ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis remained firm in his refusal to allow the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope accused by some Jews of not speaking out enough against the Holocaust, because he doesn’t have enough miracles in his record. Read more
Comment Er.. kidding, right? Just remind me how many (and how convincing) were the miracles attributed to Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II and the latest fast-tracker, Paul VI? You get my drift?
Much more likely than alleged lack of miracles is the fear of incurring the wrath of those who falsely claim that this great pontiff did not do enough to help the Jews during World War II.
Rabbi Dalin’s honesty stands in stark contrast to the blether than passes for “Jewish-Catholic” relations in the post-Vatican II era of dialogue-into-bore-a-logue.
Or maybe Pope Francis is really keen not to dumb-down the beatification/canonisation process, and we just didn’t notice last time. Seriously, what, if anything, does this tell us about inter-faith activity? I mean, I’m not keen on adding to the number of twentieth century pope-saints – believe me – but I really don’t like double standards. If the number (and quality) of miracles is the litmus test, then surely neither Pope John XXIII or Pope John Paul II would have been canonised?
The Remnant Forum’s Michael Matt and Christopher Ferrara discuss the “accept Vatican II or else” canard and the persecution of the Franciscan Friars (now Sisters) of the Immaculate under Pope Francis.
The story of Hollie Greig is fairly well known in Scotland but, for those who may not be familiar with it, we include a brief summary below. The information has been provided by those campaigning for “justice for Hollie” and is published here in good faith for the purpose of enabling discussion. If anything is inaccurate or untrue, we expect that to be exposed in the course of the debate. What we do not expect is that anyone should be named, against whom allegations have been made. The discussion must be underpinned by the principle, “Innocent until proven guilty” – please and thank you…
Catholic Truth is not part of the campaign for “justice for Hollie”. We don’t DO “justice” campaigns. Indeed, we’ve often been asked to publish a thread on the issues but having read some claims that the whole think is a hoax, we’ve resisted all requests to date. However, the circumstances surrounding the arrest and imprisonment of Robert Green, one of those campaigning for Hollie, sent alarm bells ringing.
After all, if all stops are (rightly) to be pulled out to rid the Catholic Church of any and all child abuse, then the same standards must surely be applied to other institutions (whether the BBC or political and legal institutions) when similar allegations are levelled at members of those professions.
So, tell us what you think: should there be a thorough police enquiry into the Hollie Greig abuse allegations?
Summary:
1. Hollie Greig made serious allegations of child sex abuse to Aberdeen Police in 2000 and named 22 alleged abusers and 7 alleged victims (in addition to herself). The alleged abusers include social workers, a judge, a senior police forensics officer (since deceased) and two Head Teachers.
2. Until now the Aberdeen Police have refused to interview more than at most 2 of the 22 named suspects and none of the 7 victims named by Hollie.
3. This refusal to properly and thoroughly investigate Hollie Greig’s allegations is despite the fact that 2 medical doctors and 2 clinical psychologists have examined her and their findings have supported her allegations that she was sexually abused.
Furthermore, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority examined Hollie’s allegations, accepted that she had been abused and awarded her £13,500 in compensation for this.
4. All that Robert Green has been campaigning for is for the Aberdeen Police to properly and thoroughly investigate Hollie Greig’s allegations – that is their job and their duty, especially given the sheer gravity of Hollie’s allegations.
Sad sign of our times that if Hollie had alleged to police that these people had engaged in “Homophobic” activity the police would have thoroughly investigated it like a shot but to them alleged child sex abuse is perceived as not important.
5. For his campaigning Robert Green has been arrested by the Aberdeen Police at least 3 times so far. Arrested and investigated by the very same police force he’s trying to get to properly and thoroughly investigate Hollie Greig’s allegations of child sex abuse.
6. Robert Green is definitely innocent but even if you thought he somehow deserved to be arrested that does not alter the fact that he has a human right to have the defence Barristers he needs to defend himself and to have the Legal Aid he urgently needs to hire them.
Anthony Bennett, critic of the Hollie Greig campaign has already been totally and very publicly discredited. For example, see below:
On 9 September 2003the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found him “guilty of conduct unbefitting a solicitor On 15 October 2009 he voluntarily removed himself from the Roll.
