2015 Canonization of Archbishop Romero Attended by the Pope

(San Salvador) Is 2015 the year of Oscar Arnulfo Romero? "Leading circles of the Church of El Salvador are confident that 2015 will be  'el año'  for the beatification of the Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, assassinated in 1980." They no longer ask themselves whether the beatification will come, but are already discussing the details of where and how the ceremony will take place and who will preside over it, "the blog Super martyrio is dedicated to  the process of beatification of Archbishop Romero (1917-1980).

On New Year's Eve was an interview with the Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvaddor, Msgr. Gregoria Rosa Chavez was given to Canale 21 and aired. Canale 21 is a media network of three television channels and a dozen radio stations, which was created by  Salvadoran entrepreneurs of Palestinian origin.   Auxiliary Bishop Chavez said that everything had been done, what needs to be done. Actually, he expects a speedy beatification:  "The Pope believes  the sanctity of Monsignor Romero   and is sure that the step is set ... The good news is that it comes."

Auxiliary Bishop Chavez, who was employed in the Diocesan High School of San Miguel and worked for Romero, referred to the trip planned for September by Pope Francis to the United States and Mexico. From there it is only a "jump" to San Salvador, and  perhaps the Pope could come "for Romero". 

Carlos Colorado, author of Super martyrio, is already certain that Pope Francis will personally enact the beatification in San Salvador: "Very likely it will take place in the period between mid-February and mid-March" An "appropriate moment" could also be the cardinal consistory of the 12-15th of February in Rome, say Colorado.

Beatification Process under Benedict XVI. Stopped 

Believers remember Archbishop Romero at St. Peter's Square

The blog called  at the same time for  a novena for a positive conclusion of the beatification process. . A Novena to the Three Kings, which began on December 29, Memorial of Saint Thomas Becket wrote Super martyrio: Becket was the "last bishop murdered (1170) at the altar before  Bishop Romero."

The beatification of  the Salvadoran Archbishop had been put on hold under Pope Benedict XVI.  The exact reasons for this are not known. It is speculated that there were fundamental concerns, or whether he wanted to prevent a political appropriation of Romero's image. The archbishop was shot by a right-wing military and therefore became an icon of the political left, especially outside El Salvador, where more than superficial knowledge   of the Central American country is hard to come by, but over which is laid   the right-left-template. In Italy there are many of left local establishments named after Archbishop Romero, streets, squares and public buildings offer testimony of the trial of a political "beatification".

This occurred simultaneously with Romero's assassination at the risk that for the canonization had  less to do with   personal virtues, but more with the "right"   disposition of the person concerned by certain political circles. It was in Europe that the same leftist circles collected the money for the Cardenal brothers and the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, who claimed  Archbishop Romero for themselves. At least after to his murder.

Romero: "They will kill me, I do not know whether the right or the left"

However, the situation in El Salvador and the Church's position was much more differentiated than a filtered left iconography in distant Europe. Archbishop Romero seemed to be sure of being murdered in a premonition. However, he was not sure whether he would be killed by his enemies on the left or right (see report in German Oscar Romero, 30 years after his martyrdom - "They will kill me, I do not know whether the right or the left" ).

Romero's statement is hardly mentioned because it does not fit into a black and white scheme. Would you   remember him in Europe  if he had been executed by order of the leftists? Certainly he  would be otherwise remembered  especially in other circles, even within the Catholic Church.

There is a warning about the  image of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. This is perhaps the reason why Pope Benedict XVI.  distanced the beatification  or at least to save it for a later, less politically charged time. What was   Archbishop Romero's position  to liberation theology, really? Is his criticism of the military dictatorship to be confused with approval of the liberation theology?

Since the election of Pope Francis,   voices have  not stopped, who are announcing an imminent beatification. Because he is Latin American? Because a "climatic" match is assumed between Romero and Bergoglio or at least claimed? Or because the consistency between political promoters of the Romero-memorial and the new Pope, or is simply assumed by the former?

In April 2013,   Pope Francis did announce shortly after the resumption of the beatification process, warning Jesus Delgado Vicar General of San Salvador against  a " political instrumentalization" of Archbishop Romero.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Super martyrio / Giovani Emissione

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

New Homophiles from Patheos Attack Austen Ruse: See Their Unholy Rage!

