Pope Francis Writes Letter to One of His Bitterest Critics, Antonio Socci

Letter from Pope Francis to Antonio Socci

(Rome) The Catholic journalist Antonio Socci, a persistent  Pope critic, has received a personal letter from Pope Francis. It is not the first time that Francis has shown  his attention to critics. Shortly before his death, he telephoned  the legal philosopher Mario Palmaro in Fall of 2013, who was then one of the most intellectually sharpest critics of this pontificate.  Antonio Socci went so far in his Pope criticism in his 2014 published book "He is not Francis", to challenge the validity of the Pope's election. He was followed in this by neither canon nor other church representatives.  In his latest book, "The Last Prophecy" he corrected [Socci publically disavowed this already?] this position. He has  recognized since then, the election, but maintains his criticism of this pontificate. Now, he's received a surprising letter from the Pope. In the daily newspaper Libero , he reported it:

The letter that the Pope wrote about my book "The Last Prophecy." And my answer

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by Antonio Socci

Last Friday, I looked  quickly over the house of my parents, it's full of memories of my father like his best picture: The miners carried one of their mates on a stretcher (my father risked  his life in the mine  and became handicapped).

He taught me that life is a struggle for the truth, and that truth and freedom are more important than  bread. It was he who as a Catholic miner fought for the freedom of our country on April 18, 1948, I owe him the most important lesson: to live without lies.

And I thought immediately of him on Friday, when I received this letter by express delivery. My mother astonished, handed me a white envelope with the stamp of the Vatican City, by whispering to me: "Did the Pope write you?"

And indeed, the handwriting is unmistakable. He has written my address with a fountain pen in black ink  (wherever he has found), on the back was the sender and underneath: "Casa Santa Marta - 00120 Vatican City".

I thought of my father, because he is a symbol for me of those Christian people, who are so despised by the pseudo-intellectual establishment that Pope Francis celebrates (I think of "La Repubblica"). That Christian people that has felt abandoned in the last three years by their  shepherd.

Pope Francis has indeed triumphed among the anti-clericals with a big media success, but has led the Church into great confusion.  It suffices to reflect on the statements yesterday made on the return flight from Mexico, where he "mixed" greatly in immigration policy, but stated that he would not interfere in the Italian debate on gay marriage (though he is Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy).

The Imperium

On Friday, just when I got his letter, I saw the Holy Father on television because of the jointly signed statement by him and the Orthodox Patriarch Cyril. It involved  memorable historico-political  remarks, which has stuffed the "Obama Agenda" together with the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church,  which the Pope has disastrously circulated.

The declaration brings the Church back on the path of Benedict XVI. and is a true torpedo against "the dictatorship of relativism" of the West and against the dictatorship of Islamism in the East. It is a cry of freedom that allows the celebration of Christian values from the Atlantic to the Urals, and we returns to the big story of the Europe of the peoples and the cathedrals.

It's the opposite of what Francis did in those years.

The explanation takes decidedly (finally)  to the defense of persecuted Christians and religious freedom at all longitudes, and does so with an appeal to a courageous Christian witness in public life. It attacks the nihilistic technocracy of Western Europe, which has denied its Christian roots and excludes the Christian to contempt. Finally, they vigorously defend the natural family and life from conception to its natural end.

However, immediately after the ceremony, carried out before the television cameras, Pope Bergoglio tried to "withdraw" his signature from the publication of this document by playing down its importance. He reduced everything to a proper "photo-op".

What explains this repentant and incredible backpedaling? Obviously, it allowed the Imperium of the "resigned" Benedict XVI. and "cropped" the pontificate of Francis, it impedes him from overturning the geopolitical positioning of the Church.

Therefore Francis (who showed in 2013. a bold  independence with Syria) returned immediately in the assigned limits. It was not difficult for him because of the ease with which he normally speaks, withdrawing and contradictorily depending  on the interlocutor. His Magisterium is often as changeable as the dress Saruman.

Probably one now wonders in the Patriarchate of Moscow, how many  Franzi kisses are actually in circulation. We've asked that for three years. All boats  so guided  capsize, and in fact confusion rules in the Churc.

Perhaps the Pope is begging so emphatically because he wants prayer.

Unfortunately, he has many sycophants, courtiers, shoeshine boys and fans who celebrate him, but few of them pray for him and for the boat of Peter, which threatens to drown in the applause and the laughter of the world.

However, I pray for him.

[...]