And what qualifications and authority does Bennett have as an officially discredited ex-solicitor who had to leave his profession after disciplinary proceedings, to then appoint himself police, judge and jury in the Hollie Greig case and acquit all the alleged abusers named by Hollie even though they have never ever been properly investigated by the police?“
All Robert Green is urging is for the police to do their job which is to properly and thoroughly investigate allegations of criminal activity, especially of serious criminal activity such as Holiie Greig’s allegations of child sex abuse. END…
What was not mentioned, however, is that the Congregation for Divine Worship replaced the traditional rite of exorcism with a new one in 1999. In 2001 the famous Father Gabriele Amorth, founder and honorary president of the International Association of Exorcists wasinterviewed about the new rite by 30 Days magazine.
In the interview Fr. Amorth stated, “A Rite so long-awaited has turned out to be a joke, an incredible cord that is tying us in knots in our work against the Devil.”
Fr. Amorth was later asked the following direct question, “Are you saying that the new Rite is useless in the struggle against the Devil?” His response:
Whether Summorum Pontificum included the right of every priest to use the old rite of exorcism is not clear. What is clear, however, is the attitude of most modern bishops towards exorcism. As Fr. Amorth explained:
The Pope continues to complain about the problem of the devil, and incidents of demonic possession are on the rise, especially in Rome. The primary reason for this surge of evil is the mass apostasy in the Church brought about the Council. The Council weakened the Church not only through its documents, but also through its implementation.
Although it took the conciliar implementers 34 years, they finally got around to destroying the last vestige of Catholic ritual and liturgical tradition in the Church’s rite of exorcism. If there is any doubt that the Council was used as a justification for destroying the rite of exorcism, one need only look at the references in the new rite’s Prefatory Decree. There the authors clearly cite the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium as the authorization for the “revision.”
May Our Lord please exorcise the Spirit of Vatican II from His Church…and fast. Source
Comment
Is there anyone out there who is genuinely surprised that “we have a clergy and episcopate who do not believe in the Devil”, according to Fr Amorth? And if they don’t believe in the Devil, well… what “Gospel” are they reading? There’s a letter in today’s Catholic Herald from a priest – Fr Julian Shurgold, Surrey, England – who tells us that he thought the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest, performed by bearded drag queen. Conchita, “was a well deserved black eye for Putin, certain members of the Russian Orthodox Church and other vile, bullying Russian homophobes.” He concludes his daft letter by opining that the fact that “many leading Russians were seriously upset by Conchita…all goes to show that there may be justice in the world after all!”
Er…”homophobes”? Justice in the world because a bearded “drag queen” won a song contest? For the record, he thought her song was “very poor”; for the record, I think his letter is a disgrace but that’s not the point. Just ask yourself this question: would a priest who believes in the Devil, be using the language of the homosexual lobby to describe people who are opposed to unnatural pseudo-sexual activity? That’s one example of a clergyman who, in my opinion, appears not to believe in the Devil (maybe he’ll come on here to tell us differently – I’ll be sending him the link) and there are plenty of other examples. All in all, it seems crystal clear to the Catholic Truth Team that, given the chaos in the Church today, worldwide, for Fr Amorth to say “most modern bishops (and priests) do not believe in the Devil” is akin to saying “Christmas comes in December”. It’s a no brainer. Or maybe you disagree?
…In yet another hypocritical and unjust move, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz of the Congregation of Religious put the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate under Apostolic Visitation (investigation) as of May 19, 2014. According to the Pray4TheFriars blogsite:
Why? Undoubtedly due to the same complaint against the Friars: a“crypto-lefebvrian and definitely traditionalist drift” in the community.In other words, the Sisters are being investigated because they assist at the Traditional Mass and are suspected of adhering to the Traditional Faith. Thus, being Catholic is now apparently dangerous, subversive, and “crypto-lefebvrian” to the Congregation of Religious.
Fr. Volpi had already desired the investigation of the Sisters ever since they had the audacity to publicly refute his spurious accusations against them. Now, with this latest move of Cardinal Aviz, Fr. Volpi gets his wish. Read more…
Comment
What is going on? Are there so few dissident religious sisters around that the Apostolic Visitors need to keep busy by placing a perfectly faithful Order of Sisters under what amounts to investigation?Or is it a case of the hatred of the true Faith, which constitutes the diabolical disorientation raging in the Church right now, reaching a new low?
