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  Vatican permits Anglican ‘Mass’ at St. John Lateran Cathedral in Rome
Posted by: Stone - 04-20-2023, 07:04 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - Replies (1)

Dear friends, I haven't found too many places reporting this so please forgive the sedevacantist sourcing. I have slightly adapted the article to removed sedevacantist references (such as removing quotes from the titles of various bishops and popes, etc.).


Vatican permits Anglican ‘Mass’ at St. John Lateran Cathedral in Rome

[Image: wthm6f7wco6s1qmh7ibzv24xwlyrrxfacoe2bk6....ormat=webp]

Mr. Jonathan Baker leads an Anglican ‘Mass’ in St. John’s Cathedral, Rome

NOW [adapted, some hyperlinks removed] | April 19, 2023

As we noted in our last post, ideas have consequences.

News reached us this morning that a group of clerics of the so-called Church of England, led by ‘Bishop’ Jonathan Baker of Fulham (associated with the diocese of London), performed the Anglican worship service (which they call ‘Mass’, in imitation of Catholicism) at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, east of Vatican City.

The official Facebook page of St Philip the Apostle, South Tottenham, posted a number of photos on Apr. 18, 2023 (see here).

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral church of the Pope. Its full name is “Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran”. This cathedral, and not St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, is where the episcopal chair of the Roman Pontiff is located, the real cathedra of the Pope. The historic church building can be traced back to the fourth century.

So this is where Anglican clerics just offered ‘Mass’, with the permission of the ‘Holy See’ of Jorge Bergoglio, as noted by the administrator of the Facebook page in reply to a commenter: “the Holy See are [sic] very gracious to let us use their church”.

Some people might be wondering what the big deal is. Quite simply, the big deal is that an Anglican Mass is:
  • invalid, as its priests and bishops are not validly ordained, according to the solemn judgment of Pope Leo XIII
  • the formal and heretical worship of a false religion, created by King Henry VIII

To use a church building that was consecrated for true Christian worship by the only true religion, for the false worship of a man-made heretical sect, is a sacrilege of staggering proportions. This holds true very specifically also for the altar on which the pseudo-Mass was offered, assuming it is a traditional altar consecrated by a valid Catholic Pope or bishop (which it may not be).

Some will point out that St. John Lateran has long been desecrated de facto through the sacrilegious worship of the Vatican II religion, specifically the Novus Ordo Missae (‘New Mass’), and that is very true. However, this latest occurrence adds another level of wickedness to it all, inasmuch as the Vatican II religion does what it does under the label of Catholicism, whereas permitting Anglican worship is to explicitly allow non-Catholic worship as non-Catholic.

As regards the invalidity of Anglican holy orders, in 1896 Pope Leo XIII issued a definitive judgment that is probably infallible:

Quote:Then, considering that this matter, although already decided, had been by certain persons for whatever reason recalled into discussion, and that thence it might follow that a pernicious error would be fostered in the minds of many who might suppose that they possessed the Sacrament and effects of Orders, where these are nowise to be found, it seemed good to Us in the Lord to pronounce our judgment.

Wherefore, strictly adhering, in this matter, to the decrees of the pontiffs, our predecessors, and confirming them most fully, and, as it were, renewing them by our authority, of our own initiative and certain knowledge, we pronounce and declare that ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been, and are, absolutely null and utterly void.

(Pope Leo XIII, Apostolic Constitution Apostolicae Curae, nn. 35-36; underlining added.)

Though the Vatican web site has somehow not seen fit to publish the ecumenical joy stopper Apostolicae Curae on its own web site in any language other than Latin, even official Novus Ordo teaching affirms the decree of Pope Leo XIII:

Quote:With regard to those truths connected to revelation by historical necessity and which are to be held definitively, but are not able to be declared as divinely revealed, the following examples can be given: the legitimacy of the election of the Supreme Pontiff or of the celebration of an ecumenical council, the canonizations of saints (dogmatic facts), the declaration of Pope Leo XIII in the Apostolic Letter Apostolicae Curae on the invalidity of Anglican ordinations.

(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei, n. 11)

At the same time, of course, the basis for a “re-evaluation” of Pope Leo XIII’s verdict on Anglican orders was already laid in 1979, when a joint Anglican-NovusOrdo commission discovered a “new context” in which to discuss the matter.

The false Novus Ordo hierarchy knows that it cannot simply overturn Pope Leo’s declaration from one day to the next. Therefore, they proceed more subtly and establish gradual acceptance of Anglican orders in the practical order while leaving the doctrine theoretically untouched for the time being. This is accomplished by repeatedly making token ecumenical gestures that imply or suggest an acceptance of validity. In this manner, approval of Anglican orders is slowly enshrined in the minds of the people. When the moment comes for the revolution to be made on the doctrinal level, the minds of the people will already have been sufficiently conditioned to accept the new teaching, and resistance will be minimal.

There is, then, real method to the madness — the madness of saying one thing while doing another. For the time being, Francis is more interested in a practical revolution than a theoretical one. In his view, the theoretical will follow the practical anyway, and takes precedence over it. This kind of “theological existentialism” can be considered an application of the principle he enunciated in his 2013 exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: “Realities are greater than ideas” (n. 233).

Thus, we can view the Anglican ‘Mass’ in St. John Lateran as simply the latest in an ongoing history of gradually making Anglican orders and sacraments acceptable to Catholics (or those who mean to be Catholics). There are sundry instances where Francis, or one of his predecessors of infelicitous memory, did something similar to advance the cause of ecumenism at the expense of Catholic truth.

For instance, in 2017, Pope Francis claimed that it is perfectly fine for Catholics to attend an Anglican ‘Mass’ if there is no Catholic Mass available:

Francis’ Double Standard: Traditional Latin Mass forbidden, but Anglican Service is fine

Keep in mind that Anglican ‘Masses’, even according to Novus Ordo theology, are invalid!

Also in 2017, the Vatican permitted Anglican Evensong to be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica. In 2014, Francis received a ‘blessing’ from the invalid ‘Archbishop’ of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a mere layman. That same year, the false pope granted his deceased friend Tony Palmer, an Anglican-Evangelical ‘bishop’, to be buried as a Catholic bishop.

In 2018, permission was given for the Coptic Orthodox to offer Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul’s outside the Walls in Rome. Although the Mass was valid, this was a grave offense to God because offered by heretics (the subjective dispositions of the individuals involved are irrelevant to the objective evil that took place).

Given the above, is it terribly surprising that Francis revealed a few years ago that he had once substituted for a friend and led a Lutheran prayer service?

All heretical worship is false worship and is a sin against the First Commandment:

Quote:False worship is opposed to the truth of religion (e.g., Old Testament rites which signify that Christ is still to come), or of rites (e.g., Mass by a layman, Mass according to a form disapproved by the Church), or of facts (e.g., fictitious revelations, ecstasies, mysticism, miracles, relies), or of morals (e.g., human sacrifice, praises of God to the accompaniment of lascivious words or music, etc.).

(Rev. John A. McHugh & Charles J. Callan, Moral Theology [New York, NY: Joseph F. Wagner, 1958], n. 2274)

Since heretical worship is always at the very least “opposed to the truth of religion”, it always constitutes false worship. (Whoever thinks this is no big deal may wish to review Jude 11 and Numbers 16 in Holy Scripture, in addition to John 4:24.)

That’s how a Catholic looks at these things, but Catholicism has not been permitted in the Vatican for many decades now. In fact, Bergoglio has said the Church needs Anglicans as Anglicans; and, on another occasion, he claimed that Catholics need Protestants.

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI gave to the English Archlayman of Canterbury a pectoral cross (signifying episcopal authority), something that had also been done by Pope John Paul II in 2003; and in 1966 Pope Paul VI gave his own episcopal ring to the ‘Archbishop’ of Canterbury (see photo here).

Thus it is evident that the gradual acceptance of Anglican ordinations has been going on for quite a while and is by no means unique to Bergoglio, who is merely continuing and advancing the trend. All this is the rotten fruit of the theology of Vatican II, especially regarding the Church (ecclesiology).

On Mar. 25, 1993, Pope John Paul II promulgated the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism. This lengthy document gives concrete application to the council’s new ecclesiology and legislates:

Quote:Catholic churches are consecrated or blessed buildings which have an important theological and liturgical significance for the Catholic community. They are therefore generally [!] reserved for Catholic worship. However, if priests, ministers or communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church do not have a place or the liturgical objects necessary for celebrating worthily their religious ceremonies, the diocesan Bishop may allow them the use of a church or a Catholic building and also lend them what may be necessary for their services. Under similar circumstances, permission may be given to them for interment or for the celebration of services at Catholic cemeteries.

(John Paul II, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms of Ecumenism, n. 137)

Now, some will object that this explicitly states that Protestants must be lacking a place for their worship as a condition for them being permitted to use a Catholic church. That is indeed true but irrelevant for two reasons: (1) It does not say that that this is the only scenario under which a Protestant service may be conducted in a Catholic church; (2) even if it did say so, since heretical worship is no longer forbidden in Catholic churches in principle but merely by circumstance, the door has been opened to this sacrilege, and now it is merely a question of determining under what precise circumstances it may take place. As if John Paul II admits one set of circumstances, there is no reason why Francis couldn’t admit another.

