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| Archbishop Lefebvre Never Celebrated the New Mass |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2023, 08:58 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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Archbishop Lefebvre Never Celebrated the New Mass
![[Image: cr_34.jpg?itok=4uBXsvV8]](https://sspx.org/sites/sspx/files/styles/dici_image_full_width/public/media/usa-district/new-news/cr_34.jpg?itok=4uBXsvV8)
JANUARY 30, 2023
SOURCE: DISTRICT OF THE USA [slightly adapted, emphasis mine]
Sometimes one hears the claim being made that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), celebrated the New Mass for a time before devoting himself exclusively to the traditional Mass. The purpose of this article is to show that this claim is false.
The Society’s Liturgical Disposition
As recounted in Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais’s authoritative Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography (Angelus Press 2004), “Since Archbishop Lefebvre was opposed to the New Mass, he would not have it in the seminary” (p. 416). When the first crop of seminarians who would form the foundation of the Society arrived in Fribourg, Switzerland in 1969, it was decided quickly that the Old Mass, that is the traditional Latin Mass (TLM), would be celebrated by the nascent priestly fraternity rather than the New Mass of Pope Paul VI. After the New Mass was introduced into the Diocese of Fribourg on the eve of Advent 1969, the Archbishop continued to celebrate the TLM, though some of the seminarians assisted at the New Mass in Latin at a nearby Bernardine monastery on Sundays when the Archbishop was called away on other matters.
The Archbishop’s decision to allow his seminarians to assist at the Novus Ordo Missae was nothing more than an expression of his prudence. Not wanting to cause scandal to the faithful by appearing to disobey the local bishop, Archbishop Lefebvre took a cautious approach at first, informing an inquiring priest that the Roman Canon should be retained while the words of consecration are said in a low voice. As time went on, the Archbishop’s concerns over the New Mass grew as he observed its disastrous fruits, consulted with episcopal colleagues, and reflected more on its doctrinal distortions.
While much could be written on the liturgical praxis of the SSPX and other traditionalist Catholics during the years following the New Mass’s introduction, many priests simply relied upon the missals, breviaries, and other liturgical texts that were available to them. In 1965, for instance, several alterations were made to the 1962 Missale Romanum, such as the abbreviation of Psalm 42 during the so-called “Prayers at the Foot of the Altar”; the use of the vernacular for the epistle and gospel readings; and the suppression of the Last Gospel. The Archbishop accepted these slight modifications to the traditional Mass at first before finally settling on the 1962 books promulgated by Pope John XXIII as the SSPX’s normative liturgy in 1974.
False Accusations
At no point did the Archbishop himself ever say the New Mass. It appears that the calumny saying that he did has its origins in an unsubstantiated letter written by Fr. Guérard des Lauriers, OP, on April 12, 1979. Fr. des Lauriers was a French theologian and professor who had formerly taught at the SSPX’s seminary in Écône, Switzerland until his embrace of sedevacantism in 1977. Not only did the Archbishop deny this charge, but it was refuted in detail by Jean Madiran in the May 1980 issue of the journal he founded, Itinéraires. Madiran called Lauriers out for his outrageous language against the Archbishop, namely, accusing him of being a traitor and another Pontius Pilate. However, he noted the claim that the Archbishop celebrated the New Mass from April, 1969, to December, 1971, as being the worst accusation of all. Madiran pointed out to Fr. Lauriers that the New Mass was not even permitted before November 1969, and that it was absurd to think that the Archbishop was such an enthusiast for the New Mass that he would have started celebrating it before everyone else.
In the end, when the Archbishop wrote to Fr. Lauriers to deny the charge, the latter wrote back to say that he was happy this was the case, but that the Archbishop had made certain gestures while celebrating the traditional Mass that made him think he was celebrating the New Mass. It was clear at this point that Fr. Lauriers’s original letter was a case of bad polemics.
Consequences of the Archbishop’s Decision
The Archbishop’s decision that he and his priests would not celebrate the New Mass had immense consequences for the Church. It is clear, in hindsight, that the Roman authorities would have been happy for the traditional Mass to disappear completely from the life of the Church, despite the fact that its origin is too ancient to be pinpointed precisely and that it had been the cultural bedrock of Western civilization for over a millennium. If the Archbishop had not refused the New Mass and formed generations of priests in the old Mass, we may ask whether the TLM would even be available in 2023.
