The priorities of a nation

Here's a difficult question: Which of these two groups is celebrated for the entire month of June and which is largely forgotten except for about 30 seconds while people grill a hamburger or a hot dog?

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten." - Calvin Coolidge 

"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." —Franklin D. Roosevelt

Duty, Honor, Country. The first as his guide,  the second he applied, for the third he died.

Related reading here

Pope Benedict XVI has gone to be with the Lord

 Pope Benedict XVI has passed.

I saw also the relationship between the two popes - here.

Cardinal Müller to Francis: You have no authority to change the Church's teaching

 

Once again, Cardinal Miller has reminded Francis that he has no authority to change the teaching of the Lord Jesus through His Church. See here.

Francis the false shepherd wants change.  And he has castigated faithful Catholics who refuse to go along with his perverse agenda as "lazy" Catholics who are "parked" [read faithful to Christ's immutable teaching]. See here.

Francis endorses homosexual civil unions and rejects traditional Catholic teaching

 

As noted here, Bishop Tobin issued a statement which reads:

"The Holy Father’s apparent support for the recognition of civil unions for same-sex couples needs to be clarified. The Pope’s statement clearly contradicts what has been the long-standing teaching of the Church about same-sex unions. The Church cannot support the acceptance of objectively immoral relationships. Individuals with same-sex attraction are beloved children of God and must have their personal human rights and civil rights recognized and protected by law. However, the legalization of their civil unions, which seek to simulate holy matrimony, is not admissible.

It is the traditional teaching of the Church founded by Christ the Lord that "only in legitimate marriage does the use of the sexual faculty find its true meaning and its probity." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Persona Humana, 5, AAS 68 (1976) 82, Cannery, 2:489).

This teaching is based on the fact that all human acts must be evaluated by objective criteria, based on the nature of human persons and human action, and all sexual acts must respect the full meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love. See Gaudium et Spes, No. 51.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that: "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.'" (2357). 

Which is why, in his 1994 Angelus Address, protesting against a special resolution crafted by the European Parliament encouraging the nations of Europe to approve homosexual "marriage," Pope John Paul II said that, "What is not morally acceptable, however, is the legalization of homosexual acts.  To show understanding towards the person who sins, towards the person who is not in the process of freeing himself from this tendency, does not at all mean to diminish the demands of the moral norm (cf. Veritatis Splendor, No. 95)...

But we must say that what was intended with the European Parliament's resolution was the legitimization of a moral disorder.  Parliament improperly conferred an institutional value to a conduct that is deviant and not in accordance with God's plan...Forgetting the words of Christ 'The truth shall set you free' (John 8:32), an attempt was made to show the people of our continent a moral evil, a deviance, a certain slavery, as a form of liberation, falsifying the very essence of the family."

Now it's Francis, infested with devils, who wants to falsify the very essence of the family.

Rome, as prophesied, is losing the faith.

Catholic teaching: Catholics may never vote for Pro-Abortion candidates for any reason

Father Stephen Torraco explains:


"If a political candidate supported abortion, or any other moral evil, such as assisted suicide and euthanasia, for that matter, it would not be morally permissible for you to vote for that person. This is because, in voting for such a person, you would become an accomplice in the moral evil at issue.

For this reason, moral evils such as abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are examples of a 'disqualifying issue.' A disqualifying issue is one which is of such gravity and importance that it allows for no political maneuvering. It is an issue that strikes at the heart of the human person and is non-negotiable. A disqualifying issue is one of such enormity that by itself renders a candidate for office unacceptable regardless of his position on other matters. You must sacrifice your feelings on other issues because you know that you cannot participate in any way in an approval of a violent and evil violation of basic human rights.

A candidate for office who supports abortion rights or any other moral evil has disqualified himself as a person that you can vote for. You do not have to vote for a person because he is pro-life. But you may not vote for any candidate who supports abortion rights. Key to understanding the point above about "disqualifying issues" is the distinction between policy and moral principle. On the one hand, there can be a legitimate variety of approaches to accomplishing a morally acceptable goal. For example, in a society’s effort to distribute the goods of health care to its citizens, there can be legitimate disagreement among citizens and political candidates alike as to whether this or that health care plan would most effectively accomplish society’s goal. In the pursuit of the best possible policy or strategy, technical as distinct (although not separate) from moral reason is operative. Technical reason is the kind of reasoning involved in arriving at the most efficient or effective result. On the other hand, no policy or strategy that is opposed to the moral principles of the natural law is morally acceptable. Thus, technical reason should always be subordinate to and normed by moral reason, the kind of reasoning that is the activity of conscience and that is based on the natural moral law."


This point is understood by authentic Catholics.  Unfortunately, thanks to priest-idiots such as the clown cited here, some who pretend to be Catholic continue to justify their vote for pro-abortion candidates such as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The teaching of Christ's Church has always been crystal clear to practicing Catholics with a modicum of intelligence:

"It is true that it is not the task of the law to choose between points of view or to impose one rather than another. But the life of the child takes precedence over all opinions. One cannot invoke freedom of thought to destroy this life...

The role of law is not to record what is done, but to help in promoting improvement. It is at all times the task of the State to preserve each person's rights and to protect the weakest. In order to do so the State will have to right many wrongs. The law is not obliged to sanction everything, but it cannot act contrary to a law which is deeper and more majestic than any human law: the natural law engraved in men's hearts by the Creator as a norm which reason clarifies and strives to formulate properly, and which one must always struggle to understand better, but which it is always wrong to contradict. Human law can abstain from punishment, but it cannot declare to be right what would be opposed to the natural law, for this opposition suffices to give the assurance that a law is not a law at all...

It must in any case be clearly understood that whatever may be laid down by civil law in this matter, man can never obey a law which is in itself immoral, and such is the case of a law which would admit in principle the liceity of abortion. Nor can he take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or vote for it. Moreover, he may not collaborate in its application.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion, November 18, 1974, nos. 19-22

The Combat Rosary: A call to arms for Catholic men who haven't succumbed to effeminacy

Now, more than ever, men need to pray the Combat Rosary.  See here for the significance and efficacy of this powerful sacramental.



