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| USDA scattering oral rabies vaccines by air over thirteen states |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-21-2022, 06:05 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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USDA scattering rabies vaccines for wildlife in 13 states — including Virginia
![[Image: VVPXJIRLLAVXPHS66TNVJ7P5FQ.jpg]](https://www.dailypress.com/resizer/HnrX3gzd9vluFgkBDFoocV17uwo=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/VVPXJIRLLAVXPHS66TNVJ7P5FQ.jpg)
FILE - USDA wildlife specialist Will Guigou, right, and pilot Thomas Taylor prepare to distribute packets of baited rabies vaccine by helicopter from a container between Guigou's knees Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport's Lovell Field in Chattanooga, Tenn. The U.S. government has begun scattering millions of packets of oral rabies vaccine from helicopters and planes over 13 states from Maine to Alabama. The major aim is to keep raccoons from spreading their strain of the deadly virus to states where it hasn't been found or isn't widespread, said field trial coordinator Jordona Kirby. (Doug Strickland/AP)
The Associated Press via The Daily Press [adapted] | August 26, 2022
NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun scattering millions of packets of oral rabies vaccine from helicopters and planes over 13 states from Maine to Alabama.
The major aim is to keep raccoons from spreading their strain of the deadly virus to states where it hasn’t been found or isn’t widespread, said field trial coordinator Jordona Kirby.
The USDA is also continuing tests of a vaccine approved in Canada to immunize skunks as well as raccoons, said Kirby of Wildlife Services, which is part of the agriculture department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The major aim is to keep raccoons from spreading their strain of the deadly virus to states where it hasn't been found or isn't widespread, said field trial coordinator Jordona Kirby. (Toby Talbot/AP)
Rabies is spread through an infected animal’s saliva, usually through bites. However, saliva that gets into the eyes, nose or mouth can also infect someone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Thirteen people in South Carolina were considered potentially exposed in March because they had bottle-fed or given medicine to a sick calf that turned out to have rabies, said Dr. Michael Neault, the state veterinarian.
Globally, the virus kills 60,000 people a year, most bitten by dogs, the World Health Organization states.
That’s about the same number that get shots to prevent rabies in the U.S. after being bitten or scratched by an infected or possibly infected animal, according to the CDC.
State and local pet vaccination laws mean the virus is mostly spread by wildlife in the U.S.
The national rabies control program started in 1997 in Texas, where coyotes were spreading the canine variant of the virus, Kirby said.
She said vaccine drops eliminated that variant in 2004. Three years later, the CDC declared the nation free of canine rabies.
That doesn’t mean unvaccinated pets are safe. Canine rabies is among more than 20 variants — seven found in terrestrial mammals and more than 13 in species of bats, said rabies control program coordinator Richard Chipman.
A bite from an animal infected with any variant can make any other mammal sick. Scratches occasionally do so, since animals lick their paws.
A three-year program in Arizona and New Mexico eliminated a bat rabies strain in foxes, Kirby said. And Texas, with help from USDA, dropped 1.1 million baits along the Mexican border in January to keep coyotes from bringing the canine variant back.
Raccoons are the main rabies reservoir in 18 states along and near the East Coast and skunks in 21 others, according to data from 2020, the latest year available.
Bats made up 31% of the nearly 4,500 animals found with rabies in 2020. But since nearly all of the 40-plus bat species found in the U.S. eat insects and the rest drink nectar or eat fruit, oral vaccines would be much trickier.
Some scientists have speculated that bats could be vaccinated during hibernation, perhaps with a fine mist or with a gel that could be transferred from bat to bat, Chipman said. Early research is testing the idea in vampire bats, which live in Mexico and Central and South America and might spread such a vaccine within a colony by grooming each other.
Rabid wildlife isn’t just a rural problem. A rabid fox on Capitol Hill was caught less than 24 hours after the first report in April. By then, about a half-dozen people had reported bites or nips to U.S. Capitol Police, but others may have gone to other agencies, a Capitol Police spokesperson said by email.
Raccoon rabies campaigns started in August in parts of northern Maine, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. The 348,000 Raboral V-RG baits in Maine and 535,000 in the three other states are being dropped from planes in rural areas and from vehicles in urban and suburban areas.
In all, about 3.75 million packets — coated with a fishmeal attractant or encased in 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) fish meal cubes — will be distributed in nine states, ending when 1.1 million are dropped in Alabama in October.
The vaccine has been found safe for more than 60 kinds of animals including domestic dogs and cats. Eating a large number of vaccine packets might give dogs an upset stomach but wouldn’t cause any permanent problem, APHIS says.
About 3.5 million doses of the experimental vaccine Onrab are being distributed in parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Tennessee — which also are getting the approved vaccine — plus four other states.
Onrab comes in blister packs with green, marshmallow-flavored coating. Wildlife Services hopes it may be approved next year in spite of lingering pandemic-related delays.
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| Method of Hearing Mass IN UNION WITH THE SACRED PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST By St. Francis de Sales |
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Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 09-21-2022, 03:46 AM - Forum: The Saints
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Method of Hearing Mass IN UNION WITH THE SACRED PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST By St. Francis de Sales
Based on the Tridentine Rite
https://prodigalcatholic.com/method-of-h...-de-sales/
When the priest goes to the foot of the Altar
Jesus enters the garden
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Who was pleased voluntarily to endure mortal terror and anguish at the view of Your approaching passion, give me grace henceforth to consecrate all my sorrows to You. O God of my heart! Assist me to support my trials in union with Your agony, that through the merits of Your Passion they may become profitable to my soul.
At the Beginning of Mass
Prayer of Jesus in the garden
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Who was pleased to be comforted by an angel in Your dreadful agony, grant through the merits of Your prayer in the garden that Your consoling angel may ever assist me in mine.
At the Confiteor
Jesus prostrated in the garden
Lord Jesus Christ, Who in the excess of Your anguish, was bathed in a sweat of blood while praying to Your Father in the Garden of Olives, grant that I may participate in Your sorrows by sympathy, and unite bitter tears of repentance with Your tears of blood.
The Priest kisses the Altar
Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss
Lord Jesus Christ, who submitted to the embrace of Judas, preserve me by Your grace, from misfortune of ever betraying You, and assist me to repay calumny and injustice with cordial charity and active kindness.
The priest goes to the Epistle side.
Jesus is dragged to prison
Lord Jesus Christ, Who submitted to be bound with ropes by the hands of wicked men, break, I beg You, the chains of my sins and attach the powers of my soul and body closely to You by bonds of charity, that they may never escape from the salutary restraint of perfect submission to Your Divine Will.
At the Introit
Jesus receives a blow
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was conducted as a criminal to the house of Annas, grant that I may never suffer myself to be led into sin by temptations of the evil spirit, or the evil suggestions of my fellow creatures, but that I may be securely guided by the Divine Spirit in the perfect accomplishment of Your holy ordinances.
At the Kyrie Eleison
Jesus is thrice denied by Peter
Lord Jesus Christ, Who submitted to be thrice denied in the house of Caiphas, by the head and prince of the apostles preserve me from the danger of evil company, that I may not be exposed to the misfortune of separation from You.
At the Dominus Vobiscum
Jesus looks at Peter and touches his heart
Lord Jesus Christ, who by one glance of love did melt the heart of St. Peter into a fountain of penitential tears, grant by Your mercy that I may weep for my sins and never by word or deed deny You, who art my lord and my God.
At the Epistle
Jesus is conducted to the house of Pilate
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was pleased to be led before Pilate, and there falsely accused, teach me to avoid the deceits of the wicked, and to profess my faith by the constant practice of good works.
At the Munda Cor Mum
Jesus is led to Herod
Lord Jesus Christ, who silently endured to be again falsely accused before Herod, grant me patience under calumny, and silence under outrages.
At the Gospel
Jesus is mocked as a fool and sent back to Pilate
Lord Jesus Christ, Who submitted to be sent as a fool by Herod to Pilate, who though enemies before, then became friends, strengthen me so powerfully by Your grace, that instead of apprehending the machinations of the wicked, I may learn to bear their malice as You did and thus render their injustice profitable to my soul.
The Priest uncovers the Chalice
Jesus is stripped of His garments
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was pleased to be despoiled of Your garments and most inhumanly scourged for love of me, grant me grace to lay aside the burden of my sins by a good confession, and never to appear before You despoiled of the virtues of a Christian.
At the Offertory
Jesus is scourged
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was pleased to be fastened to the pillar and torn with stripes, grant me grace to patiently endure the scourges of Your paternal correction and never more to grieve Your Heart with my sins.
The Priest offers the Chalice
Jesus is crowned with thorns
Lord Jesus Christ, Who submitted, through love for me, to be crowned with thorns, grant that my heart may be so penetrated with the thorns of repentance in this world, that I may deserve to be hereafter crowned with You in glory.
The priest washes his fingers
Pilate washes his hands
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who, although declared innocent by Pilate was subjected to the insults and outrages of the Jews, grant me the grace to lead an irreproachable life and at the same time to maintain a holy indifference to the opinions of men.
The priest washes his fingers
Pilate washes his hands
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who, although declared innocent by Pilate was subjected to the insults and outrages of the Jews, grant me the grace to lead an irreproachable life and at the same time to maintain a holy indifference to the opinions of men.
At the Preface
Jesus is condemned to death
Lord Jesus Christ, Who, though the God of all sanctity, submitted through love for me to a most ignominious condemnation, grant me grace to avoid rash judgments and strengthen me to bear with patience, the injustice of men.
At the Momento for the living
Jesus carries His Cross
Lord Jesus Christ, Who carried your heavy Cross for my salvation, grant that I may voluntarily embrace the cross of mortification and carry it daily for Your love.
At the Communicantes
Veronica wipes with a linen cloth the Face of Jesus
Lord Jesus Christ, Who on Your way to Calvary, said to the holy women that wept for the love of You: “Weep not for me but for yourselves;” give me the grace to weep for my sins with tears of holy contrition and love that will render me agreeable to Your divine Majesty.
Blessing of the Bread and Wine
Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was nailed to the Cross for my redemption, attaching to it through Your Sacred Flesh, my sins, and the eternal punishment due to them, grant me Your saving fear, that resolutely observing Your Holy precepts, I may ever be attached to the Cross with You.
At the Elevation of the Host
The Cross of Jesus is elevated between Heaven and earth.