As we said before, ideas have consequences. On what grounds could anyone argue that it is licit to allow Protestants to use a Catholic church for their worship if they have no other place, but not if, for example, some “spiritual advantage”, such as “furthering the cause of Christian unity”, suggests it (to use typical Vatican II speak)? Surely, offering ‘Mass’ in an ancient Roman cathedral can only help foster fraternity and good mutual relations, which in turn will help promote the unity of all Christians, right?

By the way: According to a news report by Jules Gomes at Church Militant, this ‘Bishop’ Baker who led the Anglican worship in St. John’s yesterday is on record admitting to being an active Freemason. Furthermore, as someone who is ‘remarried’ after civil divorce, he apparently takes the Sixth Commandment as more of a divine suggestion. No wonder Bergoglio loves him [...].

Meanwhile, it has been announced that Pope Francis has gifted a relic of the True Cross to King Charles III to be used in his coronation ceremony on May 6. King Charles is not merely the monarch of the United Kingdom but, in that function, also the official head of the Church of England, which is simply a Protestant sect established by King Henry VIII in the 16th century after Pope Clement VII refused to “accompany” him in his desire to have his valid marriage declared null so he could raise up seed with another woman without being considered a bigamist or an adulterer.

Ladies and gentlemen, all of this chaos we see in Rome makes sense once you stop thinking that Jorge Bergoglio is the Pope of the Catholic Church, or that he intends to promote Catholicism and the good of souls. Once you consider that the man is an impostor, a charlatan, an anti-Catholic agent whose aim is to damage Catholicism in every way possible, to ruin souls eternally, and to humiliate the Church before the world, it all begins to make sense.

It’s time to end the cognitive dissonance.

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  Please pray for Alma
Posted by: Stone - 04-19-2023, 07:56 PM - Forum: Appeals for Prayer - No Replies

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...%3DApi&f=1]


Dear friends,

In your charity and kindness, please keep Mrs. Alma C. in your prayers. She is ill in the hospital with multiple health issues. Some of you who know the family may recall that Alma's husband Ron passed away two years ago.

With much compassion, let us offer our fervent prayers that Alma may obtain the special graces needed for a speedy and full recovery!


Almighty and Everlasting God, the eternal salvation of those who believe in You, hear us on behalf of Your servants who are sick,
for whom we humbly beg the help of your mercy, so that, being restored to health, they may render thanks to you in your Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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  The Recusant: SSPX Moves Closer to Accepting the New Mass
Posted by: Stone - 04-19-2023, 07:28 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX - Replies (7)

Taken from The Recusant #60 - Easter 2023:



Some people won’t believe it until the day arrives where they go to their SSPX chapel and find the hybrid Mass being celebrated there. For those of us who are paying attention, however, the warning signs are already starting to manifest…


The SSPX Moves Closer to Accepting the New Mass

Exaggeration? Sensational, click-baity headline? Sadly not. Take a look for yourself. And if you having read what follows and given it due consideration, you still have any doubt at all, then write to your local SSPX priest and ask him to justify even part of what follows.


PART 1 - Denying Quo Primum’s authority; defending Paul VI’s  right to make a New Mass

Here is what Fr. Paul Robinson, acting as an official mouthpiece for the SSPX, has to say about the authority of Quo Primum. It is so shocking that we will quote him at some length:

Quote:Fr. Paul Robinson: “Pius V [sic] wanted to canonise the Mass, to set it in stone and say: this is what it is. And he uses very strong language in Quo Primum, saying that, you know, this shall be in force for perpetuity, the wrath of Ss. Peter and Paul will fall on those who dare change this missal, and so on. And what happens with the Traditionalist movement is sometimes Traditionalists interpret that document as meaning that the Mass can never be changed, that somehow St. Pius V was wanting to bind all of his successors in the papacy. And so they use Quo Primum to say that the Traditional Mass effectively is the only Mass that ever could be or will be till the end, and that any other legislative acts of the Popes to try to introduce a new Mass or try to modify the old Mass are illegitimate for that reason.

Andrew: Let me jump in real quick Father, and ask if you could clarify two points for me. One is: when you say that this is a “disciplinary” bull, it’s not that he’s trying to discipline someone, it’s that it’s more about legislation, it’s not about dogma. Is that correct?

Fr. Paul Robinson: That’s correct, it more concerns the practices of the Church rather than the doctrine of the Church.

Andrew: OK, and so then when you said: “It’s not [that] no one can ever change it” - successors of Pius V [sic], of Pope Pius V [sic], could, when he was saying that no one could change it, when he was using that very strong language, who was he talking about, if not the next Popes coming down the line?

Fr. Paul Robinson: Well he was referring to those who were not in a position to do such things. For one thing, he was referring to the printers. He specifically mentions the printers, you know, they were to print exactly what he put, they weren’t to, you know, do their own editing on the missal. But he was also referring to people lower in the hierarchy: he wasn’t wanting people like a bishop of a diocese, or a certain cardinal, or priests in their parish taking the missal and modifying the missal. Certainly the Pope, St. Pius V, was not anticipating legislating to all his successors, as though he had a power that all the other Popes had, like he could take power away from the other Popes, he certainly wasn’t wanting to set limits on the power of future Popes to either change that missal or bring in a different Mass. And that’s precisely what the questioner is sort of highlighting, because people are going to the questioner and saying, well, if you believe that Quo Primum binds the future Popes, how can it be that other Popes have changed the missal? Such as St. Pius X, or, um, other Popes who have added Saints to the missal, or the missal that we use, the 1962 missal was changed by John XXIII, he added the name of St. Joseph to the canon, for instance. So how is it that these Popes have changed what St Pius V  established, if your argument is correct, that no Popes can lawfully change the missal after St. Pius V? And what I’m saying is that this is just a wrong interpretation of Quo Primum, St. Pius V was not wanting to bind all his successors that you can’t change the missal.

Andrew: I see. So, in a sense, Quo Primum was effective and perfect for its time, and what it does is it says: this is the Mass, there’s nothing wrong with this Mass, use this one, Popes down the line can change it. So I guess we’re left with two conclusions. One, that is, to use an argument of: Quo Primum is there so that’s why we have to use this Mass, - it’s kind of an ineffective argument because that’s not really what Quo Primum does, like you said, it doesn’t lock the Mass down.

Fr. Paul Robinson: It’s not an ineffective argument, it’s the wrong argument to make with Quo Primum.

Andrew: Oh, I see.”


(See: https://youtu.be/y1bdLPsWEI0?t=953 [15:53 - 20:25] )


Oh my, oh my, oh my… where does one even begin?

The first point to note is that this “SSPX podcast” is not recent, and has been out there for a good four years or so (April 2019, since you ask). We just never noticed it; neither did any ofyou, it seems, or if you did you kept awfully quiet about it. I know, I know, listening to him speak is almost a form of Chinese torture, you are forgiven on that score at least. Still, be glad that somebody did, or the hideous implications of what was said might have passed us all by.

The second point is simply to point out that Fr. Robinson is absolutely wrong on this question; as wrong as he is about the earth being billions of years old; as wrong as he was about covid lockdowns being a good thing for which we should all be thankful and concerning which we mustn’t spread “conspiracy theories” (yes, remember that one?!) To show how wrong he is, all that we really should have to do is to take a look at the text of
Quo Primum itself:

Quote:“Furthermore, by these presents and by virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used. … We likewise order and declare that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal; and this present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law. […] Therefore, no one whosoever is permitted to alter this notice of Our permission …Should anyone, however, presume to commit such an act, he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.”

Those words surely speak for themselves. They are the first and most important piece of evidence in defence of Quo Primum. The second is common sense. As regular readers may recall, the question of whether or not Quo Primum is still in force was dealt with in these very pages as recently as late 2021 (Recusant 56, p.45). A number of points were made, which can be summarised as follows:

• St Pius V clearly thought that he could bind his successors, his own words at the end of Quo Primum itself leave no doubt and no room for interpretation. Why would he say something so misleading in such clear language, and why did no one even attempt to correct him?

• When it came time to beatify and canonise him, why did nobody point out that this Saintly Pope had got things so wrong and misled everyone about so serious a matter?

• Every one of his successors, up to and including John XXIII, clearly considered themselves bound by Quo Primum and behaved accordingly. Quo Primum, including those very words just quoted, appeared in the front of every altar missal up to including the 1962 edition.

• It is misleading and untrue to say that Quo Primum is purely “disciplinary,” since its object, the thing with which it is concerned, is not a mere matter of discipline. The object of Quo Primum, is in fact the Mass, something which is intimately connected with the Faith itself as the Council of Trent and every Protestant reformer understood very well. Likewise, the past fifty-plus years since 1970 have amply demonstrated that whether a priest says the Novus Ordo Mass or the Traditional Mass is not a mere matter of discipline: the Faith itself is at stake. Finally, we must remember that the Traditional Roman Rite is the work of the Holy Ghost and goes right back to the very earliest times of the Church: is it really to be treated as being of no greater importance than the question of, say, whether or not a priest can grow a beard?

Quo Primum is the work of the Council of Trent, as the text of the document itself makes clear. It is therefore not merely of one particular Pope, even if we are talking about the only Pope to have been canonised for about six-hundred years. Every altar missal up to and including the 1962 edition carried the title “Missale Romanum: Ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini” [by decree of the Sacred Council of Trent] followed by the name of St. Pius V, making it clear that whilst it was a work carried out by that Pope, it was done at the command of the Council of Trent. Again, the very text of Quo Primum itself also makes this clear.