Edit: here's an essay by one of the more well-thought of Catholic writers in the blogosphere.  It's notable that he's been attacked by the usual suspects at Patheos.  The referenced essay which appeared in Crisis Magazine, offering well-aimed shots at a group of laicists all-too-outspoken  these days, the "new homophiles".

There is a group of Catholics who experience same-sex attraction. They accept the teachings of the Church on sexual morality. They do not act on their same-sex desires. They are chaste. They live lives of prayer, brotherhood and friendship, along with a sexual chastity that is proper to their station in life. 

You might think that I would loathe these people, hate them, despise them, and want to drive them from the Church. You might think that their desires alone are enough for me to want them to simply disappear from the Church and from society  

You might think this if you read Damon Linker on my recent column about the New Homophiles. You might think so if you read the comments of blogger Mark Shea, who said my column was “appalling” and much worse. You might think so if you read the comments by Maggie Gallagher who said my column was “vile.”

Some other prominent supporters of Neocatholic bloggers have even announced their disapproval on Facebook.

Their rage on behalf of the "love that dare not speak its name", may has also brought denunciations like the following.

Perhaps things are looking up?  We've often said that people in the Neocatholic blogosophere are some of our best allies if we only give them a chance to hang themselves.


Also, check out Heresy Hunter's jab at them.

Pope Announces Cardinals at Angelus: Pope Francis Attempting to Appoint a Third World Conclave?

Edit: Pope Francis has just announced who his appointments will be at today's Angelus, surely on a day where news isn't common.  Neither the expected favorite, nor Arcbishop Chaput.  In fact, there are no appointments at all from the United States, only one from the Curia and some fairly obscure appointments from the "developing world".    In fact, there are only four voting cardinals from Europe, and all of them are from Latin countries.  

Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli has already submitted his resignation to the Holy See on October 15th of last year.

The really interesting one is the Archbishop of Addis Abada in Ethiopia.

+++Moraglia of Venice is out again as well.

They are, according to Vatican Radio:

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

Archbishiop Manuel José Macario do Nascimento Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon (Portugal) 

Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., of Addis Abeba [sic] (Ethiopia) 

Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington (New Zealand) 

Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo (Italy) 

Archbishop Pierre Nguyên Văn Nhon of Hà Nôi (Viêt Nam) 

Archbishop Alberto Suàrez Inda of Morelia (Mexico) 

Archbishop Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., of Yangon (Myanmar) 

Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok (Thailand) 

Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento (Italy) 

Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., of Montevideo (Uruguay) 

Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez Pérez of Vallodolid (Spain) 

Bishop José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán, O.A.R., of David (Panamá) 

Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado, of Santiago de Cabo Verde (Archipelago of Cape Verde) 

Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga (Island of Tonga)

“Additionally, I will join to the Members of the College of Cardinals five Archbishops and Bishops Emeriti who are distinguished for their pastoral charity in the service of the Holy See and of the Church. They represent so many Bishops who, with the same pastoral solicitude, have given witness of love for Christ and for the people of God in particular Churches, in the Rome Curia, and in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See.
“They are: 

José de Jesús Pimiento Rodriguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Manizales
Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, Major Pro-Penitentiary Emeritus
Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, Apostolic Nuncio
Luis Héctor Villaba, Archbishop Emeritus of Tucumán
Júlio Duarte Langa, Bishop Emeritus of Xai-Xai

Bishop Orders Return of the Tabernacle to the Middle of the Sanctuary in His Diocese

Tabernacle: All Holy Sacrament of the Altar as the
Center Point of the Sanctuary

(New York) The Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, Msgr. Thomas John Paprocki Joseph, gave instructions to return the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament back into the center of the sanctuary in the churches of his diocese. 

Bishop Paprocki, who was appointed in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI., wrote the pastoral letter Ars et celebrandi adorandi to his diocese. In it he points to the rich tradition and teaching of the Church for celebration and adoration of the Holy Eucharist.

The bishop also outlines the historical development over the past decades and is critical of the displacement of the Blessed Sacrament from the center of the chancel and sometimes even its utter removal from the sanctuary. The places in which the Blessed Sacrament was banished, sometimes are not more than rudimentarily adapted closets. This removal of the Blessed Sacrament to often difficult-to-find side chapels has to come to an end.

