Rorate Caeli

God bless America - God has blessed America




Catholics were essential for the resounding victory of former President Donald J. Trump and Senator J.D. Vance on Tuesday's elections.


We pray for the upcoming administration, for policies favorable to the liberty of the Church and the preservation of human life, and for peace and prosperity for the United States and all the world.

2025 Papa Stronsay Calendar Now Available

 

 

The 2025 edition of the Papa Stronsay Calendar is now available for purchase: order yours here!

Pope Francis, the Synod, and the Sacred Heart -- by Roberto de Mattei

 October 31, 2024



The Synod that closed on Oct. 27 at the Vatican seemed like an attempt by Pope Francis to put out the fire set by the German bishops with their “synodal way” launched in January 2020. The ambitious goal that the progressive bishops, not only the German ones, set for themselves was to take a decisive step forward from the 2019 Pan-Amazonian Synod in 2024, achieving the diaconal ordination of women, the marriage -- under certain conditions -- of priests, the implementation of the LGBT agenda, and the granting of doctrinal authority to bishops' conferences. None of this is present in the Final Document approved on Oct. 26. A document that displeased everyone and caused Vaticanist Andrea Gagliarducci to write that “there are neither winners nor losers” (“Aci Stampa,” Oct. 26, 2024).

Paprocki defends Saint Michael prayer in Wall Street Journal

A retired priest, Rev. Gerald Bednar, in the Diocese of Cleveland -- the former vice rector of the seminary there -- had a letter to the editor published in the Wall Street Journal, taking an opportunity to oppose reciting the Saint Michael prayer after Mass, which is done at nearly all traditional Latin Low Masses, as well as a growing number of novus ordo liturgies in conservative parishes. 


Father Bednar's letter from a few days ago follows. So does one, published in today's paper, from His Excellency Thomas John Paprocki, bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois.



Our thanks to Bishop Paprocki for a succinct response and defense.


***

Wall Street Journal; October 22, 2024


St. Michael Is Out of Place At the End of Catholic Mass

A Response to the Feminist Demand for Priestly Ordination: Contemplate Mary


A Response to the Feminist Demand for Priestly Ordination: 

Contemplate the Maternal Priesthood of Mary.



By Karen Darantière 



“It’s so insulting to keep on saying that the only valid role that will get the approval of this pope is to be nurturing, is to be a mother, while you can be nurturing and mothering and be a priest.” (1) So says Miriam Duignan, an advocate of female ordination and of abortion, in response to comments against the female diaconate made by Pope Francis, recently reiterated by Cardinal Fernandez. One cannot help but wonder at the extraordinarily successful propagandizing which has enabled this incongruous coupling of “only” with “mother”. Future generations will be dumbstruck by how readily women espoused such a degradation of their most sublime vocation. Undoubtedly, such feminists nonetheless nurture a glimmer of hope due to the Pope inviting the Synod on Synodality to discuss the possibility of the ontologically impossible. For, after duly debating thesis and antithesis, the Synod may render a synthesis more suited to their tastes. (2) However, a better response might be proposed to disgruntled feminists: Turn your gaze upon Mary, who alone is both Mother and Priest.


“A Priest Before God’s Altar”: The Mother’s Share in the Priesthood of the Son

A “Traditional Ordinariate”: A Good Idea Whose Time Has Come -- or a Ghetto for Traditionalists? - op-ed by Brother Antoine-Marie de Araujo, SSVF

The “Traditional Ordinariate”: A Ghetto for Traditionalists?

Fr. Antoine-Marie de Araujo

Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, France



In a recent article, Father de Blignières proposed the creation of a “traditional ordinariate,” similar to that created in Brazil for the Union of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney and to the personal ordinariates created for Anglicans who wish to join the Catholic Church while preserving their traditions.  (1) This complementary hierarchical structure would allow the faithful to have access to the sacraments in the old Latin rite and to benefit from the traditional disciplines and teachings. Father de Blignières’ proposal is specifically intended for France, but people in other countries could ask for a similar “traditional ordinariate.”