• Further evidence that what is at issue is the authority of the Council of Trent, not the mere authority of any one given Pope, is the very fact that for the past several hundred years, the Traditional Roman Rite of Mass has been widely known as the “Tridentine” Mass, i.e. the Mass “of the Council of Trent.”

The right question to ask, therefore, would be not just whether a Pope can bind his successors, but rather whether a Council can bind future Popes. Can a Council bind future Popes concerning a matter of Tradition which goes right back to the very earliest days of the Church? And it is not even merely a Council, the right question to ask is: are future Popes bound by the Tradition of the Church? The question almost answers itself.


A Pope Writing to the Printers!

To whom did St. Pius V address his words in Quo Primum? Fr Robinson informs us that, “Well he was referring to those who were not in a position to do such things.” So he was telling people who didn’t have the authority to change things that they didn’t have the authority to change things? Apart from being circular reasoning, this would make St Pius V’s words fatuous, trivial and a waste of effort: utterly pointless, in other words.

According to Fr Paul Robinson, Pope St Pius V told people “who weren’t in a position” to do such things not to do those things that they weren’t in a position to do anyway. Got it? St Pius V wants you to know that people who obviously don’t get to change the Mass, don’t get to change the Mass. Why would the Saintly Pope make himself and the Church look so ridiculous? And why did nobody else ever comment on it in the four centuries following?

Quote:“For one thing, he was referring to the printers. He specifically mentions the printers, you know, they were to print exactly what he put, they weren’t to, you know, do their own editing on the missal.”

Anything - anything! - which is sent to the printers, has to be printed accurately. That goes without saying. If this very newsletter were sent to the printers and came back with a lot of rainbow flag logos over it and the text of the editorial substituted for a plea for tolerance, diversity and “human rights,” the editor might very well ask for his money back. Are we really to believe that St. Pius V went to the effort of promulgating a papal bull in order to make sure that the printers did their job properly, the job that they’re being paid for and which they already know they have to do properly? Is that what we’re being asked to believe? Does that sound at all plausible?

Quote:“But he was also referring to people lower in the hierarchy: he wasn’t wanting people like a bishop of a diocese, or a certain cardinal, or priests in their parish taking the missal and modifying the missal. Certainly the Pope, St. Pius V, was not anticipating legislating to all his successors …”

Likewise, are we being asked seriously to believe that St Pius V considered the threat of a lowly parish priest changing the Roman Rite of Mass as being so serious that he addressed it in a papal bull? A papal bull which itself claims the authority of the Council of Trent?

Rather unsurprisingly, Fr Robinson offers no evidence whatever for these ridiculous claims. Nor does he quote from the text of Quo Primum. Whilst parish priests and printers are mentioned earlier on in the text, it is clear that St. Pius V is no longer talking about them later on
in the text when talks ab out permission to use his missal and says that it can be used without scruple of conscience and without “fear of incurring any penalty, judgement or censure.”

Were 16th Century printers in the habit of excommunicating priests for using the wrong missal? Is it likely that a parish priest might attempt to excommunicate one of his juniors for using the Roman missal? What rubbish. Here is what Quo Primum actually says about using the Traditional Roman (“Tridentine”) Missal:

Quote:“Furthermore, by these presents and by virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used. … We likewise order and declare that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal; …”

Clearly these words are aimed at someone in authority. Who is likely to be the one doing the excommunicating? Who would be the one doing the coercing? To a lesser extent this might conceivably mean the bishop of a diocese, but surely the primary person to whom this would apply above all others would be a Pope? Quo Primum also says:

Quote:“[…] And this present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law.”

Again, who would do the “revoking” - or who would most likely try to revoke it? Is that not the sort of thing a future Pope would most likely be the one to do?


The Mass has always been changing!

Worse still is Fr Robinson’s argument, essentially a reheated version of an old and fallacious argument long used by Novus Ordo liberals (“The Mass has always been changing!”), that:

Quote:“…[people are] saying, well, if you believe that Quo Primum binds the future Popes, how can it be that other Popes have changed the missal? Such as St. Pius X, or, um, other Popes who have added Saints to the missal, or the missal that we use, the 1962 missal was changed by John XXIII, he added the name of St. Joseph to the canon, for instance. So how is it that these Popes have changed what St Pius V established, if your argument is correct, that no Popes can lawfully change the missal after St. Pius V?”

What is the problem with this argument? Well, first of all, his attempt to use St Pius X to prove his point is unfortunate. St Pius X changed the ranking of certain feasts in order to restore the status of Sundays to what they had been in the time of St Pius V. This was not a change to the actual rite itself, more of a smaller change to the calendar and even then, it was more in the way of putting things back to how they had been when there weren’t as many Saints in the calendar. The fact that St Pius X himself was careful to show that he wasn’t really altering the Roman Rite of Mass and falling foul of Quo Primum surely shows, if anything, that he felt that Quo Primum was binding on him.

Secondly - it sounds obvious but let’s point it out anyway - there are changes and there are changes. The changes made to the Mass after Vatican II, replacing the “Tridentine” Mass with the New Mass, are radical and essential: this is a change from one thing to something totally different. By comparison, the so-called “changes” cited by Fr Robinson are almost of no account. Yes, adding St Joseph’s name into the canon is in its own way controversial.

Equally controversial was St Gregory the Great adding six words (“diesque nostras in tua pace disponas”) into the canon of the Mass. But, once accomplished, even those changes did not leave the Traditional Roman Rite looking unrecognisable as though it had been replaced -view mirror, but if I steal your car from your driveway and leave a roller-skate in its place, I can’t then tell you: “Why are you so upset? There’s always been changes happening to your car!”; likewise, if I were to burn your house to the ground and present you with a cardboard box to live in instead, I cannot justify my actions by pointing out that you recently repainted your garden fence and one time even replaced the tiles on the roof, so you’ve no right to object to one further change! Is that such an absurd comparison? Remember, Fr Robinson talks about “other Popes who have added Saints to the missal” as an example of “changing the missal.” Is adding a Saint to the missal the same as replacing the Traditional Mass with Paul VI’s New Mass? Are we to make no distinction between essential changes and non-essential changes? Surely neither Fr Robinson nor Andrew can really be quite so obtuse?

And if the listener had any doubt at all that what Fr Robinson is offering is nothing more than a well-worn conciliar argument, one employed for decades by Novus Ordo Catholics to try to defend the legitimacy of the New Mass, the fact that Andrew picks up on and amplifies his sentiment should leave no one in any doubt at all. How does this sound in the mouth of a supposed Traditionalist:

Quote:“I see. So, in a sense, Quo Primum was effective and perfect for its time, and what it does is it says: this is the Mass, there’s nothing wrong with this Mass, use this one, Popes down the line can change it.”

Notice how Quo Primum was good in its time. Rather like Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors was supposedly good for the 1800s but Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae with its teaching on Religious Liberty was good for our own era, as the late Cardinal Ratzinger (in)famously taught. Is this not classic modernism, using a spurious method of historical context to empty the truth of any objective meaning?

Andrew even claims that Quo Primum, “says: this is the Mass, there’s nothing wrong with this Mass, use this one, Popes down the line can change it” - no, no, NO Andrew, you great ninny, it pointedly doesn’t say that! And I challenge anyone to find any words which even hint at such a thing. Ah! I want to put my head in my hands and weep! This fellow Andrew presumably knows how to read, so he really has no excuse: just read what it says, it isn’t hard! How does anyone manage to take crystal clear statements such as:

• “This present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law,” and,

• “Therefore, no one whosoever is permitted to alter this,” and,

• “Should anyone, however, presume to commit such an act, he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.”

- and read them as saying: “Popes down the line can change it”..?! It defies common sense. The only possible answer, incredible though it may sound, is that he didn’t bother to read the text of Quo Primum prior to the podcast. And yet if you or I were about to do a podcast discussing Quo Primum, surely that is the first thing you would do in order to prepare? It isn’t a particularly wordy or difficult to read text, and it is quite short too. There really is no excuse. Fr Robinson does not correct him either, meaning he shares Andrew’s, er, creative interpretation of what Quo Primum says; being a priest he has even less of an excuse.


Fr Hesse on Quo Primum

We have quoted the late, great Fr Hesse here before. Out of gratitude, do please say a quick prayer for the repose of his soul. Here, once again, is what he had to say on the question.

Quote:“The Fathers of Trent therefore said that the Pope could not change the rites. Is that my interpretation or is it papal teaching? It is implicit papal teaching because - have you ever held a Roman [altar] Missal in your hands? Well if you get a chance, look up the first decrees at the beginning of the book. At the beginning of the Roman Missal, you will find the decree Quo Primum by Pius V. And as the only exception in Church history, you will not only find Pius V’s decree, but you will find three other decrees. All through Church history, no Pope published a book without cancelling his predecessor’s document if there was one. The typical way, for example, of publishing the Code of Canon law, or the Corpus Iuris Canonici which was its predecessor before 1917, would be to authorise a new edition and put in one’s own document. Like Pope Urban IX, who put in his name and threw out his predecessor’s decree.