Click here to check out the discussion we had way back in January when the Vatican persecution of the Franciscan friars began, and then share your thoughts about this growing persecution of what appears to be a model religious order.
Vatican prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that former Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone embezzled 15 million euros from Vatican accounts, German daily Bild reported Tuesday citing unofficial Holy See sources.
The newspaper said the money went to an unidentified television producer friend of Cardinal Bertone’s. It said it was moved in a transfer in December 2012 despite resistance from the Vatican Bank. Bild reported that Renè Bruelhart, the head of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF), said that he could “neither confirm nor deny” the reports that Bertone is being probed.
Bertone was appointed Vatican Secretary of State by Benedict XVi in 2006 and served in the position until last year, when Pope Francis replaced him with Cardinal Pietro Parolin. His time in the role was hit by the so-called VatiLeaks scandal, which saw confidential Church documents leaked to the media by the Benedict’s butler in 2012.
The leaked documents included letters a prelate sent to Benedict and Bertone on alleged corruption and mismanagement in the administration of the Vatican City. The prelate, Carlo Maria Vigano’, was subsequently switched from his position as secretary-general of the governatorate of Vatican City State to a new post as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
Last month Bertone strongly denied Italian media reports claiming that the prelate had a luxurious 700-square-meter flat renovated for himself while Pope Francis makes do with humbler lodgings at a Vatican guest house. Source
Comment
Cardinal Bertone has been a leading light in the drive to prevent publication of the Third Secret. Very keen to bury Fatima, he has been accused of lying about the Third Secret by a top Italian journalist –read all about it here. So, really, if the probe into his financial dealings throws up any cause for concern, would it really matter? Isn’t suppressing a key part of a message from Heaven much more serious? Seriously?
One hundred years before the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora received prophetic revelations that spoke of the current crisis in the Church, the Great Chastisement and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora was born in 1774 and lived in Italy until her saintly death in 1825. On instructions from her confessor, she wrote down her revelations which fill hundreds of notebook pages. Today, the manuscripts are safely kept in the archives of the Trinitarian Fathers at San Carlino, Rome.
Comment
Westminster Fly posted the above video on our General Discussion thread late last night, asking if anyone had seen it. I hadn’t. Nor had I heard of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora. What about you?
CHURCH officials have warned that Catholic dioceses and bishops who ignored complaints over alleged sexual abuse by priests will be reported to police for prosecution.
Complaints of clerical sexual abuse stretching back almost 70 years are the subject of a review by the Catholic Church in Scotland, which insists any serious complaint since 1947 must be passed on to the police even if both alleged victim and priest are dead.
Tina Campbell, national safeguarding co-ordinator for the Scottish Catholic Church, said that for the first time the eight dioceses will be made accountable for their handling of clerical sexual abuse and that allegations ignored by previous bishops will be reported by her office to Police Scotland.
She said: “They are having to report if they have actioned or not. If they say, ‘we found something in the file but we haven’t reported it to the police’, they will be questioned about that.
“If there is an allegation and it has not been reported to police it must now be reported.”
The Catholic Church in Scotland is undergoing a two-tiered examination of its handling of clerical sex abuse. The McLellan Commission, led by the Very Reverend Dr Andrew McLellan, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland, is examining the Catholic Church’s current safety provisions and is expected to report early next year.
A second study of historical cases from 1947 to 2007 is now under way with each diocese expected to provide detailed information on: complaints of sexual abuse reported to the police and their outcome; complaints not reported, the reason why and proof that they have now been reported; and, finally, updates on “problem priests” who are not accused of criminal behaviour but have formed inappropriate relationships etc and details of their treatment and support.
The historical review is also being carried out by all religious organisations, including orders of nuns and monks such as at Fort Augustus, now the subject of a police investigation over allegations of rape and sexual abuse of boys.
A source close to the Church said: “There could well be further police investigations as a result of the historical review.”
Once collated by the national safeguarding co-ordinator, the statistics will be analysed by Professor Eddie McKenzie at Strathclyde University before publication. However, the information will be anonymised and the names of abuser priests withheld.
Asked if the Catholic Church was funding professional counselling for the victims of abuser priests, Campbell said she did not know.
She said: “I would say they probably are but I wouldn’t necessarily know. It would be very much dependent on each diocese and what is happening. I wouldn’t be able to say with great certainty of this case or that case.”
