, they spoke of beauty, they provided a route.”

The closed and confident community, seeking their safety in negotiating with the powerful or the money, “speaks with spiteful words, they insult, they condemn. That's just their attitude. Maybe they forget when they were little the caresses of the mother. Such communities know nothing of tenderness, they know something of the duty how to do something, they know how to lock in an apparent observance of the commandments. As Jesus had told them, 'You are like a grave, like a tomb, white, beautiful, but nothing more.' We think today of the Church, which is so beautiful: this Church continues on. Think! many of the brothers and sisters who are suffering because of this freedom of spirit and are persecuted now in many parts of the world. But these brothers and sisters are fulfilled in the suffering and joy of the Holy Spirit.”

Finally Francis directed them to see Jesus, "He sends us to preach the Gospel with joy to proclaim His name, full of joy." The Pope underlined that you never could have "fear of the joy of the Spirit," a fear that leads to closing in upon itself.

Link to kath.net...

Edit: surely the Pope is talking about professional celebrities, the self-appointed Saducees and Pharisees who rule the Catholic media in many parts of the West today.

Complete Abandonment: Six Sisters of the Poor Died in 1995 Caring for Ebola Victims -- Beatification Introduced

(Rome) on Sunday opened Bishop Edward Mununu of Kikwit in the Congo, the beatification process for six Sisters of the Poor (SdPIP), who died during the 1995 Ebola epidemic, because they cared about the most dangerous virus sufferers.

"A life given out of love," with these words, Bishop Mununu outlines the self-sacrifice of the six Catholic nuns who died in April 18 years ago within one month. The sisters Dinarosa Belleri, Clarangela Ghilardi, Annelvira Ossoli, Floralba Rondi, Daniel, Angela Sorti and Vita Pink Zorza worked at the mission station and school of their order in the Congo. Following the charism of their order's founder, the blessed priest Luigi Maria Palazzolo (1827-1883), they have been for the poor and disenfranchised ever since. In 1952 the Sisters of the Poor had taken their apostolate to the Congo and persevered even during war and civil war, with the violence and looting, marauding militias.

In 1995 an Ebola epidemic broke out in Kikwit in the province Budundu. Ebola is a virus almost always deadly, discovered in 1976, and named after the Congolese river, on whose banks the first major epidemic was known. Features include a high contamination rate and a very high death rate. In the 1995 epidemic, 81 percent of those infected died. Among them were also the six sisters who stayed with the sick and they wont.

Bishop Mununu described the concrete act of charity to the self-emptying also from the testaments that were left by the sisters. They give information about the spiritual dimension of their service, which the Sisters of the Poor in the Democratic Republic of Congo contributed to the sick and needy. Sister Dinarosa wrote in her diary, after she had learned to have been herself infected by the Ebola virus, "What has my Founder done? I'm here to follow his example. I am here to serve the poor. The Eternal and Merciful God will help me.”

The memory of the selfless devotion of six sisters is alive in the area of ​​Kikwit among the native population. Their story is retold by the people with great respect and recognition. Meanwhile, the book The Last Gift, which was published in cooperation with the General House of the Order in the northern Italian city of Bergamo.

The affection of the population in Budundu is clearly evident in numerous names that are given to the sisters, when you tell them: "Women of Life", "mothers love" and appreciative pet names like "old mothers", which marked in the matriarchal thinking a recognition of rank. The Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor, founded in 1869 is numbered at more than 800 sisters today. The charism of the Order comes in a saying the Founder Don Luigi Maria Palazzolo expressed that serves the Order as a mission and motto: "I am seeking the rejection of all others, for where the others take care of themselves, they do it certainly better than I could, but where the others do not get there and do not care, there I try to do something as best I can.”

Along with the opening of the beatification process by the Diocese of Kikwit, the Bishop of Bergamo, Monsignor Francesco Beschi opened an investigation to collect documents and testimonies for the process in Africa and ensure that they can be examined by the competent ecclesiastical authorities.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Sisters of models poverelle dell'istituto Palazzolo

Link to Katholisches...

French Police Go Berserk: Arrest Everyone Who Wears Pink Hoodies! Pink Panther at Large.

Arrest Everyone in Fuscia!

Edit: as Galliawatch says, translating from Le Salon Beige, there are numerous reports coming in of people being arrested for wearing the Manif Pour Tous colors and logos. The desperate Socialist government of France is entering a new level of hyperbolic paranoia as it attempts to curb the growing discontent with its social engineering and inability to heal the ailing economy.

A woman was arrested tonight at place du Trocadéro, as she was driving home from the demonstration. Her crime: a flag of the Manif Pout Tous was waving on her car. As he questioned her, the police officer admitted that his orders were to stop any car sporting the colors of the Manif Pour Tous.