The Roman Missal since 1570 is the only exception in Church history. Why? Because Pius V did nothing else but respect the Council of Trent when he codified what was there. When Pius V, Saint Pius V, in 1570 published the Roman Missal, he did not change anything. He changed a few little rubrics that were not clear, they were kind of confusing, so he changed them. But the book as such was the missal that had been used for centuries by the Roman Curia. And he canonised it with the decree Quo Primum, in which he says: not only the book must not ever be changed in the future, this Mass must be said by all priests in the future, but the decree as such is irreformable. Some people now argue that a Pope cannot bind a Pope. They argue in what you call legalistic nonsense. They quote Roman law, and they misquote Roman law, because they quote Roman law well but they quote Roman law on a wrong level, by quoting the old line: par in parem potestatem non habet - “An equal has no power over an equal.”

The Pope, at first sight, may seem another Pope’s equal. But then, how about the dogma of the Immaculate Conception? Can a future Pope take that back? No, you know very well he can’t. So that means that the Pope’s have to respect their predecessors. […] So Tradition binds the Pope. Especially in liturgy. Why? The oldest liturgical principle, written down the first time in the year 250, exactly 750 years ago, is: Lex orandi statuat legem credendi. The law of what has to be prayed will determine the law of what has to be believed. Do not confused the law of what has to be believed with the Deposit of Faith.

The Deposit of Faith is at the very beginning of everything. But the law of what has to be prayed will determine what has to be believed. What is the law of what has to be believed? The Creed, for example. Every time you recite the creed at Sunday Mass, you recite what you have to believe in order to remain a Catholic. Now in the liturgy, you always found the feast of the Immaculate Conception. You talk about lex ordandi, the law of what has to be prayed: in an ancient missal of the 14th century or in a handwritten missal of the eighth century, you will find the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. That’s the law of what has to be prayed, because the priests had to celebrate that feast. However it only became the law of what has to be believed in 1854 when Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. So you can easily see in history that the law of what has to be prayed will determine the law of what has to be believed. Lex orandi statuat legem credendi. […]

You can see from this principle that the Roman Missal cannot be considered a mere disciplinary law. It is much more than that, it is way above any discipline. The Roman Missal is the number one law of what has to be prayed because Holy Mass is the number one prayer! Therefore, when Pius V said: this missal cannot be changed, and this decree confirming that is irreformable - he did in fact bind his successors. I ask you, is this my interpretation or is it that of the Popes? Well I showed you, that is the papal interpretation. Because even John XXIII did not dare to take out Quo Primum or the decree following it by Clement VIII, or the decree by Urban VIII. He did not dare to replace these documents.

That means even John XXIII visibly thought that he was bound by his predecessors decrees. That makes four hundred years of Popes being who ‘felt’ that they were bound. Of course, the Popes didn’t just have a ‘feeling’ about it. Leave the feelings in California!” (See: https://youtu.be/FABY6aIJw6A)

Well said, Fr Hesse. It chills one to the bone to reflect that this man was a priest-friend of the SSPX and that when he spoke these words, some twenty years ago or less, virtually every single one of his SSPX priestly friends would have agreed with him. And yet look at the SSPX today, with the likes of Fr Paul Robinson as its mouthpiece: a 180 degree change.

Quo Primum is still in force, it binds all of St Pius V’s successors.” “Quo Primum isn’t in force and it had no power to bind any of St Pius V’s successors.” Which is correct, the SSPX of yesterday, or the SSPX of today?

So dramatic is the change that some SSPX priests appear not to have got the proverbial memo and are still repeating the old understanding of Quo Primum. Even our own district superior, Fr Robert Brucciani (no hide-bound conservative reactionary he!) wrote as recently as 2021 in the British District Newsletter ‘Ite Missa Est that:

Quote:“Pope St. Pius V, following a decree of the Council of Trent, promulgated the bull Quo Primum to fix the Rite of Mass for all time for the Latin Church. Henceforth the Rite was known as the Tridentine Rite of Mass.”

Well said, Fr Brucciani. Quo Primum fixed the Traditional Roman Rite for all time, not just during the lifetime of St. Pius V or until one of his successors felt like changing it!


Was the New Mass ‘Legitimately Promulgated’..?

Let us return briefly to this question. Remember that in its April 2012 Doctrinal Declaration, the SSPX famously described the New Mass as, “legitimately promulgated by Pope Paul VI…” Remember too that Fr Daniel Themann and others tried to spin this phrase as signifying not that the New Mass was legitimately promulgated (why on earth would anyone think that?!), but that the Pope had the legitimate authority to promulgate it. This interpretation was repeated by our unfortunate correspondent in the last issue (‘Is the Resistance Justified?’ - Recusant 59, p.42 ff), who claimed that words such as “legitimately promulgated” when used to describe the New Mass,

Quote:“...merely mean that the Society recognizes that Paul VI and John Paul II had the right to promulgate liturgical rites. Hence, it is not a judgment on the Novus Ordo itself.”

This is as laughable, but we have pointed out plenty of times already that the words mean what they say. In previous Recusant issues we have reproduced an article by Fr Paul Kramer showing that the New Mass was never in fact promulgated, and one by Fr Gregory Hesse proving that no Pope had the right to promulgate such a rite in any case.

Fr Robinson goes on later in this interview to say that, whilst Paul VI was able to change the Mass and promulgate a New Rite had he so wished, in fact he didn’t because the Novus Ordo was never actually promulgated. He is quite right on that last point. The question of whether Paul VI could have promulgated the New Mass legitimately is where he falls down.

In short: whereas we deny the legitimacy of the New Mass and uphold the legitimacy of Quo Primum, Fr Robinson & co. deny the legitimacy of Quo Primum – corollary? Sliding towards defending the legitimacy of the New Mass, isn’t that where this leads?


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  Hong Kong bishop visits Beijing on historic trip
Posted by: Stone - 04-18-2023, 07:01 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

Hong Kong bishop visits Beijing on historic trip


April 17, 2023
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop arrived in Beijing on Monday, marking the first visit to the Chinese capital by the city’s bishop in nearly three decades, despite signs of Sino-Vatican strains.

The five-day trip by Bishop Stephen Chow began about two weeks after Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, reported that China had unilaterally appointed a new bishop to Shanghai.

Chow, who was named by Pope Francis as the city’s bishop in 2021, earlier said that the visit underscores the mission of the Hong Kong Diocese to be a bridge church and promote exchanges between the two sides. He was invited to visit the Chinese capital by his counterpart there.

China’s ruling Communist Party closely controls organized religion, which it sees as a potential threat to its monopoly on power. People are allowed to worship in institutions that abide by party rules. Some Christians have set up underground churches, which are considered illegal and harassed by authorities.

In 2018, the Vatican and China signed a “provisional agreement ” over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that stymied diplomatic relations for decades and aggravated a split among Chinese Catholics.

The deal was also harshly criticized by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen.

The Hong Kong Diocese did not reveal Chow’s itinerary when announcing his trip in March. But it said in a statement that it accepted the invitation from Beijing’s diocese in the spirit of brotherhood.

Kung Kao Po, a publication affiliated with the Hong Kong Diocese, reported that Chow would meet with his counterpart, Joseph Li, visit the National Seminary of Catholic Church in China and host a thanksgiving Mass at the Xuanwumen Catholic Church.

He would also visit the tomb of Matteo Ricci, one of the first Jesuits to live in China who died in Beijing in 1610, and other organizations that facilitated cultural exchanges, the report added.

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  Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call
Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 08:06 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call, 1st for big US city


AP | April 14, 2023


MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — Minneapolis will allow broadcasts of the Muslim call to prayer at all hours, becoming the first major U.S. city to allow the announcement or “adhan” to be heard over speakers five times a day, year-round.

The Minneapolis City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to amend the city’s noise ordinance, which had prevented dawn and late evening calls at certain times of the year due to noise restrictions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The vote came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“The Constitution doesn’t sleep at night,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, after the vote. He said the action in Minneapolis shows the world that a “nation founded on freedom of religion makes good on its promise.”

Minneapolis has had a flourishing population of East African immigrants since at least the 1990s, and mosques now are common. Three of 13 members of the council identify as Muslim. The decision drew no organized community opposition. Mayor Jacob Frey is expected to sign the measure next week.

“Minneapolis has become a city for all religions,” said Imam Mohammed Dukuly of Masjid An-Nur mosque in Minneapolis, who was among several Muslim leaders who witnessed the vote.

Three years ago, city officials worked with the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque to allow the adhan to be broadcast outdoors five times daily during Ramadan. Prayers are said when light appears at dawn, at noon, at mid- to late afternoon, at sunset and when the night sky appears. In Minnesota, dawn arrives as early as before 5:30 a.m. in summer, while sunset at the solstice happens after 9 p.m.

The city allowed year-round broadcasts last year, but only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. — typically excluding early morning prayer and sometimes night prayer.

At a recent public hearing, Christian and Jewish leaders expressed support for extending the hours for the adhan.

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  Bp. de Mallerais: The Origins of the Society of St. Pius X
Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 07:55 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

The Angelus - January 2020


THE ORIGINS OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT PIUS X
By Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais


Editor’s Note: This article is based on extracts from the biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre by Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais. They attempt to capture the effort and mood of the Society of Saint Pius X’s founder in the face of countless difficulties.

As Superior of the Holy Ghost Fathers until 1968, Archbishop Lefebvre was already at work leading seminarians. Hence, he directed the 20 or so who knocked at his door towards his own Alma Mater, the French Seminary of Santa Chiara in Rome. Soon he realized that this option was not conducive to proper training any longer both at Santa Chiara and the adjacent Gregorian University, so he thought of other universities which could give a Thomistic formation.