Father Gabriel Amorth, who has served as chief exorcist of the Vatican,  has emphasized the importance of prayer and meditation (and especially the Holy Rosary) in the spiritual combat.  The following is taken from the March-April, 2003 issue of “Echo of Mary, Queen of Peace”: The recent Apostolic Letter of John Paul II, "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" (released last October 16) encourages all Christians to turn back to the prayer strongly recommended both by the latest Pontiffs and recent Marian apparitions. Paul VI called the Rosary a compendium of the Gospel. To make it more complete, John Paul II added the 'mysteries of light' to cover Jesus' public life. Padre Pio called the Rosary beads a weapon of extraordinary power against Satan.
               
One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism: "Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." The secret that makes this prayer so effective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centred on Christ.   
   
Today more than ever, the world is in need of prayer and meditation. It is in need of prayer because people have forgotten God, and without God the world has put itself on the edge of a precipice. This is why in Her messages, Our Lady insists so much on prayer. Without God's help, Satan wins. The world is also in need of meditation because if the great Christian truths are forgotten, souls become void. This void is grabbed up by the enemy, and he fills it with his lies. And today we see the results with widespread belief in superstition and occultism.
The most obvious danger for our society today is the downfall of the family. The rhythm of today's world has broken the family unity. Little time is spent together, and even when the family is together, its members don't speak because the television speaks. Where are the families which recite the Rosary together in the evenings? Pope Pius XII insisted in his own time: “If you pray the Rosary together, you will experience peace in your families; you will get on together.” “The family that prays together, stays together,” would say Father Peyton, the untiring apostle of the family Rosary. “Satan wants war,” Mary said one day in Medjugorje. Well, the Rosary is the weapon which is able to guarantee peace for the world, because it is a prayer and a form of meditation able to transform hearts and defeat the enemy.

The Devil frequently uses people (and this includes misguided Catholics) to frustrate or hinder the Confraternity of the Rosary. Why is this? Because, as St. Louis De Montfort explains: "Blessed Alan de la Roche, Fr. Jean Dumont, Fr. Thomas, the chronicles of St. Dominic and other writers who have seen these things with their own eyes [miracles of the Rosary] speak of the marvelous conversions that are brought about by this wonderful devotion. Great sinners, both men and women, have been converted after twenty, thirty or forty years of sin and unspeakable vice...I shall content myself with saying, in company with Blessed Alan de la Roche, that the Rosary is a source and a storehouse of countless blessings. 1. Sinners obtain pardon; 2. Those who thirst are refreshed; 3. Those who are fettered are set free; 4. Those who weep find joy; 5. Those who are tempted find peace; 6. Those in need find help; 7. Religious are reformed; 8. The ignorant are instructed; 9. The living learn to resist spiritual decline; 10. The dead have their pains eased by suffrages." (Secret of the Rosary, Fortieth Rose).


We are engaged in a spiritual war.  Even some of our clergy attempt to hinder the Rosary Confraternity or frustrate those Catholics who have a devotion to Mary.  Why?  Because such souls are in league with the Evil One.  St. Louis de Montfort explains that these children of Belial oppose the Virgin Mary because they know that she is, "the most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil."  And that, "From the time of the earthly paradise, although she existed then only in his mind, he gave her such a hatred for his accursed enemy, such ingenuity in exposing the wickedness of the ancient serpent and such power to defeat, overthrow and crush this proud rebel, that Satan fears her not only more than angels and men but in a certain sense more than God himself. This does not mean that the anger, hatred and power of God are not infinitely greater than the Blessed Virgin's, since her attributes are limited. It simply means that Satan, being so proud, suffers infinitely more in being vanquished and punished by a lowly and humble servant of God, for her humility humiliates him more than the power of God. Moreover, God has given Mary such great power over the evil spirits that, as they have often been forced unwillingly to admit through the lips of possessed persons, they fear one of her pleadings for a soul more than the prayers of all the saints, and one of her threats more than all their other torments." (True Devotion to Mary).

I've been praying the Rosary everyday for 30 years.  I have personally witnessed its power.  I have seen devils cast out through the Rosary.

I'm calling on all Catholic men who haven't succumbed to effeminacy or its demonic Cult of Softness to join me in praying the Combat Rosary to defeat the Devil, his legions and the filth who follow them.

Francis and his Pachamama idols fulfill a prophecy

Lifesite News reports:

"Three cardinals and three bishops have separately voiced opposition to paganism in Church ceremonies in the Vatican surrounding the Amazon Synod, including the Oct. 4 pagan ceremony in the Vatican Gardens where people bowed down and worshiped the Pachamama idol as Pope Francis and other top-ranking prelates looked on.

Catholics around the world were indignant to not only see the pagan statues present in various ceremonies, but to see Pope Francis actually bless one of them during the Vatican Gardens ceremony. He was also present when the Pachamama statue was carried into the synod hall, at the beginning of the Amazon Synod, accompanied again with pagan rituals. Paulo Suess, one of the key authors of the Amazon Synod's working document, commented on this ceremony, saying 'so what. Even if it would have been a pagan rite, then it is nevertheless a pagan worship of God.'

__________________________________________

Rome shall drive away the Vicar of Christ and return to its ancient paganism

In 1862, Cardinal Manning explained why the spiritual revolt [The Great Apostasy] prophesied by Saint Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-11 will originate from within the Catholic Church:

"...The authority, then, from which the revolt* is to take place is that of the kingdom of God on earth, prophesied by Daniel [cf. Daniel 2] as the kingdom which the God of heaven should set up … in other words, the one and universal Church, founded by our Divine Lord, and spread by His Apostles throughout the world. In this one only kingdom was deposited the true and supernatural pure theism, or knowledge of God, and the true and only faith of God incarnate, with the doctrines and laws of grace. This, then, is the authority from which the revolt is to be made, be that revolt what it may.

*"St. Jerome, with some others, interprets this revolt to be the rebellion of the nations or provinces against the Roman Empire. … They have revolted, and no manifestation has appeared." Thus, the revolt is spiritual, not temporal.