It seems to us that you’d have to be a particularly robotic servant of the state to obey these ridiculous, and apparently illegal, orders.


See also, Bruvver Eccles...

Hollande Refuses Speech at Art Museum Because of Christian Art Background

[Tempi] The location from which he was to have given his speech was in front of a large painting with Christian themes. When the museum officials wouldn't move or cover the "offensive" painting, Hollande then canceled his visit.

The Right and Left, the unemployed and protesters of gay marriage, all opponents of Francois Hollande had gathered April 28 in front of the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen to protest against the policies of the socialist government. Here the French president was to inaugurate an exhibition on Impressionism accompanied by three government ministers two days ago, however, Hollande has canceled the visit.

AVOID THE DISPUTE. The French newspapers have advanced two hypotheses for the cancellation of the visit. The first is political. To avoid disputes, Hollande preferred to postpone, given that among the demonstrators there were many unemployed people ready to accuse the socialist president that unemployment in France has hit a new record: 3,000,000 and 224,000 French people are looking for work, according to data released yesterday by the national employment poll.

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND. The second hypothesis is of very different character. In view of the president's visit, a government delegation made a visit to the museum to check where Hollande would have to give his speech. Since the "pulpit" was placed right in front of a huge canvas with a religious background, Christian to be precise, the delegation asked the organizers to move it. Impossible task, given the size of the painting. He was then asked it to be covered with a giant blue canvas.

Hollande AND CHRISTIANS. According to some newspapers, Hollande would have canceled the tour in order not to talk behind a Christian painting. Assumptions are unconfirmed but that would not be a unexpected, given that the socialist president is less than happy in his relationship with the Christian religion.

@LeoneGrotti

Source...

H/t: TA

Pilgrimage: On Foot From Liechtenstein to the Far East

Chaplain Johannes Maria Schwarz will take a pilgrimage to Haran (Abraham) starting in May.

Linz (kath.net) He has already had experiences with long pilgrimages for a long time.  As a seminarian Johannes Maria Schwarz, co-founder of kath.net, went from Linz to Santiago de Composetela.  Now he is planning to take a sabbatical year as chaplain in May and would like to do, what apparently still no one has done before.

From May Johannes Maria will make a mega-pilgrimage all the way to Haran, the city of Abraham in southeast Turkey. The road there will also go through Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania, from there over Moldova, back to Ukraine and then to Russia. Georgia and Armenia are on the travel plan.

He understands the trip as a pilgrimage and is an investment “in every time of quiet and prayer”, explained Schwarz.

Chaplain Dr. Johannes Maria Schwarz is a priest of the Archdiocese of Vaduz. He is active as a guest professor at the International Theological Institute in Trumau (Grand Chancellor Christoph Cardinal Schönborn).


The www.4kmh.com will have blog updates every few days. kath.net will accompany the trip via Twitter and Facebook.

Bishop Pontier, new president of the Bishops' Conference of France is a Freemason

Edit: here’s a google translation from Riposte Catholique. I’m not sure how this doesn’t get into the news. The Grande Oriente of France, the lodge to which Bishop Pontier belongs, has a very strong left inclination. Not that it would be better if it were rightist. Most prelates are silent about the subject of Freemasonry, but this prelate doesn’t think it’s problematic in the least, further proof that Bishop’s Conferences, if any were needed, are worse than worthless.  Here’s a google translation with some editing:

POSTED ON APRIL 17, 2013 BY MAXIMILIAN BERNARD IN BISHOPS , IN A , PEREPISCOPUS

The Archbishop of Marseille was elected after three ballots, after which he received a majority of two thirds of the French bishops. He will succeed Cardinal Vingt-Trois, who reaches the end of his two non-renewable mandates, June 30.

Member of the Priestly Fraternity Jesus Caritas, which is connected with the spirituality of Charles Foucaud, Bishop Pontier, also has broken links with the political world. Aged 70 years (born May 1, 1943), thin and discreet, Archbishop Pontier, from the Tarn, was ordained a priest in 1966 in Albi, then Bishop of Digne in 1988, then to La Rochelle and Saintes and finally Marseille, he is archbishop since 2006.

In 2009, he praised Islam during Ramadan:

"Who has not communed with the periphery of the Muslim community without knowing. Community is made visible at Ramadan the habits acquired in our country. Christians have at heart to discover the values ​​by this pillar of Islam and express their friendly closeness to the Muslims who live among us. "

He also chaired the Episcopal Committee France-Latin America (CEFAL),whose orientation is clearly in favor of liberation theology.

On the Taubira law, he stated his opposition and invited the Christians of his diocese to "train, discuss, argue ...", write to elected officials. He chaired the committee "Studies and Projects" of the episcopate, to examine the issues.