Furthermore, it was surely the Archbishop’s perseverance in the formation of traditional priests for the SSPX from 1970-88 that caused the Roman authorities to decide to make some place, even if just a little one, for the “Mass of All Time” in the life of the Church. This was the primary reason why the 1962 Missal, the “Mass of Écône,” received specific Roman approval in the indults issued by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and 1988. It was the reason why Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI after him, allowed for the canonical erection of the so-called Ecclesia Dei communities, which were established celebrating the TLM exclusively.
It is clear that the Conciliar churchmen would have been quite content for the TLM to vanish and that they had no will to grant concessions for it. Only pressure applied from the outside made them change their minds. This pressure came primarily from one source: the Archbishop’s fidelity to the old Mass ... .
The Archbishop’s Liturgical Legacy
Traditional Catholics the world over continue to feed on the spiritual harvest planted by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre over 50 years ago. Whether or not they assist at Masses offered by the priests of the SSPX, these faithful are able to receive the sacraments according to the 1962 texts because of the Archbishop’s choice to remain faithful to the never-abrogated Mass of All Time, before the disastrous intrusion of the Novus Ordo Missae into the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical life. Had the Archbishop capitulated as his calumniators contend, there is no telling what state the traditional liturgy would be in today.
May this history of the brave Archbishop’s refusal of the novel liturgy of the New Mass, which has been so damaging to the eternal salvation of souls in the past 54 years, be a source of encouragement to all those who are tempted to sacrifice the interests of the Catholic Faith in difficult circumstances.
sspx.org - 01/30/2023
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| FLASHBACK: Pope Francis lashed out at protesters fed up with COVID lockdowns, restrictions |
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Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 02-10-2023, 06:20 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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FLASHBACK: Pope Francis lashed out at protesters fed up with COVID lockdowns, restrictions
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/flash...urce=daily-
usa-2023-02-10&utm_medium=email
It couldn’t be that Pope Francis was as mean and nasty as Tony Fauci bashing people and just making fun of them, right? Well, actually, yes.
Did you know that Pope Francis went after those who were complaining about forced vaccination, forced masking, and everything else?
In a November 2020 rant where he lets down his guard and allows his leftist colors to show more than in the past, the Pope said of anti-lockdown protesters: “You’ll never find such people protesting the death of George Floyd, or joining a demonstration because there are shantytowns where children lack water or education, or because there are whole families who have lost their income.”
His comments came in a teaser for the Pope’s book-length interview with leftist Vatican journalist Austen Ivereigh.
We know where Pope Francis is coming from. He’s coming from a very strange place. Did you know that right at the pandemic, when everything was being shut down and of course they shut down the Masses, they actually did something else?
They did a redo of Mass for pandemics. The reading, though, was very weird. The redo was all about removing any reference to God’s wrath. So, it used to be that in the old way we did the Mass for pandemics, we prayed for health and safety, and so on. But we also recognized that man’s sin is what has caused all the evil in the world, and so there was “Lord, turn away the wrath from us.” But not anymore.
null
But we can’t hate Pope Francis. We still have to pray for him, and pray for his conversion.
For much more, tune in to today’s look-back episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.
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| FBI To Retract Catholic 'White Supremacist' Memo, Launch Internal Investigation |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2023, 06:08 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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FBI To Retract Catholic 'White Supremacist' Memo, Launch Internal Investigation
![[Image: roman%20catholics.PNG?itok=0RZW_7cw]](https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/roman%20catholics.PNG?itok=0RZW_7cw)
Father Alessandro da Luz elevates the chalice as he celebrates a traditional Latin Mass on Aug. 11, 2020, at Our Holy Redeemer Church in Freeport, N.Y. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
ZH [emphasis mine] | FEB 09, 2023
The FBI has vowed to launch an internal investigation to look into a now-retracted, leaked document which advised the agency to infiltrate groups of Roman Catholics which were 'at risk of committing acts of extremist violence,' the Daily Caller reports.
According to the document, Catholics "characterized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council" are prone to embracing "anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology."
The Second Vatican Council, which concluded in 1965, supplanted the 16th-century Latin mass with the vernacular Novus Ordo form - which some groups have rejected while attempting to preserve the old Latin liturgy while continuing communion with Rome.
The FBI document cites the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), including the group's list of "Radical Traditional Catholicism Hate Groups."
Quote:The document showed that the FBI’s field office in Richmond was considering infiltrating groups of traditionalist Roman Catholics who prefer the Latin mass, a whistleblower revealed Wednesday.