"The apostasy of the city of Rome from the vicar of Christ and its destruction by Antichrist may be thoughts very new to many Catholics, that I think it well to recite the text of theologians of greatest repute. First Malvenda, who writes expressly on the subject, states as the opinion of Ribera, Gaspar Melus, Biegas, Suarrez, Bellarmine and Bosius that Rome shall apostatize from the Faith, drive away the Vicar of Christ and return to its ancient paganism. ...Then the Church shall be scattered, driven into the wilderness, and shall be for a time, as it was in the beginning, invisible; hidden in catacombs, in dens, in mountains, in lurking places; for a time it shall be swept, as it were from the face of the earth. Such is the universal testimony of the Fathers of the early Church.”- Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, The Present Crisis of the Holy See, 1861, London: Burns and Lambert, pp. 88-90)

Cardinal Manning delivered a series of lectures in 1861 under the title “The Present Crises of the Holy See Tested by Prophecy” in which Manning he foresaw a future crises in the Roman Catholic Church initiated by a false ecumenism and progressivist theology that many orthodox Catholics have loathed following the Second Vatican Council. Manning believed that this progressivist current would undermine the authority of the Church and ultimately result in a departure from the true faith by the nations together with the displacement of the true pope by a false prophet, thus ushering in the Antichrist and global apostasy. Manning also believed secret societies like the Freemasons were part of this conspiracy. “The secret societies have long ago undermined and honeycombed the Christian society of Europe, and are at this moment struggling onward towards Rome, the center of all Christian order in the world,”he wrote. But when he looked at the prophecy in Revelation 18 concerning the end-time destruction of Mystery Babylon, Manning saw it was the hand of God in judgment of worldwide apostasy emanating from Rome:
"We read in the Book Apocalypse, of the city of Rome, that she said in the pride of her heart, “I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and sorrow I shall not see. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day: death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be burned with fire, because God is strong who shall judge her.” Some of the greatest writers of the Church tell us that…the great City of Seven Hills…the city of Rome will probably become apostate…and that Rome will again be punished, for he will depart from it; and the judgment of God will fall…"

Viegas, on the eighteenth chapter of the Apocalypse says: 'Rome, in the last age of the world, after it has apostatized from the faith, will attain great power and splendor of wealth, and its sway will be widely spread throughout the world, and flourish greatly. Living in luxury and the abundance of all things, it will worship idols, and be steeped in all kinds of superstition, and will pay honor to false gods. And because of the vast effusion of the blood of martyrs which was shed under the emperors, God will most severely and justly avenge them, and it shall be utterly destroyed, and burned by a most terrible and afflicting conflagration.'"


 It was Saint John Bosco who prophesied, "And to you, Rome, what will happen! Ungrateful Rome, effeminate Rome, proud Rome! You have reached such a height that you search no further. You admire nothing else in your Sovereign except luxury, forgetting that you and your glory stands upon Golgotha. Now he is old, defenseless, and despoiled; and yet at his word, the word of one who was in bondage, the whole world trembles.

Rome! To you I will come four times.

The first time, I shall strike your lands and the inhabitants thereof.

The second time, I shall bring the massacre and the slaughter even to your very walls. And will you not yet open your eyes?

I shall come a third time and I shall beat down to the ground your defenses and the defenders, and at the command of the Father, the reign of terror, of dreadful fear, and of desolation shall enter into your city.

But My wise men have now fled and My law is even now trampled underfoot. Therefore I will make a fourth visit. Woe to you if My law shall still be considered as empty words. There will be deceit and falsehood among both the learned and the ignorant. Your blood and that of your children will wash away your stains upon God's law. War, pestilence and famine are the rods to scourge men's pride and wickedness. O wealthy men, where is your glory now, your estates, your palaces? They are the rubble on the highways and byways.

And your priests, why have you not run to 'cry between the vestibule and the Altar,' begging God to end these scourges? Why have you not, with the shield of faith, gone upon the housetops, into the homes, along the highways and byways, into every accessible corner to carry the seed of My word? Know you that this is the terrible two-edged sword that cuts down My enemies and breaks the Anger of God and of men?"
In our own time, the germ ideas of a one-world religion are already being sowed. And this false humanitarian religion will burst into poisonous flower when enough hearts have grown cold and have abandoned the true religion. As Jane Le Royer explained in prophecy: "When the time of the Antichrist is near, a false religion will appear which will be opposed to the unity of God and His Church. This will cause the greatest schism the world has ever known."

Can you not see the emerging signs? How do we find the Church today? The Mystical Body of the Crucified One - the Holy Catholic Church - is climbing Calvary, carrying a heavy cross. She is experiencing the hour of abandonment and betrayal. Her body is being tormented by the scourges of sin which strike at it and by numerous sacrileges which open up deep wounds in it. A Catholic priest in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts openly calls her "evil" just as the Pharisees suggested Our Lord was evil and demon possessed (Matthew 11:18; 12: 24). And his parishioners applaud.

Indeed, Our Lady told Father Gobbi,"The hour of Calvary has arrived for the Church, called to offer herself in holocaust and to be immolated on the cross of her bloody martyrdom. The hour of Calvary has arrived for this poor humanity, which is already beginning to live the painful hours of its chastisement..' (Rome, May 1, 1994).

But too many are proud. Their eyes blinded by sin and egoism. Like the Pharisees before them, they are incapable of reading the signs of the times because their spiritual eyes are closed. They cannot hear the Spirit because their ears are closed. They cannot feel the promptings of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus because their hearts are closed. Such people cannot endure sound teaching but have itching ears and will continue to accumulate teachers who suit their own likings, teachers who will cater to their lusts by providing them with myths (2 Timothy 4: 3, 4).

And still so many of our shepherds remain silent like mute dogs. They have not begged God to end these scourges. They have not wept between the vestibule and the altar. They have not taken up the shield of faith to protect their flocks. Their judgment will be all the more severe, for God expects more from His ministers (Luke 12: 48).


Some Catholics decided to take action against the public display of pagan idols in the Catholic Church."

Related reading here.

Pachamama and child sacrifice here

The New Humanism: Antichrist Rising

A sober warning from Mother Miriam here.