In anguish, the seminarians became more insistent: “Your Grace, if you do not intervene, the priesthood will be closed off to us.” The Archbishop would later say: “I could not have imagined where that cry of distress would lead. With great sorrow we had to give in and look for other places, other universities.” Two were still sound in what they taught: the Lateran and Fribourg. In 1967, he sent a group to Fr. Theodosius’s society, sponsored by Cardinal Siri, who followed courses at the Lateran University. The following year, he sent some seminarians to Fribourg University, all the while staying at the Holy Ghost Fathers’ priory. That was the situation until June 1968 when he resigned as Superior General.


I. At the Crossroad

Archbishop Lefebvre found himself at a crossroads, at the retiring age of 63. However, the growing disintegration of the priesthood led him to form a plan to transmit the precious inheritance he had received at Rome from the hands of Frs. Le Floch, Voegtli, Frey, and Le Rohellec. When still an archbishop in Africa, he had a premonition of this work:

“…The dream was to transmit, before the progressive degradation of the priestly ideal, in all of its doctrinal purity and in all of its missionary charity, the Catholic Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as He conferred it on His apostles, just as the Roman Church always transmitted it until the middle of the 20th century.

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Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop Adam of Sion.

“How should I carry out that which appeared then to me as the sole solution to revive the Church and Christianity? It was still a dream, but there appeared to me already the need, not only to confer the authentic priesthood, to teach not only the sana doctrina approved by the Church, but also to transmit the profound and unchanging spirit of the Catholic priesthood and of the Christian spirit essentially bound to the great prayer of Our Lord which His Sacrifice on the Cross expresses eternally.”

Ever since his return to Europe, one desire had gripped him more and more: to found an international seminary according to these principles. While supporting his seminarians of Rome and those of Fribourg, several candidates knocked at his door. By that time, end of 1968, he was virtually out of options for them. Fr. Theodosius said he did not want to take more than 10 seminarians, whom he meant to train as religious. In Fribourg, his seminarians were no longer wanted at the Holy Ghost priory. The Archbishop still said: “I had this conviction which nothing could shake, that to save and continue the Church, one had to train priests: holy priests and true priests.” By this overwhelming thought, he looked for houses in Fribourg whose university was certainly attractive and where the seminarians could really get good training.


II. The Foundation at Fribourg

Fr. Aulagnier witnessed the decisive scene:

“There we were on Grand’rue in the library of our host, Professor Bernard Faÿ, an upstairs room in a grand house overlooking the Sarine. There were Fr. Marie-Dominique, O.P., Dom Bernard Kaul, Abbot of Hauterive, and Jean-François Braillard, who was the father of a young family and headed the Fribourg state education department. We were amazed to see these individuals exchanging reflections on the decline of the priesthood.”

Archbishop Lefebvre recalled:

“They literally took me by the scruff of the neck and said: ‘Something must be done for these seminarians!’ It was useless my saying that I was 65 and retired, or that it was foolish to begin something that I could not continue if I should die within the next few years.… They wouldn’t have it. ‘Okay,’ I said to them, ‘I’ll go and see Bishop Charrière. If he says yes, that will be a sign of Providence.’

“His Excellency Bishop Charrière received me warmly and was enthusiastic about my projects. He willingly gave me permission to open this ‘orphanage’ for seminarians from all countries, especially South America. This happened on June 6, 1969, at 3 p.m. in the bishop’s residence at Fribourg. The seminary was born! Now we had to think about getting down to business.”

The “Saint Pius X Association for Priestly Training” was formed on July 2. The founder secured 12 rooms in the Foyer Don Bosco for the school year 1969-70, financed by generous benefactors. The only thing missing was someone to act as rector of the seminary, but none came forward whom he could trust. Thus, Providence decided that he, Archbishop Lefebvre, and no other, would be the rector of the seminary he was founding. He would be completely involved in the work.

On October 13, 1969, the “new boys” arrived at 106, Route de Marly, most of them in lay clothes. Apart from Pierre Piqué and Paul Aulagnier—both from Santa Chiara—there was the Swiss M. Doyon, the Argentinean E. Eraso, and J. Antier, R. Fillion, G. Monti, B. Pellaboeuf, and B. Tissier de Mallerais, all of whom were French. Archbishop Lefebvre himself welcomed them. Paul Aulagnier was already there, keeping his thoughts to himself: “I felt disappointed and worried. The nine students assembled for this first academic year did not seem reliable to me. It was far from the ideal that I had dreamed of: a breeding ground for young, Traditional Catholic Levites, spiritually pumped up and having no qualms.”

Then, the founder fell ill at Dijon at the end of the year, and was hospitalized in Fribourg, and unbeknownst to the community, he asked for extreme unction. The priest reassured him: “Now is not your time, your Grace!” At last, test results reassured the patient and his spiritual sons: he was suffering from strongyles contracted in Africa and lodged in his liver. He wrote to a friend: “Providence has put me to the test with this illness for the last two and a half months. Doubtless, it is because suffering is essential to the works of God.”

Having been recently tried by illness, he was now beset by doubts: what was the use of carrying on with troops tried and trimmed, and without a reliable collaborator? However, thanks to the Cité Catholique and The Knights of Our Lady, seven solid recruits were acquired. With his customary simplicity, he stated his worries to the five remaining students: “I won’t conceal from you the anxiety that I feel at the thought of taking the decision to accept new seminarians with all the risks that could pose to their future. Will they be accepted in dioceses? Should we form a priestly society? I am putting my whole confidence in the holy providence of God.” He was encouraged at this time by Fr. Jean-Yves Cottard who was living at the French Seminary in Rome but who wanted to come to Fribourg to whom he replied: “No, wait: things are not going very well.”

The loyal support of the Fribourg committee certainly helped the Archbishop to persevere. Professor Faÿ who came to give talks about Freemasonry to the seminarians, District Judge Albert Volanthen and Fr. Philippe encouraged the project. Thus, the Archbishop set out once again to find an independent property for the four remaining Fribourg seminarians for the start of the school year in 1970. A suitable house on Route de la Vignettaz soon went up for auction, and on June 26 while the Archbishop prayed in the cathedral, the architect Antognini won the bidding for him. However, the Archbishop had found another house for the new students who would arrive that year: Écône!


III. Écône

Archbishop Lefebvre was going to launch a project that was dear to his heart: a year of spiritual formation before beginning studies for the priesthood. Well before Fribourg in fact, Providence and Our Lady were preparing Écône for him on this blessed plot of land in a corner of Valais.

In the autumn of 1967, Fr. Pierre Epiney had just accepted from his bishop the post of Riddes parish priest that had been refused by four other priests. He began by visiting his parish. He rang the doorbell at Écône, owned by the Canons of the Great St. Bernard, but there was no answer. He went into the deserted courtyard: on the left was the barn and on the right the kennels. In a flash, he saw in his mind’s eye the courtyard of a large seminary full of seminarians. Very quickly he chased away the meaningless image and found himself again in the deserted courtyard. Canon Roserens who still maintained the property came down to greet him: “Here, it’s all over, there’s nothing left to do.” Was that certain?

Everything began on Holy Thursday, 1968. Alphonse Pedroni, a daily Mass communicant from Valais, heard during a conversation in a cafe that the house of Écône was to be sold by the Great St. Bernard Canons. He opened his heart to Gratien Rausis: “There are several buyers who have lots of money and one of them is a Communist group who want to blow up the chapel!”

“Alphonse,” Gratien replied, “if it’s only a question of money, we have to do something. But we cannot do that alone.” He suggested that his brother Marcel join them, while Rausis put forward the names of Roger Lovey and Guy Genoud. On April 18, Roger Lovey wrote to the Provost: “Because of Écône’s past, it means a lot to us. We could say that it has a religious vocation which we refuse to see abandoned without greater scrutiny.”

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Écône aerial view.

On May 31, 1968, the feast of the Queenship of Mary, contracts were exchanged by the five friends and Canon Bernard Rausis. The Provost of St. Bernard, Monsignor Angelin Lovey, had said: “We will do you no favors.” How were they to pay? They would borrow from the bank. The manager sought information: “But have you assets?”

“No,” replied Pedroni, “we don’t have any. You only need give us the loan: it’s for a religious work. You only have to lend us everything!”

Amazed, the bank manager gave them a loan for the entire sum.

Almost a year passed from May 1968 to Holy Week 1969 when Archbishop Lefebvre made his first visit to Écône. “I didn’t really think it was a good spot for a seminary since it was so far away from any major town, but it was very suitable for a novitiate.” On May 24, 1970 with Paul Aulagnier he returned to Écône for another visit and was welcomed with open arms by the five friends and Fr. Epiney. At the end of the meal, Alphonse Pedroni, who until then had remained mysteriously silent, opened his mouth to speak these words which proved to be prophetic: “Well, Monseigneur, I tell you: they’ll talk about this seminary of Écône throughout the world.”

The final decision to begin the renovations needed before the house could lodge seminarians was taken on June 24. The Archbishop promised to pay them a substantial sum by way of rent. By that time, he had secured the Bishop of Sion’s approval for a preparatory year at Écône.