Former FBI agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin published the alleged document, which he wrote is “dated January 23, 2023” and originated with an “intelligence analyst within the Richmond Field Office.” Seraphin, who describes himself as a “confirmed Catholic” in his bio, did not say how he obtained the document. -Daily Caller
According to the agency, the document, which originated from the Richmond field office, "does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI" (lol), and the Bureau will probe how it came to be, reads the report.
"Upon learning of the document, FBI Headquarters quickly began taking action to remove the document from FBI systems and conduct a review of the basis for the document," the FBI told the Caller. "The FBI is committed to sound analytic tradecraft and to investigating and preventing acts of violence and other crimes while upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans and will never conduct investigative activities or open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity."
According to the FBI report, the agency assessed with "high confidence" that threats from so-called 'radical traditional Catholics' (RTCs) can be dealt with via "source development," among other strategies.
Quote:The document expresses the FBI’s concern that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) will use traditionalist Catholic social media groups and parishes as “facilitation platforms to promote violence.” It also connects RTCs to an “increase in hostility toward abortion-rights advocates on social media in the run-up to and aftermath of” the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Among the Catholic or Catholic-adjacent groups mentioned in the document are the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), the right-wing Catholic news outlet Church Militant and “groypers,” the nickname for followers of traditionalist Catholic political commentator and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. -Daily Caller
According to the memo, there is a "growing collaboration" between Church Militant and Fuentes' America First group, which shows evidence of increasing ties between traditional Catholics and extremist groups.
"The FBI report is based on ‘reporting’ by far-left extremists group and media outlets which clearly demonstrate zero understanding of Catholic theology. Those voluminous errors then found their way into this FBI report where flat out false conclusions are drawn," Church Militant told the Caller, adding that they have "zero connection" to Fuentes.
"Church Militant (and all faithful Catholics) in no way hates women, blacks, jews, immigrants or anyone else we may be accused of hating. To disagree with social or political points of view does not signify ‘hate’. It signifies disagreement."
"Likewise, to bolster its fear-mongering, the FBI report goes on to try and draw an imaginary link between Catholics and ‘white supremacy’ yet never defines what that ubiquitous term actually means," the statement continues. "Church Militant does not believe that ‘whites are superior’ or non-white races are somehow inferior. We are faithful catholics and Catholic teaching abhors such a notion. CM has zero connection to any person or outfit who espouses these anti-Catholic ideologies and condemns such beliefs. The FBI report falsely suggests that all of this is bound up in potential violence aimed at abortion supporters. For the record, Church Militant in no way shape or form supports physical violence against those with whom we disagree on moral/political issues of the day."
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| The FBI Doubles Down on Christians and White Supremacy in 2023 - UncoverDC |
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Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 02-08-2023, 07:03 PM - Forum: Great Reset
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www.uncoverdc.com
https://www.uncoverdc.com/2023/02/08/the...y-in-2023/
The FBI Doubles Down on Christians and White Supremacy in 2023 - UncoverDC
Kyle Seraphin
9 - 11 minutes
The FBI’s Richmond Division would like to protect Virginians from the threat of “white supremacy,” which it believes has found a home within Catholics who prefer the Latin Mass. An intelligence analyst within the Richmond Field Office of the FBI released in a new finished intelligence product dated January 23, 2023, on Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVE) and their interests in “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics” or RTCs. The document assesses with “high confidence” the FBI can mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics by recruiting sources within the Catholic Church.
The acronym, new to many in the Domestic Counterterrorism field, comes with a footnote by the writer explaining RTCs are “typically characterized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council.” The writer makes an unsubstantiated leap that a preference for the Catholic Mass in Latin instead of the vernacular and a number of more traditional views on other world religions can amount to an “adherence to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.” This writer draws the important distinction between “traditional Catholics,” who simply prefer the Traditional Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II teachings, and RTCs, who espouse “more extremist ideological beliefs and violent rhetoric.”
A discerning reader may wonder why the writer believes such divisions exist and if there is evidence of the extremist and violent rhetoric within the Catholic church. The analyst’s note doesn’t provide specifics. When the FBI generates an intelligence product, it is important to note the analyzed sources. Typically, strict source vetting removes partisanship and bias, so a product is both consistent with federal law and can add value to the FBI’s overall mission. Of note, this document was reviewed and approved for release by the FBI Richmond Chief Division Counsel, who is the office’s top lawyer.