Father Livio Fanzaga reminds us that, "Prayer is another fundamental weapon for the great battle of the end times.  When man will glorify himself and proclaim the Antichrist as God made man, the supernatural principle will be preserved only by those who cling to the divine presence in prayer.  These will 'experience' God, His existence, lordship, power and glory.  In the time of Antichrist, the power of suggestion will cloud reason.  Only those who intimately experience the supernatural in prayer will have the strength to acknowledge God's existence, despite the apparent evidence to the contrary...in an era marked by the seduction of the heart, of a general obscuring of the mind, and of the folly of reason, only those who have had a strong experience of God in prayer will preserve the faith.  In that supernatural experience the faith will be conserved and you will conform to it.  If you look to the sun and see the light, even if man denies the existence of the sun, what can you say?  Having seen the sun you will not vacillate in the faith.  You will be a rock in the waves of the sea." (Wrath of God: The Days of the Antichrist, pp. 149, 150).

Romano Guardini, in his classic work entitled The Lord, warns us that the Antichrist's arguments, "will be so impressive, supported by means of such tremendous power - violent and diplomatic, material and intellectual - that to reject them will result in almost insurmountable scandal, and everyone whose eyes are not opened by grace will be lost." (p. 513).

We pray because we love the Lord Jesus and desire to have an intimate relationship with Him.  Our prayer is rooted in love.  And this love will preserve us from the Man of Sin (even if we lose our bodies to martyrdom).  This is the love that has made the martyrs, virgins, apostles and all the saints.  St. Paul assures us that because of this love, "Neither death, nor life, nor angels...nor things present, nor things to come, nor might...nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord." (Romans 8: 35).

Anti-Christian attacks in France have quadrupled; but don't call Neil Cavuto with the news, he'll hang up on you

Remember when Neil Cavuto hung up on Catholic League President Bill Donohue?  See here.

Cavuto was angry at Donohue because he speculated that the catastrophic Notre Dame fire could be related to other recent attacks on Catholic churches in Paris.

Why would this upset Mr. Cavuto?  I'll leave that for readers to discern. Although I believe I know why.

If the Notre Dame fire is not related to other recent attacks on Catholic Churches (if not by an orchestrated campaign, at least by a rising anti-Catholicism), how do we explain this?

The homosexual root of the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church: Let us pray this prayer of exorcism

Michael Brown on the root of the sexual abuse crisis in the Church (homosexuality) here.

It's nice that so many are beginning to wake up to this problem.  Since 1990, I have been warning of the homosexual crisis within the Church and have been dismissed by those who prefer blinders to truth.

See here for example.

And so, as Bishops meet in Rome, let us pray this exorcism prayer:

A simple exorcism for priests or laity
A Simple Exorcism for Priests or Laity Prayer Against Satan and the Rebellious Angels

Published by Order of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII.

The following is a simple exorcism prayer that can be said by priests or laity. The term "exorcism" does NOT always denote a solemn exorcism involving a person possessed by the devil. In general, the term denotes prayers to "curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing harm." As St. Peter had written in Holy Scripture, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." (1 St.Peter 5,8)

The Holy Father exhorts priests to say this prayer as often as possible, as a simple exorcism to curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing harm. The faithful also may say it in their own name, for the same purpose, as any approved prayer. Its use is recommended whenever action of the devil is suspected, causing malice in men, violent temptations and even storms and various calamities. It could be used as a solemn exorcism (an official and public ceremony, in Latin), to expel the devil. It would then be said by a priest, in the name of the Church and only with a Bishop's permission.

Say Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in "our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places" (Eph., 6,12). Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of "the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan," bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit ... "that he may no longer seduce the nations" (Apoc. 20, 2-3).

Exorcism

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints. (and powerful in the holy authority of our ministry)*, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil. * Lay people omit the parenthesis above. Psalm 67 God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God. V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies. R. The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David, hath conquered. V. May Thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us. R. As great as our hope in Thee. (The crosses (+) below indicate a blessing to be given if a priest recites the Exorcism; if a lay person recites it, they indicate the Sign of the Cross to be made silently by that person.) We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects. In the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, + may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb. (+ = Make the sign of the cross each time) Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God's elect and sift them as wheat. + The Most High God commands you, + He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal. "God who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2,4). God the Father commands you. + God the Son commands you. + God the Holy Ghost commands you. + Christ, God's Word made flesh, commands you; + He who to save our race outdone through your envy, "humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death" (Phil.2,8); He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her "all days even to the end of the world" (Matt. 28,20). The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you, + as does also the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith. + The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you; + she who by her humility and from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception crushed your proud head. The faith of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the other Apostles commands you. + The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you. + Thus, cursed dragon, and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God, + by the true God, + by the holy God, + by the God "who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but have life everlasting" (St.John 3, 16); stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the Church and hindering her liberty. Be gone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man's salvation. Give place to Christ in Whom you have found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke the Holy and terrible Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the God of Hosts. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto Thee. V. May the Lord be with thee. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. God of heaven, God of earth, God of Angels, God of Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give life after death and rest after work: because there is no other God than Thee and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, of Whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares, their lies and their furious wickedness. Deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord. That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty: We beseech Thee to hear us. That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church: We beseech Thee to hear us. (Holy water is sprinkled in the place where we may be.)

On silencing Catholic speech and Saint Mary's Church in Orange, Massachusetts

David Carlin on silencing Catholic speech here.

For far too long, many priests have been offering not the fine wheat of sound doctrine but the chaff of theological dissent from the teaching of the Church's Magisterium. As a result, we have experienced not renewal but a spiritual dry rot.

Vatican II, in its' Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis) No. 4, had this to say: "The People of God are joined together primarily by the word of the living God. And rightfully they expect this from their priests. Since no one can be saved who does not first believe, priests, as co-workers with their bishops, have the primary duty of proclaiming the Gospel of God to all. In this way they fulfill the command of the Lord: 'Going therefore into the whole world preach the Gospel to every creature' (Mk 16:15), and they establish and build up the People of God. Through the saving word the spark of faith is lit in the hearts of unbelievers, and fed in the hearts of the faithful. This is the way that the congregation of faithful is started and grows, just as the Apostle describes: 'Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ' (Rom 10:17).

