Diocese of Charlotte in opposition to Vatican II and Canon Law

 As noted here:

"The Diocese of Charlotte – headed by Bishop Michael Martin, who notoriously banned the Latin Mass in his diocese – is siding with a school that expelled children after their parents complained about the school’s adoption of woke ideology, including graphic, sexually explicit LGBTQ+ books.

The lawsuit by parents of the expelled children, Doug and Nicole Turpin, Turpin v. Charlotte Latin School, now before the North Carolina Supreme Court, “asks whether a private school can invite open dialogue and then expel students in retaliation for their parents’ protected speech.”

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My commentary

This decision represents an act of violence against the child's right to live his or her own sexuality in conformity with Christian principles: "Since each child or young person must be able to live his or her own sexuality in conformity with Christian principles, and hence be able to exercise the virtue of chastity, no educator — not even parents — can interfere with this right to chastity (cf. Matthew 18: 4-7)." ( Pontifical Council for the Family,  The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, No. 118).

The decision of the Diocese of Charlotte also represents an attack on parental rights. Vatican II teaches us that, in raising children, the responsibility of parents is primary: "Since parents have given life to their children, they have a very grave duty to educate them, and so are to be recognized as their primary and principal educators" (GE, No. 3). 

And Pope John Paul II, explaining the conciliar teaching more fully in Familiaris consortio No. 36, says that: "The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others."

Canon Law is also very clear on this matter. Canon 793, 1., states that: "Parents as well as those who take their place are obliged and enjoy the right to educate their offspring; Catholic parents also have the duty and the right to select those means and institutions through which they can provide more suitably for the Catholic education of the children according to local circumstances" and Canon 1136 says that: "Parents have the most serious duty and the primary right to do all in their power to see to the physical, social, cultural, moral and religious upbringing of their children."

This inalienable right of parents has been recognized by the United States Supreme Court. In 1922, the State of Oregon attempted to enact legislation that would have forced all children to attend the public schools within that state. But the Supreme Court overturned that decision and established that "The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations."

The question before us: Will the Vatican intervene to ensure that Catholic teaching is upheld,  the rights of parents as primary educators of their children be respected and that Canon Law is adhered to?

Sorry Francis, Pope Saint Pius XII was a Restorationist

 In “E Supremi,” Pope Saint Pius X, the Pope of the Eucharist. The Pope who railed against Modernism, announced that his pontificate would focus on “restoring all things in Christ.” That became his Episcopal motto.

Small wonder then that the False Shepherd Francis, himself a modernist, is waging a personal war against what he refers to as Restorationism. See here for example. 

Pascendi here.

Vittorio Messori's concerns regarding Francis...

From Lifesite News:

MILAN, Italy, November 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — A best-selling Italian writer has broken his silence on the current papacy to voice concerns over Pope Francis’ attitude toward doctrine.

Vittorio Messori, 76, is best-known in the English-speaking world for his book-length interviews with then-Cardinal Ratzinger in The Ratzinger Report (1987) and with Pope John Paul II in Threshold of Hope. The journalist has now published an essay in an Italian Catholic magazine, Il Timore, outlining his fears that Pope Francis is turning the Catholic Church into a kind of “liquid society” in which the only certainty is uncertainty and the only constant is change.

The article, which is not available online, was first brought to the attention of the English-speaking world by Edward Pentin of the National Catholic Register.

In his essay, Messori draws on the work of Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017), the Jewish-Polish philosopher who introduced the concept of “liquid modernity” to sociology. “Liquid modernity” represents a change from what Bauman called “solid modernity.” Bauman wrote that the “liquid” modern man values individualism over social ties. He “flows through his own life like a tourist, changing places, jobs, spouses, values and even sexual orientation and gender.”

Bauman observed that such a man excludes himself from traditional networks of support, freeing himself from their restrictions or requirements. This extreme individualism has created societies in which, Messori writes, “everything is unstable and changeable.” Today it is acceptable to believe that change is “the only permanent thing” and that uncertainty is the “only certainty.”

Messori is troubled that these ideas have begun to influence religious faith. He writes that believers are becoming “disturbed by the fact that even the Catholic Church — which was an age-old example of stability — seems to want to become ‘liquid’ as well.”

Francis is engaging in chronological snobbery or what the French philosopher Jacques Maritain referred to as"chronolatry" in his work "Le paysan de la Garonne" - The Peasant of the Garonne.

Maritain defines chronolatry as the idolatry of what is newest or latest in time. This is the characteristic flaw of today's "progressive" who looks upon the wisdom of the ages and dismisses it as nothing more than "theories" which belong to the past.