The attached appendices refer to a number of articles and the out-of-FBI-policy Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) at the end of the document. For example, Appendix D is a direct copy of the SPLC list of “Radical Traditional Catholicism Hate Groups,” including the web address accessed. The SPLC appears to be a source for the intelligence analyst’s beliefs that RTCs exist and that they are anti-Semitic. The SPLC description for this “hate group” states RTCs “may make up the largest single group of serious anti-semites in America.” Often in the intelligence world, this type of statement without any established evidence is often followed by the acronym “NFI” or “No Further Information” to indicate it is an unsubstantiated opinion. Additionally, SPLC states RTCs “embrace extremely conservative social ideals with respect to women.” Nothing reported by the SPLC indicates the number of adherents to this alleged ideology nor any instances of violence. This lack of evidence and blatant partisan blindness is one of many reasons the FBI has distanced itself from the SPLC as a source in the past 10 years.The intelligence product includes endnote citations from two other sources: the far-Left online magazine Salon and the equally left-leaning The Atlantic.
The Salon articles cited are typical of partisan click-bait writing: “Traditional Catholics and White Nationalist Groypers Forge a new Far-Right Youth Movement” and “White Nationalists Get Religion: On the Far-Right Fringe, Catholics and Racists Forge a movement.” These articles were released a day apart as a series but include substantially the same information. The articles offer only circumstantial suggestions of affiliations between inflammatory figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes and a man pictured standing on the steps of a Catholic church in New York after the Dobbs decision. The Salon writer makes the wild leap that using a photo of someone at a church indicates the pictured individual or his beliefs are relevant within a religious institution with 70 million adherents in the United States alone and over 2000 years of tradition and history.
The writer determines that the “threat picture” involving RMVE, again in this case, referring to white supremacists, will increase, but that the “RTC Community is likely to remain relatively stable or show modest growth” over the next one to two years. The basis for this assessment is not annotated and appears to be speculative. The speculative increase in RMVE interactions with RTC leads the writer to suggest mitigation strategies, including recruiting Confidential Human Sources (“source development”), tripwire, and liaison contacts. Tripwires and liaisons are overt contacts with trusted members of a community or an industry. They can advise law enforcement about potentially illegal activity. Due to the fact that “white supremacy” is itself a First Amendment-protected belief, to say nothing of proponents of the most established Christian denomination in the world, the Bureau tries to cover documents like these with a caveat excusing their intrusion into the sacrosanct grounds of free exercise of religion and free association. In another typical intrusion into First Amendment concerns, the document implies a strategy of monitoring social media for RTC ideology in online posts.
The impetus of the writer can be assessed by the fixation on abortion and the repeated use of the phrase “abortion rights.” Documents like these can be used to drive the FBI’s priorities in specific regions and boost the visibility of non-existent threats. There is a reason the writer refers to the document as a “first of its kind” Domain Perspective: it is generally out of bounds. However, intelligence products like this help focus on alleged “hostility towards the abortion-rights advocates,” which the FBI has used to justify significant enforcement actions tied to the FACE Act (18 USC 248). Americans will remember a flood of conservative news outlets covering arrests of numerous pro-life protesters at the end of 2022, which are coming back into focus after the January 30, 2023 acquittal of defendant Mark Houck. While over 100 instances of attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers occurred in 2022, the SPLC reported an unsubstantiated 200 “bombings or arson attacks” on abortion clinics in the past 20 years.
This tremendous statistical mismatch usually would have led federal law enforcement to focus on the highest threat, but the increasingly Leftist bend of FBI enforcement actions appears to have ignored this trend. It also appears the writer is simply assuming RMVEs share common cause with Conservatives, including practicing Catholics, on issues about abortion, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protections. This editorial bias should give the reader of this document a medium to high confidence the intelligence analyst is the product of left-leaning higher education and leftist values.
The piece concludes with the incredible leap that RMVEs or white supremacists pose a threat to use “RTC social media sites” (no examples) or “places of worship as facilitation platforms to promote violence.” This intelligence product is indicative of a permissive tolerance within the FBI for Left-leaning ideological actors who use academic-sounding rhetoric to cover a dearth of personal experience. The weaponization of the FBI against conservative Americans can be seen in the way documents like this are published and distributed. Poorly sourced and highly speculative intelligence products lead to opening badly articulated predicate investigations into Americans in violation of their God-given, First Amendment-protected civil liberties.
While most Americans are familiar with criminal investigations, which explore the allegation or information that a crime has been committed, many are not familiar with intelligence investigations. In contrast to the linear nature of a criminal case, counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases follow a circular path that can continue indefinitely without any articulated goal. Indeed, information is the goal of these types of cases. Many counterterrorism cases never articulate or uncover a single criminal act. Yet, they continue in order to develop more understanding of the “threat landscape” or “threat pictures,” as quoted in this document. Intelligence investigations often beget more investigations. The relevance of this product should not be lost on the reader.