Last week, Father Thomas Mullen, a priest in the archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, was dismissed by the Vatican over child abuse allegations, despite the Crown deciding not to prosecute due to the time that had elapsed since the alleged offences.
However Alan Draper, a former deputy director of social work, who has advised the Church on abuse issues, was critical of the delays. He said: “It is an indictment it has taken so long. It is still not sufficiently independent, being left to the very people likely to have been involved in the past cover-ups.
“The greater indictment is the failure to support victims and the fact Tina Campbell has no knowledge of what has been done, if anything.
“The bishops should hang their heads in shame.” Source
Comment
Do you agree that historic cases of possible neglect by bishops to deal with allegations of sexual abuse against priests should be prosecuted, or does this latest move smack of revenge?
And is there any link between the bishops’ neglect to proclaim the Catholic Faith and discipline dissenters, and their (alleged) neglect in sexual abuse cases? I think there is – what do you think?
Pope Francis will be accompanied on his first visit to the Middle East by Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Muslim leader Omar Abboud — two friends from Buenos Aires.
It is the first time a pope has made an official visit accompanied by members of other faiths, and it underscores the interfaith focus of Francis’ trip to the Holy Land, the Vatican said Thursday.
“This dimension of interreligious dialogue has great significance,” the Vatican’s official spokesman, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, told the media.
Skorka, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, and Abboud, president of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue in Buenos Aires, are part of the official delegation for the May 24-26 trip, which will include Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. Both men are longtime friends and collaborators from Francis’ days as archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Lombardi outlined details of the pontiff’s trip, which will include celebrating Mass with 1,400 children at a stadium in Amman and meeting the children of Iraqi, Syrian and Palestinian refugees.
Pope Francis will follow in the footsteps of his immediate two predecessors, Pope John Paul II, who made the pilgrimage in 2000, and Pope Benedict XVI, who went in 2009.
During this visit the pope will meet the king and queen of Jordan, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Francis planned this visit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of the Orthodox church in 1964.
He will meet the current patriarch, Bartholomew I of Constantinople, spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians, on four different occasions during his stay.
Lombardi strongly condemned recent attacks by Jewish extremists on a church and the Notre Dame Center, a Vatican complex, in Jerusalem ahead of the pope’s visit. Source
Comment
It strikes me as very sad that the Pope would visit the Holy Land accompanied by two non-Christian leaders, when he knows full well that Christ’s final words on this earth to his infant Church were an instruction to go out into the whole world and spread the Faith, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It seems to me, therefore, that for a pontiff to visit the Holy Land in the company of two non-Christian religious leaders is to give the impression that all religions are equal. It is a further step along the road of religious indifferentism. And that, it seems to me, is a calculated slap in the face to Our Lord. Am I wrong?
“By celebrating the old Mass, I discovered what the priest is.”
Several times lately we have received this moving testimony from priests who are getting to know us. This short sentence sums up the essence of the profound mystery that has struck the Church:
The Church has been in a crisis since Vatican II because the priesthood has been slighted. This is one of the fundamental elements of this crisis.
One of the most decisive points for the Church’s restoration is and will be the priesthood. Of all the churchmen of the 20th century, Archbishop Lefebvre was probably the one who understood this most clearly.
In founding the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, he sought nothing but the restoration of the priesthood for the sake of restoring the entire Church, and
to do this by re-establishing the intimate, unsuspectedly profound link that exists between the priest and the Mass.
The priest was the forgotten man of Vatican II, as Fathers of the Council have frankly admitted. In the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, while entire chapters were dedicated to the bishops and especially to the laity, one of the great “discoveries” of Vatican II, only a few paragraphs refer to the priest, and when they do it is to subordinate him to the bishops or to the universal priesthood of the baptized.
