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
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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…
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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
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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.
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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?
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