To all men, therefore, priests are debtors that the truth of the Gospel which they have may be given to others. And so, whether by entering into profitable dialogue they bring people to the worship of God, whether by openly preaching they proclaim the mystery of Christ, or whether in the light of Christ they treat contemporary problems, they are relying not on their own wisdom for it is the word of Christ they teach, and it is to conversion and holiness that they exhort all men."

According to the Council, the task of priests is "not to teach their own wisdom but God's Word." And this task is of no less importance for the priest than his offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Both of these are inseperably linked to each other: "The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1552).

For this reason, priests have the very serious obligation to teach the faithful under their care that it is never licit to have sexual relations outside of marriage; that a Catholic cannot (having been validly married in the Church) after divorce, marry another or otherwise pretend that sexual relations with another individual are somehow "marital"; that "formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense" and that '"the Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life" (CCC, 2272); and that "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible, is intrinsically evil.." (CCC, No. 2370, citing Humanae Vitae, No. 14).

The Church proposes these (and other teachings) as true and it does so in the name of Christ. The priest is not to question them. He is not to ignore them or neglect them out of a false sense of "compassion" or "charity." It was Pope Paul VI who said that, "To diminish in no way the saving teaching of Christ constitutes an eminent form of charity for souls." (Humanae Vitae, No. 29). Pope John Paul II reiterated these words in Familiaris Consortio, No. 33.

We are reminded in Lumen Gentium 14 of the Second Vatican Council that: "He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a "bodily" manner and not "in his heart." All the Church's children should remember that their exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged."

When a priest ignores or neglects his duty, his task, of serving the Word of God with fidelity, he fails to persevere in that charity described by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II as a charity which diminishes in no way the saving teaching of Christ. And he will be the more severely judged (see Luke 12:48).

Pope Benedict XVI understood this. In fact, the Visitation Report into the Church in Ireland, which he ordered, stated clearly that, "It must be stressed that dissent from the fundamental teachings of the Church is not the authentic path towards renewal."

Pope Benedict XVI was, of course, absolutely correct in saying that such evil is still a mystery, what St. Paul referred to as the "mystery of iniquity." But at the same time it may be said with absolute certainty that falsity is the heart of immorality; that a culture of dissent - betrayal in man's heart - finds its culmination in criminal violence. See here for example.

Because of my efforts to oppose this silencing of Catholic speech, I was blocked from being able to participate at the Facebook page for Saint Mary's Church in Orange, Massachusetts.  I was also blocked from participating in any Church ministry.  And I'm not surprised.  "Catholics" who don't want to upset anyone, who desire a watered- down sacharrin"gospel" which is really inspired by Hell (see here), cannot, indeed will not, tolerate those "pesky" Catholics who desire the real meat of truth as opposed to the spiritual pablum of a Cotton Candy "Catholicism."

The Church needs real shepherds to lead the way.  Chicken clerics do not inspire the People of God to live the Gospel message.  Through their cowardice, they have betrayed the Christ and His Mystical Body.

The Saint Benedict Center cult sanctioned by the Catholic Church

From The Union Leader:

RICHMOND — The radical-traditionalist Catholic group the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is now under sanction from the Roman Catholic Church for failing to follow Catholic teaching, according to documents released Monday.

The sanctions — which range from a ban on routine Catholic sacraments at their Richmond compound to a revision of IRS documents that describe them as Catholic — could be ratcheted up if the group does not comply with orders by church leaders, especially orders to stop preaching the doctrine that only Catholics go to heaven.

They must also stop describing themselves or presenting their teachings as Catholic, something the Vatican ordered them to do two years ago.

“They regularly use semantics to mislead people,” said Rev. Georges de Laire, the vicar for canonical affairs for the Diocese of Manchester.

The sanctions follow a report that an adult woman is being held against her will at the compound in Richmond, a town on the Massachusetts border south of Keene.

De Laire said the woman, who is in her early 20s, has taken supposed vows to eventually become a nun. Her out-of-state family, who are devout Catholics, contacted the diocese to report their daughter had joined the Slaves.

When the FBI interviewed the woman in August, she told them she is there of her own accord, and the FBI could do nothing more, de Laire said. The FBI would not comment.

Louis Villarrubia, who presents himself at Brother Andre Marie, the leader of the Richmond group, said his group was cleared by the investigation, which was sparked when someone lied about the Slaves.

“There isn’t anyone here held against their will,” Villarrubia said.

On Monday, Villarrubia said he had not yet seen the document detailing the sanctions and had no comment. Villarrubia hung up during a phone interview.

Richmond Selectman Doug Bersaw, a member of the Slaves who is known as Brother Anthony Mary, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Slaves are being sanctioned by the church for their stance on the Catholic teaching that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church. The Slaves hold to a strict interpretation of that teaching, while the Vatican holds a more nuanced view.

In recent years, Manchester Bishop Peter Libasci has allowed a priest in good standing from another diocese to minister to the Slaves and their congregation, celebrating Mass in the traditional Latin rite, and administering other Catholic sacraments. According to a statement released Monday by the Diocese, the Slaves have used that allowance to imply they were an approved Catholic organization.

“They have never been recognized, and they have never been an official Catholic organization,” de Laire said. The diocese has always considered the Slaves as individual Catholics, and not its own congregation, he said.

The sanctions will remain in place until midnight on June 30. It is hoped the group will come back into compliance with church teaching, de Laire said. If not, he said, there could be more severe consequences for the group.

Such sanctions would be arranged by Libasci and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. De Laire did not want to speculate on whether that would involve excommunication.

“The purpose of the church is to lead people to the means of salvation, not to kick people out,” he said.

The group also operates a number of websites, and publishes magazines and produces radio programs to push their version of Catholicism. All of that needs to stop for the group to come into compliance, the diocese said.

The Slaves have also been pegged as a hate group in recent years by the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center for statements members have made about Jewish people and homosexuals.

“I’m really proud of the Catholic Church’s decision here,” said Heidi Beirch of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “They’ve denounced them for years over their anti-semitism.”

In 2017, Villarrubia “categorically” rejected being labeled as a hate group.