Pastoral Letter Ars et celebrandi adorandi

Bishop Paprocki of Springfield Illinois in

"With this in mind, in order that more of the faithful will be able to spend time in adoration and prayer in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord, I direct that in the churches and chapels of our diocese, tabernacles that were formerly in the center of the sanctuary, but have been moved, are to be returned as soon as possible to the center of the sanctuary in accord with the original architectural design. Tabernacles that are not in the center of the sanctuary or are otherwise not in a visible, prominent and noble space are to be moved to the center of the sanctuary; tabernacles that are not in the center of the sanctuary but are in a visible, prominent and noble space may remain."

The first part refers to churches which were built before the liturgical reform, the other two parts on churches built afterwards.

Bishop Paprocki calls the believers to mind that the proper reverence for the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is to genuflect. The bishop calls the diocese, to spend more time with the Eucharist to promote Eucharistic Adoration and Eucharistic processions through the streets of the parishes.

The fertile soil of Chicago

The Diocese of Springfield is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bishop Paprocki comes from the Archdiocese of Chicago and in 1978 was ordained a priest there. In 2003 Pope John Paul II. appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago under Francis Cardinal George. Pope Francis accepted the Cardinal's resignation last September 20  for reasons of age at 77 years. The appointment of Blaise Cupich, his successor, is considered one of the most controversial personnel decisions of the Argentine Pope. Msgr. Cupich is considered one of the liberal outsiders in the US episcopate.

Cardinal George recently exercised strong criticism of Pope Francis. Both Chicago and Springfield have an above average number of priestly vocations. Bishop Paprocki is also a promoter of old Rite institutions in his diocese.

Removal of all Free Standing "Peoples' altars" says Bishop Oliveri

Example of an unnecessary duplication: new "people's altar" before already existing high altar

The measure of Bishop Paprocki is reminiscent of a measure of Bishop Mario Oliveri of Albenga-Imperia, Italy.  Bishop Oliveri was to remove all the "peoples' altars" from the churches of his diocese in which they appeared  because of the presence of a senior, high altar, made an unnecessary duplication and was incomprehensible. These and other measures of the bishop of the Catholic renewal, earned him the enmity of some ideological Church circles.

Against Bishop Oliveri, there was last October in the interaction of internal church staff and unchurched circles a smear campaign started with the intent to obtain his deposition that can be hoped for by Pope Francis (see the report Papal Purges  and their Claques- direction, not allegations decisive? ).  Msgr. Oliveri is still the acting bishop of the diocese.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Springfied diocese / parish Venegazzu
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

New Cardinals: Good and Bad News -- Archbishop Chaput and Archbishop Forte

(Rome) in Rome, it is expected that by the Epiphany or shortly thereafter, the names of the representatives of the Church will be announced by Pope Francis who will create new cardinals in mid-February. The Wall Street Journal has called one or the other probable new Cardinals. Regardless, there are mainly two names  being mentioned in Rome. The Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia (USA) and that of Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto (Italy). While  the appointment of the former would send an excellent message in the form of a

cardinalatial appointment, the appointment of the latter would thus be a dubious one.

Cardinal Charles Chaput?

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia

The Capuchin, Chaput, was born in 1944, and is one of the most prominent bishops of the United States. In 1965 he joined the Capuchin Order and was ordained a priest in 1970. He was educated entirely in the USA. In 1983 he was appointed the Provincial of his Order, in 1988 he was appointed Bishop of Raid City, South Dakota by Pope John Paul II.. 

In 1997, he was appointed Archbishop of Denver. While other dioceses had to close their seminaries lack of vocations, he founded a new seminary in 1999 to offer a priestly formation of a new solid foundation and made ​​it a branch of the Lateran University. It would supplement promising initiatives for the new evangelization. Archbishop Chaput is a member of the Board of EWTN, the most important Catholic television in the USA.
In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI. appointed him as Archbishop of Philadelphia, and thus he is in one of the most prestigious episcopal chairs in the US, connected with the dignity of Cardinal for a century. This has not been given to him because his predecessor, Cardinal Justin Rigali will only just reach age of 80 until next April.

Cardinal Bruno Forte?