IV. The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

How could priests, who were trained to fight for Christ the King, subsequently maintain the doctrinal purity and missionary charity of their calling if not by some rule of life? How could they be protected against the growing liberal corruption of the clergy if they returned to the diocese? Implicitly, if not explicitly, the “dream of Dakar” was in fact a plan for that society. He shared his idea in October 1969 with his seminarians:

“Let me offer you some considerations for the future: [we could] form a society, not of religious like Fr. Theodosius, but a society of seculars. Should we be scattered throughout dioceses or existing congregations? Or should we remain together, at least living in small groups?”

The seminarians were quite uncomfortable with this proposal. Those who had been sent by their bishops or even already incardinated in their home dioceses considered that they were destined for those dioceses. The new students had no clear ideas on a topic that went beyond their present concern of becoming good priests. The Archbishop expected more of a response, if not more enthusiasm. After a few days of doubt—as we have related—he took heart again. On July 1, he went to Bishop Charrière’s residence in Fribourg and gave him a draft of the statutes of the Priestly Society: “I have been asked by some young priests and seminarians to found a society for secular priests. I have written these draft statutes in accordance with Canon Law.”

“I see nothing to object to in such a useful and timely initiative,” replied François Charrière.

“If you agree to the foundation, the year of spirituality will take place in Écône; Bishop Adam has already given his permission. During this year, candidates can prepare to join the Society—it is a novitiate by another name—although the seminarians will not be obliged to join. The Society will have its headquarters at Fribourg on Rue de la Vignettaz.”

After another meeting on August 18, trying again—as only he knew how—Marcel Lefebvre wrote to his colleague again on October 13, 1970, reminding him of their meetings and the statutes under consideration. Finally, on November 7, still awaiting a reply, Archbishop Lefebvre telephoned the bishop’s residence; he was worried since he knew that the auxiliary bishop, Pierre Mamie, was opposed to the foundation. Nevertheless, Bishop Charrière said eagerly: “Yes, Your Grace, come over straightaway.” After a brief conversation at the bishop’s residence, he said: “There’s no point in waiting any longer.” There was just time to go and say a prayer in the chapel while the document was being prepared. Then Bishop Charrière signed it. He was at the end of his episcopal career. Three months later he resigned. Archbishop Lefebvre had certainly put a little pressure on the bishop. However, he declared: “I’m absolutely delighted to see my wish so quickly fulfilled!” The document ruled that:

“The International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is erected in our diocese as a ‘Pia Unio’ (pious union).…We approve and confirm the Statutes, here joined, of the Society for a period of six years ad experimentum, which will be able to be renewed for a similar period by tacit approval; after which, the Society can be erected definitely in our diocese by the competent Roman Congregation.…Done at Fribourg, in our palace, November 1, 1970, on the Feast of All Saints, François Charrière.”

The decree was deliberately predated by six days. Returning to Rue de la Vignettaz, Archbishop Lefebvre, who was obviously delighted, showed the letter to the seminarians, who passed it from one to another: they could not resist re-reading it, looking at the signature and checking the seal. Everything was in order. The Archbishop later said: “Was it not providential? That date of November 1, 1970, is to my mind an event of great importance in our history: it was the day that saw the official birth of the Society. It was the Church which brought it into the world that day. The Society is a work of the Church. For me, I would have been horrified at the thought of founding anything without the bishop’s approval. It had to be of the Church.”

As for the seminary whose legal existence was suggested by the statutes, in light of its preparatory year in Valais, its house in Fribourg, and the studies at the University, it could be considered as an appropriate training center needed by the institute even at its embryonic stage of clerical pious union.


V. The Seminary of Saint Pius X moved to Écône

Archbishop Lefebvre commented:

“From November 1970 I had to think about the new school year in October 1971 and work out where we would lodge those who had finished the year of spirituality, which was to be at Fribourg in principle. Meanwhile, the university courses were no longer satisfactory; the students were becoming agitated, and Fr. Philippe said: ‘One day soon you will have to give the courses yourself.’

“Now, when I went to Écône, it was good to see how the young men benefited from a true and simple curriculum and from being in an atmosphere of peace rather than dissent. They were also out in the Valais countryside where the people were still deeply religious. So, I thought to myself: why not put the seminary here?

“Then I consulted with His Eminence Cardinal Journet. He was categorical: ‘The university does not suit the majority of seminarians and does not encourage seminary discipline; if you have the choice, you must not hesitate. Send only a few students to the university to get degrees.’ Bishop Mamie understood what good could come from an independent seminary but thought that it would be difficult to set up.…Lastly, my colleagues were unanimous: if it was going to provide training that was sound and solid in all respects, the seminary should be in Écône.”

The Diary of Écône notes on November 16 that at the end of a novena to St. Joseph, and “after a visit to the chapel,” the Archbishop decided to build the seminary at Écône. Bishop Adam’s permission was still needed… On December 26, 1970, Maître Lovey drove the Archbishop to the bishop’s residence in Sion, and stayed in the car while they went in. “Getting permission was a little more difficult” than for the year of spirituality,” said the Archbishop. At last, the Bishop of Sion gave in: “The last time, you asked me if you could use Écône for your pre-seminary, I accepted; but when you asked permission for a seminary, I objected that we already had three in the diocese. Now, this year, my seminary is at Fribourg and the Capuchins have closed theirs. So, I no longer have any objection.”

Archbishop Lefebvre was satisfied with his answer and got on with the work. Henceforth, things went very quickly. On February 3, the architect Ami Delaloye was commissioned. On February 15, 1971, he came to present his plans for the future St. Pius X wing, a first building providing accommodation, and his quotation: 1,500,000 Swiss francs. The Archbishop listened, saying nothing but thinking: “I need at least a third of that to begin without getting into debt; I don’t have it; I can’t go ahead.” Now, at that very moment, a telephone call from Fribourg informed him that a benefactor—Bishop Adrien Bressolles had just credited his account with a large amount of money. Providentially, it was just enough to get the project started!

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  Excerpt from Archbishop Lefebvre's The Mass of All Time
Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 07:44 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

The Angelus - November 2014


A Pledge of Eternal Life
by Archbishop Lefebvre, taken from The Mass of All Time


Why will you offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass, my dear friends? “That they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). This is also what Our Lord wanted: “That they may have life, and may have it more abundantly,” because the sacrifice of the Mass has no other purpose than to give life. And what life? Not the life of this world, not the life of our bodies, but supernatural life, the divine life we had lost. Our Lord wanted to give us His own life, His divine life, to make us enter into the Blessed Trinity, every one of us, however little, however weak we may be. Our Lord wanted us to share in His divine life, and that is why He died on the Cross. Thus you will offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass to give life, and the fruit of the sacrifice of the Mass is the Eucharist, in which are present the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. How sublime all that is!­1

The Eucharist is the mystery of our hope. It was Our Lord Himself who said: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day” (Jn. 6:55). He will be our resurrection. The body of Our Lord Jesus Christ present in our poor bodies is a gage of our resurrection. We already possess within ourselves everlasting life; this eternal life will not leave us. Even at the hour of our death, this germ of the resurrection of our bodies for eternity will be in our souls because we have received Holy Communion, because we have been united to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is Our Lord Himself who said it, and this Gospel was expressly chosen by the Church for the Mass of the dead.

The Eucharist is like a seed within us, a seed of our bodily resurrection, because in our Communion we partake of Our Lord Jesus Christ risen. He is in us with His risen body, His glorious body. Thus He is for us like a seed of resurrection. All these thoughts are so beautiful and consoling that we will never thank the good God enough for our being able to receive Holy Communion every day.2


Bond of Perfection

Communion is also the efficacious sign of the charity that should animate the Mystical Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for we are all members of this Mystical Body....It would be unacceptable that souls who partook of the same Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ should be divided. Charity should reign in the members of Our Lord Jesus Christ more than anywhere else. How can those who have partaken of the same Body and Blood, and of the same victim, Our Lord Jesus Christ, be divided; how can they not love one another? Certainly, the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the paramount cause of unity.3

I would like to emphasize the efficacy of the charity produced by the sacrament of the Eucharist. We too need this charity, we who believe, who have the Faith, who want to stay Catholic and Roman until the last moment of our lives. So we must remain in charity. This Sacrament is the sign and symbol of the love that emanates from Our Lord’s charity. Yet how painful it is sometimes to think that people who nourish themselves daily with the Eucharist never manage to be completely dominated by the virtue of charity! They need to criticize, to form factions, to make rash judgments, to display antipathy towards persons to whom they should show sympathy.