The group, which moved in the 1980s to Richmond, a town of 1,155 according to the 2010 Census. It developed a compound that includes living quarters for monks and sisters, a chapel, and a school. De Laire said about four brothers and eight sisters live there, as well as couples and families. Fewer than 30 children attend an on-site school.

All of the organizations affiliated with this group are now under orders from the Vatican to stop calling themselves Catholic, and no sacraments are permitted on site, except for extreme emergencies.

“Catholics are not permitted, under any circumstances, to receive the sacraments of the church at the Saint Benedict Center, and its associated locations, nor should they participate in any activity provided by this group or school,” a statement released Monday by the diocese says.

Letters are going out to surrounding parishes to inform Catholics about the status change. For Slaves who want to attend a Mass, the diocese is instituting a sanctioned Latin Mass for people to attend at St. Stanislaus Parish in Winchester.

As of Tuesday, however, the Slaves were still posting Mass times on their website.

____________________

Readers of this Blog know that I exposed this anti-Semitic cult for years. See here.

It seems the Church has finally had enough.

See my post on Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus here.

Francis: This atheist was a "good man" who is in Heaven

Just recently, Francis told a young boy whose atheist father passed away, "Maybe we could cry like Emanuele when we have pain in our heart. He cries for his father who died and has had the courage to do it in front of us because there is love in his heart – he underlines – his father was an atheist but he had his four children baptized, he was a good man. It’s nice that a son says his dad was “good.” If that man was able to make children like that he was a good man, God is proud of your father. God has a father’s heart, your dad was a good man, he’s in heaven with him, I’m sure. God has a father’s heart and before an unbelieving father who was able to baptize his children, would God be able to abandon him? God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier to be a believer and to have children baptized than to be a believer and to have their children baptized. Pray for your dad, talk to your dad. This is the answer”.

Francis assured the boy in question that his atheist father was a "good man" and in Heaven.

A good man.  The Lord Jesus teaches us something quite different in the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 18-19:

"An official asked him this question, 'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus answered him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.'"

It is true that Lumen Gentium 16 of the Second Vatican Council teaches that:

"Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience."

Through no fault of their own.  Francis cannot state with certainty that this atheist is in Heaven any more than we can state he is in Hell.  God alone is the Judge in this matter.  He alone can judge this man's soul.  He alone knows whether he was culpable for not being baptized himself or embracing Catholic truth.  Gaudium et Spes, No. 28 of the same Council: "God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts, for that reason He forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of anyone."  But just as we cannot make judgments regarding a person's internal guilt, so too we cannot make judgments regarding a person's innocence or lack of culpability for the truths which they violate.  God alone is the "Judge and searcher of hearts." Does Francis consider himself God?

Athanasian Creed

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;
2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.
12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.
14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;
18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.
19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;
20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.
21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.
22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.
26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.
27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.
35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.
36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;
38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;
40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
42. and shall give account of their own works.
43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

Professor John Rist and a Cupich of nonsense...

LifeSite News reports:

A respected Catholic historian and philosopher challenged Cardinal Blase Cupich during a lecture last week about Pope’ Francis so-called “revolution of mercy” that has caused what many are defending as a “paradigm shift” in Catholic practice.

Professor John Rist, after listening to a February 9 lecture at Cambridge University in which Cardinal Cupich praised Pope Francis’ “paradigm shift” in Catholic practice, asked the Cardinal at the end of the lecture why Pope Francis “mercilessly” insults and eliminates his doctrinal opponents.

Rist asked the Cardinal:

Your Eminence, In view of your account of the sunny, caring and holistic features of Pope Francis’ revolution of mercy – described disturbingly by the leaflet for this meeting and by your Eminence as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the presentation of Catholicism – and of the Pope’s call for free and frank discussion of his challenging proposals and policies, I would like to ask why Pope Francis acts so mercilessly in insulting and eliminating doctrinal opponents:

Cardinal Burke removed from the leadership of the Roman Rota; Three loyal priests from the CDF dismissed without explanation, followed by the abrupt termination of Cardinal Mueller himself; The denial of a Cardinal’s hat to the much loved champion of the unborn, Archbishop Chaput; The removal of most of the original members of the Academy for Life;
The apparent selling-down the river of Cardinal Pell, who may have been framed; And more recently the banishment from Rome of the Professor of Patristics at the Lateran and editor of the challenging book Remaining in the Truth of Christ;

The list goes on and on, but I stop there  to ask again whether harsh actions of this sort — combined with the well-documented rigging of the Synod on the Family — indicate that the Pope’s 'paradigm shift' should be recognized as an attempt — under cover of offering solutions to genuine social problems in Western society — to impose on the Church radical changes of doctrine, developed not by laity but largely in Germany by a group of relativist Hegelian theologians?
Cupich sidestepped away from the question, replying that those who have such concerns should ask themselves: “Do we really believe that the Spirit is no longer guiding the Church?” reported the Catholic Herald.


The professor said after the event that if he had been given the chance to reply, he would have told the Cardinal that “the Church is indeed guided by the Holy Spirit, via good Catholic souls such as Cardinal Burke and many others.”

Rist is a Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Toronto and now holds a Chair in Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A native of the United Kingdom, Rist is a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He is also a convert to Catholicism from agnosticism, thanks to his study of Plato, the Gospels and other ancient texts.

Rist, whose career as a philosopher and a classicist spans fifty years and three continents, has written 16 scholarly books and over a hundred journal articles on ancient and Christian philosophy or the Gospels. He also contributed to Remaining in the Truth of Christ, the defense of Catholic teaching that was “intercepted” at the Synod on the Family.

Rist told LifeSiteNews that he regards the Francis papacy as a “disaster.” 

“I regard this papacy as a disaster and Bergoglio as possibly — because of his tampering with established doctrine — as possibly the worst pope we have ever had,” he said. 

“Cupich's attempt to defend him [at Cambridge] was itself dependent on misrepresentations, the evading of legitimate questions, and in at least one case — that of my charge of the Synod on the Family being rigged — of downright lying. I was teaching in Rome at the time, and contributed to Remaining in the Truth of Christ, so I know about what happened firsthand,” he added.