Products like this can be used to support the opening of information-only cases, and there is no reason to expect Radical-Traditionalist Catholics are the end point of this train track – they will be the beginning. Opening the door to associating white supremacists with traditional religious practices based on common Christian positions on abortion and the LGBTQ political agendas is a dangerous step. Such investigations can easily lead to the same analysis of Radical Traditional Baptists, Radical Traditional Lutherans, and Radical Traditional Evangelicals. The FBI is forbidden from opening cases or publishing products based solely on First Amendment-protected activities. By tolerating the publishing of intelligence products as shoddy as this, they are crossing a line many Americans will find themselves on the wrong side of for the first time in history. This is what a politicalized FBI looks like; it should not be tolerated if Americans expect to enjoy the protections of our Bill of Rights.
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| Pope Francis once again calls for Conciliar 'Fraternity' |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-08-2023, 08:24 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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I always find it interesting that these 'conservative' news outlets never reference where the errors of Pope Francis start from. The implication is nearly always that these errors originate with Francis himself. But that is rarely the case. Rather, as he himself will often quote or reference, Vatican II is the foundation from which he acts and speaks.
Quote:Lumen Gentium 16
“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, together with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”
Explained by Fr. Hesse: What about the Incarnation? What about the Holy Trinity? The Koran, the Muslims’ holy book calls the idea of the Trinity an “excremental idea.” And now Vatican II tells us that they, together with us, adore the one merciful God?!? What about the First Commandment? They have another God, they have the lonely one-person Allah. We have Father, Son and Holy Ghost. “Et Verbum caro factum est,” says the last Gospel at Mass, “And the Word became flesh” I’ve never heard that Allah became flesh. This is blasphemy. It is heresy and it is blasphemy.
The idea that Muslims, Jews and Catholics are basically all the same anyway is a Freemasonic idea. It was being promoted by the Freemasons long before Vatican II, and now we have a so-called Ecumenical Council telling us the same thing too. Give me a Catholic interpretation of that quote about the Muslims together with us adoring the same God. It’s not possible. It’s just a heresy.
See also The SiSiNoNo study of Vatican II regarding the False Representation of Non-Christian Religions for a more detailed look at the errors rampant in the V-II documents regarding other religions.
† † †
Pope Francis reiterates belief that ‘religions’ must unite in ‘service of brotherhood’
Pope Francis once again championed the notion of 'fraternity' through interreligious action in various ecumenical speeches over the weekend.
![[Image: pope-ecumenical-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/pope-ecumenical-810x500.jpg)
Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Iain Greenshields give a blessing on February 4, 2023.
Screenshot/Vatican News
Feb 6, 2023
JUBA, South Sudan (https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/po...otherhood/) –– Both in his ecumenical “pilgrimage of peace” and in his message for the International Day of Human Fraternity, Pope Francis recently called for religions to “increasingly intertwine” in the “service of brotherhood.”
Over the past few days, Pope Francis has once more renewed his oft-spoken calls for increased interreligious dialogue and activity, reawakening concerns that leading prelates have made in the wake of such statements over the years.
Religions must ‘increasingly intertwine’ to promote ‘fraternity’
The first came during his recorded February 4 video-message for the third International Day of Human Fraternity, which is born out of his 2019 Abu Dhabi document on human fraternity – a document which stated that a “pluralism and diversity” of religions is “willed by God.” Francis’ video was also to mark the awarding of the accompanying Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity.
His statement mentioned God, but did not mention Christ or Catholicism. Instead, Francis spoke in a much more abstract manner, describing the purpose of religion as “reminding us that man’s destiny goes beyond earthly goods and lies in a universal horizon.”
Francis argued that religions must be “at the service of fraternity” and consequently “enrich each other:”
Quote:Religions, in order to be at the service of fraternity, need to engage in dialogue with each other, to get to know each other, to enrich each other, and above all to develop that which unites and to collaborate for the good of all.
Without highlighting the Catholic Church, the Pope called for “various religious traditions” to draw “from its own spiritual heritage” to “make a great contribution in the service of fraternity.”
Pope Francis’ video message
The Pontiff appeared to also downplay the importance of Catholicism, instead implicitly supporting a more general, accepting stance of many different churches, stating that by having different religions “increasingly intertwine,” humanity can achieve its “common destiny.”