Well, then, let us who want to keep Tradition, this holy faith in the Blessed Eucharist, make the resolution today to also keep the fruit of the Holy Eucharist. It does not suffice to believe in it; it does not suffice to say that we are attached to the tradition of faith and hope in the Eucharist without having within us all its fruits. The fruits of charity are so good, they show so clearly the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in our souls!4


Medicinal Effect

The Eucharist has a medicinal effect. Catholic doctrine is a doctrine that enlightens souls and compels them to banish sin. It leads them to tell themselves: “I must get rid of my shortcomings and defects and my sins so that my soul will be ready to receive graces from Our Lord and be transformed in Him.” This is what the Church has always taught. For this reason she asks missionaries to preach the gospel to the whole world and to carry the grace of Our Lord to souls, and to transform souls in Our Lord. Whence the importance of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, which is the continuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and the application to souls of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Blood, which renews them, which transforms them by the manducation of the Eucharist. “May the partaking of Thy body be to me a remedy.” This we pray to Our Lord in the prayer before receiving Holy Communion: Give me your remedy. It is the propitiatory act of Our Lord renewed every day. We must be convinced of our need of a remedy.5


Heavenly Antidote

The Eucharist lessens lust. The Eucharist has for effect to keep us pure and unsullied from all sin. It is a heavenly antidote that prevents us from being poisoned and corrupted by the deadly venom of evil passions, especially lust. It is the bread of virgins. That is why it is necessary to highly recommend Communion to people today, and also to couples, who have so many difficulties staying faithful to God’s law in the conjugal domain....The Eucharist is the remedy. People used to receive Holy Communion frequently in olden days. Christians nourished themselves with the Eucharist because it is a specific remedy for reducing our concupiscence. In the Eucharist, we receive the Author of every grace in us, the One who is precisely the opposite of sin, who is the contrary of concupiscence: Our Lord Jesus Christ.6 Insofar as one receives Our Lord Jesus Christ with the necessary dispositions, the fire of concupiscence abates and souls rest in peace; they are not always tormented by these problems. “The Eucharist restrains and represses the lusts of the flesh, for while it inflames the soul more ardently with the fire of charity, it of necessity extinguishes the ardor of concupiscence.”7, 8


Divine Life

The Eucharist is heaven. What is the grace you receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist? It is no more or less than the communication of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s divine life to you. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down upon the earth; He took a body like ours in order to communicate to us His Divine life. If today we could see souls as they are, the souls of those in a state of mortal sin would appear to us as leprous, or ulcerous, or afflicted by a dreadful malady. If today the good God revealed what souls in a state of grace look like, we would be amazed; we would think it is impossible for a soul in the state of grace to be so beautiful, so divine, so luminous, so full of charity! Grace is the good God in our souls; it is Jesus in our souls. And Jesus is nothing else than heaven.9

God is heaven; Jesus Christ is God; consequently, when we receive God in our hearts, we can truthfully say, “I have heaven in my soul; I have Paradise in my soul.” It would behoove us to be united to this Paradise in such a way that we would be prepared for the lasting Paradise, which will consist in being in the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ for eternity. Only the true religion can possess such treasures. Only God could have invented such grand and beautiful expressions of His love and His charity for us.10


Our Consolation

The Eucharist is our consolation. Imagine a Christian life without the Eucharist! What would we be without Our Lord Jesus Christ, without this extraordinary gift God gave us? What orphans we would be; how alone we would feel, a little abandoned by the good God. But with the Eucharist, when we need to speak to Him, to see Him, to tell Him that we love Him, or when we need special help we can go to our sanctuaries and kneel before Our Lord Jesus Christ, alone perhaps before the Blessed Sacrament. Surely it has happened to you to say to the good God before the Blessed Sacrament: “Come to my help; help me, I have worries and trials. Help my family; help my children.”

And when you departed, you left the church comforted. And that is what you have felt, I am sure, after every Sunday Mass. How many times it has happened to us as priests to assist the dying. How many times we have had to bring Communion to the sick. What a joy it was for these suffering souls to receive God from the hand of the priest. What a consolation! What a source of courage it was for them. By this Sacrament, Our Lord Jesus Christ worked an extraordinary miracle of His love. Consequently, we too must show Him our love.11


Source of Civilization

Communion is the source of civilization. Understand, my dear faithful, that in Holy Communion we unite ourselves to God, to Our Lord Jesus Christ: that is the source of Christian civilization. In Holy Communion, Jesus manifests Himself as our Savior and also as our King: the King of our intellects by giving us the truth; the King of our hearts and wills by giving us His commandments to help us act in accordance with His holy will. Then, going back home, the Christians who nourished themselves with the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ understand better what their duty is, how they must conduct themselves in daily life at home and in society. Conversely, to the extent that priests no longer celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass, our Christian civilization is reduced to nothing.12



1 Homily, ordinations, Ecône, June 29, 1975.
2 Easter retreat, Ecône, April 6, 1980.
3 Homily, Mantes-la-Jolie, July 2, 1977.
4 Homily, Ecône, June 17, 1976.
5 Priests’ recollection, Paris, December 13, 1984.
6 Priests’ retreat, Ecône, September 1980.
7 Catechism of the Council of Trent, p. 244. St. Thomas teaches us that the Eucharist remits our venial sins, a part of the punishment due to sin, and preserves us from future sins (Summa Theologica, III, Q. 79, Art. 4-6).
8 Easter retreat, April 1, 1980.
9 Homily, Doué-la-Fontaine, May 19, 1977.
10 Homily, Unieux, July 1, 1979.
11 Homily, Ecône, June 17, 1976.
12 Homily, First Mass, Besançon, September 5, 1976.

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  Rumor: Bp. Williamson consecrated Fr. Paul Morgan
Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 06:02 AM - Forum: True vs. False Resistance - Replies (1)

There has been nothing official as of this date, just another forum announcing the consecration. 

If this rumor is true, what an odd 'announcement'!!

From the Suscipe Domine forum: Fr. Paul Morgan consecrated a bishop by Bp. Williamson



Fr. Paul Morgan resigned from the SSPX (rather late in the SSPX crisis) in 2018.

Prior to that, a letter from Fr. Morgan, defending the SSPX can be found in this issue of The Recusant from 2013.

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  The Recusant #60 - Easter 2023
Posted by: Stone - 04-14-2023, 05:43 AM - Forum: The Recusant - Replies (1)




Contents

• Sermon at Martigny, Switzerland, 1984 (Abp. Lefebvre)

• “Sorrowful Heart of Mary SSPX-MC” Newsletter (Fr Hewko)

• ‘How the Novus Ordo Mass was Made’ (thecatacombs.org)

• SSPX Moves Closer to Accepting the New Mass:
  • Denying Quo Primum’s in order to legitimise the New Mass
  • Rehabilitating Pius Parsch
  • Freestanding Altars emerging
  • Accepting the ‘Hybrid Mass’

• How to Spiritually assist at Mass

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  Vatican Newspaper: Judas' Kiss Was "Sign Of Friendship"
Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 06:18 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

Sarcastic Vatican Newspaper: Judas' Kiss Was "Sign Of Friendship"

[Image: f7qe6kj8fc3yug5gnooobk55x1oaqdln14w3jlm....ormat=webp]

gloria.tv | April 11, 2023


OsservatoreRomano.va (March 29) doubts Judas’ condemnation in an article entitled “Our brother Judas” by Father Simone Caleffi.

Contrary to the Gospel, Caleffi claims, that Judas’ kiss to Christ in Gethsemane was a “sign of friendship” with no sinister meaning. The Gospel says that Judas kissed Jesus to identify him.

Inadvertently, Caleffi questions his own interpretation when he says, "It's hard to get inside someone's mind, let alone understand the motives and behaviour of others, when sometimes we can't even understand ourselves!" He rhapsodises about Judas, “What could have gone through his mind in the end, what final thought, what cry?"

For Caleffi it is "certain" that Jesus, "who is infinite Mercy, gave his life for everyone, even for the most unfortunate, desperate, and guilty of his friends" - a fact that no one disputes.

Judas romanticism has been propagated several times by Francis, who pretends he doesn't know where Judas ended up.

Sticking to the facts: Christ calls Judas the son of perdition who is “lost” (John 17) and for whom it would be “better not to be born” (Mark 14).

Since the Vatican is presently full of traitors, it is understandable that they are interested in "rehabilitating" Judas.

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  International CBDC Launched: Universal Monetary Unit
Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:52 AM - Forum: General Commentary - Replies (1)

The Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) Launches an International Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

[Image: Digital_Currency_Monetary_Authority_1.jpg?w=600]

International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings 2023

PRNewswire [Emphasis mine] | Apr 10, 2023
   
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2023, the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) announced their official launch of an international central bank digital currency (CBDC) that strengthens the monetary sovereignty of participating central banks and complies with the recent crypto assets policy recommendations proposed by the IMF.

Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), symbolized as ANSI Character, Ü, is legally a money commodity, can transact in any legal tender settlement currency, and functions like a CBDC to enforce banking regulations and to protect the financial integrity of the international banking system.

Banks can attach SWIFT Codes and bank accounts to a UMU digital currency wallet and transaction SWIFT-like cross-border payments over digital currency rails completely bypassing the correspondent banking system at best-priced wholesale FX rates and with instantaneous real-time settlement.

In an IMF interview with Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor at the International Monetary Fund, he states "Cross-border payments can be slow, expensive, and risky. In today's world of payments, counterparties in different jurisdictions rely on costly trusted relationships to offset the lack of a common settlement asset together with common rules and governance. But imagine if a multilateral platform existed that could improve cross-border payments—at the same time transforming foreign exchange transactions, risk sharing, and more generally, financial contracting."

According to Darrell Hubbard, the Executive Director of the DCMA, and the chief architect of UMU, "This vision expressed by the IMF is the exact solution the DCMA is delivering to central banks worldwide."

Adopting a global localization public monetary system architecture, UMU can be configured to operate according to the central banking regulations of each participating jurisdiction.

George Walker, a Partner at Practus, LLP, specializing in international law, facilitated meetings between the DMCA and the IMF, states "Although the IMF has not officially endorsed Universal Monetary Unit, in reviewing the DCMA's Whitepaper and in weekly team discussions, the IMF has yet to state any objections to UMU's FX premium rates and its monetary sovereignty approach."