The letter

When I opened the envelope, I saw that it came from him entirely. I understand the meaning of certain details: the popes communicate through the State Secretariat (in the past I have already received a papal letter of this kind).

That this was even handwritten by the Pope and a directly forwarded letter, without going through any Vatican office, has a precise meaning: It is intended to be of a familiar character, a fatherly gesture of affection and of Community.

Although I know how happily Pope Bergoglio leaves formalism behind, I would not have expected it. I sent him a copy of my book from the publisher Rizzoli. In it there is a dedication with which I tell the Pope that the book contains what my conscience requires me to tell him.

I was therefore very surprised to see his letter and read his truly informal words.

Vatican, February 7, 2016

Mr. Antonio Socci
Dear Brother:

I have received your book and the accompanying letter. Thank you for this gesture. May the Lord reward you.

I started to read it, and I am sure that many of my things in it will bring good things. In reality, critics help Us also, to walk in the right way of the Lord.

I really thank you very much for your prayers and those of your family.

I promise you that I will pray for you all and ask the Lord to bless you and the Blessed Mother, to protect you.

Your brother and servant in the Lord,

Francis

These are words  that do not leave me indifferent. There are things this Pope does that move me deeply (as I have written in the book).

His evangelical freedom and his simplicity inspire me, his standing outside the clerical schemes. It is moving when he speaks of the view of Jesus, or as in the past few days in Guadalupe from the maternal eyes of Mary. And he recalled that Our Savior wants that no one is lost and is ready to invite everyone on His shoulders.

But ultimately, there is in his pontificate primarily from his Magisterium and from the government of the Church, and  the face of disorientation and confusion that have entered the Christian people in these three years,  so I wanted to tell the truth, even at the cost of professional and moral suicide.

Parrhesia, not hypocrisy

I've thrown into the nettles what the world calls by the name of 'Prestige,'   built in decades of work, to be an outcast of the Catholic world, which is my home. I was, with one blow thrown among  the "lepers."  In those two years I had to digest a lot of verbal abuse. The most common were: "You are possessed by the devil" and "You're crazy."

Others called for an exorcist for me or even a judgement of excommunication. They even have assumed that I was in some sect, under some guru or an obscure "power" under a fog, but in any case outside of the Church.

I was banished from their media and my book has been placed on an index in certain Catholic bookstores, which probably has no problem having Augias and Mancuso for sale.

Today, however,  the words of Francis gives justice for months and months of defamation. They are above all, for each one of us, an example of humility and fatherhood.

The legitimacy of the "criticism of the Pope", which is contained in the letter, also seems to teach that we should be bold and not fearful or opportunistic Christians. One should talk of parrhesia and not calculated hypocrisy.

In my book I quoted the words of the Spanish Bishop Melchor Cano (1509-1560), a great theologian of the Council of Trent:

"Peter does not need our lies and our flattery. Those who defend blindly and indiscriminately any decision of the Pope, are those that undermine the authority of the Holy See:. They destroy its foundations  instead of strengthening it."

Francis knows, moreover, that for him, the danger does not come from the sincerity of the children of God, but from his court: one day he went so far as to say that "the Court is the leprosy of the papacy."

Incidentally, it is also true that a climate of real terror reigns in the Roman Curia and the other Curias during his pontificate, a never before experienced oppressive inquisitorial air. And for that he is responsible.

The way he has led Church affairs in these years and the recent Synod, unfortunately, shows that next to the paternal and understanding Francis there is also one who uses the power in a very hard way. Sometimes, in order to impose the Church heterodox teachings.

He is the one who raises an iron fist against large religious families  and orthodox faith and then praises those who promotes the chasing of the winds of secular ideologies.

I continue to hope and pray that he will put an end to this climate and call for all to stay in the freedom and dignity of the children of God in the Church, as well as the Council teaches (without fearing purges, revenge and humiliation).

I hope above all that he remains faithful to  the mission of Peter and defends the Catholic faith and neither sells it and nor  tips it over: this is not permissible for him. He can not do it.

For even the Pope can not do what he wants, as Joseph Ratzinger has said. He is not an absolute monarch, as once some rulers were. He is the exact opposite: He is the guarantor of obedience.  He is the guarantee that we are not of his opinion or the opinion of whomever, but profess the faith of all times, to defend it against the opinions of the moment. 