Archbishop Bruno Forte as Special Secretary of the Synod of Bishops (foreground)

The theologian Bruno Forte, as he is known in Europe, is sometimes referred to as the Italian Kasper. In the first part of the Synod of Bishops on the family  Cardinal Walter Kasper and Special Secretary Bruno Forte worked closely together. Forte is the author of  the controversial passages in the interim report on homosexuality. A position which did not obtain a majority at the Synod, but was nevertheless published at the direction of Pope Francis with the final report as if it were an integral part thereof. In this context, accusations were unloosed like "manipulation" and the personal criticism of a cardinal, that of a "shameless manipulator" were uttered in the wings of the Synod of Bishops.

Archbishop Forte, not only because of his appointment as Special Secretary of the Synod and as a favorite of the Pope, was also active and influential in the process of pushing the Synod in a certain direction.  His elevation to cardinal status appears to be safe, although he failed in the election as the acting President of the Bishops' Conference,  which defeat the Italian bishops handed him with fanfare shortly after the Synod of Bishops. It was a  demonstrative humiliation that would inhibit the  advancement of his career under other conditions, at least. But Pope Francis is characterized in dealing with people who are personally known to him by a striking either-or. Either he finds sympathy for someone, then they may expect big favors. More than that, who has ever been taken in his favor, of the Argentine Pope, he can not fall, as was the case of papal house prelates of the Vatican Bank IOR, Battista Ricca, showed. Conversely, the same is true, however. Whoever once falls out of favor once with Pope Francis, remains out of   it.

Bruno Forte's book about Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini

Mercy

As he was put in the position of Pope,  the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio undertook in Argentina  a series of personnel changes. This includes not only the understandable promotion of a confidant, but also the demonstrative demotion or removal of church officials, who had once stood in the way of the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires. It is also  to be remembered in the dismissal of the Bishop of the Diocese of Paraguayan Ciudad del Este,  Bishop Rogelio Livieres, who  is a native of Argentina.

With the promotion to cardinal of Bruno Forte, his appointment shall be connected to the new archdiocese of Palermo, in Sicily. Forte had already talked about as the successor for Milan and Venice, however, he was overlooked by Benedict XVI. in both cases. The recent humiliating defeat affected his Presidency for Central Italy in the Episcopal Conference. The appointment to Palermo and thus to southern Italy, would thus be to correct an imperfection in a number of ways.

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: La Cigueña de la Torre / Wikicommons / Papaboys

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

Edit: we don't like +++Chaput either.

AMDG

Is the anti-German Tax-Church Sect a Homegrown Movement of the Islamic State (IS)?

 

Does sport make you stupid?  Dr. Ludwig Schick broke out in a cold
sweat just thinking about PEGIDA.  Absent from the document above
is the fact that His Excellency is an Archbishop.

Archbishop Schick For Islamization?

"Christians should not participate there," said Archbishop Schick against the citizens' initiative "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West" (PEGIDA). 

Archbishop Schick wants to intimidate the sheep connected to country.  Catholics should (as in Syria and Iraq) should have no future and no hope.

The Central Committee of the Church-tax Sectoids

The Bamberg Archbishop, Schick, is a member of the Central Committee (Bishops) of the separatist German Tax-Church Sectoid which in many ways adopts its own national exceptionalism  in many matters of faith and deliberately separates from the Roman Catholic Church worldwide. 

However, the sheep of this sect may not have a national identity. For the sheep of the anti-German Tax-Church sect it suffices solely to believe in the "New World Order" (quote Angela Merkel).

Killings in the Name of Allah

PEGIDA is a movement that does not find it okay that Muslims have murdered millions of Christians for 1400 years in the name of Islam. 

With Muslims, who in the German Empire of anti-fascism (in Essen)  shout "Jews to the gas!" And "Heil Hitler!" or chant "Adolf Hitler" chants, there seem to be no problems either for the judiciary nor for the archbishop.

Complicity in the Murders of Christians

With his denunciation against  PEGIDA, Archbishop Schick makes an accomplice of a political ideology, which has  killed each year more than 100,000 Christians worldwide. 

Nevertheless Pope Francis offers help by suggesting Christ and Allah identical:

• " Thou shalt have no other gods before me "(kreuz-net)

Jihadist Onslaught

Around 600 "German" Mohammedans are pilgrimaging already in the Middle East to be consistent with the Koran and to kill Christians there in masses. 