According to Darrell, "UMU is not attempting to disrupt the international monetary system. If fact, it strengthens it by helping the IMF achieve its stated mandate to provide economic and financial stability to its member states. UMU is a game-changer in how cross-border payments are transacted and mitigates against seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation."

Universal Monetary Unit Model Law legislation has been drafted in collaboration with several sovereign states. In this proposed legislation, UMU should not be enacted as legal tender for negotiating domestic prices or international trade agreements. Instead, the legislation proposes UMU to be enacted as a complementary money commodity for the store of value, mitigating against potential seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation, and tendered as a payment currency at the time of settlement.

Merchants and trading partners could accept UMU for the equivalent market value for their good and services priced in any national legal tender. UMU has premium exchange rates built into its wallet and can convert any settlement currency amount to the equivalent UMU amount.

Universal Monetary Unit is cryptocurrency reimagined from the ground up to support central banking and regulated financial institutions. It features a trusted consensus protocol, Staked Proof of Trust (SPOT) Protocol, and a multi-dimensional DLT (mDLT) capable of supporting any asset or liability ledger enabling full-service digital banking and international trade payments.

The DCMA introduces Universal Monetary Unit as Crypto 2.0 because it innovates a new wave of cryptographic technologies for realizing a digital currency public monetary system with a widespread adoption framework encompassing use cases for all constituencies in a global economy.


About the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) –
The DCMA is a world leader in the advocacy of digital currency and monetary policy innovations for governments and central banks.  Membership within the DCMA consists of sovereign states, central banks, commercial and retail banks, and other financial institutions.
https://dcma.io


About Universal Monetary Unit (UMU) –
Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), also known as Unicoin, is an innovation in store of value cryptography powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It adopts a central banking monetary policy framework to ensure it has continuous purchasing demand, minimal price volatility, and annual asset pricing targets.
A copy of the UMU Whitepaper is available on its website.
https://umu.cash

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  Organizations Participating in the FedNow Pilot Program
Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:36 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Announcing the FedNowSM Pilot Program participants
Taken from here: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-se...pants.html

[Image: MyZwaWQ9QXBp]

Quote:On January 25, 2021, the Federal Reserve announced that more than 110 organizations from the FedNow Community will participate in the FedNow Pilot Program. The program will support development, testing and adoption of the FedNow Service, as well as encourage development of services and use cases that leverage FedNow functionality.

See also: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow

1st Source Bank
ACI Worldwide Corp.
Alacriti Payments LLC
Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union
American Bank
American Express National Bank
American Savings Bank
American State Bank
Aptys Solutions
Arvest Bank
Atlantic Community Bankers Bank
Bank of Hawaii
Bankers' Bank
Bankers' Bank of Kansas
Bankers' Bank of the West
BMO Harris Bank
BNY Mellon
BOC Bank
Bridge Community Bank
Bryant Bank
C&N
Capital One Financial
Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union
CGI Technologies and Solutions, Inc.
Citi
Citizens Bank of Las Cruces
Citizens National Bank
Clear Mountain Bank
Commerce Bank
Community Bankers' Bank
Computer Services Inc.
ConnectOne bank
Corporate America Credit Union
Corporate Central Credit Union
Corporate One Federal Credit Union
Cross River Bank

DHI Computing Service Inc. DBA FPS GOLD
Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union
ECS Fin Inc.
Exchange Bank
Excite Credit Union
F&M Bank
Fairwinds Credit Union
Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union
FIS
Finastra
Finxact
Finzly
First Bank
First Citizens State Bank
First Foundation Bank
First Hawaiian Bank
First Internet Bank of Indiana
First National Bankers Bank
First Republic Bank
FirstBank
Fiserv Solutions, LLC
Form3
Freedom Bank
Goldman Sachs
Green Dot Bank
HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union
Heritage Bank
High Plains Bank
Horicon Bank
INB, N.A.
Independent Community Bankers’ Bank

Jack Henry & Associates
JP Morgan Chase
Juniper Payments
Lakeview Bank
Mediapolis Savings Bank
Mercantile Bank of Michigan
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
Midwest Independent Bankers Bank
Millennium Corporate Credit Union
ModusBox, Inc.
North American Banking Company
North Salem State Bank
NorthCountry Federal Credit Union
Oakworth Capital Bank
Open Payment Network
Pacific Coast Bankers' Bank
Peoples National Bank, N.A.
Premier Bank
Q2 Software, Inc.
Quad City Bank & Trust
Regions Bank
Salem Five Bank
Service One Credit Union
SHAZAM, Inc.
Silicon Valley Bank
Square Financial Services, Inc.
Star One Credit Union

TD AMCB
Temenos Headquarters S.A.
Texas Brand Bank
Texas First Bank
The Bankers Bank
The Callaway Bank
The Citizens Bank of Edmond
TIB The Independent BankersBank, NA
Tri Counties Bank
U.S. Bank
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service
UMB Bank, n.a.
United Bankers' Bank
University Bank
University of Michigan Credit Union
Vantage Bank Texas
Veridian Credit Union
Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union
Volante Technologies, Inc.
Volunteer Corporate CU
VSoft Corporation
Waldo State Bank
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Westside State Bank


See also: Fed Announces Launch Of 'FedNow' Real-Time Payment System, Sparking Debate

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  NYPD adds 'Robot Dog' to its Force
Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:19 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

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  Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Contract
Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 05:34 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week
Move violates First Amendment Right to Free Exercise of Religion


milarch.org [slightly adapted] | APRIL 7, 2023


WASHINGTON, DC – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has issued a “cease and desist order” to Holy Name College, a community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers, who have provided pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades.

The government’s cease and desist order directed the Catholic priests to cease any religious services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This order was issued as Catholics entered Holy Week, the most sacred of days in the Christian faith, in which they participate in liturgies remembering Jesus’ passion, and leading the Church to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning.

The Franciscans’ contract for Catholic Pastoral Care was terminated on March 31, 2023, and awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract. As a result, adequate pastoral care is not available for service members and veterans in the United States’ largest Defense Health Agency medical center either during Holy Week or beyond. There is one Catholic Army chaplain assigned to Walter Reed Medical Center, but he is in the process of separating from the Army.

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, condemned the move as an encroachment on the First Amendment guarantee of the Free Exercise of Religion. Archbishop Broglio said:  “It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available.  This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies.  I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service.  I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”

Ms. Elizabeth A. Tomlin, Esq., General Counsel of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), has reached out to the contracting officers at Walter Reed numerous times throughout Holy Week asking for the Franciscans’ Catholic ministry to be reinstated at least through Easter. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has not responded to these requests from the Archdiocese.

While Walter Reed’s chaplain office claims Catholic care is being provided during Holy Week, the AMS maintains that without Catholic priests present at the medical center, service members and veterans are being denied the constitutional right to practice their religion.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is one of many medical centers within the Department of Defense and Defense Health Agency whose pastoral care lies within AMS jurisdiction. The refusal to provide adequate pastoral care while awarding a contract for Catholic ministry to a for-profit company that has no way of providing Catholic priests to the medical center is a glaring violation of service members’ and veterans’ Right to the Free Exercise of Religion. Especially, during Holy Week, the lack of adequate Catholic pastoral care causes untold and irreparable harm to Catholics who are hospitalized and therefore a captive population whose religious rights the government has a constitutional duty to provide for and protect.

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  FBI sought to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, docs show
Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 04:29 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

FBI sought to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, docs show
FBI hit with subpoena for records by House Judiciary Committee


Fox News [slightly adapted] | April 10, 2023


The FBI recently sought to develop sources inside Christian churches and Catholic dioceses as part of an effort to combat domestic terrorism, according to internal documents released by House Judiciary Committee on Monday.

The internal documents — obtained last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who are also members of the so-called Weaponization Subcommittee — showed the FBI planned to use churches as "new avenues for tripwire and source development." The federal law enforcement agency also aimed to specifically target "mainline Catholic parishes" as part of its efforts.

In addition, according to Jordan, the FBI expressed interest in "leverag[ing] existing sources and/or initiat[ing] Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access." And, in another example, the agency cited a desire to to sensitize religious congregations "to the warning signs of radicalization and enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires."

PURPORTED FBI DOCUMENT SUGGESTS AGENCY MAY BE TARGETING CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND LATIN MASS

"Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis, and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith," Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday.

Jordan also issued a subpoena for a series of related documents the committee previously requested from the FBI, but which the FBI has failed to provide.

"This information is outrageous and only reinforces the Committee’s need for all FBI material responsive to our request," Jordan wrote to Wray. "The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners."

"Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment," the letter continued. "They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called "tripwire" sources or other informants in their houses of worship."

Jordan and Johnson first requested related documents from the FBI on Feb. 16, days after former FBI agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin published an internal document originating from the FBI's Richmond Field Office that appeared to outline a plan to "mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics."

The leaked document generated widespread condemnation from Republican lawmakers who said the FBI's efforts may violate the Constitution.

However, the original letter from Jordan and Johnson went unanswered prompting a follow-up request on March 20. Three days later, the FBI produced the 18-page document Jordan announced on Monday.

"The FBI received the subpoena," the FBI told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information –including voluntary production of documents."

The agency also referred Fox News Digital to recent comments Wray made during congressional testimony in which he said he was "aghast" when he saw reports about the FBI targeting Catholics.

"We took steps immediately to withdraw it and remove it from FBI systems. It does not reflect FBI standards," Wray added. "We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop. We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

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