Is there really any doubt that Francis views the Catholic Church as "outdated" and "stagnant."  recall what his niece had to say about the Church and his "mission" here.

"..the lay faithful's role in the well-being of the Church is essential..."

In his Address to the Bishops of the Episcopal Conferences of the Pacific and of New Zealand on their Ad Limina visit, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the Bishops that, "..the lay faithful’s role in the well-being of the Church is essential since the Lord does not expect pastors 'to undertake by themselves the entire saving mission of the Church' (Lumen Gentium, 30). I understand from your reports that your task of spreading the Gospel often depends on the assistance of lay missionaries and catechists. Continue to ensure that a sound and ongoing formation be afforded them, especially within the context of their associations. In so doing, you will equip them for every good work in the building up of the body of Christ (cf. 2 Tim 3:17; Eph 4:12). Their zeal for the faith under your continued leadership and support will surely bear much fruit in the vineyard of the Lord."  See here.

Vatican II, in its Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church (Ad Gentes), has this to say: "The Church has not been really founded and is not yet fully alive, nor is it a perfect sign of Christ among men, unless there is a laity worthy of the name working along with the hierarchy. For the Gospel cannot be deeply grounded in the abilities, life and work of any people without the active presence of laymen. Therefore, even at the very founding of a chrch, great attention is to be paid to establishing a mature, Christian laity. For the lay faithful fully belong at one and the same time both to the People of God and to civil society...They also belong to Christ, because they were regenerated in the Church by faith and by Baptism, so that they are Christ's in newness of life and work (cf. 1 Cor 15: 23), in order that in Christ, all things may be made subject to God, and finally God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15: 28)." (Ad Gentes, No. 21).


One of the reasons for the rapid decay which is corroding the Catholic spirit in the United States and elsewhere is the spread of a so-called liberalism (neo-modernism) which fosters a secularist attitude in Christians, one that creates an animus against the Faith and works against evangelization.  The lay faithful who remain committed to the Church's teaching and who take seriously their vocation to convert those outside the Church are most often not encouraged.  Often they are discouraged (in the name of an unhealthy pluralism) from engaging in evangelization.

Pope Paul VI, in an allocution given on July 2nd, 1975, warned against this attitude:

"In practice many peoplewho call themselves Christians think so [that the field of faith can be separated from that of activity], believing that the adherence to religion does not involve other duties than some specific observances, such as Sunday Mass and the fulfilling of the paschal precept.  We must note, in fact, a certain allergy on the part of modern Christians to action qualified by their own religious sentiments, owing to a misrepresentation of so-called pluralism, as if every doctrinal opinion were admissible, and therefore it was not worthwhile to propose as necessary one's own faith to others; or because of an exclusive authority attributed to subjective conscience, to the detriment of the objective principle that must inform conscience itself."

Pope Leo XIII rejected this perverse attitude of doctrinal detente writing:

"We cannot consider altogether blameless the silence which purposely leads to the omission or neglect of some principles of Christian doctrine, for all the principles come from the Author and Master, 'the Only Begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father.' ...Concerning this point Vatican Council - says: 'All things are to be believed with Divine and Catholic Faith which are contained in the Word of God, written or handed down, and which the Church, either by solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal Magisterium, proposes for belief as having been Divinely revealed.'  Let it be far from anyone's mind to lessen or to suppress for any reason, any doctrine that has been handed down.  Such a policy would tend rather to separate Catholics from the Church than to bring in those who differ.  There is nothing closer to our heart than to have those who are separated from the fold of Christ return to it, but in no other way than the way pointed out by Christ." (Apostolic Letter Testem Benevolentiae).

At my parish, I have been shunned for upholding the Church's teaching regarding abortion and homosexuality.  Because I objected to the promotion of the "Catholic" Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) in the parish bulletin, I am now persona non grata.  While our Holy Father insists that, "the lay faithful’s role in the well-being of the Church is essential," there are priests who actively suppress and shun members of the lay faithful who take their vocation seriously.

Symptom of the Virus: Immodesty in Dress

"On  Saturday afternoon, I visited Our Lady of Grace Parish in Pepperell to mark their one-year anniversary.  Our Lady of Grace was formed in 2009 from the merger of St. Joseph Parish in Pepperell and St. James-Sacred Heart Parish in Groton." - Cardinal Sean O'Malley, at his Blog.

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, let's examine the photograph taken during Cardinal O'Malley's trip to Our Lady of Grace Parish in Pepperell, Massachusetts.  This photograph may also be found at the Cardinal's Blog.  Are these adolescent girls being taught modesty?  Respect for the human person?  How about respect for the Lord Jesus Who is truly present in the Holy Eucharist?