"What Are the Consequences of Francis's Theology?" — an in-depth personal analysis, by Dr. John Lamont

The "Abrahamic Family House" promoted by Pope Francis

[Rorate note: the article below reflects exclusively the position of the author, and not of the blog. As usual, the blog is open to posting different positions on current matters, even if they may differ from our editorial lines.


What Are the Consequences of Francis’s Theology?


John Lamont

 

At least since the Synod of the Family in 2014, much concern has been expressed about words and actions of Francis that do not seem compatible with the Catholic faith. These words and actions have been exhaustively examined and discussed. This process of examination and discussion has been taken as far as it can usefully go. It is now imperative to consider the consequences of these words and actions for Francis and for the Catholic Church. These consequences depend on whether or not Francis must be considered a heretic in the light of what he has said and done. There are theological and legal questions that need to be determined in order to do this; when these determinations have been completed, they can be applied to the facts. This essay proposes to carry out these tasks.

Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King - Father Richard Cipolla


 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”(John 18:38)


I dreamed the other night I was dying.  The priest came, and the only question I asked him as he was anointing me was this: “How will I recognize him?  How will I know it is He?  The priest whispered in my year: “The one with the crown, that’s how you will know whom to go to.”  Of course!  The crown, the one with the crown, that’s how I will know whom to go to! Of course, the crown, the King, the King of heaven! That’s how I will be able to tell, and in this situation, it is crucial to recognize the King, for to get into heaven you have to know the King. And so I died, and I found myself looking into the eyes of a stranger, yet someone I vaguely knew, but still a stranger, and someone not wearing a crown.  But he had his hands outstretched to me, waiting for me to approach. But there was no crown, so this was a trick, so I went on looking. And then I saw someone in the distance. As I walked toward him, he walked toward me. I began to run now, for I could see a crown on his head. This was it, the key to heaven, the end of the game. I had won! And before I could stop myself, I ran into the mirror, the mirror shattered, and I was alone in the darkness, where I heard bitter lamentations all around me.

The Kingdom of God is Within You: Supporting Contemplative Eremitical Vocations

“It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it upon himself.” (Lamentations 3:27-28)

In the Conferences of St. John Cassian, Abba John lays bare the secrets of the eremitical vocation: “The perfection for a hermit is to have his mind freed from all earthly things, and to unite it, as far as human frailty allows, with Christ.” 1 What is the yoke of which Jeremias speaks in his Lamentations? Our Redeemer has the answer:

The Attempt to Ban the Latin Mass Continues (Spearheaded Now By Roche and Viola, With Francis Having Lost Interest)

 


The Traditional Latin Mass at the Cathedral of St. Eugene in Santa Rosa, CA was once packed and overflowing each Sunday with faithful Catholics. 

Encyclical "Dilexit Nos" on the 350th Anniversary of the Apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

ENCICLICAL LETTER

DILEXIT NOS

OF THE HOLY FATHER

FRANCIS

ON THE HUMAN AND DIVINE LOVE

OF THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST



1. “HE LOVED US”, Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom 8:37), in order to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love (Rom 8:39). Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you” (Jn 15:9, 12). Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). His open heart has gone before us and waits for us, unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first” (cf. 1 Jn 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16).


CHAPTER ONE


THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEART

Cardinal Sandoval and Sir James MacMillan honoured by the FIUV

Today, 23rd October, Felipe Alanis Suarez, Vice President (and past President) of Una Voce International (the FIUV) will present the De Saventhem Medal to His Eminence Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, in his home in Mexico. On 18th September, Joseph Shaw presented a medal to Sir James MacMillan. Sir James and Cardinal Sandoval were the prime movers of the petitions of public figures in favour of the Traditional Mass, that were published in the course of July this year.

This is the FIUV Press Release. Spanish language version below.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press Release


The International Federation Una Voce awards the Dr. Eric de Saventhem Medal to Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez and Sir James MacMillan

Rome, 19/Oct/2024 – The International Federation Una Voce (FIUV) is honored to announce the presentation of the prestigious Dr. Eric de Saventhem Medal to His Eminence Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez and Sir James MacMillan, in recognition of their significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of the Traditional Latin Mass within the Catholic Church.