Quote:Men and women of different religions walk towards God along roads that increasingly intertwine. Every encounter can be an opportunity to oppose one another or, with God’s help, to encourage each other to go forward as brothers and sisters. Indeed, we share not only a common origin and descent, but also a common destiny, that of fragile and vulnerable creatures, as the historical period we are living shows us so clearly.
Employing language traditionally used in Catholic spirituality to describe a soul’s pursuit of sanctification, Francis described the “path of fraternity” as “a long and difficult one.” While Catholic spirituality also traditionally highlights the sign of the cross, Francis instead promoted the “sign of fraternity,” which would “counter the many conflicts, in the shadows of a closed world, with the sign of fraternity.”
South Sudan ecumenical prayer assembly
On the same day, the Pope also took part in an ecumenical prayer event in Juba, South Sudan, as part of his ecumenical “pilgrimage of peace” to the African nation with the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Addressing the thousands of participants, Francis concentrated on the themes of “peace” and “prayer.” He did not promote Catholic teaching on the issue but instead urged greater interreligious cooperation.
As has become commonplace at such ecumenical events, Francis referenced the Scriptural passage “That they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).
“That is Jesus’ heartfelt prayer to the Father for all of us who believe,” he stated.
However, Francis’ exhortations of a “fraternity” and a “unity” divorced from the Catholic faith are controversial, especially when viewed in light of Catholic Tradition.
In his 1949 document, “On the Ecumenical Movement,” Pope Pius XII warned against such an interpretation and use of this Scriptural passage. The Pontiff used the phrase to note the importance of evangelization efforts, adding that “care must be taken lest…the purity of Catholic doctrine be impaired, or its genuine and certain meaning be obscured.”
As used by Francis, the Scriptural passage was truncated, since the full text actually reads:
Quote:As thou Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as we also are one: I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one. (John 17: 21-23)
The Traditional teaching of the Church observed the important aspect of unity in Christ, not simply unity in something outside of the Church.
The Church is the bride of Christ, founded by Him and charged with teaching His word. As taught by previous popes, the phrase “one in us” cannot refer to any unity outside the fullness of the Church, but is a reference to others becoming members of the Church and consequently of the mystical body of Christ.
So also, the phrase “perfect in one” does refer not to a union made by the watering down of Catholic teaching, but to the union only found in the Church as expressed in the fullness of Her teaching.
Additionally, when reading this chapter of John’s Gospel, in lines 2-19 the third person pronouns refer to Christ’s disciples. Yet from halfway through line 20, “they/them” refers to those men who are not yet in the Church:
Quote:And not for them only do I pray, but for them (non-Catholics) also who through their word (the word of the disciples) shall believe in me.
The desired unity for which Christ prays is not some unity which the Church will gain by others merging with Her at ecumenical events, but is a unity which is only realized by all men coming to the fullness of the faith by joining the Catholic Church. Thus the passage quoted by Francis does not refer to the various disciples, but the men of the world who have yet to join the unity of the Church.
Pope Leo XIII condemned such arguments, so commonly employed today, in his 1888 encyclical Libertas. Referring to the Church’s relationship with other religions, Leo wrote that the Catholic Church tolerates:
Quote:certain modern liberties, not because she prefers them in themselves but because she judges it expedient to permit them, she would in happier times exercise her own liberty; and, by persuasion, exhortation, and entreaty would endeavor, as she is bound, to fulfill the duty assigned to her by God of providing for the eternal salvation of mankind.
Leo additionally noted that “one thing, however, remains always true — that the liberty which is claimed for all to do all things is not, as We have often said, of itself desirable, inasmuch as it is contrary to reason that error and truth should have equal rights.”
The ecumenical event, reportedly attended by over 50,000 people, concluded with Francis, Welby and Greenshields issuing a joint blessing in English.
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| Police arrest Josh Alexander, who protested boys in girls’ bathrooms, for attending class |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-08-2023, 07:47 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Ontario police arrest Josh Alexander, who protested boys in girls’ bathrooms, for attending class
'I chose to attend school regardless of an unlawful exclusion order,' the teenager told LifeSiteNews.
![[Image: Josh-Alexander-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Josh-Alexander-810x500.jpg)
Josh Alexander
Ottawa CityNews
Feb 6, 2023
RENFREW, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — Canadian high school student Josh Alexander was arrested and charged this morning at his school for attending class.
“I have just been arrested and charged at my Catholic high school for attending class after being excluded for indicating my intent to adhere to my religious beliefs,” tweeted Alexander this morning.