As early as 1971, the International Theological Commission would say: “Vatican II modified the image of the priest in two regards. The Council treated of the common priesthood of all the faithful before treating of the ministerial priesthood…. Moreover, it highlighted the place of the bishop, the center of each particular Church and member of the universal college of bishops. The place of the priest in the Church became blurred.”1
Loss of identity, an uncertain place in the Church…and yet the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis gives the same definition of the priesthood as the Council of Trent! But the context is such that another idea is put forward, that of the priest as preacher, as Martin Luther would have it, and not the priest as the one who offers the Sacrifice. This would lead Fr. Olivier, a recognized expert on the subject, to say about the crisis that befell the priesthood after the Council: “The real problem is so unusual in Catholicism that one can easily understand the instinctive blindness that has allowed a perception of the cause to be avoided: the will to be faithful to two Councils that completely diverge from each other is simply impossible.”2
To this new presentation of the priesthood, a new Mass with an intentionally Protestant savor corresponds perfectly… The conjunction of these two elements, the definition of the priesthood and the new Mass, have sufficed to provoke the most severe crisis touching the priesthood in the Church’s entire history.
Let us say it quite simply: the priesthood has been cleverly denatured. The “president” (præesse), the “preacher” (prædicare) are indeed sacerdotal roles, but they are not the essential: this belongs to the “sacrificare” (the “sacrificer”).
Insofar as the priest has not understood that his reason for being is sacrifice, that his ordination ordains him for the offering of sacrifice, the sacrifice of Our Lord on the cross, the priest will not truly know what he is or who he is. The priest without the Mass, without sacrifice, is an eye that sees not, an ear that hears not, feet that do not walk.
The Church’s enemy will never better succeed in striking her heart, for the heart of the Church, that which communicates supernatural life to the entire Mystical Body, that which diffuses life throughout the whole organism, is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. For a Mass protestantized in the name of ecumenism, according to Bugnini’s very words, a corresponding priesthood was required…
The priests we quoted at the beginning of this letter have understood this in a lightening flash when they came in contact with the traditional Mass. And then, they tell me, they are both frustrated and happy. Frustrated, because “they” hid from them this treasure, they deprived them of it. Happy, inundated with happiness at understanding the extraordinary grandeur of their vocation, the thrilling reality of their participation in the priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ “in persona Christi.” The priest is associated, immersed even, in the sacrificial act of Our Lord, Sovereign Priest, and he thus participates with his whole being, which he surrenders to Jesus, priest and victim, for the salvation of souls, for the redemptive act. All of this was made away with in the New Mass.
Poor priests who know not what they are!
Very dear faithful, we do not doubt that you rejoice with us when priests discover what they are. These are beautiful victories over the crisis in the Church, strongholds and citadels reconquered for Church Militant, joining ranks with the new priests Divine Providence gives us every year. This year there will be seventeen, ten in this month of June, and seven in December. In such occurrences, we see accomplished in a tangible way one of the goals of our Society, whose end is the priesthood and everything related to it.
It should be the constant concern of the superiors to maintain among the members a lively will to accomplish and to reach this end. As in every society, from time to time it is necessary to stop and examine the road traveled, to verify if and how the end of the society is being pursued, and to consider the state of its members. This work is done particularly during the course of the “Chapter,” an assembly which for us, the SSPX, meets every twelve years. It is also on this occasion that the capitulants, numbering forty, elect the Superior General, who will lead the Society, assisted by his council, for the next twelve years.
We have no need to insist upon the importance of such an event for our Society. During the six months preceding the Chapter, our Statutes command us to offer prayers to obtain from Divine Mercy His grace, His light, and the help of the Holy Ghost.
We invite you to join our prayers and sacrifices by a novena, and if you can, by a day of fasting. The novena will commence on July 2. It consists of the prayer of the Veni Creator, three invocations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and one to St. Pius X. The day of fasting has been set for Friday, July 7.
Please receive our warmest thanks for your most touching and faithful generosity, without which the Society would not have the means to develop and to grow, a growth that is somewhat miraculous… We count on your prayers, and ask Our Lady to obtain for you by her intercession all the graces and spiritual support you need.
May God bless you abundantly.
The Feast of Pentecost 4 June 2006 + Bernard Fellay – Source
Footnotes
1. The Priestly Ministry [French] (Paris: Cerf, 1971). 2. Daniel Olivier, The Two Faces of the Priest [French] (Paris: Fayard, 1971), p. 106.
Comment
I came across the above letter a few days ago, and decided to publish it for blog discussion,because I can’t help wondering how many priests would actually disagree with Bishop Fellay, having bought into the “active laity” propaganda, hook, line and extraordinary minister. What do you think? ARE priests “the forgotten men of Vatican II” or have most of them forgotten (or never really understood) the true nature and purpose of the glorious Catholic priesthood?
Comment