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was pleased to be elevated on the Cross and exalted above the earth for the love of me, detach my heart, I beg You, from all terrestrial affections and elevate my understanding to the consideration of Heavenly things.
At the elevation of the Chalice
The Blood of Jesus flows from His wounds.
Lord Jesus Christ, Your sacred wounds are the inexhaustible source of all grace; grant then, that Your Precious Blood may purify my soul from all evil thoughts and prove a salutary remedy for all my spiritual miseries.
At the Momento for the dead
Jesus prays for all men
Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed on the Cross for all men, even for Your executioners, grant me the spirit of meekness and patience, that according to Your precepts and example I may love my enemies and cordially return good for evil.
At the Momento for the dead
Jesus prays for all men
Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed on the Cross for all men, even for Your executioners, grant me the spirit of meekness and patience, that according to Your precepts and example I may love my enemies and cordially return good for evil.
At the Pater Noster
The seven words of Christ
Lord Jesus Christ, Who from the cross recommended Your Blessed Mother to the beloved disciple, and the disciple to Your Mother, receive me, I beg You, under Your protection, and grant that amidst the snares and perils of this world I may never lose the treasure of thy friendship.
At the division of the Host
Jesus expires of the Cross
Lord Jesus Christ, Who before expiring on the Cross commended Your Soul to Your Father, grant that I may die spiritually with You now, and so confide my eternal destiny with confidence to Your hands at the hour of my death.
At the division of the Host
Jesus expires of the Cross
Lord Jesus Christ, Who before expiring on the Cross commended Your Soul to Your Father, grant that I may die spiritually with You now, and so confide my eternal destiny with confidence to Your hands at the hour of my death.
At the Agnus Dei
The conversion of sinners
Lord Jesus Christ, the contemplation of Your torments has excited repentance in many hearts; grant me, through the efficacy of Your painful sufferings and ignominious death, perfect contrition for my past offenses, and the grace to avoid all willful sin.
At the Communion
Jesus is buried
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was pleased to be buried in a new monument, give me a new heart, so that being buried with You, I may attain to the glory of Your resurrection.
At the Ablution
Jesus is embalmed
Lord Jesus Christ, who was pleased to be embalmed and wrapped in a clean linen cloth by Joseph and Nicodemus, give me the grace to receive most worthily, Your Precious Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, with a heart embalmed with the precious ointment of Your virtues.
After the Communion
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Lord Jesus Christ, Who triumphantly issued from the fast sealed monument, grant that, rising from the tomb of my sins, I may walk in newness of life so that when You shall appear in glory I may merit also to appear with You.
At the Dominus Vobiscum
Jesus appears to His disciples
Lord Jesus Christ, who gladdened the hearts of Your Blessed Mother and Your apostles by manifesting Yourself to them after Your Resurrection, grant that, since I cannot be so happy as to behold You in this mortal life, I may hereafter enjoy the unclouded vision of Your glory.
At the Post-Communion
Jesus converses for forty days with His disciples
Lord Jesus Christ, Who after Your Resurrection deign to converse for forty days with Your disciples, instructing them in the mysteries of our faith, increase, I beg You, my knowledge of those Divine Truths, and confirm my belief in them.
At the Post-Communion
Jesus converses for forty days with His disciples
Lord Jesus Christ, Who after Your Resurrection deign to converse for forty days with Your disciples, instructing them in the mysteries of our faith, increase, I beg You, my knowledge of those Divine Truths, and confirm my belief in them.
At the Priest’s blessing
The descent of the Holy Ghost
Lord Jesus Christ, Who sent the Holy Spirit on Your apostles, while engaged in unanimous and persevering prayer, purify my soul, I beg You, that the Paraclete, finding therein a dwelling well pleasing to Him, may adorn it with His gifts and replenish it with His consolations
Thanksgiving after Mass
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Redeemer of men, I humbly thank You for having permitted me to assist today at the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I beg You, through the efficacy of that adorable Sacrifice, to strengthen me against all temptations, and to grant that, having served You faithfully in this life, I may hereafter attain to the possession of Your glory.
AMEN
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| Opinion: Ethereum becomes WEF coin, and a global CBDC is born |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-20-2022, 10:51 AM - Forum: General Commentary
- No Replies
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Ethereum becomes WEF coin, and a global CBDC is born
Marketed as a climate friendly alternative, a major digital asset becomes the frontrunner for a global central bank digital currency.
Jordan Schachtel [slightly adapted] | September 15, 2022
The people in charge of the Ethereum token, a popular digital asset previously marketed as a decentralized money, decided last night to finalize its transition into what amounts to WEF (World Economic Forum) coin, securing the network’s path on the road to state capture, and perhaps, the birth of the ruling class’s 1.0 version of a global Central Bank Digital Currency.
The Dossier is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Completed under the big budget marketing campaign of a “climate friendly” and ESG compliant reshuffle, the Ethereum protocol moved from a proof of work system — which borrowed from Bitcoin’s model of distributed, decentralized computing power (work) for validating the network — to a proof of stake system, which relies on dominant stakeholders to do the same.
There is no longer any “work,” or energy output, required, which is why the ESG and climate hoax crowd has hailed the project as a revolutionary achievement. They seem to miss the fact that ETH now represents a digital fiat currency, as there is no longer a legitimate case for a value proposition attached to it.
The Ethereum Foundation (whose Executive Director serves on the World Economic Forum's Global Blockchain Council) and other “crypto” institutions, knowing full well that they could not create a better free market money than Bitcoin, have been battling behind the scenes for years to become the first movers to regulatory capture, a “prize” that comes to its small network of controlling interests via a massive infusion of global capital.
The small network that controls Ethereum has long had a very cozy relationship with the World Economic Forum and major technocratic statist outfits, and it already relies on companies like JP Morgan and Amazon Web Services to secure its critical infrastructure.
So what makes the WEF crowd and their fellow travelers so hyped about “The Merge”?
Quote:The WEF is VERY EXCITED about Etherium transitioning to a fiat scam.
Front and center on their home page.
A centralized currency that rewards & grants power to those who control largest chunks.
ETH is WEF coin, and now positioned as future global CBDC. - Jordan Schachtel
Unlike Bitcoin’s proof of work system, which provides for robust decentralization and individual security, ETH is now set up so a select few “stakeholders” can determine the outcome of the entire system. The dominant stakeholders can simply get together and manipulate the protocol as they see fit.
But it’s not the private entities that present the greatest threat to liberty and privacy.
This asset is now an easy target for a hostile state or international institutional takeover.
Ethereum stakeholders are an incredibly centralized bunch. They come in the form of registered, *regulated* companies like Lido and Coinbase, organizations that are upfront about the reality that they are subject to complete regulatory and state capture.
Should a powerful government want to invalidate the ETH tokens held by Jon Doe, a labeled opponent of the regime, they can simply pressure Coinbase and the gang to blacklist his transactions. The same goes for Jane Doe, who a random bureaucrat could determined is a “criminal,” and force a major stakeholder to change the rules to punish Mrs Doe. Her Ethereum wallet can be blacklisted with the click of a button, rendering her entire wealth in this currency instantly worthless.
For years, globalist, authoritarian legislators, regulators, and central bankers throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia have sought to find a way to lure creative minds into their CBDC projects, with very few in the space showing much interest.
Ethereum’s marketing team, however, has manipulated many smart, naive, good natured, idealist programmers into building what have become very popular financial tools, especially their dollar-pegged (along with other state currencies) assets on the network, such as the USDC coin, which can potentially be weaponized for the future implementation of a global Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) system.
Instead of building their own system from the ground up, CBDC advocates in government and quasi-private enterprise may manipulate these volunteer and paid programmers, whose work they can now easily control, to employ a CBDC asset into their respective societies.
The stage has been set. In the digital asset space, it’s Bitcoin versus WEF/ETH coin. Freedom Money versus CBDC tyranny.
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| The SSPX: Ten Years Ago |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-20-2022, 07:42 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX
- Replies (3)
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Ten Years Ago…
2nd Feb. 2012 - Bishop Fellay sermon: “We Are Ready”
“We are not an independent group. Even if we are fighting with Rome, we are still, so to say, with Rome. …It’s also important that we don’t finally imagine a Catholic church which is just the fruit of our imagination but which is no longer the real one. And with the real one we have problems. […]
So what is going to happen now? Well, we have sent our answer to Rome. … Do they really want us in the Church or not? We told them very clearly, if you accept us as is, without change, without obliging us to accept these things, then we are ready.” (See: https://web.archive.org/web/201202061752...ruary-2nd/)
18th March 2012 - Bishop Fellay, writing to all SSPX priests in Cor Unum:
“We need to take up a new position with respect to the Official Church”
“We now have friendly contacts in the most important dicasteries, and also in the Pope’s entourage! As we see this situation, we think that the efforts of the aging hierarchy will not succeed in stopping this movement that has begun – a movement that desires and hopes for the restoration of the Church, although still in a rather muddled way. Even though the return of a “Julian the Apostate” cannot be ruled out, I do not think that the movement can be stopped.
If this is true, and I am convinced of it, this requires that we take up a new position with respect to the official Church. Quite obviously we must support this movement with all our strength, and possibly to guide and enlighten it. This is precisely what many people expect of the Society. This is the context in which it is advisable to ask the question about some form of recognition of the Society by the official Church. Our new friends in Rome declare that the impact of such recognition would be extremely powerful on the whole Church, as a confirmation of the importance of Tradition for the Church. […] Concrete circumstances are what will show when the time has arrived to take the step towards the official Church. ” (See: https://www.therecusant.com/fellay-cor-unum-march2012)
7th April 2012 - Letter of three SSPX Bishops to the Superior General and his
two Assistants - “Do not engage the Society in a purely practical agreement!”
“Reverend Superior General, Reverend First Assistant, Reverend Second Assistant, For several months, as many people know, the General Council of the FSSPX is seriously considering Roman proposals for a practical agreement, after the doctrinal discussions of 2009 to 2011 proved that a doctrinal agreement is impossible with current Rome. By this letter the three bishops of the FSSPX who do not form part of the General Council wish to let him know, with all due respect, of the unanimity of their formal opposition to any such agreement. […]
Don't we see already in the Fraternity symptoms of a lessening in its confession of the Faith? Today, alas, the contrary has become “abnormal”. Just before the consecration of the bishops in 1988 when many good people insisted that Archbishop Lefebvre had to reach a practical agreement with Rome that would open a large field of apostolate, he expressed his thoughts to the four new bishops: ‘A large field of apostolate perhaps, but in ambiguity, and while following two directions opposed at the same time, and this would finish by us rotting.’ […]
Your Excellency, Fathers, take care! … At least listen to your Founder. He was right 25 years ago. He is right still today. On his behalf, we entreat you: do not engage the Society in a purely practical agreement.