Introduction / Text: Giuseppe Nardi
picture: Antonio Socci

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Mass of Paul VI. Not the Mass of St. Gregory the Great -- Scalia to be Buried With "English" Mass

Edit: Although Justice Atonin Scalia was what the Old Liberal, Crux News, describes as a "champion of traditional Catholicism", and was a regular participant at the Immemorial Mass of All Ages at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls, Virginia at ChurchMilitant, who did not specify any details about the Liturgy.  We now know, through a representative of the Shrine where the "English" Mass is to be held, that Scalia's funeral Mass will be the Mass of Bugnini and not the Immemorial Mass of All Ages, despite the fact that his son, Father Paul Scalia, will be celebrating.

ChurchMilitant anticipates some scandal as Joe Biden comes up for another sacrilegious Communion.  The event can be watched, live streaming on CNN.

Please Offer Funds for Gregorian Masses for Justice Scalia

Edit: we'd like to join with Rorate Caeli in praying for Justice Antonin Scalia. It's an especially glorious opportunity to help a friend reach heaven from Purgatory, should he be there, and to help our clergy who do so much for us by their sacrifices and prayers. One especially efficacious prayer is the Gregorian Mass at Clear Creek. We'll track the progress and let you know what we come up with.  Signify your donation by commenting on line here.  We'll confirm with Clear Creek. What is a Gregorian Mass?

Gregorian Masses are thirty Masses said at any altar for thirty consecutive days for the deliverance of a certain soul from Purgatory. The pious practice of having these Masses celebrated for the deliverance of the souls from Purgatory was not first introduced by Saint Gregory the Great, who was sovereign Pontiff from 590 to 604, but precedes his time.
However, they are called Gregorian Masses because St. Gregory contributed to the spread of this pious practice. In his Dialogues the Saint tells us that he caused to be said thirty Masses on thirty consecutive days for the repose of the soul of Justus, a monk who had died in the convent of St. Andrew in Rome.
At the end of the thirtieth Mass, the deceased appeared to his brother, Copusoos, who had assisted him as a physician in his last illness, and announced that he had been delivered from the flames of Purgatory. In their “Lives of the Saints” the Bollandists tell us that on the thirtieth day Saint Gregory himself was assured of the deliverance of the soul of Justus.  And an inscription in the church of SS. Andrew and Gregory, which Rome erected on the spot of the dwelling of the holy Pontiff, confirms the fact.
Saint Gregory, as we read of his life, was also instructed by God Himself in the efficacy of these thirty Masses and he recommended the practice on various occasions. In the life of St. Vincent Ferrer, we read that he had thirty consecutive Masses celebrated for his deceased sister and saw her delivered from Purgatory. Pope Benedict XIII lauded this pious practice of having thirty Masses said for each soul that has departed from this life.
 In Italy, France, Spain, Germany and especially England, which was converted by missionaries sent by St. Gregory, it was an established custom previous to the Reformation and the French Revolution, to have thirty consecutive Masses said for each departed soul. In a number of old churches in Europe, altars dedicated to St. Gregory and the Poor Souls are to be found. Many old paintings are still preserved attesting the same fact. Several Religious Orders have it specified in their rules and Constitutions that thirty Gregorian Masses are to be said for every deceased member.
The Carmelites, Dominicans, Nuns of the Visitation, and others follow this practice. A very old edition of the Dominican Missal contains special prayers for the Gregorian Masses.

FOR IMMEMORIAL RITE of ALL AGES

 Rev. Father Matthew Shapiro, OSB, Annunciation Monastery at Clear Creek,
 5804 W. Monastery Road , HULBERT, OK 74441

 In the case of the Tridentine Masses the stipend expected is $300US.

800 Years of the Dominican Order -- Varying Trends

Philippine Dominicans

(Manila) 800 years ago, in 1216,  Pope Honorius III. confirmed the Dominicans, previously founded two years before. There are completely variant trends in  the Order.

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The founder was is Spaniard, Domingo de Guzman, better known as Saint Dominic. From him, the mendicant order also received its common name. Officially, it is called Ordo fratrum Praedicatorum (OP), in English, Today, the Order of Preachers Is led, which now numbers approximately 5,900 brothers and 3,000 contemplative and 30,000 apostolic sisters, by Frenchman Bruno Cadoré. In 1959 the Order had even 9,506 brothers.

There are provinces of fading inexorably appears and.Throughout Austria, there is only one Dominican monastery. Vienna archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, belongs to this Order.

But there are still provinces that are alive and flourishing in the best sense of the word. These include the Dominican Province of the Order of St. Joseph in the eastern part of the USA. There the Immemorial Mass is also  maintained.