Alexander protested his Catholic school, St. Joseph’s, last year allowing gender-confused males to use girls’ bathrooms and was then suspended. His tweet today included a photo of him in front of his school and being taken into custody by members of the Ontario Provincial Police.
“I was arrested and charged with trespassing today,” Alexander told LifeSiteNews. “I chose to attend school regardless of an unlawful exclusion order. I respectfully declined multiple demands to leave class.”
“The entire class was dismissed while the staff handled my situation,” the boy continued. “Shortly after, Ontario Provincial Police arrived and asked me to leave. Once again, I respectfully declined and they arrested me.”
Josh’s attorney, James Kitchen, the chief litigator for Liberty Coalition Canada (LCC), told LifeSiteNews that Alexander’s decision to go back to school today was “an intelligent choice of a young man who knows what he is doing.”
Kitchen noted that Alexander’s arrest was “not entirely unexpected.”
“Did we know he might get arrested? Well, of course we did,” said Kitchen.
“Today was not entirely unforeseen. If they’re [the school] going to continue to double down and enforce that discrimination, yes, they’re going to arrest him.”
Kitchen confirmed that Alexander has now been released but has not yet seen exactly what he has been charged. The lawyer noted it’s most likely a trespass-related offence.
Alexander was in police custody for only a few hours and was served his charges in a police cruiser.
Kitchen said Alexander will continue to express his “religious beliefs” while attending his Catholic high school.
“Unfortunately it takes this sort of drastic confrontation for people to just realize the insanity [of the reasons behind Alexander’s suspension and then arrest],” Kitchen told LifeSiteNews.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Alexander was handed a 20-day suspension on November 23, 2022, after organizing a school walkout in support of girls’ rights to access their facilities without the presence of male students.
The teenager had told LifeSiteNews that, in accordance with Catholic teaching and the Bible, he believes that there are only two sexes.
Before his arrest this morning, Alexander posted a Bible verse on Twitter.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Romans 1:16,” he tweeted.
Kitchen told LifeSiteNews that the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board wouldn’t “permit him to attend school for the rest of the year because, according to them, Josh’s beliefs constitute ‘bullying of trans students.’”
According to the LCC, Alexander was hoping to return to school on February 6, 2023. However, after he said he would “continue to adhere to his religious beliefs regarding Biblical sexuality and gender,” the school board responded by “excluding Josh from attending St. Joseph’s for the rest of the school year.”
Kitchen told LifeSiteNews last week that the “technicality” the school board used as the reason for not allowing an appeal “has to do with standing.”
“A 16-year-old only has standing if they have ‘withdrawn from parental control’,” said Kitchen.
“In what would appear to be a move to avoid having to hear and decide the appeals, the school board is unreasonably taking the position Josh has not withdrawn from parental control.”
He told LifeSiteNews that at this time they are considering “next steps” for Alexander, which will “include but will involve more than a human rights complaint.”
The suspension and now arrest of Alexander comes amid a noticeable push in western nations to promote gender ideology to young people, particularly in the United States and Canada.
Developing…
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| Dictatorship in Nicaragua sentences seven more clergy and laity to 10 years in prison |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-08-2023, 07:34 AM - Forum: Global News
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Dictatorship in Nicaragua sentences seven more clergy and laity to 10 years in prison
CNA Newsroom | Feb 7, 2023
In a new attack on the Catholic Church, the Nicaraguan dictatorship led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, sentenced three priests, a deacon, two seminarians, and a layman from the Diocese of Matagalpa to 10 years in prison.
According to reports from the local newspaper La Prensa and the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), the sentence was issued on Feb. 6 by Judge Nadia Tardencilla of the Second Criminal Trial District.
The sentence consists of five years for the crime of “conspiracy to undermine national security and sovereignty” and five years for “spreading fake news” with an additional 800 days monetary fine based on the convicted person’s daily salary.
The convicted priests are Ramiro Reynaldo Tijerino Chávez, 50, rector of the John Paul II University; Sadiel Antonio Eugarrios Cano, 35, former vicar of the Matagalpa cathedral; and José Luis Díaz Cruz, 33, current vicar of the Matagalpa cathedral.
Also sentenced were Deacon Raúl Antonio Vega González, 27; seminarians Darvin Esteylin Leiva Mendoza, 19, and Melkin Antonio Centeno Sequeira, 23; and photographer Sergio José Cárdenas Flores, 32.
The seven were found guilty on Jan. 27 and were awaiting sentencing. In a separate trial, Father Oscar Benavidez was also found guilty of the same charges and sentenced Feb. 4 to 10 years in prison.