What's wrong with this picture?  It is yet another symptom of what Bishop Rene Gracida has so aptly titled "The Boston Virus."

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.  St. Padre Pio, pray for us.

Symptom of the Virus: Archdiocese of Boston to close more parishes according to speculation

Christ describes frightening scenes for us. The last days preceding the second coming will be marked by a final trial which will shake the faith of many believers. Jesus asks: 'But when the Son of Man comes will he find any faith on earth?' (Lk 8: 28). This is a mysterious phrase but its immediate meaning cannot be eluded. Only a 'little flock' will persevere in the faith until the end, awaiting the Lord's coming. The greater part of mankind, including many believers, will have lost the faith. In another context Jesus adds to the eclipse of faith a cooling of charity. Indeed, it is not possible to lose one without losing the other.

Thus he describes the 'trials' of the end times: 'Many false prophets will arise; they will deceive many, and with the increase of lawlessness, love in most men will grow cold; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved' (Mt 24: 11). Jesus situates the the end of the world in the context of great apostasy from the faith. The rejection of Christianity by many who had adhered to it will take place in a world where the Gospel of the Kingdom has been proclaimed to the ends of the earth (cf. Mt 24: 14). The coming of Christ as judge will take place in a context of betrayal. - Fr. Livio Fanzaga

I'm as mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!

This is Joe Sacerdo speaking...

I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, dissent and homosexuality have infected certain segments of the Church and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.


We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, that our local church is infected with modernism. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be! 

We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy.  When an Archdiocese honors a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual mayor, things are crazy!

It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.  Just let us pray quietly in church and leave us alone."

Well, I'm not going to leave you alone.

I want you to get mad!

I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Koreans, the Lavender Mafia, liturgical terrorists, wiccan nuns, Call to Action and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goshdarnit! My life has value!  And the teaching of the Magisterium must be adhered to, we must listen to the Lord Jesus!

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell,

"I'm as mad as hell,


and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

Hans Kung and Father James Scahill: Prophets of a Humanitarian Religion and a Theology of Violence...

In recent weeks we've witnessed dissident theologian Hans Kung, who has called for a New World Order, urge Bishops to disobey the Pope. And we have witnessed Father James Scahill, who has referred to the Mystical Body of Christ as "insidiously evil," calumniate the Holy Father. Both of these confused men are modernists. And Modernism is a theology of violence. It is militant, socialistic and revolutionary. It is a theology from Hell and a morality of absolute sexual permissiveness. Which is why Father Scahill couldn't bring himself to distribute or collect petitions opposing same-sex "marriage." The modernist is a person who trusts only in himself. He has lost his faith in Jesus Christ, His Holy Church and her doctrines. But he cannot acknowledge this fact. And so, he continues to employ the same words faithful Catholics use within the Church but he empties them of Catholic meaning. The sure road to Modernism is pride. We have this from Pope St. Pius X: "Truly there is no road which leads so directly and so quickly to Modernism as pride. When a Catholic layman or priest forgets the precept of the Christian life which obliges us to renounce ourselves if we would follow Christ and neglects to tear pride from his heart, then it is he who most of all is fully ripe subject for the errors of Modernism..." (Pascendi Dominici Gregis).

It was the philosopher George Santayana who described Modernism thusly: "Modernism...is the love of all Christianity in those who perceive that it is all a fable. It is the historic attachment to his Church of a Catholic who has discovered that he is a pagan...The Modernists are men of the Renaissance, pagan, pantheistic in their profounder sentiment, to whom the hard and narrow realism of official Christianity is offensive just because it presupposes that Christianity is true...As for Modernism, it is suicide. It is the last of those concessions to the spirit of the world which half-believers and double-minded prophets have always been found making; but it is a mortal concession. It concedes everything; for it concedes that everything in Christianity, as Christians hold it, is an illusion." But because the Magisterium faithfully passes down the Tradition of Catholic Teaching received from the Apostles, Santayana, commenting on the modernists' opposition to Rome, notes, "The modernist feels himself full of love for everybody...except for the Pope."

Father Scahill and Hans Kung have succumbed to the disease of Modernism. They are false prophets who advance the notion that we can guide ourselves and that God's revealed Word is not our sovereign rule of conduct. But the words of St. Maximus continue to echo throughout the centuries: "He speaks in vain who tries to persuade me of the orthodoxy of those who refuse obedience to His Holiness the Pope of the most Holy Church of Rome.

The goal of these false prophets is to convert the Catholic Church, to remold it into a new Humanitarian Religion emptied of supernatural content. A false religion built in the image and likeness of man which will welcome the Man of Sin.