This also applies to the Provincia Philippinarum in the Philippines. This past Deceber 10th, 18 new novies of the Province have begun their studies at the inter-diocesan Seminary of the Pontifical and Royal University of St. Thomas in Manila.  Both facilities are run by Dominicans. 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: OP.org

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholiisches...

AMDG

Ferrara vs. Shea Debate-- Mark Shea Must be a Feeneyite Now!

Edit: Argument of the Month is a monthly event where semi-edible food is served up for an increasingly formal debate format. It's cheap entertainment as it goes for 15 bucks, and a chance to meet new friends, or old enemies. The church hall basement at St. Augustine's parish in South Saint Paul was supposed to have provided room for 400 or more with a new "overflow room" provided to accommodate the interest brewing to see a Non-Denominational Apologist in the service of AmChurch, Mark Shea, and Remnant Regular, the ever articulate attorney Christopher Ferrara. The overflow room wasn't necessary to accommodate less than 300.

One of the weaknesses of AOTM is the hard to see line between good and evil. Oftentimes speakers who aren't even Catholic, as was the case for this  January meeting, will be invited to hold forth in defense of an erroneous position, or what appeared to be a Sedevacantist one on the part of Christopher Ferrara as noted by Novus Ordo Watch, recently.  And even if the position is discernibly erroneous, it might be so poorly or ambiguously formed that it's difficult to understand, and as simple as it was in this case, Chris Ferrara did some light footwork and included a wiggle word, "effectively" to cover the untenable position.  So despite having Shea admit  that membership in the Church is necessary for salvation, it was really unclear just what church he was talking about, although for Ferrara never took him to task on this point, as Shea histrionically waved his hands about people listening to Relevant Radio and reading his books.

So, with all of the urgency and seriousness of an intramural  softball game, there's a vague suggestion of there being competition, but you can't tell who's in the winning side, much less the right side. Was it a victory for Catholic truth? We doubt that. There might've been some hard hits but there were no killer blows.  That's why we included this poll you can vote on it.

One way of seeing success is in looking for numbers, or possibly even the results of such initiatives. Sometimes large groups get together outside of their ecclesiastical venues to change events outside the bubble. This is apparent in France, where Catholic youth, though few in numbers, have given significant voice to their faith, disrupting Buddhist interfaith prayer ceremonies in Cathedrals or blocking events celebrating sexual perversion. These evenings may have brought some unfavorable comments from the effeminates in the chancery, but they seem to have done little else. Like the Remnant, a lot of whining, not much winning. Not to be too negative, for these events have been well-received with large numbers in attendance, sometimes close to 400 with a bowling alley, smokehouse atmosphere and some jocularity among the participants which keeps the men coming back for more, but after these hard working people go home, are they left with any palpable cause for their faith? Do they believe the faith? At least they know something is wrong, even if they don't know what to do about it.

For this year's Shea appearance, the video was  also recorded, and although the organizers at AOTM insisted that people don't want to be recorded saying controversial things, to let their hair down, the video has appeared.

Last year, the Voris vs. Shea debate was much better attended and the sides between the Neoconservative, aberrosexual friendly, AmChurch, Modernist position was more resolutely opposed by Michael Voris. Since then, Voris and the Remnant crowd have had a tiff, and Chris Ferrara couldn't be moved this year to admit that the Hut of Apologetics Mafia had been vanquished, while insisting that the winners were the men in attendance.  As usual, we're not really sure what the debate was about. Maybe we're just daft? Perhaps it was a victory for the Thrice Defined Dogma?Although several times, the dogma of Nulla Salus Extra Ecclesiam was raised, Shea offered no objection, qui tacet non consentire. Unfortunately, Shea's quiescent Feeneyism didn't stop him from invoking the charge of anti-Semitism, his trump ace in the hole whenever he attacks real Catholics. If anything, such fervent defense of the status quo with respect to the Jews is an especially significant uniting factor between Remnant and  Shea, so much so does Michael Warning suggest that now that Shea is no longer working for Patheos, he'll be working at the Remnant managing their comments section.  Let's not forget Michael Matt's betrayal of Bishop Williamson in 2009, when he published an especially cloying account of an interfaith prayer with a fellow traveller who just happened to be Jewish, on an airplane flight.  Never mind that, it's especially interesting to see on his part  the near approval for one of the most prolific, if not the most huge defenders of AmChurch in the apologetics world, their apparent unanimous agreement on No Salvation Outside of the Catholic Church notwithstanding,  even though Shea probably believes that the Old Covenant is salvific and to say otherwise is anti-Semitic.