The professor said that one of the principal difficulties in the Church today is when people confuse the Church with the person of the Pope.

"One of the basic problems we have is that too many Catholics (and others) confuse the pope with the Church,” he said. “Cupich tried to play that card by suggesting that Amoris Laetitia — even in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis — is de fide [i.e. doctrine that must be believed], which it manifestly is not.”

Rist suggested that Pope Francis is not doing his job well.

“It is the function of the Pope to provide unity in the Church by scrutinizing new ideas to see if they are compatible with the inherited regula fidei [rule of faith],” the professor continued. “Instead of unity Pope Francis has caused massive confusion and division – and many sad clergy are afraid of being sanctioned if they speak out.”

Father Linus Clovis makes the point that,“Obedience is owed to the pope, but the pope owes obedience to the word and the apostolic tradition. We have to obey the pope, but the pope himself must obey the written word. He must obey the tradition. He must respond to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Obedience is owed to the pope, but it is the duty of the pope to give the character of possibility to this obedience. The pope has to facilitate our obeying him, by himself being obedient to the Word of God. Pope Felix III told us, ‘an error that is not resisted is approved. A truth that is not defended is suppressed.’ So we have an obligation to resist error, and we must do everything that we can to promote the truth.”  Father Clovis made this remark in response to the crisis in the Church and the role of Pope Francis in this crisis.  See here.

The Pope has no authority to change the Deposit of Faith.  See here.

Jeffrey Bond on Lenten ashes...

Tammy Ziegler makes the point that:

"You never know who might be touched by your quiet witness of ashes on Ash Wednesday. Last year, I really wasn’t that busy but I convinced myself I didn’t have time to go to Church in the morning. At work, I passed a surgeon in the hall who had ashes. Knowing his schedule was more hectic than mine, I reluctantly admitted to myself my problem wasn’t my schedule, my problem was laziness. He will never know he inspired my eagerness to be at morning Mass on Ash Wednesday.

The Eucharistic Minister who gave me ashes got me good; my forehead had a big cross and loose flakes of ash landed on my cheeks and nose. Before I cleaned the lower part of my face, I snapped a selfie for social media. The photo sparked conversations about the experiences we have in our secular world and sparked my own memories of past experiences on Ash Wednesday."

Imagine my surprise and disappointment when a Facebook friend, who is supposed to be Catholic, posted this:

Supercilious?  Really?

"su·per·cil·i·ous
ˌso͞opərˈsilēəs/
adjective
Behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others."

A witness to faith is viewed by this sad individual as "arrogance" or "elitism."

Our sad, broken world is in dire need of more such witness.  Not less.

Pope Saint John Paul II:

“Today the Church lays great stress on this truth, confirmed by the history of every man. Remember that 'to dust you shall return'. Remember that your life on earth has a limit!… Therefore the message of Ash Wednesday is expressed with the words of St. Paul: 'We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God' (2 Cor 5:20-21). Collaborate with him!”

We are called by the Lord Jesus to be His ambassadors.  We are called to give witness.  If we are ashamed of Him, we have been warned:

"For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when he shall come in his majesty, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26, Douay-Rheims.

Witness is not elitism or arrogance.  It is fidelity.

Purity requires modesty...some of our clerics have forgotten this!

At Fatima (1917), Our Lady said that, "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much."  Sadly, such fashions may be found even in Catholic parishes.  This is the direct result of a lack of reverence before sacred mysteries.  Dietrich von Hildebrand explains that, "..lack of reverence may have two roots...the first is to be found in pride.  The man who lacks reverence because of pride and arrogance approaches everything with conceit and presumption, imagines that he knows everything, that he sees through everything....The world holds no mystery for him.  He treats everything tactlessly, with easy familiarity...There is..another form of irreverence, one which is born of concupiscence.  The concupiscent man is interested in the world only as a means of procuring pleasure for himself...

The lack of reverence is a specific defect of our age.  On the one hand, the feeling of reverence is undermined by the increasing technicalization and instrumentalization of the world wherein everything is considered only as a means for the attainment of practical aims, and being is not allowed to be taken seriously.  On the other hand, the attitude of self-glorification is increased in man by progress in the knowledge of secondary causes and by the conquest of the physical world.  This makes us forget that 'He has made us and we have not made ourselves.'  It makes the shortsighted intoxicated with superficial knowledge so that they overlook the causa prima because of the causae secundae" (Liturgy and Personality, pp. 49, 51-52).

How important is modesty?  Saint John Chrysostom warned the immodest that:

"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment, and much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death-dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body, but the soul. And it is not to enemies that you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, "Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance.  Modesty protects the intimate center of the person.  It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden.  It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness." (2521).  And, "..modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man.  It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject.  Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person." (2524).

Bearing this in mind, what must we think about the "Catholic" Youth Festival which was recently held in Australia?  See here.

Monsignor Gilfredo Marengo's revisionist history...

The Catholic Herald reports:


Four theologians specialising in marriage and family life are studying Vatican archival material with a view of telling the whole story of how and why Blessed Paul VI wrote his encyclical Humanae Vitae on married love.

Mgr Gilfredo Marengo, leader of the group and a professor of theological anthropology at Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, spoke to Vatican Radio about the study on July 25, the 49th anniversary of the encyclical’s publication.

Some bloggers, writing in the spring about the study group, described it as an initiative of Pope Francis to change the encyclical’s teaching against the use of artificial contraception.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, chancellor of the John Paul II Institute, categorically denied the bloggers’ reports.

In reply to an email, Mgr Marengo told Catholic News Service that the study 'is a work of historical-critical investigation without any aim other than reconstructing as well as possible the whole process of composing the encyclical.'

'Anyone who imagined any other aim should have simply done their work and verified their sources,' he said.

In view of the 50th anniversary, Mgr Marengo told Vatican Radio, he and three other Italian professors are conducting their research with the goal of showing the encyclical’s place among 'all of the very important and fruitful things the Church has said on marriage and family in the past 50 years.'