In his Who's Who of the bishops, Golias gave the maximum score (5 bolsters) to Bishop Pontier and explained that “he would one day become president, although he is too far to the left for the taste of many of his colleagues". And besides Golias, the Grand Orient of France welcomed his election for his (“rather fraternal, generous, and open views …")

Pontier Bishop is a member of the Grand Orient of France. [Emphasis ours.] He would even attend further meetings regularly. Questioned by the faithful on the subject during a pastoral visit, Archbishop Pontier has never denied that membership is still contrary to the law of the Church.

He will be assisted by two Vice-Presidents, Vice-Presidents:

-Bishop Pascal Delannoy, Bishop of Saint-Denis and until now President of the Episcopal Council and Finance Committee on Economic, Social and Legal Affairs of the CEF.

-Archbishop Pierre-Marie Carré, Archbishop of Montpellier and until now President of the doctrinal commission of the CEF.

Link to Riposte Catholique...

SSPX Addresses Bishop Williamson’s “Resistance"

We present here in 3 parts a public conference given by Fr. Daniel Themann on April 16 at St. Mary's, Kansas, which answers some questions from the so-called "Resistance" concerning the SSPX's recent discussions with Rome.

Fr. Themann carefully outlines necessary principles for properly understanding the situation while contrasting examples of Archbishop Lefebvre during his own talks with the Holy See, particularly of what led up to the "May Protocol".

CDs of the conference are available from:

Immaculata Bookstore  St. Mary's, KS
1-800-724-6862   info@immaculata.com

Belgium: Archbishop Venerates Our Lady as He’s Attacked by Anarchists

Edit: this isn’t the first time Archbishop Leonard Mutien has been attacked by the disciples of impurity. At another point, he was assaulted by a pie. The effeminate attack was launched against the Archbishop, whose communications director quit in a fit of rage earlier over the comment, because he said that AIDS “was a form of intrinsic justice”. I think now is a good time to point out that the good Archbishop, whom we’ve described in the past as the Lion of Belgium, is still there doing his job, despite a few faithless colleagues and a vicious anti-Catholic press.

What was also interesting about the press coverage from newscom.au is that the journalist accused the Archbishop of kissing a water bottle. It’s just one more of those times when the things Catholics do escape the basic understanding of profane minds. Actually, the Archbishop kisses a plastic image of Our Lady, which had been blasphemed by the Femen anarchists who attacked him with the water within. It’s a particularly touching image to see him so reviled and full of love.

Institute of the Good Shepherd: Ecclesia Dei Imposes Commissar Administrator for New Election

(Bordeaux / Rome) Nine months after the elections for the appointment of a new Superior General and a new General Council of the traditional Instituts du Bon Pasteur and the subsequent internal conflict is now before the decision of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. The Commission, which is under the Institute since 2006, has appointed a provisional administrator, who has a mandate of six months. Its mission is to prepare new elections for the governing bodies at this time and carried out under his supervision. The Institute of the Good Shepherd was made up of former members of the Society of St. Pius X. and established that because they no longer wanted to endorse their canonically irregular status.

The Institute, based in Bordeaux, is in contrast to the SSPX, recognized as a society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right of the Church in 2006 and placed under the Ecclesia Dei Commission.

In spring 2012 a visitation of the Institute by the Ecclesia Dei Commission came to the election of the Institute. The visitation by the then-Secretary of Ecclesia Dei, Monsignor Guido Pozzo, had caused quite a stir and considerable unrest in tradition-bound circles. It had been put out as an example within the SSPX, as a reason why the Brotherhood should not agree to any agreement with the Holy See. Rome had demanded and required of the Institute an appropriate consideration of the Second Vatican Council in priestly formation, to reconsider the categorical exclusion of the celebration of the New Rite and to recognize the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its 1997 edition as the authoritative compendium of Catholic doctrine.

At the General Chapter on 5 July, a new Institute's director was chosen for younger members, who were critical of the Roman terms. The New Superior General, Father Roch Perrel, however, was a choice that was disputed by the founders and former Superior General, Father Laguérie, due to procedural deficiencies in Rome. In one of his first acts as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller appealed which took place on the 30th of July 2012 and ordered the repeat of the elections.

This recent decision of Rome dealt at first sight with neither of the two warring sides fairly. They also denied the claim of Abbé Philippe Laguèrie to continue to be the rightful superior general. Elections under Roman supervision will provide clarity and bring peace back to the Institute. Long periods of time are considered problematic, in which ambiguity and uncertainty prevail: first nine months until the decision of Rome and now another six months to the elections. The majority of the Institute, it was possible, despite the adverse circumstances, to be faithful to the the founding charism with the necessary peace and serenity. This solid foundation made possible the growth in the Institute by new entrants and seminarians in the last few months.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Institut du Bon Pasteur Translation: Tancred AMGD