With our most cordial and fraternal greetings,
In Christo and Maria,
Mgr. Alfonso de Galarreta
Mgr. Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
Mgr. Richard Williamson ”
(See: https://www.therecusant.com/menz-letter-to-3-bishops)
14th April, 2012 - Letter of Reply from the Superior General and his two
Assistants to the Three SSPX Bishops: “It is not realistic to require that
everything be settled to arrive at what you call a practical agreement.”
“Menzingen,
14 April, 2012
Your Excellencies,
To your collective letter addressed to the members of the General Council we have given our full attention. We thank you for your concern and for your charity. Allow us in turn with the same concern for charity and justice to make the following observations. […]
Reading your letter one seriously wonders if you still believe that the visible Church with its seat in Rome is truly the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Church horribly disfigured for sure from head to foot, but a Church which nevertheless still has for its head Our Lord Jesus Christ. One has the impression that you are so scandalised that you no longer accept that that could still be true. Is Benedict XVI still the legitimate pope for you? If he is, can Jesus Christ still speak through his mouth? If the pope expresses a legitimate desire concerning ourselves which is a good desire and gives no command contrary to the commandments of God, has one the right to pay no attention and to simply dismiss his desire? … You blame us for being naïve or fearful, but it is your vision of the Church that is too human and even fatalistic; you see dangers, plots, difficulties, you now longer see the help of grace and the Holy Ghost. […]
Within the Society, we are in the process of making the Council's errors into superheresies, as though it is becoming absolute evil, worse than anything, in the same way that Liberals have dogmatised this pastoral council. This failure to distinguish leads one or the other of you three to an “absolute hardening”. This is serious because such a caricature no longer corresponds to reality and logically it will in the future finish up in a true schism. And it may well be that this fact is one of the arguments pushing me
to delay no longer in responding to the pressure from Rome. […]
So that as for the most crucial question of all, that of whether we can survive in the case of the Society being recognised by Rome, we do not arrive at the same conclusion as you do. Let it be noted in passing that we did not look for a practical agreement. That is false. All we have done is not refuse a priori, as you ask us to do, to consider the Popes offer. For the common good of the Society, we would far prefer the present solution of the intermediary status quo but it is clear that Rome will put up with it no longer.
In itself, the proposed solution of a personal Prelature is not a trap. That is clear firstly from the fact that the present situation in April of 2012 is very different from that of 1988. To claim that nothing has changed is a historic error. […] Fewer and fewer Romans believe in Vatican II.
This concrete situation, together with the canonical solution being proposed, is very different from that of 1988 and when we compare the arguments given by Archbishop Lefebvre at that time we draw the conclusion that he would not have hesitated to accept what is being proposed to us. […] It is not realistic to require that everything be settled to arrive at what you call a practical agreement.
You cannot know how much your attitude over the last few months - quite different for each of you - has been hard for us. It has prevented the Superior General from sharing with you these great concerns, which he would gladly have brought you in to, had he not found himself faced with such a strong and passionate lack of understanding. How much he would have loved to be able to count on you, on your advice to undergo this so delicate moment in our history. It is a great trial, perhaps the greatest of all 18 years of his being superior. Our venerable founder gave to the Society bishops a task and precise duties. He made clear that the principle of unity in our Society is the Superior General. But for a certain time now, you have been trying - each one of you in his own way - to impose on him your point of view, even in the form of threats,
and even in public. This dialectic between the truth and the faith on the one side and authority on the other is contrary to the spirit of the priesthood. He might at least have hoped that you were trying to understand the arguments driving him to act as he has acted these last few years in accordance with the will of divine Providence.
We are praying hard for each of you that we may find ourselves all together once again in this fight which is far from over, for the greater glory of God and for love of dear Society. May Our risen Lord and Our Lady deign to protect and bless you,
+Bernard Fellay (Superior General)
Niklaus Pfluger+ (First Assistant)
Alain-Marc Nély+ (Second Assistant) ”
(See: https://www.therecusant.com/menz-letter-to-3-bishops)
15th April 2012 - Doctrinal Declaration composed and signed by the Superior
General on behalf of the SSPX and delivered to Rome (but kept secret from
even the SSPX’s own priests for almost a full year).
“I. We promise to be always faithful to the Catholic Church and to the Roman Pontiff, the Supreme Pastor, Vicar of Christ, Successor of Peter, and head of the body of bishops.
II. We declare that we accept the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church in the substance of Faith and Morals, adhering to each doctrinal affirmation in the required degree, according to the doctrine contained in No.25 of the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council.(1)
III.
1. We declare that we accept the doctrine regarding the Roman Pontiff and regarding the college of bishops, with the Pope as its head, which is taught by the dogmatic constitution Pastor Aeternus of Vatican I and by the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium of Vatican II, chapter 3 (de constitutione hierarchica Ecclesiae et in specie de episcopatu), explained and interpreted by the nota explicativa praevia in this same chapter.
2. We recognise the authority of the Magisterium to which alone is given the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, in written form or handed down (2) in fidelity to Tradition, recalling that, “the Holy Ghost was not promised to the successors of Peter in order for them to make known, through revelation, a new doctrine, but so that with His assistance they may keep in a holy and expressly faithful manner the revelation transmitted by the Apostles, that is to say, the Faith.”(3)
3. Tradition is the living transmission of revelation ‘usque ad nos’(4) and the Church in its doctrine, in its life and in its liturgy perpetuates and transmits to all generations what this is and what She believes. Tradition progresses in the Church with the assistance of the Holy Ghost(5), not as a contrary novelty(6), but through a better understanding of the Deposit of the Faith(7).
4. The entire tradition of Catholic Faith must be the criterion and guide in understanding the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, which, in turn, enlightens - in other words deepens and subsequently makes explicit - certain aspects of the life and doctrine of the Church implicitly present within itself or not yet conceptually formulated(8).
5. The affirmations of the Second Vatican Council and of the later Pontifical Magisterium relating to the relationship between the Church and the non-Catholic Christian confessions, as well as the social duty of religion and the right to religious liberty, whose formulation is with difficulty reconcilable with prior doctrinal affirmations from the Magisterium, must be understood in the light of the whole, uninterrupted Tradition, in a manner coherent with the truths previously taught by the Magisterium of the Church, without accepting any interpretation of these affirmations whatsoever that would expose Catholic doctrine to opposition or rupture with Tradition and with this Magisterium.
6. That is why it is legitimate to promote through legitimate discussion the study and theological explanations of the expressions and formulations of Vatican II and of the Magisterium which followed it, in the case where they don't appear reconcilable with the previous Magisterium of the Church(9).
7. We declare that we recognise the validity of the sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments celebrated with the intention to do what the Church does according to the rites indicated in the typical editions of the Roman Missal and the Sacramentary Rituals legitimately promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John-Paul II.
8. In following the guidelines laid out above (III,5), as well as Canon 21 of the Code of Canon Law, we promise to respect the common discipline of the Church and the ecclesiastical laws, especially those which are contained in the Code of Canon Law promulgated by John-Paul II (1983) and in the Code of Canon Law of the Oriental Churches promulgated by the same pontiff (1990), without prejudice to the discipline of the Society of Saint Pius X, by a special law.
Notes --
(1) Cf. the new formula for the Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity for assuming a
charge exercised in the name of the Church, 1989; cf. Code of Canon Law, canon
749,750, §2; 752; CCEO canon 597; 598, 1 & 2; 599.
(2) Cf. Pius XII, Humani Generis encyclical.
(3) Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution, Pastor Aeternus, Dz. 3070.
(4) Council of Trent, Dz. 1501: “All saving truth and rules of conduct (Matt. 16:15) are contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions, which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself, or from the Apostles themselves,[3] the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down to us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand.”
(5) Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 8 & 9, Denz. 4209-
4210.
(6) Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius, Dz. 3020: “Hence, also, that understanding of its sacred dogmas must be perpetually retained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never be recession from that meaning under the specious name of a deeper understanding “Therefore […] let the understanding, the knowledge, and wisdom of individuals as of all, of one man as of the whole Church, grow and progress strongly with the passage of the ages and the centuries; but let it be solely in its own genus, namely in the same dogma, with the same sense and the same understanding.” [Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium, 23, 3].”
(7) Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius, Dz. 3011; Anti-modernist Oath, no. 4;
Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Humani Generis, Dz 3886; Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 10, Dz. 4213.
(8) For example, like the teaching on the sacraments and the episcopacy in Lumen Gentium, no. 21.
(9) There is a parallel in history in the Decree for the Armenians of the Council of Florence, where the porrection of the instruments was indicated as the matter of the sacrament of Order. Nevertheless theologians legitimately discussed, even after this decree, the accuracy of such an assertion. Pope Pius XII finally resolved the issue in another way.” (See: https://www.therecusant.com/doctrinalpreamble-15apr2012)
For an overview, in chronological order, see: www.therecusant.com/reference-materials
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| Silencing of the Messengers: Father Fuentes (1959 – 1965) |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-20-2022, 06:44 AM - Forum: Our Lady
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Silencing of the Messengers: Father Fuentes (1959 – 1965)
Interview with Sister Lucy
On December 26, 1957 Father Augustin Fuentes, who was preparing to become the postulator of the causes for beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, met with Sister Lucy at her convent in Coimbra, Portugal. Here, he was able to converse with the Fatima seer at great length. Upon his return to his native Mexico, he gave a conference on the meeting, in which he reported Sister Lucy's words. Father Alonso, the official Fatima archivist for 16 years, stressed that the account of this conference was published “with every guarantee of authenticity and with due episcopal approval, including that of the Bishop of Fatima.” Father Fuentes affirmed that the message came “from the very lips of the principal seer.”
Sources: This matter has been documented at length by Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité in Volume III of his series The Whole Truth About Fatima. The following text is The Fatima Crusader's translation of the Spanish and the English texts published in Frère Michel's book The Third Secret (Volume III, pp. 336-338). The subtitles have been added for your convenience.
The Report by Father Fuentes
“I wish to tell you about the last conversation which I had with Sister Lucy on the 26th of December (last year). I met her in her convent. She was very sad, very pale and emaciated. She said to me,”
“No One Has Paid Any Attention”
“Father, the most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way, but without giving any importance to Her Message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the Message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent.”