About 60 "German" Muslims have so far fallen in Syria and Iraq in an attempt to establish an Islamic state. (These 60 dead Christian murderers, have been promised at least 4,320 virgins in paradise.)

The Murderous "Islamic state" (IS)

The identity of the Islamic State (IS) is defined by mass murders and religious "cleansing". The necessary weapons donations for this come from US allies Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, etc. 

Return of Muslim Terrorists

About 200 Muslim head choppers are now back in their German "home" back (presumably for further conquest). Even in urban warfare they are fully trained. 

Many German Muslims hold the Islamic state for their home, who are ready to build it (currently still in Syria and Iraq).

The most brutal terrorists of mankind were trained in secret CIA training camps in Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, etc., to hunt down Christians. Thus, in order to make this fight  even more effective, US President Barack Hussein Obama has asked Congress for another $ 500 million for Syrian rebels.

Archbishop Loyal to the Regime...

The Archbishop loyal to the regime should not forget that even the warmongering Chancellor ripe for resignation, stated: "The approach to multiculturalism has failed, absolutely failed!" This isn't the only truth Archbishop Schick tries to suppress. 

PEGIDA participants must protect women and children from the attacks of counter-demonstrators, and the church-tax has called for counter-demonstrations as well. As part of this counter-demonstrations, leftist thugs have been unleashed against the family and  state.

... Citizens Far From Faith

One sees in that the demand by Archbishop Schick ("Christians can not participate there"), however, is likely to fall on barren ground, as it thanks to the progressive arrogance of the Tax-Church Sectoids that there are hardly believing Christians in Germany. 

Conversely, it's more likely: Christians would not take part in the opressive Tax-Church Sect.

Victim-Reversal

Considering the irreverent statements by the Archbishop of Bamberg about PEGIDA ("Christians can not vote there"), it seems as Schick believes in a victim-reversal. In truth, Christians would like to join PEGIDA in the Middle East, but they  don't live there any longer because they have fallen victim to the Muslim Jihad. 

The churches emptying Bamberg Archbishop, Ludwig Schick rejects the native movement PEGIDA with an uncompromising "no ifs and buts". Of the activities of the experts in the performance of Christians heads the well remunerated by the FRG GmbH Bamberg Archbishop Ludwig Schick has not distanced.

Fear of the system before Conforming Patriots (PEGIDA)

The establishment of  Germany Inc. seems afraid of (PEGIDA) patriots, to have as yet taken no offense against the Muslim persecution of Christians, 100,000 of whom fall victim worldwide every year. 

The unpatriotic Archbishop is concerned about German pushback against the  flow of Muslim murderers of Christians into the Middle East. 

These supply lines seem threatened by the movement of the "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West."

What  is the Bishop's Word for Islamic terror?

About  aid for the victims of IS-terrorism the Islamophilic Archbishop has said nothing, but he makes no secret of his contempt for the native Christians. 

Many are wishing the German well-paid, tax-subsidized Archbishop a nice PEGIDA festival!

Nebstbei:
From the formerly Bamberg Villach

On the fourth Sunday of Advent a 24 year old Mohammedan in Villach (Carinthia) pursued and attempted to strike an 80 year old woman 's skull  with a clever as she was  attending the Massr from behind.

From 1007 to 1759 large parts of Carinthia belonged, like the fortress Arnoldstein, to the diocese of Bamberg.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Kreuz.net...

AMDG

Italy Expels Pope Assassin Agca

Agca flew on Monday evening with an airliner Alitalia, accompanied by two police officers from Rome to Istanbul.

Rome (kath.net/KNA) Italy has expelled the Pope assassin Ali Agca and sent him back to Turkey. According to Italian media (Tuesday) reports, Agca flew last eve on a scheduled Alitalia accompanied by two police officers from Rome to Istanbul. Agca had put flowers on the grace of Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) on Saturday in Rome in St. Peter's Basilica. A Roman judge justified the expulsion of the 56-year-old Turk, according to the reports, that Agca's situation applies to the so-called Schengen States and is an undesirable person until 2016 and does not have a valid visa.

Agca had shot John Paul II on May 13, 1981 to St. Peter's Square and seriously injured him. The reason is indeed still unclear. Many observers suspect perpetrators in the former Communist Eastern Bloc. The Pope visited Agca 31 years ago, on December 27, 1983, in the Roman prison Rebibbia and forgave him.