Anyway see for yourself at AOTM's site:

 http://www.aotmclub.com/index.asp?pageID=18

From Empty Seminaries to Full Seminaries -- Ordinations at the Society of St. Peter

(Wigratzbad) Last Saturday, Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur ordained 11 subdeacons of the Fraternity of St. Peter. At the same time the Bishop of Chur ordained 15 seminarians in the traditional rite to minor orders as porters and lectors. Five seminarians were ordained exorcist and acolyte. All ordinands are preparing for the priesthood at the International Seminary of the Society St. Peter of Peter (FSSP) in Wigratzbad in the diocese of Augsburg near Lake Constance.

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This coming February 20th, there will be another 13 subdeacons  ordained at the second international seminary of the FSSP in the US. "Therefore, there is a realistic prospect that in 2017, 24 new priests are to be ordained for this old ritual community," said Messa in Latino .That would be twice the average of the past twelve years.

"Perhaps we should make the Holy Father aware that there are not just empty seminaries, but also full seminaries when he complains of the lack of priests next time. And that there will be a reason when there are the seminaries of tradition that are full," says Messa in Latino alluding to the speech of Pope Francis last February 1st, to participants at the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life .

At the Pontifical Mass, Bishop Huonder was assisted by Father Arnaud Evrat, the General Secretary of the Society of St. Peter, Father Jean-Laurent Lefevre, House Master of the Establishment at Fontainebleau, and Father Christian  Jäger, Administrator for the Apostolate of the Society of St. Peter in Munich.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: FSSP Wigratzbad (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to more photos @ Katholisches...

AMDG

Pope Francis and the Remarried Divorced of Tuxla Gutierrez

(Mexico City) While the media is reporting an insignificant incident at the meeting with the youth, a more important thing happened at the meeting with the families in the context of  remarried divorcees.

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In the incident on Tuesday, Pope Francis was understandably incensed because teenagers were so strongly drawn to him that he almost  fell over a disabled boy in a wheelchair. The incident took place at the meeting with more than 100,000 young people in Morelia.

Protect family from destruction by ideological colonization

More significant, but largely unnoticed, was another incident on Monday of Pope Francis'  meeting   with  families in Tuxla Gutierrez. Pope Francis defended the traditional family in his speech. In Mexico, there is a bitter political slugfest to legalize "gay marriage" and the introduce an adoption law for homosexuals:

"Nowadays we see and  experience on several fronts, as  where the family is weakened, as it is called into question, as one thinks that it is an already obsolete model and has no place in our societies, and how under the pretext of modernity, increasingly, a home based on the isolation model is favored. In our societies - which describe themselves as free, democratic, sovereign societies - penetrated with an ideological colonization, which  destroys society, and in the end we are all colonies of ideologies, which destroys the family,  the family at its core, the foundation of any healthy society ."

Previously, the Pope had listened under the hot sun of Chiapas to the testimony of four families who have been "injured" in different ways, as it is  described in the newer Church language. In some couples (picture) there were remarried divorcees. Humberto and Claudia had married again after a divorce registry office, which because of the validity of a first marriage, Claudia is excluded from an ecclesiastical marriage.

Testimony of a couple remarried divorcees

Humberto and Claudia, remarried divorcees, with Pope Francis

The couple personifies the "irregular" union which not a few bishops, priests and theologians would like to grant admission to the sacraments, because their number is increasing more and more. Two Synods argued on this point. Cardinal Walter Kasper's has, since 2013, been the spokesman of the "Possibilists" who advocate admission to Communion. But both times the Kasperians could not impose this.

Since the conclusion of the second Synod of Bishops end of October 2015, the Church awaits a decision by Pope Francis and his Post-synodal letter, to be published in February.

The encounter with the couple in Tuxla Gutierrez did not lack explosiveness. How did Pope Francis react?

But the couple did not ask for the admission to Communion. "We can not approach the Eucharist," Humberto said, "but we can participate through our needy, sick,  brother, deprived of his liberty, at  Communion."

The reaction of Pope Francis

Pope Francis said in his reaction first: "Humberto and Claudia try to pass on to us the love of God through service and assistance to the neighbor." Then he spoke directly to the pair:

"You have taken courage and you pray, you are with Jesus, you are immersed in the life of the Church. You have used a beautiful expression: We keep comunio [community] with the weak, sick, needy and imprisoned brother '. Thank you thank you!"

In Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican, the testimony was reproduced in summary.  Humberto Gomez was still single when he civilly married Claudia 16 years ago, who was already divorced and brought three children. Their son was born eleven years ago, who is now an altar boy, "as the Father adds, visibly proud". The couple had initially suffered from the exclusion from the sacraments, then they slowly came to a rapprochement through the group Divorciados vueltos a casar  which offers pastoral care in Mexican dioceses  for the divorced and remarried. Through this group, the pair began to volunteer to care for the sick, the imprisoned women and drug-addicted prisoners.

Provided evidence of integration without admission to communion

"If there is need   for evidence to support 'integration' and the 'full participation" of members as "living members" in the  Church, as the Relatio, the final report of the Family Synod, according to the teaching of the Church, of remarried divorcees proposed as living members  and without admission to Eucharistic Communion, then this pair has done this," said the Vatican expert Sandro Magister. "And Pope Francis, listened to them and nodded with conviction. It remains to be seen what he will write to the anticipated post-synodal document. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Image: Vatican.va/OR (screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches...

AMDG

Blasphemous "Our Father" in Barcelona -- Anti-Clericalism is Definitive for the Left

(Madrid) Hostility to Christianity has many faces and there are many ways to persecute Catholics. That is mockery since the Protestant Revolt and  the French Revolution's social exclusion. "It's called, 'freedom of expression,' thus justifying the worst obscenities of blasphemy," so says Corrispondenza Romana . The poem "Our Mother" falls in this category, which  last Monday was the winner of the literary competition, Premio Ciudad de Barcelona de Poesia, presented by the city of Barcelona at an award ceremony.

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Dolores Miquel (image) of Lleida in Catalonia writes poetry in order, in her own words, "to provoke". This is in order to attract attention so that she continually incites provocation. On Monday she introduced a distortion of the Our Father, which she called "Our Mother" in order to set a feminist tone:  "Hallowed be your c***, thy will be done in our womb" and called for abortion: "Do not let the bastards abort love and promote war ".

"This has deeply offended me. With Catholics anything is always allowed"

Alberto Fernández Diaz, the group spokesman of the Spanish Popular Party left the event in the City Hall of Barcelona. "What I have heard has deeply offended me," said the PP representative. Then he wrote on the social networks: "It is a matter of respect. With the Catholics anything always  allowed, everything, but at the same they reject this when the same understanding of "freedom" is used of others who ridicule, for example,  Islam."

. Even the Bishop of Terrassa, Mgr José Ángel Saiz, left no doubt: "This poem is undoubtedly blasphemous. How long will you still abuse the patience of the Catholics?"

The former Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Xavier Trias, described the sad incident as an "institutional failure" because it took place during an official ceremony of the city administration. Trias was from 2011-2015 c Mayor of Barcelona, and ​​belongs to  the liberal-conservative, national Catalan  Democratic Convergence of Catalonia CDC party.

The Left's Anti-Clerical Identity

Leftist Mayor of Barcelona receives criticism for blasphemous poem

Since the local elections of 2015,  Ada Colau is Mayor of Barcelona. The leftist activist belongs to a newly founded  opposition coalition of the left-wing populist Podemos party, Greens and Left-Catalan nationalists. The alliance won 25 percent of the vote and eleven of 41 mandates. With the support of other left parties (Left nationalists ERC, the Catalan PSOE offshoot PSC and the radical left CUP) Colau was elected for mayor by a mere 21.

The nun Lucia Caram, who otherwise contains good relationships with leftist Catalan nationalists, said she was "surprised and disappointed" about the "superficiality and hostility to the Church," from Ada Colau "and her Muchachos".

The PP party spokesman Fernandez has called for the resignation of all those who have "offended with such adulterations of the 'Lord's Prayer' and contempt for the religious feelings and convictions of others in the name of a completely distorted idea of freedom of speech."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 

Picture: Youtube / El Confidencial (screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Father Spadaro and the Confusing "Minister of the Eucharist" -- The Introduction of Calvinist Hand Communion

(Mexico City) Sources of information about the pastoral visit of Pope Francis to Mexico includes the Twitter account of the Jesuit priest, Antonio Spadaro. Spadaro is the editor of the Roman Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica . He is considered to be one of those closest  personal friends to the Argentine Pope. On September 2013 he published the first media interview with Francis.

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The editor is very active on Twitter  and sends short messages several times a day, including on the Pope's Mass in Ecatepec in Mexico City. So  he also sent the above picture and wrote: "Ministri dell'Eucaristia" (Minister of the Eucharist). Such designation is explicitly rejected by the current provisions.