The Secret Not Revealed
“Father, how much time is there before 1960 arrives? It will be very sad for everyone, not one person will rejoice at all if beforehand the world does not pray and do penance. I am not able to give any other details, because it is still a Secret. According to the will of the Most Holy Virgin, only the Holy Father and the Bishop of Fatima are permitted to know the Secret, but they have chosen to not know it so that they would not be influenced. This is the third part of the Message of Our Lady, which will remain secret until 1960.”
Russia, the Scourge of God
“Tell them, Father, that many times the Most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth. She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation.”
“The Decisive Battle” Between Mary and Satan: the Falling Away of Consecrated Souls and Priests
Sister Lucy also told me: “Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that offends God the most, and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.”
“That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. … The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence. He employs all tricks, even going so far as to suggest the delay of entrance into religious life. Resulting from this is the sterility of the interior life, and among the laypeople, coldness (lack of enthusiasm) regarding the subject of renouncing pleasures and the total dedication of themselves to God.”
That Which Sanctified Jacinta and Francisco
“Tell them also, Father, that my cousins Francisco and Jacinta sacrificed themselves because in all the apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin, they always saw Her very sad. She never smiled at us. This sadness, this anguish which we noted in Her, penetrated our souls. This sadness is caused by the offenses against God and the punishments which menace sinners. And so, we children did not know what to think except to invent various means of praying and making sacrifices.”
The other things which sanctified these children was to see the vision of Hell.
The Mission of Sister Lucy
“Father, that is why my mission is not to indicate to the world the material punishments which are certain to come if the world does not pray and do penance beforehand. No! My mission is to indicate to everyone the imminent danger we are in of losing our souls for all eternity if we remain obstinate in sin.”
The Urgency of Conversion
Sister Lucy also said to me: “Father, we should not wait for an appeal to the world to come from Rome on the part of the Holy Father, to do penance. Nor should we wait for the call to penance to come from our bishops in our diocese, nor from the religious congregations. No! Our Lord has already very often used these means, and the world has not paid attention. That is why now, it is necessary for each one of us to begin to reform himself spiritually. Each person must not only save his own soul but also help to save all the souls that God has placed on our path.”
“The devil does all in his power to distract us and to take away from us the love for prayer; we shall be saved together or we shall be damned together.”
Last Times
“Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but She made me understand this for three reasons.”
The Final Battle
“The first reason is because She told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Also, from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or we are for the devil. There is no other possibility.”
The Last Remedies
“The second reason is because She said to my cousins as well as to myself, that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others.”
The Sin Against the Holy Spirit
“The third reason is because in the plans of Divine Providence, God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies. Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then as we say in our imperfect manner of speaking, He offers us with certain fear the last means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother. It is with certain fear because if you despise and repulse this ultimate means, we will not have any more forgiveness from Heaven, because we will have committed a sin which the Gospel calls the sin against the Holy Ghost. This sin consists of openly rejecting, with full knowledge and consent, the salvation which He offers. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is a very good Son and that He does not permit that we offend and despise His Most Holy Mother. We have recorded through many centuries of Church history the obvious testimony which demonstrates by the terrible chastisements which have befallen those who have attacked the honor of His Most Holy Mother, how Our Lord Jesus Christ has always defended the honor of His Mother.”
Prayer and Sacrifice and the Holy Rosary
Sister Lucy told me: “The two means for saving the world are prayer and sacrifice.”
Regarding the Holy Rosary, Sister Lucy said: “Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.”
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
“Finally, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Most Holy Mother, consists in considering Her as the seat of mercy, of goodness and of pardon, and as the sure door by which we are to enter Heaven.”1
Ecclesiastical Reaction to the Above Interview
Father Fuentes published interview with Sister Lucy produced, but only a year later, a strong reaction from the episcopal curia of Coimbra, the diocese in which Lucy's convent is located. They published an anonymous note that accused Father Fuentes of inventing these statements of Sister Lucy, claiming that Sister Lucy herself renounced the published testimony as untrue. The curia had declared that Father Fuentes had outright fabricated the remarks quoted above. To this day, no one has been willing to take responsibility for this note. As such, in law such a note is null and void. In Mexico, Archbishop Manuel Pio Lopez and Cardinal José Garibi y Rivera defended Father Fuentes, but to no avail. He was relieved of his position as postulator for the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, and subsequently replaced by Father Luis Kondor.
Commentary
What happened to cause such an uproar? Someone is lying about the interview between Father Fuentes and Sister Lucy. Both Father Kondor and Father Alonso believed that Father Fuentes did not falsify reports of his interview with Sister Lucy. After being appointed the official Fatima archivist in 1966, at first Father Alonso adopted the belief that Father Fuentes had fabricated the statements he attributed to Sister Lucy. However, after ten years of studying the Fatima archives and meeting with Sister Lucy, Father Alonso changed his position and actually sought to rehabilitate Father Fuentes. He stated that the texts of Fuentes conference “do not say anything that Sister Lucy has not said in her numerous writings delivered to the public.” He also declared that “the genuine text … does not, in my opinion, contain anything that could give rise to the condemnatory notice issued from Coimbra.”2 Therefore, we can safely conclude that the curia's response to Father Fuentes' published interview is an indication that Sister Lucy's message is one that someone wanted silenced.
Notes:
1. Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima, Volume III: The Third Secret, (Immaculate Heart Publications, Buffalo, New York, 1990) pp. 504-508.
2. Father Alonso at first agreed that Fr. Fuentes made up the interview. But in 1975, after he had been studying the Fatima documents for some time, he concluded that it likely came from Sister Lucy. For more information, see The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. III, pp. 552-554.
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| Bishop Tissier de Mallerais [2012]: Pope Benedict XVI makes acceptance of V-II indispensable |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-20-2022, 06:22 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX
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Before Bp. Tissier de Mallerais capitulated to Bp. Fellay ....
Bishop Tissier de Mallerais: "The irregularity is that of Rome, a Modernist Rome."
Rorate Caeli | June 2012
Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais is one of the four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) consecrated by Abp. M. Lefebvre in 1988. He will ordain 8 new priests (6 for the SSPX and 2 for the Traditional Benedictines) and 13 deacons (all SSPX) on Friday, June 15, in the SSPX seminary in Winona, then preside over 3 confirmation ceremonies from June 17 to 24.
Rivarol, a French periodical mostly dealing with political matters, published the following interview with him today. The interview itself was conducted on the first of June.
Between the sentiments expressed here by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais and those expressed by Bishop Fellay in his recent interviews and sermons, there is a wide gulf hard to ignore.
RIVAROL: The imminent "reintegration" of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) within the "official Church" is mentioned widely. What is it exactly?
Bp. TISSIER de MALLERAIS: “Reintegration”: the word is false. The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) has never left the Church. It is in the heart of the Church. There where the authentic preaching of the faith is, there is the Church. This project of "officialization" of the SSPX leaves me indifferent. We have no need of it, and the Church has no need of it. We are already on the pinnacle, as a sign of contradiction, that attracts those noble souls, that attract lots of young priests, despite our pariah status. One would wish to place our lamp under the bushel for our integration in the Conciliar world. This status that is proposed to us, of a personal prelature, analogous to that of Opus Dei, is a status for a state of peace. But we are currently in a state of war in the Church. It would be a contradiction to wish to "regularize the war".
R. : But some in the Society of Saint Pius X think that it would be in fact a good thing. Are you not bothered by this "irregular" situation?
Bp. T.: The irregularity is not ours. It is that of Rome. A Modernist Rome. A Liberal Rome that has renounced Christ the King. A Rome that had been condemned in advance by all Popes up until the eve of the [Second Vatican] Council. On the other hand, the experience of the priestly societies that have joined current Rome is that all, the ones after the others, included Campos and the Good Shepherd, have been constrained to accept the Vatican II Council. And we know what has become of Bp. Rifan, of Campos, who now has no objection to celebrating the new mass and who has forbidden his priests from criticizing the Council!
R: What do you say to those who believe that Rome has changed with Benedict XVI?
Bp. T: It is certain that Benedict XVI has made some gestures in favor of Tradition. Especially by declaring that the Traditional Mass has never been suppressed and, in second place, by suppressing the so-called excommunication that had been declared regarding us following our episcopal consecration by Abp. Lefebvre. These two positive gestures drew bitter complaints from the episcopates towards Benedict XVI. But Pope Benedict XVI, while he is Pope, remains Modernist. His programmatic address of December 22, 2005 [on the hermeneutic of continuity and reform] is a profession of the evolution of the truths of faith according to the dominant ideas of each time. Despite his favorable gestures, his real intent by integrating us in the conciliar orb cannot be other than to lead us to Vatican II. He had said it himself to H.E. Bp. Fellay in August 2005, and a confidential note by himself, published fraudulently, has confirmed it recently. (Rorate note: the reference here is to a note attributed to Pope Benedict XVI and referring to the SSPX that was among those publicized in the Vatileaks affair.)
R: But some think that Benedict XVI, coming from Catholic Bavaria, and who has displayed, they seem to know, "deep piety since his youth," inspires confidence. How do you respond to them?
Bp. T.: It is true that the Pope is very pleasant. He is a kind, polite, thoughtful man, a man who is discreet, but possesses natural authority, of man of decisiveness, who has solved many problems in the Church with his personal energy. For instance, problems of morality in this or that priestly institute. But he is imbued with the council. When he says that the resolution of the SSPX problem is one of the main tasks of his pontificate, he does not see where the real problem is. He misplaces it. He sees it in our so-called schism. Well, the problem is not that of the SSPX, it is the problem of Rome, of the neo-Modernist Rome, that is not the eternal Rome anymore, that is not anymore the Mistress of wisdom and truth, but that has become a source of error since the Vatican II council, and that remains so today. Therefore, the solution of the crisis can only come from Rome. After Benedict XVI.
R: So how do you solve this disagreement with Benedict XVI, which is considered scandalous by many of those in the SSPX?
Bishop T.: It is true that the SSPX is a "stumbling block" for those who resist the truth (cf. 1 Petr 2, 8) and this is good for the Church. If we were "reinstated", we would, by that very fact, stop being a thorn in the side of the conciliar church, a living reproach to the loss of faith in Jesus Christ, His divinity, in His kingdom.