Last week, Agca entered Italy in unexplained circumstances. After leaving St. Peter's Basilica, the Italian police arrested him. The Vatican announced that Agca could enter St. Peter's Basilica without problems, since the Vatican has no case against him pending. According to media reports Agca claims to have been brought by car from Austria to Rome.

An Italian court had sentenced him to life imprisonment after the attack, but pardoned Agca in 2000. After his return to Turkey he was arrested again because of his involvement with the right-wing Turkish "Grey Wolves"; thus for the murder of a journalist in 1979, he served another sentence till 2010. video document: The assassination of Pope John Paul II 1981 (engl.). film about Ali Agca (C) 2014 CBA Catholic News Agency. All rights reserved.

J.K. Rowling: Hogwarts Magic School Has Aberrosexual Students

The Hogwarts school of magic has homosexual students. This was confirmed by the author Joanne K. Rowland at the request of fans of the novel series, Harry Potter.

Edinburgh (kath.net/LSN/jg) The Hogwarts school of magic in Joanne K. Rowling's novel series "Harry Potter" has homosexual students. This was confirmed by the author on Twitter. A Harry Potter fan asked the writer, whether one may assume that the Hogwarts School is a "safe space for LGBT students."

"Of course," said Rowling, adding to her answer the following sentence: "If Harry Potter has taught us anything, it is that no one should live in hiding." This is the second occasion on which the bestselling author had announced that homosexuality in her children's books will be treated as something normal.

Back in 2007, she had revealed that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school of magic, was a homosexual. This and the positive presentation of occult and initiation of magical practices led many Christians to reject it. Link to Kath.net... AMDG

What Happened in the Conclave After the "Fourth" Ballot? Does Pope Francis Want a New Cardinal Majority?

John Paul II. Gives Jorge Mario Bergoglio the dignity of Cardinal

(Rome) The Italian journalist and Rector of the School of Journalism of Perugia, Antonio Socci, took the call of Pope Francis, "tear down all the walls" as an excuse, even to demand tearing down the "wall of silence" around the conclave. Socci is known to have doubted the validity of the election of Pope Francis. It's a daring hypothesis that has met with general rejection because of its insufficient foundation. Irrespective of this, however, Socci's questions  can not be passed over without further ado.

In his book "Non é Francesco" (He is not Francis) he gave a synopsis of the inconsistencies in the pontificate of  the reigning Pope that seems to strike a chord with many insecure Catholics. Two and a half months after its release, Soccis's book has been number one in Italy's Religion / Spirituality  area.

In the circle of his colleagues, they feel that since the publication of his book Socci has gone too far in his main thesis. Yet no one denies that he has mastered his craft as a journalist nor neglected  a flair for details. It is also not surprising that he sees in Austen Ivereighs book "The Great Reformer"  grist for his own mill. The more so, as Ivereigh, unlike Socci, is an avowed admirer of Francis.

Ivereigh, former Press Agent for Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, revealed the existence of a group of cardinals, which he called "Team Bergoglio". This group, which existed in its core of the cardinals Lehmann, Kasper, Danneels and O'Connor should have joined forces to raise a candidate of their choice to the papal throne. The candidate of their choice was the primate of Argentina, Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio. Back in 2005, after the obvious failure of the long-standing "Ante-Pope" Carlo Maria Martini, the voices of the progressive party had focused on another Jesuit, the Argentine Bergoglio, in the College of Cardinals. This conspiracy got cold feet in its duel against Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and retired.  For this reason,  said Ivereigh,  team Bergoglio, having a commitment from Bergoglio  before the conclave of 2013, would not back down this time. The "team"  then successfully organized the campaign to Ivereigh's delight.

The revelation caused such a stir that Cardinal O'Connor  published a correction and Vatican spokesman Lombardi at the request of four cardinals named issued a disclaimer.

And to this, Antonio Socci writes:

Mysterious delay

Antonio Socci

"(...) To date, there is no explanation of  the unusual delay  for Pope Bergoglio to appear on the loggia of St. Peter the before the people.

Between the white smoke and the first appearance, it took twice as much time as with Benedict XVI. Why? What happened? And what about the strange episode when Bergoglio entrusted Scalfari  to  report this together with the first papal interview on October 1, 2013?