"Ministers of the Eucharist" are priests only, as the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum 2004 reaffirmed. Did Father Spadaro mistake the "minister of the Eucharist" with communion helpers? A lapse or Freudian slip?

The picture shows namely without doubt extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, which are briefly mentioned in the German extraordinary minister of holy communion. It is to lay people who may be appointed in urgent need case, what the Pope's Mass was the case yesterday in Ecatepec.

Extraordinary ministers of holy communion: precedent for current interest?

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion not Ministers of the Eucharist

The introduction of the extraordinary minister of holy Eucharist is regarded as a precedent for a mechanism to establish changes in the Church.

In 1964 the Berlin Ordinarienkonferenz, the forerunner of the later Berlin Bishops' Conference, which included the bishops of the Communist GDR, issued by Rome's permission to employ "suitable laymen" the diaspora areas for Communion at home worship. The measure was justified to serve  the far-flung areas. In 1966 the exemption was extended. But then something amazing happened.

Although the measure for a given area was granted on the basis of a specific "emergency", it was dealt with in 1967 by the Pope Paul VI. approved instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium in its extension to the entire world Church. The GDR with its diaspora situation was atypical of the Catholic world. Because of the communist dictatorship and the isolation by the Wall, the situation there was also withdrawn from the direct view of the world public. Nevertheless, it served as a trial run which was totallly justified with a total ecclesiastical decision.

The situation is reminiscent of today's Amazon workshop and the attempt to receive permission there to allow  married "viri probati" ordination because of the alleged lack of priests. According to the ideas of the promoters, the "Amazon model" could be just as quickly extended to the entire Catholic Church. An exceptional situation serves to introduce an exemption. It's a breach in the wall that will quickly lead to the complete dam break.

As a result of the introduction of Communion,  priests in some churches no longer distribute Communion to let the layman take precedence. More often, there is no clear need for an extraordinary minister of holy communion, yet they are used. Even when in papal liturgies  it already comes to an undignified treatment of the body of Christ, as the World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro or at the Pope's Mass in Manila in January, 2015.

The Effective Rules for Communion Helpers

The Roman permission stressing the exceptional status: the layman is only an "extraordinary" minister of holy communion, to be used only "if necessary".

In 2004, the Congregation for Divine Worship called with the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum the provisions of achievement:

[88.] The faithful should normally receive sacramental Communion of the Eucharist during Mass itself, at the moment laid down by the rite of celebration, that is to say, just after the Priest celebrant’s Communion.[172] It is the Priest celebrant’s responsibility to minister Communion, perhaps assisted by other Priests or Deacons; and he should not resume the Mass until after the Communion of the faithful is concluded. Only when there is a necessity may extraordinary ministers assist the Priest celebrant in accordance with the norm of law. 

[154.] As has already been recalled, “the only minister who can confect the Sacrament of the Eucharist in persona Christi is a validly ordained Priest”.[254] Hence the name “minister of the Eucharist” belongs properly to the Priest alone. Moreover, also by reason of their sacred Ordination, the ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are the Bishop, the Priest and the Deacon,[255] to whom it belongs therefore to administer Holy Communion to the lay members of Christ’s faithful during the celebration of Mass. In this way their ministerial office in the Church is fully and accurately brought to light, and the sign value of the Sacrament is made complete. 

[155.] In addition to the ordinary ministers there is the formally instituted acolyte, who by virtue of his institution is an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion even outside the celebration of Mass. If, moreover, reasons of real necessity prompt it, another lay member of Christ’s faithful may also be delegated by the diocesan Bishop, in accordance with the norm of law,[256] for one occasion or for a specified time, and an appropriate formula of blessing may be used for the occasion. This act of appointment, however, does not necessarily take a liturgical form, nor, if it does take a liturgical form, should it resemble sacred Ordination in any way. Finally, in special cases of an unforeseen nature, permission can be given for a single occasion by the Priest who presides at the celebration of the Eucharist.[257] 

[156.] This function is to be understood strictly according to the name by which it is known, that is to say, that of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and not “special minister of Holy Communion” nor “extraordinary minister of the Eucharist” nor “special minister of the Eucharist”, by which names the meaning of this function is unnecessarily and improperly broadened. 

[157.] If there is usually present a sufficient number of sacred ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may not be appointed. Indeed, in such circumstances, those who may have already been appointed to this ministry should not exercise it. The practice of those Priests is reprobated who, even though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons.[258] 

[158.] Indeed, the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion may administer Communion only when the Priest and Deacon are lacking, when the Priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason, or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged.[259] This, however, is to be understood in such a way that a brief prolongation, considering the circumstances and culture of the place, is not at all a sufficient reason. 