R.: But, Excellency, you wrote with your two colleagues a letter to H.E. Bp. Fellay to refuse a purely practical agreement with Benedict XVI. What are the reasons for this refusal?
Bp. T.: The publication of our letter is due to an indiscretion for which we are not responsible. We refuse a purely practical agreement because the doctrinal question is fundamental. Faith comes before legality. We cannot accept a legalization without the problem of the faith being solved. To submit ourselves now unconditionally to the higher authority imbibed with Modernism would be to expose ourselves to have to disobey. And what is the good in that? Abp. Lefebvre said since 1984: "one does not place oneself under an authority when that authority has all the powers to demolish us." And I believe that that is wise. I would like us to produce a text that, renouncing to diplomatic subterfuges, clearly affirms our faith and, consequently, our rejection of the conciliar errors. This proclamation would have the advantage, first, of saying the truth openly to Pope Benedict XVI, who is the first to have the right to the truth, and second to restore the unity of the Catholics of Tradition around a combative and unequivocal profession of faith.
R.: Some believe that the statute of personal prelature proposed to you will provide sufficient guarantee to you concerning all danger of abandoning the combat for the faith.
Bp. T.: That is incorrect. According to the project of prelature, we would not be free to create new priories without the permission of the local bishops and, additionally, all our recent foundations would have to be confirmed by these same bishops. It would thus mean subjugating us quite unnecessarily to an overall Modernist episcopate.
R.: Could you detail for us this problem of faith that you wish to see resolved in the first place?
Bp. T.: Certainly. It is, as Abp. Lefebvre used to say, the attempt by the Vatican II Council of conciliating the doctrine of the faith with the liberal errors. It was Benedict XVI himself who said it, in his interview with Vittorio Messori in November 1984, by declaring: "the problem of the 1960s (and therefore of the Council) was the acquisition of the most matured values of two centuries of Liberal culture. They are the values that, while originating outside the Church, may find their place, once purified and corrected, in her vision of the world. And it is what was done." That is the work of the council: an impossible conciliation. "What conciliation can there be between light and darkness?", the Apostle says, "what agreement between Christ and Belial?" (2 Cor 6, 15). The emblematic manifestation of this conciliation is the Declaration on Religious Freedom. In the place of the truth of Christ and of his social kingdom over the nations, the Council places the human person, his conscience and his liberty. It is the famous "change of paradigm" admitted by Cardinal Colombo in the 1980s. The worship of the man who becomes God in the place of the worship of the God who became man (cf. Paul VI, address on the closing of the Council, December 7, 1965). It is a new religion that is not the Catholic religion. We do not want any compromise with this religion, any risk of corruption, not even any appearance of conciliation, and it is this appearance that our so-called "regularization" would give us. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary, immaculate in her faith, guard us in the Catholic faith.
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| Biden admin inches closer to currency system that could give gov’t control of personal finances |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-19-2022, 09:40 AM - Forum: Socialism & Communism
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Biden admin inches closer to currency system that could give gov’t control of personal finances
While the White House is only announcing the study phase of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), some are warning that CBDC infrastructure is already being quietly developed.
![[Image: shutterstock_1784061893-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/shutterstock_1784061893-810x500.jpg)
Ra2 Studio/Shutterstock
Sep 16, 2022
(LifeSiteNews) — The Biden administration released on Friday a report announcing an “interagency working group” for the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that could facilitate unprecedented government control over individual finances.
The announcement, which marks a significant step toward a U.S. CBDC recently slammed by investment guru Robert Kiyosaki as “communism in its purest form,” was issued in response to President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14067.
The March 9 executive order declared that his administration “places the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC,” and called for an analysis of its “potential implications.”
The order went so far as to praise a U.S. CBDC’s potential for interoperability with other countries’ CBDCs, which would open the door to a cohesive international digital financial system.
The new September 16 report hails the potential “significant benefits” of a U.S. CBDC, and signals the creation of an interagency group to study the effects of a CBDC and share its findings.
“To support the Federal Reserve’s efforts and to advance other work on a potential U.S. CBDC, the Treasury will lead an interagency working group to consider the potential implications of a U.S. CBDC, leverage cross-government technical expertise, and share information with partners,” the White House report shared.
The release further shared that meetings would be held regularly to “discuss the working group’s progress and share updates on CDBC and other payments innovations,” which would be attended by the “leadership of the Federal Reserve, the National Economic Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Treasury Department.”
Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” called the May 9 executive order “the most treasonous act in U.S. history,” and is joined by Jim Rickards, an economist, investor, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official who has dubbed CBDC “Bitcoin’s Evil Cousin” because of the level of tyranny it would enable.
According to Rickards, a U.S. CBDC would replace the U.S. dollar as a “digital dollar,” which he calls “Biden Bucks,” because he wants Biden “to take full credit for what I consider to be crimes.”
“When Biden Bucks are rolled out, many experts – myself included – believe they will begin an era of total government control and surveillance,” Rickards stated. “This is not hyperbole. This would dramatically expand the power and influence of the federal government … essentially acting as a new type of ‘spyware.’”
“With Biden Bucks,” he continued, “the government will be able to force you to comply with its agenda. Because if you don’t, they could turn off your money. This won’t be like freezing a bank account, it will be so much easier.”
“America would become a surveillance state like China or North Korea,” he added.
While White House announcements do not indicate when such a CBDC would be developed and implemented, financial adviser Joe Brown is warning that the infrastructure for a U.S. CBDC is already being quietly developed.
On August 29, the Federal Reserve announced that its digital instant payments service FedNow would begin “full-scale pilot testing” in mid-2023. FedNow would allow “24/7 settlement … that happens instantly from bank to bank.”
“This infrastructure bypasses a lot of the need for the current banking infrastructure, which is the purpose of a central bank digital currency,” Brown recently explained on his video blog. “Eventually, every single economic participant has an account directly with the Federal Reserve, the central bank, and then you don’t need any of the decentralized nodes of the financial system, the previously existing banks.”
“This transforms the purpose of the entire banking system really into infrastructure for the CBDC,” continued Brown, noting that it would “centralize everything under one roof.”
“And once that system is built, once all the kinks are worked out of the system … then they will have the foundation in place to build the Gen 2, the Version 2 CBDC on top of it. The only thing that would be left to do would be to have everybody open an account directly with the Fed.”
Brown believes the foundational CBDC technology is being rolled out “slowly” and independently of a full CBDC so that it doesn’t “look like a power grab.”
“Otherwise everyone would reject it. Everyone in their right minds would look at this thing and say, ‘Absolutely not,’” noted Brown, adding that the gradual implementation is also needed to test its component parts in “baby steps” and make sure the CBDC doesn’t fail “flat on [its] face.”
“But make no mistake, a central bank digital currency is coming and it looks like this new FedNow service is just the launch of the infrastructure for launching the full version of the CBDC later on,” Brown warned.
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| Pope Benedict XV: Bonum Sane - Devotion to St. Joseph |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-19-2022, 05:28 AM - Forum: Papal Documents and Bulls
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BONUM SANE
Devotion to St. Joseph, Half a century as Patron of the Catholic Church
Motu Proprio Of His Holiness Benedict XV
Original Latin here
It was a good and salutary thing for the Christian people that Our Predecessor of immortal memory Pius IX decreed the most chaste Spouse of the Virgin Mother of God and Custodian of the Word Incarnate, Joseph, to be patron of the Catholic Church, and as the 50th anniversary of the auspicious event occurs next December, we believe it useful that it would be solemnly celebrated by the entire world.
If We look over this period of time, it displays to us a long series of pious institutions which attest that the cult of the most holy Patriarch has gradually grown among Christ’s faithful to the present. If we also consider the calamities that afflict the human race at present, it appears all the more necessary that this cult be substantially increased among the people and more widespread everywhere.
In fact, after the grave tensions of the war, we have indicated in Our recent Encyclical “On the Reconciliation of Christian Peace” what was missing to re-establish a tranquility of order everywhere, particularly in the relations that exist between peoples and between individuals in the civil sphere. And now it is necessary to consider another cause of disturbance, much deeper, that lurks in the inmost bowels of human society. Namely, when the scourge of war struck the human race, people were already deeply infected with naturalism, that great pestilence of the century that, where it takes root, diminishes the desire for heavenly things, extinguishes the flame of divine charity, and takes from man the grace of Christ that heals and elevates, and — finally taking away the light of Faith and leaving him only the corrupt forces of nature — leaves him at the mercy of his wildest passions. Thus it happened that many people dedicated themselves only to the acquisition of earthly goods, and while the strife between the proletarians and the owners grew more acute, this class hatred increased all the more with the duration and atrocity of the war, which on the one hand caused intolerable economic hardship to the masses, and other hand made spectacular fortunes flow into the hands of a very few.
It should be added that the sanctity of faith in marriage and many people’s respect for paternal authority have been not a little wounded by the war, both because the absence of one spouse has diminished in the other the bond of duty, and also because the absence of a vigilant eye has furnished the occasion for rashness, especially for the woman, to live too freely according to one’s own tastes. Therefore we cannot fail to notice with true pain that popular morals are now quite a bit more depraved and corrupt than before, and that therefore the so-called “social question” has been getting worse to the point of threatening irreparable ruin.
Indeed, in the votes and the expectations of the most seditious, an idea has matured of a certain universal republic to come, founded on the absolute equality of men and on the communion of goods, in which there would no longer be any distinctions of nationality, and in which is recognized neither the authority of the father over his children, nor the public authority over the citizens, nor the authority of God over men united in a civil consortium. All things which, if they were realized, would necessarily give rise to tremendous societal convulsions, such as that which is now devastating a not small portion of Europe. And precisely to bring about a similar condition of things among other peoples, we see that the common people are agitated by the fury and the impudence of a few, and here and there we see riots.
We however, concerned more than anything by the course of these events, did not neglect, when the opportunity offered itself, to remind the sons of the Church their duty, as we recently did with the letter addressed to the Bishop of Bergamo and to the bishops of the Veneto region. And now with the same motive, that is to remember the duty to the men on our side who earn their bread with labor, however many and wherever they are, to keep them immune from the contagion of socialism, the bitter enemy of Christian principles, We with great solicitude offer them in a particular way St. Joseph—that they might follow him as their special guide and honor him as their heavenly Patron.