The regime announced Jan. 10 that the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who has been under house arrest since Aug. 19, 2022, will stand trial accused of conspiracy. The prelate has not yet been sentenced.
The CENIDH charged that the sentence issued against these seven men is “a new legal aberration” that also “disqualified them for life from holding public office and popular election.”
“We at the CENIDH condemn these perverse actions of the regime that violate human rights. We demand immediate freedom for them and all political prisoners,” the organization added.
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| UK Is "Likely" To Need Digital Currency, Says BoE & Treasury |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-07-2023, 09:29 AM - Forum: Global News
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UK Is "Likely" To Need Digital Currency, Says BoE & Treasury
ZH | FEB 07, 2023
Authored by Ana Paula Pereira via CoinTelegraph.com,
The Bank of England (BoE) and His Majesty’s Treasury believe the United Kingdom is likely to need to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2030, according to a Daily Telegraph report on Feb. 4.
The “digital pound” roadmap is set to be introduced next week, a government source told the newspaper. Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe is scheduled to give an update on the BoE’s work on the CBDC on Feb. 7
Quote:“On the basis of our work to date, the Bank of England and HM Treasury judge that it is likely a digital pound will be needed in the future,” BoE Governor Andrew Bailey and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt told the Telegraph.
The BoE declined to comment on the article but announced that a joint consultation on the digital pound would be released soon.
The U.K. reportedly experienced a 35% drop in cash and coin payments in 2020. Cash accounts for approximately one in six payments; debit and credit cards account for the other five. A central bank digital currency is a digital version of government-issued currency tied to fiat reserves at a 1:1 ratio.
The news comes just a few days after HM Treasury posted an open position on LinkedIn for a head of central bank digital currency. The job description presented the role as “important, complex, and cross-cutting”, requiring an “extensive engagement across and beyond the HM Treasury.”
The digital pound is one of many CBDCs expected to be introduced across the world in the years ahead. The European Central Bank has been discussing the future of a digital euro, with several countries, including Sweden and Denmark, also exploring the concept of digital currencies.
Last year, China’s digital yuan was launched in beta for iOS and Android local app stores. Recent developments include upgrades to smart contract functionality alongside a series of use cases, Cointelegraph reported.
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| World Is Walking Into WW3 With "Eyes Wide Open" - UN Chief Tells General Assembly |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-07-2023, 09:24 AM - Forum: Global News
- No Replies
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World Is Walking Into WW3 With "Eyes Wide Open" - UN Chief Tells General Assembly
![[Image: unchieffile.jpg?itok=be_FErq-]](https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/unchieffile.jpg?itok=be_FErq-)
ZH | FEB 07, 2023
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday in a speech delivered before the 193-member UN General Assembly that the world is headed toward a "wider war" in Ukraine due to the ever-increasing risk of escalation.
"The prospects for peace keep diminishing," Guterres said. "The chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing." He then sounded the alarm that "I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open."
His starkly negative outlook for the crisis comes as Ukraine is warning that the Kremlin's largest offensive since the opening weeks of the war is looming, according to The New York Times, which further wrote:
Quote:The Ukrainian General Staff, which is responsible for military strategy, said in its daily battlefield update that the Russians fired on some two dozen towns and villages around Bakhmut, the ruined city that has become the focal point of Moscow’s campaign to seize all of the eastern area known as Donbas.
By many recent accounts the changes of Ukrainian forces holding on the Bakbmut look bleaker by the day, as Russian troops are busy encircling the strategic city in Donetsk.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Monday that the battle for the east is rapidly "heating up" as the Russian side throws "new units into the battle and eradicating our towns and villages."
Last month Ukrainian leaders began warning their Western backers that Putin has ordered hundreds of thousands more troops to muster along the border for a major new offensive; but such a potential escalation has failed to materialize thus far.
Also of note is something President Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News days ago...
While discussing the broader war, the Ukrainian leader said "If Ukraine falls, it would be the start of World War 3" - given that this would trigger major Western powers jumping in to back Kyiv directly in a bigger collective effort to defeat Russia.
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![[Image: 2pmgbygzscvh7r5bzexa4fis4fzalpbwnxrg6s0....ormat=webp]](https://assistant.gloria.tv/1z94gyaCTBei3D8MsGrYwjE6j/2pmgbygzscvh7r5bzexa4fis4fzalpbwnxrg6s0.webp?secure=x7mUrFVDjUU4WmLsPPuQRA&expires=1676650794&format=webp)