[159.] It is never allowed for the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to delegate anyone else to administer the Eucharist, as for example a parent or spouse or child of the sick person who is the communicant. 

[160.] Let the diocesan Bishop give renewed consideration to the practice in recent years regarding this matter, and if circumstances call for it, let him correct it or define it more precisely. Where such extraordinary ministers are appointed in a widespread manner out of true necessity, the diocesan Bishop should issue special norms by which he determines the manner in which this function is to be carried out in accordance with the law, bearing in mind the tradition of the Church.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Twitter (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG 

Masonic Cardinal Bemoans Justifiable Criticism of His Masonic Attitudes and Advocates Dialog With Freemasonry

Edit: , while Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi calls for dialog with Freemasonry, Pope Francis has recently insisted that there can be no dialog with the devil.  In a recent statement for Il Timone, reported by Rorate Caeli, Ravasi laments that there are "integralists" in the Church who lay the charge of Freemasonry against various churchmen. It's understandable that he'd say this, at least out of self-interest, for he himself is no stranger to endorsing masonic, occultic ideas in his own public practice, as he did in Argentina when he worshiped the goddess Pachama in November of 2014 under the auspices of his masonic, "Court of Gentiles" initiative, which he began under Pope Benedict, initially.  Is it really necessary to just ask?

As this prelate disparages faithful Catholics for being scandalized by his masonic postures, more importantly, he's insulted God by offering adulation for notorious and unrepentant sinners.  Surely, he has more love for masonic commandments than God's.

An interesting citation from the Credo Sanctum blog on the nature of Freemasonry, the current Pope and Vatican II:

This reputation will put access to our doctrines into the midst of the young clergy, as well as deeply into the monasteries. In a few years, by the force of things, this young clergy will have overrun all the functions; they will form the sovereign’s council, they will be called to choose a Pontiff who should reign. And this Pontiff, like most of his contemporaries, will be necessarily more or less imbued with the Italian and humanitarian principles that we are going to begin to put into circulation.

 Until the Catholic hierarchy starts to sort prelates like this out in a very real and meaningful way, both apodictically and apophatically, the desolation of Catholic institutions and the great confusion of peoples will continue.  Father Ray Blake seems to have some ideas.  Now THIS is dialog:

To those who deny the existence of God, and assert that the world is self-existing, and that all things in it occur by chance, and not by the providence of God, Anathema!

Deacon: To those who say that God is not spirit, but flesh; or that He is not just, merciful, wise and all-knowing, and utter similar blasphemies, Anathema! To those who dare to say that the Son of God and also the Holy Spirit are not one in essence and of equal honor with the Father, and confess that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not one God, Anathema!
To those who foolishly say that the coming of the Son of God into the world in the flesh, and His voluntary passion, death, and resurrection were not necessary for our salvation and the cleansing of sins, Anathema!
To those who reject the grace of redemption preached by the Gospel as the only means of our justification before God, Anathema!
To those who dare to say that the all-pure Virgin Mary was not virgin before giving birth, during birth-giving, and after her child-birth, Anathema!
To those who do not believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and apostles, and by them taught us the true way to eternal salvation, and confirmed this by miracles, and now dwells in the hearts of all true and faithful Christians, and teaches them in all truth, Anathema!
To those who reject the immortality of the soul, the end of time, the future judgement, and eternal reward for virtue and condemnation for sin, Anathema! To those who reject all the holy mysteries held by the Church of Christ, Anathema!
To those who reject the Councils of the holy fathers and their traditions, which are agreeable to divine revelation and kept piously by the Orthodox Church, Anathema!
To those who mock and profane the holy images and relics which the holy Church receives as revelations of God's work and of those pleasing to Him, to inspire their beholders with piety, and to arouse them to follow these examples; and to those who say that they are idols, Anathema!
To those who dare to say and teach that our Lord Jesus Christ did not descend to earth, but only seemed to; or that He did not descend to the earth and become incarnate only once, but many times, and who likewise deny that the true Wisdom of the Father is His only-begotten Son, Anathema!
To the followers of the occult, spiritualists, wizards, and all who do not believe in the one God, but honor the demons; or who do not humbly give their lives over to God, but strive to learn the future through sorcery, Anathema!

Image: stolen  from Christopher Schaefer.