He, in fact, lived a life similar to theirs, so much so that Jesus, God, despite being the Only Begotten of the Eternal Father, willed to be called “the carpenter’s son.” But he knew how to adorn that humble and poor condition of his with so much and so many types of virtue! Above all, those virtues were to shine in the spouse of Mary Immaculate, and in the putative father of Our Lord Jesus. Therefore, at the school of Joseph, all will learn to consider passing current events in the light of their futures that last eternally, and consoling the inevitable hardships of the human condition with the hope of the good things of heaven, they should aspire to the latter through obeying the divine will, living soberly, according to the dictates of justice and piety. As regards the workers specially, it pleases Us to restate here the words proclaimed by our Predecessor of happy memory Leo XIII, since they are such that, in Our opinion, nothing can be said better about the matter:
“Through these considerations, the poor and those who live by the labour of their hands should be of good heart and learn to be just. If they win the right of emerging from poverty and obtaining a better rank by lawful means, reason and justice uphold them in changing the order established, in the first instance, for them by the Providence of God. But recourse to force and struggles by seditious paths to obtain such ends are madnesses which only aggravate the evil which they aim to suppress. Let the poor, then, if they would be wise, trust not to the promises of seditious men, but rather to the example and patronage of the Blessed Joseph, and to the maternal charity of the Church, which each day takes an increasing compassion on their lot.”
With the flourishing of the faithful’s devotion to St. Joseph, there will simultaneously increase as a consequence their devotion to the Holy Family of Nazareth, of which he was the august Head, the two devotions spontaneously welling up one from the other. In fact, through Joseph we go directly to Mary, and through Mary, to Jesus, the origin of all holiness, who consecrated the domestic virtues with His obedience to Joseph and Mary.
We therefore desire that Christian families be fully inspired by these marvelous examples of virtue and conform to them. In this way, since the family is the fulcrum and the basis of human unity, strengthening domestic society with the defense of holy purity, harmony, and fidelity, with all these a new vigor and, we might even say, a new blood would circulate through the veins of human society, by virtue of Christ, and there will follow not only an amelioration of private morals, but also in the discipline of community and civil life.
We, therefore, full of trust in the patronage of him, to whose vigilant providence God was pleased to grant custody of his Incarnate Only Begotten and of the Virgin Mother of God, we strongly exhort all the Bishops in the Catholic world so that, in these stormy times for Christianity, they will lead the faithful to implore with greater commitment the valuable help of St. Joseph. And because there are many ways approved by this Apostolic See by which one can venerate the Holy Patriarch, especially on all the Wednesdays of the year and in the entire month consecrated to him, We desire that, by request of each Bishop, all these devotions be practiced in every diocese as much as possible. But in a particular way, because he is justly held as the most efficacious protector of the dying, having expired with the assistance of Jesus and Mary, holy Pastors should take care to inculcate and favor with all the prestige of their authority those pious associations instituted to supplicate Joseph in favor of the dying, such as those “of a Happy Death”, of the “Transit of St. Joseph”, and “for the Dying.”
To commemorate the aforementioned Pontifical Decree, we order and enjoin that within a year, beginning at the 8th of December, in all the Catholic world there will be celebrated, in honor of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patron of the Catholic Church, a solemn ceremony, how and when each Bishop deems appropriate: and to all those who assist you, We grant now, with the usual conditions, a Plenary Indulgence.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on July 25, the feast of St. James the Apostle, 1920, in the sixth year of Our pontificate.
BENEDICTUS PP. XV
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| Pope Francis signs document saying ‘differences in religion’ are part of ‘God’s will in creation’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-19-2022, 05:11 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
- Replies (2)
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Pope Francis signs document saying ‘differences in religion’ are part of ‘God’s will in creation’
The Declaration echoes the 2019 Abu Dhabi document, which received widespread criticism from Catholics for the apparent dangers which it presented to the faith.
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Pope Francis delivering his address at the Congress of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan, September 15, 2022.
Vatican News video screenshot
Sep 15, 2022
UPDATE: The Congress has withdrawn the original Declaration and issued a new one since this article was published. Paragraph 10 now reads: “We note that pluralism in terms of differences in skin color, gender, race, language and culture are expressions of the wisdom of God in creation. Religious diversity is permitted by God and, therefore, any coercion to a particular religion and religious doctrine is unacceptable.”
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (LifeSiteNews [adapted]) – Pope Francis has joined ecumenical and political leaders in signing a document stating that the “pluralism and differences in religion…are expressions of the wisdom of God’s will in creation.”
The declaration, which can be downloaded here with English text at the end of the document, was the culmination of the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held in Kazakhstan.
It was read aloud by the leaders of the Congress on September 15, feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, after which Pope Francis delivered an address echoing the themes and language of the Declaration.
The Declaration, which Pope Francis joined in signing, contains a paragraph stating that God willed the plurality of religions which are present in the world. Paragraph 10 reads: “We note that pluralism and differences in religion, skin color, gender, race and language are expressions of the wisdom of God’s will in creation. Thus any incident of coercion to a particular religion and religious doctrine is unacceptable.” (Emphasis original)
–– Update: The Congress has withdrawn the original Declaration and issued a new one since this article was published. Paragraph 10 now reads: “We note that pluralism in terms of differences in skin color, gender, race, language and culture are expressions of the wisdom of God in creation. Religious diversity is permitted by God and, therefore, any coercion to a particular religion and religious doctrine is unacceptable.”
The Declaration also noted how the Congress participants “stand in solidarity with the efforts of the United Nations and all other international, governmental and regional institutions and organizations, to promote dialogue among civilizations and religions, states and nations.” (Emphasis original)
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The roundtable of participants and religious leaders at the Congress
The Kazakhstan Declaration paid homage to, and noted its dependance on, the Abu Dhabi document which Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, signed in February 2019. That document itself has been described as seeming to “overturn the doctrine of the Gospel.”
“We recognize the importance and value of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together between the Holy See and Al-Azhar Al-Sharif,” read the Kazakh Declaration.
The Declaration also stated that “We pay special attention to the importance of strengthening the institution of the family,” but in his closing remarks, Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the meeting had paid particular attention to digital and “gender issues.”
![[Image: kazakhstan-address.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/kazakhstan-address.jpg)
Pope Francis delivering his address at the Congress
Kazakhstan’s link to Abu Dhabi document
The recent Declaration almost repeats the Abu Dhabi document word for word, for the 2019 document stated: “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings.”
At the time, Bishop Athanasius Schneider – auxiliary of Astana, Kazakhstan – raised concerns about that passage in the Abu Dhabi document. He was later told in a private meeting with Pope Francis in 2019 that the text only referred to “the permissive will of God,” not the positive will.
According to Bishop Schneider, in implementing the Abu Dhabi document without correcting its erroneous affirmation on the diversity of religions, “men in the Church not only betray Jesus Christ as the only Savior of mankind and the necessity of His Church for eternal salvation, but also commit a great injustice and sin against love of neighbor.”
Following his meeting with the Pope, and in light of Francis’ repeated promotion of the document, Bishop Schneider warned that the Abu Dhabi document was directly linked to problematic passages from Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae [Emphasis - The Catacombs].
RELATED: Bishop Schneider: There is no divine positive will or natural right to the diversity of religions
He stated:
Quote:“Dignitatis Humanae’s assertion that man has a natural right (positively willed by God) not to be impeded in choosing, exercising and spreading, even publicly, any form of religion according to his conscience, and the Abu Dhabi Document’s assertion that God wills the diversity of religions, in the same way as He wills positively the diversity of sex (based on man’s nature itself), will surely one day be corrected by the Papal Magisterium of the Cathedra of St. Peter — the cathedra veritatis.”
He later added that:
Quote:“It contradicts Divine Revelation to say that, just as God positively wills the diversity of the male and female sexes and the diversity of nations, so in the same way he also wills the diversity of religions.”
Conclusion of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions
Prior to the signing of the Kazakhstan Declaration today, Bishop Schneider told the assembled media that the entire Congress risked undermining teaching regarding the primacy of the Catholic faith.
Speaking after Pope Francis met with Kazakhstan clergy, Bishop Schneider said that “the congress as such has a good aim to promote mutual respect and understanding in the world today.” Yet he noted how “it has also a danger because it could give the impression of a ‘supermarket of religions’ and this is not correct because there is only one true religion, which is the Catholic Church, founded by God himself.”
The bishop added that Francis’ strong support for the Congress could suggest that Catholicism is on a par with other religions. “This is not correct because there is only one true religion, which is the Catholic Church, founded by God himself, but commanded to all man, to all religions, to believe and accept his son Jesus Christ, the only Savior,” he said.
Yesterday, Pope Francis delivered his opening address to the Congress, in which he pushed for numerous religions and decried “proselytism and indoctrination.” The Pontiff also appeared to contradict previous Papal teaching regarding the promotion of other religions, saying that everyone “has the right to render public testimony to his or her own creed, proposing it without ever imposing it.”
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| Pope refuses to defend Cdl. Zen ahead of trial in Communist China, calls for ‘dialogue’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-17-2022, 04:48 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope refuses to defend Cdl. Zen ahead of trial in Communist China, calls for ‘dialogue’
'In order to understand we have chosen the path of dialogue,' said Pope Francis when asked about China.
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Pope Francis delivers remarks while on the papal plane, September 15, 2022
Video screenshot
Sep 16, 2022
(LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has described Communist China as “not undemocratic” and refused to support Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen as he prepares to go on trial in the country on September 19.
Speaking to reporters on board the papal plane from Kazakhstan to come on Thursday, Pope Francis fielded questions about China and the Vatican’s relation with the Communist state.
“To understand China takes a century, and we do not live for a century,” he said vaguely. He described the Chinese mentality as “a rich mentality, and when it gets a little sick, it loses its richness; it is capable of making mistakes. In order to understand we have chosen the path of dialogue, open to dialogue.”
Deal going ‘well, slowly’
Referencing the Vatican’s controversial deal with China, Francis said it was “going well, slowly, because the Chinese pace is slow, they have an eternity to go forward: they are a people of endless patience.”
READ: Pope Francis’ deal with Communist China has led to greater persecution of Catholics
Without mentioning any specifics of the deal, the Pope added how “it is not easy to understand the Chinese mentality, but it should be respected, I always respect this.”
Francis praised Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin for his role in chairing the “dialogue commission” with Chinese authorities – a process that “is going well,” he said, lauding Parolin’s purported knowledge of China. “It is a slow process, but steps forward are always being made.”
Cardinal Zen’s trial not unexpected?
When asked whether he considered the trial against Cardinal Zen a “violation of religious freedom,” Francis appeared to suggest that the trial was not unexpected.