Bergoglio explained, 'When I was elected Pope in the conclave, I asked before I accepted the option to retire for a few minutes in the room next to the balcony facing the square. My head was completely empty and a great fear had fallen upon me. So it passed and I calmed myself, I closed my eyes and every thought disappeared, and to refuse the office, which the liturgical procedure allows. I closed my eyes and felt no fear or emotionality any more. '

Then, said Bergoglio further, I jumped like a shot and went into the room where the Cardinals were waiting for me and the table on which lay the acceptance. I signed, and the Cardinal Chamberlain countersigned and then there was the Habemus Papam on the balcony.'

It would be interesting to understand why the white smoke was given at 19.06 clock, about an hour before the Habemus Papam, which was at 20.12 clock. The white smoke could certainly not have been given before Bergoglio accepting the election, since there is only with the signing of the declaration of acceptance a new pope and must take this assumption of free will, and therefore may not take place before  the anticipated white smoke ,

It would also be interesting to understand the whys and the wherefores of this election acceptance after Bergoglio had indeed not accepted according to his  Jesuit vow, not to accept.

The aforementioned Scalfari interview was in fact confirmed by Bergoglio himself, who had published it in an anthology of the Vatican publishing house a month ago. Why are these questions and circumstances  not resolved and put to rest?"

Many New Cardinals in a Short Time

As far as Antonio Socci, he suggests the lifting of secrecy for the Cardinals. This could, said the Italian journalist, answer all the questions raised in his book. He would then like to acknowledge the facts.

But until now  it has not been confirmed by any canon that the election held has been canonically correct. The sequence of the conclave will be described by Elisabetta Pique in the Pope's biography. The Argentine journalist and Pope-friend here   based it directly on her personal  recollections of  the Pope's words himself.  It's a procedure that had been confirmed by an unnamed  cardinal to the Corriere della Sera.

If the conclave had been concluded, like he, Socci, describes it in his book, then the election would be invalid and thus there would be no white-robed incumbent on the Chair of Peter and all official acts since then would be null and void.

"The problem is now that Pope Bergoglio has announced the creation of new cardinals for the upcoming February 15 and may add up to 19 cardinals to be created in February 2014. Why so many appointments in such a short time? To shift the relationships in the College of Cardinals? There is a certain restlessness in the ecclesiastical world, because it is suspected that today progressives in the Curia will push for a future conclave with an axis shifted toward a more modernist leftist.

Apart from the fact that the Pope is 78 years old, we are constantly hearing about a possible resignation. Before that happens, maybe someone wants a progressive revolution in the College of Cardinals. Thus, there can be no opposite pendulum swing  by a startled Cardinal majority.

The conclave of 2013 had by no means a "progressive" majority. Bergoglio was only chosen because cardinals served up all kinds of stories to get their votes. From the transitional pope, to a pope of  necessity,   a pope in the southern hemisphere, but always with the assurance that the Argentine would stand in   continuity with Benedict XVI. and John Paul II. It was not  a coincidence that Bergoglio was found again at the recent Synod of Bishops in the minority. The result is the work of personal conversion. Thus, if the College of Cardinals were turned upside down with a view to a future conclave?" Thus is the final question of Antonio Socci in his essay, on 21 December, and thus one day before the little friendly papal Christmas message to the Curia staff in the daily newspaper Libero had been published.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Nuestra America / Sussidiario
Trans: vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Pope to Abolish Swiss Guard? On-line Petition

The campaign was launched by the Guard sympathizers and former guardsmen, who fear Pope Francis wants to abolish the Swiss Guard - The initiative aims to "invite the Pope to make a commitment to Swiss Guard"

Zurich-Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) A petition to Pope Francis should be encouraged to maintain the Swiss Guard. This was reported by "Vatican Radio" on Sunday. The initiative, launched by the Guard sympathizers and former guardsmen began on Saturday. "We want to ask the Pope to make a commitment to the Swiss Guard", said the Swiss organizer Walter Gabriel, according to media reports. The future of the guard is something that the organizers have at heart, who fear Pope Francis may want to abolish the Guard.

Speculation about a reform or even the end of the Swiss Guard had arisen after the dismissal of the previous commander Daniel Anrig in early December. The Swiss Guard has been protecting the Pope and his palace since 1506. Today, the protection force has a nominal strength of 110 men and is responsible for the personal protection of the Pope and for the security of the entrances to the Vatican. Most recruits undertake a two-year service period these days.