Also, he said, from a historical point of view, it is important that theologians formally examine and document the process that led to the encyclical’s publication. What Mgr Marengo called 'the distinct phases' of the encyclical’s development included the work of a small committee appointed by St John XXIII in 1963 and expanded greatly by Pope Paul. The commission’s work ended in 1966 with the leaking of a report by the majority of commission members asserting artificial contraception was not intrinsically evil and minority reports insisting it was.

In the end, Mgr Marengo said, the commission 'was not able to give him [Pope Paul] what he needed to write the encyclical. Therefore, Paul VI almost had to start over alone,' but with the added complication of public opinion, including among theologians, 'polarised between those favourable and those contrary' to the use of the contraceptive pill.

The encyclical itself was criticised by many – and not just by those who advocated for acceptance of artificial contraception, the priest said. 'It is important to remember that in those years many still looked at the regulation of births' using natural fertility rhythms 'as a ‘benevolent concession’ to couples rather than as a positive value to pursue.'

Procreation, he said, was seen by many as the primary purpose of marriage, so Pope Paul’s insistence in Humanae Vitae that sex within marriage is both procreative and unitive was something new..."

Pope Paul VI's teaching that sex within marriage has two elements, the unitive and the procreative, was something new?

This is nothing less than an exercise in bovine scatology.


In his Encyclical Letter Casti Connubii, Pope Plus XI cites St. Augustine (De Genesi ad litteram, bk. 9, chap. 7, no. 12).

Pius identifies the three blessings of marriage as children, mutual fidelity, and the dignity of a sacrament (CC, no. 10). The first and primary blessing is the procreation of children (CC, nos. 11-18; see Gen. 1:28 and 1 Tim. 5:14). With the begetting of children, husband and wife become intimate cooperators with God in propagating the human race. They take upon themselves the task of rearing and educating their children. The noble nature of marriage leaves God’s new children in their parents’ hands.

The second blessing of marriage is the mutual fidelity of the spouses (CC, no. 19). In matrimony, husband and wife are joined together so closely as to become "one flesh" (Matt. 19:3-6 and Eph. 5:32; cf. Gen. 1:27 and 2:24). Husband and wife, in marital chastity and total exclusivity, blend the whole of their lives in mutual support, self-giving, and service to God (see 1 Cor. 7:3; Eph. 5:25; Col. 3:19; and CC, nos. 20-30).

I guess Monsignor Marengo needs to do his work.  He should begin here.

I'm betting he won't.  Too many "scholars" like him have become lazy.  And while proclaiming themselves to be wise, have become fools instead.

I'd like to present this year's Walter Duranty Award for living in denial to Monsignor Marengo.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin: Do you accept Catholic doctrine with regard to disorderly tendencies?

Cardinal Joseph Tobin apparently believes that a homosexual person only sins if he or she actually engages in homosexual acts.

As I said in my previous post, in a feeble attempt to justify his decision to welcome an "LGBTQ" pilgrimage to the Newark Cathedral, Cardinal Tobin said, “I don’t presume that every person who identifies him or herself as LGBTQ is sexually active."

Although the homosexual inclination itself is not a sin, still, the homosexual person sins if he or she makes a concession to this tendency in his or her mind.

It is Catholic doctrine that any disorderly tendency, and most especially toward a vice which is contrary to nature, cannot have a right to citizenship in a person's thoughts. Recall the teaching of Our Lord Jesus in Matthew 5: 27, 28: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

This is why in the Confiteor [Latin: I confess], which is part of the Penitential Rite, one asks for forgiveness for thoughts, words and deeds.

We know as well that homosexual persons also sin when their external behavior expresses a homosexual tendency.  Which is why we read in Isaiah 3:9 that, 'Their very look bears witness against them; their sin like Sodom they vaunt, They hide it not.  Woe to them!  they deal out evil to themselves."  And in Deuteronomy 22:5 we read, "A woman shall not wear an article proper to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's dress; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord, your God."

Does the Cardinal accept this teaching?

Canon 212: An authentic Catholic news site which exhibits a strong, critical spirit of the zeitgeist

A sound source of Catholic news and views: Canon212

"..once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church's participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society...The preparation of committed lay leaders and the presentation of a convincing articulation of the Christian vision of man and society remain a primary task of the Church in your country; as essential components of the new evangelization, these concerns must shape the vision and goals of catechetical programs at every level.." (Pope Benedict XVI).

Father Jose Antonio Bermudez, Saint Mary's Parish in Orange and CCHD

In a parish bulletin from Saint Mary's Parish in Orange, Massachusetts back in November of 2013, which may be found here, we read:

"Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human

Development (CCHD) needs your help. CCHD was founded to end the cycle of poverty throughout America by funding organizations that help individuals help themselves. With a tradition of improving education, housing, and community economic development,
CCHD continues to make a positive impact in communities nationwide."

The fact that this promotion of CCHD appeared in the Saint Mary's Parish bulletin with the blessing of the former "pastor," Father Jose Antonio Bermudez, only serves to highlight the fact that the priest is duplicitous and given over to the demonic.

We read here (from Reform CCHD Now):

"Since 2009, we have been working to shine the light on the problem of Catholic funds going to organizations that promote abortion, birth control, homosexuality and even Marxism."

Wikipedia notes:

"CCHD has at times been subject at times to criticism, with allegations that some CCHD-funded organizations were promoting abortion, contraception and radical politics, and that the CCHD was a force of internal corruption within the USCCB.."

When I informed Father Jose Antonio Bermudez about its promotion of dissenting groups and Marxism, he responded (in November of 2011):

I still have the email correspondence from this priest-liar, who maintained a facade of holiness while promoting CCHD.  Even after admitting there was reason for concern and promising that "the material has been removed from the Church building," he continued to promote CCHD after I left the parish in 2011.

Not long ago, I returned to the parish and was ostracized by Father Bermudez and his inner circle.  Now I can better understand why.

The Catechism, speaking of lying, has this to say:

2482 "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving." The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.

2484 The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. The culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray.

2486 Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships

I'm not surprised that Father Bermudez, who has given himself over to lying while promoting the CCHD, would treat me with contempt.  Every liar hates to be exposed.

Pray for this deeply troubled priest and a parish which has been, under his failed leadership, failing miserably.

Related reading: Obama thanked CCHD for helping him become president.  See here.