“Qualifying China as undemocratic, I do not identify with that, because it’s such a complex country … yes, it is true that there are things that seem undemocratic to us, that is true. Cardinal Zen is going to trial these days, I think. And he says what he feels, and you can see that there are limitations there.”
Francis ended his comments with a confusing phrase, committing himself only to supporting “dialogue” rather than the cardinal. “More than qualifying, because it is difficult, and I do wish to qualify, they are impressions, and I try to support the path of dialogue.”
Cardinal Zen, the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, was arrested in May under the terms of the draconian 2020 national security law. He was taken into police custody along with four other trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The Fund was established to offer “legal, medical, psychological and emergency financial assistance” to those involved in the 2019 protests against the government’s Extradition Law Amendment Bill, which would allow prisoners to be transferred to China for trial.
Cardinal Zen’s arrest sparked outrage across the world among political leaders, China experts, and faithful Catholics. However, the Vatican was notably silent at first, only issuing a subdued statement long after others had issued far more forthright expressions of outrage.
Meanwhile Cardinal Parolin downplayed suggestions that Zen’s arrest would impede the renewal of the secretive deal the Vatican has made with China. Parolin instead voiced his hope that “initiatives such as this one will not complicate the already complex and not simple path of dialogue between the Holy See and the Church in China.”
Zen will now face trial starting September 19.
The Vatican’s secretive deal with China was first established in 2018 and later renewed in 2020. It is up for renewal again this fall, and though still secret, it allegedly recognizes the state-approved church and allows the Chinese Communist Party to appoint bishops. The Pope apparently maintains a veto power although in practice it is the CCP who have control. It also allegedly allows for the removal of legitimate bishops to be replaced by CCP approved bishops.
Cardinal Zen has long been a vocal critic of the deal, accusing Francis of “encouraging a schism” and “selling out the Catholic Church in China.” He styled the deal “an incredible betrayal.”
China too busy for Pope Francis
Of note, even though Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Kazakhstan at the same time as Pope Francis this week, Xi refused to meet the Pope, citing a lack of time.
Reuters reported that a “Vatican source” revealed the Vatican had made “an expression of availability” towards the Chinese, who “appreciated the gesture,” but turned down the offer for Francis and Xi to meet.
But Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong Watch, suggested the snub was a display of power from Beijing.
Quote:That #China #CCP #XiJinping refused to meet @Pontifex, despite the Vatican’s kowtowing & silence on #UyghurGenocide, #Tibet, dismantling of #HongKong‘s freedoms, should tell the Vatican everything about the dangers & futility of its current approachhttps://t.co/6zVaAMAiql
— Benedict Rogers 羅傑斯 (@benedictrogers) September 16, 2022
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| Bishops, priests and scholars correct Pope Francis’ statement on Holy Communion |
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Posted by: Stone - 09-17-2022, 04:34 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Bishops, priests and scholars correct Pope Francis’ statement on Holy Communion
A recent papal statement seems to open the door to Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians such as Nancy Pelosi
![[Image: GettyImages-619459418-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-619459418-810x500.jpg)
Pope Francis
Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images
Sep 16, 2022
(LifeSiteNews) — Four bishops, several priests, and numerous Catholic scholars have signed a statement rebuking Pope Francis for a recent statement about the reception of Holy Communion, according to which “everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Re 19:9). To be admitted to the feast all that is required is the wedding garment of faith which comes from the hearing of his Word.” The Pope wrote these words in his June 29 Apostolic Letter on the liturgy, Desiderio desideravi, but for the signatories of this new statement (see full text below), he omitted the “essential topic of repentance for sin for the worthy reception of the Eucharist.”
Therefore, the papal words about the “garment of faith” as the only requirement for the reception of Holy Communion, “contradict[] the faith of the Catholic Church,” as the authors wrote. They explain:
Quote:The Catholic Church has always taught that in order to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily and without sin, Catholics must receive sacramental absolution, if possible, for any mortal sins they may have committed and obey all other laws of the Church concerning reception of the Eucharist (as, for example, the laws concerning fasting prior to reception of the Eucharist).
If a sacramental confession is not possible, but the reception of Holy Communion urgent (such as for a priest celebrating Mass), the Sacrament of Penance has to be sought as soon as possible afterwards, and the penitent must have perfect contrition for his mortal sins. By extensively quoting from the Council of Trent’s documents, the signatories also make it clear that such teachings as presented in Pope Francis’ document have already been condemned as heresy. “The claim,” they write, “that faith is the only requirement for worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist was condemned by the Council of Trent as a heresy.”
This false teaching might become more important now at this historic moment. Only in May, a U.S. Bishop – Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone – publicly banned Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, from receiving Holy Communion because she is defying the Church’s teaching against abortion. “A Catholic legislator,” he then wrote, “who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others.”
It nearly looks as if Pope Francis’s June 2022 document is a response to that diocesan ruling, now stating that faith alone is sufficient for receiving Holy Communion.
As the new statement points out, “on the day that Desiderio desideravi was issued, Pope Francis received in audience Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” and on that day, she received Holy Communion at a papal Mass, in St. Peter’s, over which Pope Francis presided, thereby “causing scandal to Catholics over all the world,” in the statement’s words. The text continues: “When asked about her illegal reception of communion, Pope Francis expressed no disapproval of it. Instead, he responded by saying ‘When the Church loses its pastoral nature, when a bishop loses his pastoral nature, it causes a political problem. That’s all I can say.’ This response rebukes Archbishop Cordileone for his justified application of Canon 915.”
Among the signatories of this new statement are Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop André Gracida, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, Father Gerald E. Murray, Father James Altman, Father John Lovell and several other priests, along with well-known academic teachers such as Professor Claudio Pierantoni, Dr. John Lamont, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, Professor Anna Silvas, Dr. Anthony Esolen, Professor John Rist, and Professor Paolo Pasqualucci. Among Catholic scholars can be found Julia Meloni and George Neumayr. LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen and Liz Yore also signed the document.
The new statement by clergymen and scholars also refers back to the Code of Canon Law, especially can. 915 (and more), which lays down the same rules about the worthy reception of Holy Communion as presented above. The signatories state:
Quote:The purpose of these canons is to prevent grave sin on the part of the person unworthily receiving the Eucharist, to prevent scandal, and to prevent the desecration of the sacrament by such unworthy reception. These canons are still in force. They cannot be validly repealed, because their content expresses the divine law concerning the Eucharist that is taught in the Holy Scriptures and Sacred Tradition.
In a sense, one could see this new statement by Pope Francis, on faith being the only condition for receiving Holy Communion, as a linchpin and summary statement of his pontificate. Early on, from 2014 on, he promoted the idea of giving Holy Communion to unrepentant remarried divorcees; then he opened up the idea of Protestants following their own conscience when deciding to receive Holy Communion.
In addition, the Pope has been encouraging pro-abortion Catholics to receive Holy Communion and even called pro-LGBT advocate Father James Martin, S.J. as a Vatican counsellor. In all of these cases, the Pope allows Catholics to receive Holy Communion who are objectively violating the Church’s laws and teachings, thus promoting moral relativism.
LifeSite asked Professor Claudio Pierantoni, one of the signatories of this new statement, to comment on the papal words in light of the above-mentioned case of Nancy Pelosi. He wrote:
Quote:We have thought necessary to issue this statement because this error can lead to great scandal, like that of admitting to Communion politicians who publicly approve of abortion, or even promote it directly with their actions. This is precisely what has been happening recently in the US, after the ruling of the Supreme Court that overturned the infamous Roe versus Wade, when President Biden and Speaker Pelosi, both Catholic, openly supported the campaign in favor of restoring the “right” to abortion all over the country. The pope not only omitted to rebuke Biden and Pelosi for this scandalous stance; not only omitted to support those bishops who did implement canonical censures against such politicians, but went to the extreme of criticizing those bishops (though making no names), arguing that such censures (like excommunication), “are not pastoral,” and “cause political problems.”
Now this papal document (Desiderio desideravi) affirming that “the garment of faith” is “all that is required” to be admitted to the Eucharistic banquet, seems to provide a theological justification for this attitude, which could have been thought to be simply the result of political opportunism. This scandal had moreover a striking confirmation through the coincidence that Nancy Pelosi received Holy Communion in St. Peter’s basilica, on the feast of Peter and Paul, the very same day in which Desiderio desideravi was published. Such an attitude on the part of the pope is, of course, the opposite of true “pastorality,” since the first duty of the spiritual pastor is to warn the sinner, and particularly the public sinner, not only of the seriousness of his fault, but of the immense damage that is caused to millions of Catholics who are thereby deceived and led to think that this can be an acceptable and orthodox behavior.
Please see here the full statement, with the list of signatories at the end of the text. A pdf of the statement can be downloaded HERE and a Spanish version HERE.
The teaching of the Catholic faith on the reception of the Holy Eucharist
The recent Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi, given June 29th 2022, the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, states:
Quote:The world still does not know it, but everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Re 19:9). To be admitted to the feast all that is required is the wedding garment of faith which comes from the hearing of his Word (cf. Ro 10:17). [Il mondo ancora non lo sa, ma tutti sono invitati al banchetto di nozze dell’Agnello (Ap 19,9). Per accedervi occorre solo l’abito nuziale della fede che viene dall’ascolto della sua Parola (cfr. Rm 10,17)[…].
The natural meaning of these words is that the only requirement for a Catholic to worthily receive the Holy Eucharist is possession of the virtue of faith, by which one believes Christian teaching on the grounds of its being divinely revealed. Moreover, in the Apostolic Letter as a whole there is silence on this essential topic of repentance for sin for the worthy reception of the Eucharist.
This natural meaning contradicts the faith of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has always taught that in order to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily and without sin, Catholics must receive sacramental absolution, if possible, for any mortal sins they may have committed and obey all other laws of the Church concerning reception of the Eucharist (as, for example, the laws concerning fasting prior to reception of the Eucharist). However, if a Catholic is unable to confess mortal sins but has a grave reason for receiving the Eucharist (such as a priest who may be required to celebrate Mass at a given time but who is unable to go to Confession), such a person must be confident to the best of his ability that he have perfect contrition for any mortal sins that he may have committed.
The claim that faith is the only requirement for worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist was condemned by the Council of Trent as a heresy.
The holy and ecumenical Council of Trent, Decree concerning the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist (October 11th 1551).