Born in 1972 in Walenstadt in the canton of St. Gallen and raised in Sargans, Anrig was from 1992-1994 a Hellebardier in the Guard. After a law degree, which also included the canon law, he entered the cantonal police in Glarus, where he most recently held the rank of commander. In August 2008, he was called by Pope Benedict XVI. and appointed to succeed Elmar Mäder.

The Swearing in of the Swiss Guard:

Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr

Take Note of St. Stephen's Liturgical Rainment

Edit: some interesting aspects of this great feast which might escape notice.  From an entry by Catholic Encyclopedia.  Some will even note that this great feast will feature vestments of crimson to commemorate the Deacon's martyrdom:

The conflict broke out when the cavillers of the synagogues "of the Libertines, and of the Cyreneans, and of theAlexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia", who had challenged Stephen to a dispute, came out completely discomfited (vi, 9 10); wounded pride so inflamed their hatred that they suborned false witnesses to testify that "they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God" (vi, 11). 

No charge could be more apt to rouse the mob; the anger of the ancients and the scribes had been already kindled from the first reports of the preaching of the Apostles. Stephen was arrested, not without some violence it seems (the Greek word synerpasan implies so much), and dragged before the Sanhedrin, where he was accused of saying that "Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place [the temple], and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us" (vi, 12 14). No doubt Stephen had by his language given some grounds for the accusation; his accusers apparently twisted into the offensive utterance attributed to him a declaration that "the most High dwelleth not in houses made by hands" (vii, 48), some mention of Jesus foretelling the destruction of the Temple and some inveighing against the burthensometraditions fencing about the Law, or rather the asseveration so often repeated by the Apostles that "there is no salvationin any other" (cf. iv, 12) the Law not excluded but Jesus. However this may be, the accusation left him unperturbed and "all that sat in the council...saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel" (vi, 15). 

Stephen's answer (Acts 7) was a long recital of the mercies of God towards Israel during its long history and of the ungratefulness by which, throughout, Israel repaid these mercies. This discourse contained many things unpleasant toJewish ears; but the concluding indictment for having betrayed and murdered the Just One whose coming the Prophetshad foretold, provoked the rage of an audience made up not of judges, but of foes. When Stephen "looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God", and said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (vii, 55), they ran violently upon him (vii, 56) and cast him out of the city to stone him to death. Stephen's stoning does not appear in the narrative of the Acts as adeed of mob violence; it must have been looked upon by those who took part in it as the carrying out of the law. According to law (Leviticus 24:14), or at least its usual interpretation, Stephen had been taken out of the city; customrequired that the person to be stoned be placed on an elevation from whence with his hands bound he was to be thrown down. It was most likely while these preparations were going on that, "falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (vii, 59). Meanwhile the witnesses, whose hands must be first on theperson condemned by their testimony (Deuteronomy 17:7), were laying down their garments at the feet of Saul, that they might be more ready for the task devolved upon them (vii, 57). The praying martyr was thrown down; and while the witnesses were thrusting upon him "a stone as much as two men could carry", he was heard to utter this supremeprayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (vii, 58). Little did all the people present, casting stones upon him, realize that the blood they shed was the first seed of a harvest that was to cover the world. 

The bodies of men stoned to death were to be buried in a place appointed by the Sanhedrin. Whether in this instance the Sanhedrin insisted on its right cannot be affirmed; at any rate, "devout men" — whether Christians or Jews, we are not told — "took order for Stephen's funeral, and made great mourning over him" (vii, 2). For centuries the location of St. Stephen's tomb was lost sight of, until (415) a certain priest named Lucian learned by revelation that the sacred body was in Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem. The relics were then exhumed and carried first to thechurch of Mount Sion, then, in 460, to the basilica erected by Eudocia outside the Damascus Gate, on the spot where, according to tradition, the stoning had taken place (the opinion that the scene of St. Stephen's martyrdom was east ofJerusalem, near the Gate called since St. Stephen's Gate, is unheard of until the twelfth century). The site of the Eudocian basilica was identified some twenty years ago, and a new edifice has been erected on the old foundations by the Dominican Fathers.