"A Toast to the Pope" - by Fr. Richard Cipolla


From the first epistle of St Paul to Timothy:  Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.


When I was young I remember waiting to see the latest Walt Disney movie. I had to wait until it came to what was called the second run theater near my house, where the price of admission was cheaper than in the grand movie houses downtown. And one movie I remember so well, partly because I had read the book before, was Pinocchio.  The puppet who wanted to be a real boy.  And it is the character of Jiminy Cricket who helps Pinocchio to be a real boy and tells him that what distinguishes a puppet from a real boy is that a real boy has a conscience.  Jiminy sings that wonderful song: “ Give a little whistle and let your conscience be your guide.”  Those Disney movies can be dismissed as cultural artifacts of another time, but for the Catholic, what Jiminy Cricket told Pinocchio is absolutely true:  that what distinguishes men and women from animals and from puppets is conscience.

The Deplorable Situation in Fréjus-Toulon: Coercion of Conscience and Contempt of Constitutions

Bishop Touvet’s Persecution of Traditional Liturgists
Jean-Pierre Maugendre
October 17, 2024

At the 3rd Assises de la Tradition, held in Paris on October 12, participants were somewhat stunned to discover the latest developments in Mgr Touvet’s persecution of traditional liturgists in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon.

Bishop Touvet’s abuse of power

While some may have believed that Mgr Touvet, appointed in 2023 as Mgr Rey’s coadjutor in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, would succeed in maintaining the unity of the diocese, the facts seem to contradict these optimistic prospects. Indeed, while it is now well known that Mgr Touvet is still blocking the ordinations of the Missionaries of Divine Mercy (see our September 20, 2024 column, Missionaries of Mercy. Still no ordinations), other damning facts have been brought to the attention of the indignant public by Lex orandi union spokesman Philippe Darantière.

"Let’s Pray for the Successful Ending of the Synod" - by Cardinal Zen

A Crying Out from Cardinal Zen


I have not posted any articles online for a long time. But now I feel that I must write something to help my brothers and sisters in the Lord to understand what is most important thing to pray for in this moment. What I am feeling most anxiously about is how this Synod on “Synodality” can be successfully (decently) concluded, anyone who has read my blog post on February 15 this year will understand.

The theme of the Sixteenth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is “Synodality,” but what exactly is “Synodality”? Based on the etymology of the Greek word “Synod,” it means “walking together;” and then in Chinese, it is translated into “talking together” and “walking together”: (participation, communion and (for the) mission).

“His fruit was sweet to my taste”: On the Proper Mass of St Margaret Mary Alacoque

Almost 100 years ago, in 1929, Pope Pius XI extended the feast of the then recently-canonized St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to the universal Church, giving us a magnificent proper Mass simultaneously honoring the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, who graciously revealed Himself to her, and the saint herself, who faithfully transmitted the message with which she had been entrusted. Even as the Church prays on September 17 that God granted the holy stigmata to St. Francis in order to bring warmth to a world grown cold, so too God raised up this simple nun in France to bring warmth to a nation grown Jansenist. And we are not yet finished with Jansenism, as can be seen in the endorsement of the proposals of the Jansenist Synod of Pistoia by the Second Vatican Council or in the grim defenders of a distorted modesty who joylessly turn people against well-regulated social dancing.

Dutch Cardinal: Don't repeat our mistakes! Those among our churches where truth is proclaimed and liturgy is well celebrated are full. Put Christ at the Center!

 Cardinal Eijk, of Utrecht (primate of the Netherlands), in an interview with Catholic periodical COMMUNIO.


The church must speak with one voice

Cardinal Eijk on mission, secularization and the World Synod


The Church in the Netherlands was once regarded as very progressive. Disillusionment and collapse followed. Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk warns in an interview: Don't repeat our mistakes! In an extremely secularized society, the Archbishop of Utrecht is counting on a new missionary awakening.


By Willem Jacobus Eijk, Benjamin Leven, Lambert Hendriks


COMMUNIO: The Netherlands is considered one of the most secular societies in Western Europe. How Christian are the Netherlands still?