Quote:Chapter VII. The Preparation that Must be Employed to Receive the Holy Eucharist Worthily
If it is not becoming for anyone to approach any of the sacred functions except solemnly, certainly, the more the holiness and the divinity of this heavenly sacrament is understood by a Christian, the more diligently ought he to take heed lest he approach to receive it without great reverence and holiness [can. 2], especially when we read in the Apostle those words full of terror: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself not discerning the body of the Lord” [1 Cor. 11 :29 ]. Therefore, the precept, “Let a man prove himself” [1 Cor. 11:28], must be recalled to mind by him who wishes to communicate. Now ecclesiastical usage declares that this examination is necessary, that no one conscious of mortal sin, however contrite he may seem to himself, should approach the Holy Eucharist without a previous sacramental confession. This, the holy Synod has decreed, is always to be observed by all Christians, even by those priests on whom by their office it may be incumbent to celebrate, provided the recourses of a confessor be not lacking to them. But if in an urgent necessity a priest should celebrate without previous confession, let him confess as soon as possible.
…
Canon 11. If anyone says that faith alone is sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist, let him be anathema. [Si quis dixerit, solam fidem esse sufficientem praeparationem ad sumendum sanctissimum eucharistiae sacramentum, anathema sit.]
This claim also contradicts Canons 915 and 916 of the Latin Code of Canon Law, and Canons 711 and 712 of the Oriental Code of Canon Law.
Latin Code of Canon Law
Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.
Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.
Oriental Code of Canon Law
Canon 711. A person who is conscious of serious sin is not to celebrate the Divine Liturgy nor receive the Divine Eucharist unless a serious reason is present and there is no opportunity of receiving the sacrament of penance; in this case the person should make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible.
Canon 712. Those who are publicly unworthy are forbidden from receiving the Divine Eucharist.
The purpose of these canons is to prevent grave sin on the part of the person unworthily receiving the Eucharist, to prevent scandal, and to prevent the desecration of the sacrament by such unworthy reception. These canons are still in force. They cannot be validly repealed, because their content expresses the divine law concerning the Eucharist that is taught in the Holy Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. This has been pointed out in the Declaration of June 24th 2000 by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, concerning the admission to Holy Communion of faithful who are divorced and remarried:
The Code of Canon Law establishes that “Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to Holy Communion” (can. 915). … The prohibition found in the cited canon, by its nature, is derived from divine law and transcends the domain of positive ecclesiastical laws: the latter cannot introduce legislative changes which would oppose the doctrine of the Church. The scriptural text on which the ecclesial tradition has always relied is that of St. Paul: “This means that whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the body and blood of the Lord. A man should examine himself first only then should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks a judgment on himself.”
Pope Francis has indicated by his words and actions that he holds the view expressed by the natural meaning of the words of Desiderio desideravi cited above.
In his Angelus for the feast of “Corpus Domini” on June 6, 2021, Pope Francis said:
Quote:… there is another strength that stands out in the fragility of the Eucharist: the strength to love those who make mistakes. It is on the night he is betrayed that Jesus gives us the Bread of Life. He gives us the greatest gift while he feels the deepest abyss in his heart: the disciple who eats with Him, who dips the morsel in the same plate, is betraying Him. And betrayal is the worst suffering for one who loves. And what does Jesus do? He reacts to the evil with a greater good. He responds to Judas’ ‘no’ with the ‘yes’ of mercy. He does not punish the sinner, but rather gives His life for him; He pays for him. When we receive the Eucharist, Jesus does the same with us: he knows us; he knows we are sinners; and he knows we make many mistakes, but he does not give up on joining his life to ours. He knows that we need it, because the Eucharist is not the reward of saints, no, it is the Bread of sinners. This is why he exhorts us: “Do not be afraid! Take and eat.”
The statement that the Eucharist is not the reward of saints but the bread of sinners might be understood in an orthodox sense if taken in isolation. However, placed in the context of the reception of the Eucharist by Judas referred to in the Angelus address (cf. John 13:23-27), and in the context of Pope Francis’s other words and actions, it suggests that renunciation of sin is not necessary for one’s reception of the Eucharist to be acceptable to God. This view is borne out in the following statement from Desiderio desideravi: ‘Indeed, every reception of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was already desired by him in the Last Supper’ (n. 6).
The teaching of the Council of Trent cited above condemns the position of Martin Luther on faith and justification. Pope Francis has publicly expressed his agreement with the condemned positions of Luther. In an in-flight press conference on June 26th, 2016, Pope Francis stated:
Quote:I think that Martin Luther’s intentions were not mistaken; he was a reformer. Perhaps some of his methods were not right, although at that time, if you read Pastor’s history, for example – Pastor was a German Lutheran who experienced a conversion when he studied the facts of that period; he became a Catholic – we see that the Church was not exactly a model to emulate. There was corruption and worldliness in the Church; there was attachment to money and power. That was the basis of his protest. He was also intelligent, and he went ahead, justifying his reasons for it. Nowadays, Lutherans and Catholics, and all Protestants, are in agreement on the doctrine of justification: on this very important point he was not mistaken.
On the day that Desiderio desideravi was issued, Pope Francis received in audience Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi has been publicly forbidden to receive communion under Canon 915 by her ordinary, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. The grounds for this measure were her consistent political support for the complete legalization of abortion up to birth. After the audience with Pope Francis, Nancy Pelosi received communion at a mass in St. Peter’s over which Pope Francis presided, causing scandal to Catholics over all the world. When asked about her illegal reception of communion, Pope Francis expressed no disapproval of it. Instead, he responded by saying ‘When the Church loses its pastoral nature, when a bishop loses his pastoral nature, it causes a political problem. That’s all I can say.’ This response rebukes Archbishop Cordileone for his justified application of Canon 915.
The Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi is not an infallible teaching, because it does not satisfy the necessary conditions for an exercise of papal infallibility. The canon of the Council of Trent is an exercise of the infallible teaching authority of the Church. Therefore, the contradiction between Desiderio desideravi and the defined doctrine of the Council of Trent does not falsify the claim of the Catholic Church to be infallibly guided by the Holy Spirit when by an exercise of her teaching office she requires all Catholics to believe a doctrine as being divinely revealed. On the possibility of a pope publicly teaching error, see the Correctio filialis addressed to Pope Francis by a number of Catholic scholars (https://www.correctiofilialis.org), and the discussions in the book Defending the Faith against Present Heresies (Arouca Press, 2021). No Catholic can believe or act upon a papal pronouncement if it contradicts the divinely revealed Catholic faith.
We, the undersigned, confess the Catholic faith concerning the worthy reception of the Eucharist as it is defined by the Council of Trent, according to which faith alone is not a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist. We encourage all the bishops and clerics of the Catholic Church to publicly confess the same doctrine about the worthy reception of the Eucharist, and enforce the related canons in order to avoid grave and public scandal.
[Signed.]
Please see here the list of first signatories. Scholars and clergymen are invited to contact us should they wish to sign this document: mhickson@lifesitenews.com
Signatories
Most Rev. Joseph Strickland, Bishop of Tyler
Most Rev. René Henry Gracida, Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi
Most Rev. Robert Mutsaerts, Auxiliary Bishop of S’Hertogenbosch in Netherlands
Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan
Fr. James Altman
Dr. Heinz-Lothar Barth, until 2016 professor of Latin and Greek at the University of Bonn
Donna F. Bethell, J.D.
James Bogle, Esq., MA TD VR, barrister-at-law and former President of Una Voce International
Deacon Philip Clingerman OCDS BS, BA, MA [Theology]
Deacon Nick Donnelly, MA
Anthony Esolen, PhD
Deacon Keith Fournier, JD, MTS, MPhil
Matt Gaspers, Managing Editor, Catholic Family News
Fr Stanislaw C. Gibziński, Reading, UK
Maria Guarini, STB, editor of the website Chiesa e postconcilio
Sarah Henderson, DCHS, MA (Religious Education and Catechetics), BA
Dr. Maike Hickson, PhD, journalist
Dr. Robert Hickson, retired professor of literature and philosophy
Dr. Rudolf Hilfer, Stuttgart, Germany
Dr. Rafael Huentelmann, Editor in Chief, METAPHYSICA
Steve Jalsevac, co-founder and president, LifeSiteNews.com
Dr. Peter A. Kwasniewski, PhD
Dr. John Lamont, DPhil
Fr. Elias Leyds, CSJ, diocese of Den Bosch, Netherlands
Fr. John P. Lovell
Dr. Cesar Felix Sanchez Martinez. Professor of Philosophy of Nature at the Saint Jerome Archdiocesan Seminary of Arequipa (Peru)
Deacon Eugene McGuirk
Martin Mosebach
Brian M. McCall, Editor in Chief, Catholic Family News
Patricia McKeever, B.Ed. M.Th., Editor, Catholic Truth (Scotland)
Julia Meloni, B.A. Yale, A.M. Harvard, author
Fr. Cor Mennen, lic. canon law, former seminary professor
Fr. Michael Menner
Dr. Sebastian Morello, BA, MA, PhD, essays editor for the The European Conservative
Fr. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D., Pastor, Church of the Holy Family, New York, NY
George Neumayr, author
Fr. Guy Pagès
Paolo Pasqualucci, ret. professor of philosophy, University of Perugia, Italy
Dr. Claudio Pierantoni, Universidad de Chile, PhD History of Christianity, PhD Philosophy
Dr. Carlo Regazzoni, philosopher of culture
Dr. John Rist, emeritus professor of Classics and Philosophy, University of Toronto, FRSC
Eric Sammons, Editor, Crisis Magazine
Edward Schaefer, president, The Collegium
Wolfram Schrems, Mag. theol., Mag. phil.
Paul A. Scott PhD, FRSA, FRHistS, FCIL, CL, Associate Professor of French and Cramer Professor, Affiliate Faculty of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, Affiliate Faculty of the Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction and Speculative Imagination, General Editor of The Year’s Work in Modern Language Studies (Brill) Department of French, Francophone and Italian Studies,
University of Kansas, USA
Anna Silvas, BA, MA, PhD, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, University of New England, Australia
Dr. Michael Sirilla, PhD
Anthony P. Stine, PhD
Dr. Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg, Netherlands
Dr. phil. habil. Berthold Wald, retired professor, Theological Faculty of Paderborn, Germany
John-Henry Westen, Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of LifeSiteNews.com
Elizabeth Yore, Esq., Founder, Yore Children
John Zmirak, PhD
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