PALESTRINA 500: A year-long festival of sung Masses to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of Palestrina's Birth (1525-2025)

Certainly one of the most significant sacred music festivals ever conceived.

In honor of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), you can hear the Gesualdo Six, the Tallis Scholars, the London Oratory Schola Cantorum, and many other ensembles perform the glorious Masses and motets of the Prince of Polyphony, in the context for which they were intended: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

That is the ambitious program undertaken for the glory of God and the edification of the faithful by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan, starting on December 9, 2024, and running to December 8, 2025. The parish has already raised over $100K for this monumental festival.

For more details, see the poster below, or visit the website at https://www.sacredheartgr.org/palestrina500 


Fontgombault Sermons: Feast of the Dedication of the Church; Feast of the Holy Rosary

The sermons of the Father Abbot of Fontgombault are now fully available as PDF files here.


DEDICATION OF THE ABBATIAL CHURCH (October 5th, 2024)


FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY (October 7th, 2024)

A Sermon on Christopher Columbus: How Much of the Hatred towards Columbus is Plain Old Anti-Catholicism?

by Father Richard G. Cipolla

 


From St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians:


There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 


Some years ago, but not that long ago, when I was a priest at St. Mary’s church in Norwalk, Connecticut, the statue of Christopher Columbus was moved from what is known as Heritage Square, a place for acknowledging the contribution of various ethnic groups important in the history of the city of Norwalk.

De Mattei: “Columbus is ours!”

 

Roberto de Mattei 
Corrispondenza Romana
June 17, 2020 [Repost]

“Columbus noster est!” “Christopher Columbus is ours!” These words of Leo XIII, in his encyclical Quarto Abeunte Saeculo, issued July 16, 1892, on the IV Centenary of the discovery of America, are like a distant echo to us, at a time when iconoclastic fury in the United States of America is destroying the figure of the Italian navigator.


Leo XIII states in this encyclical that Christopher Columbus’s venture: «is in itself the highest and grandest which any age has ever seen accomplished by man; and he who achieved it, for the greatness of his mind and heart, can be compared to but few in the history of humanity. By his toil another world emerged from the unsearched bosom of the ocean: hundreds of thousands of mortals have, from a state of blindness, been raised to the common level of the human race, reclaimed from savagery to gentleness and humanity; and, greatest of all, by the acquisition of those blessings of which Jesus Christ is the author, they have been recalled from destruction to eternal life. (…) For Columbus is ours; since if a little consideration be given to the particular reason of his design in exploring the mare tenebrosum, and also the manner in which he endeavored to execute the design, it is indubitable that the Catholic faith was the strongest motive for the inception and prosecution of the design; so that for this reason also the whole human race owes not a little to the Church. (…) This view and aim is known to have possessed his mind above all; namely, to open a way for the Gospel over new lands and seas. (…) Columbus certainly had joined to the study of nature the study of religion, and had trained his mind on the teachings that well up from the most intimate depths of the Catholic faith. For this reason, when he learned from the lessons of astronomy and the record of the ancients, that there were great tracts of land lying towards the West, beyond the limits of the known world, lands hitherto explored by no man, he saw in spirit a mighty multitude, cloaked in miserable darkness, given over to evil rites, and the superstitious worship of vain gods. Miserable it is to live in a barbarous state and with savage manners: but more miserable to lack the knowledge of that which is highest, and to dwell in ignorance of the one true God. Considering these things, therefore, in his mind, he sought first of all to extend the Christian name and the benefits of Christian charity to the West, as is abundantly proved by the history of the whole undertaking”».  

Hence, Christopher Columbus belongs to the Church, and any affront to him is directed at the Church, which has the duty to defend his memory. This spirit inspired Count Antoine-François-Félix Roselly de Lorgues (1805-1898) who dedicated his life to promoting the cause for Christopher Columbus’s canonization. Encouraged by Pius IX, in 1856, in Paris, Roselly de Lorgues published a two-volume work entitled: Cristophe Colomb. Histoire de sa vie et de ses voyages; d’après des documents authentiques tirés d’Espagne et d’Italie, which achieved world-wide success. In this work, Roselly de Lorgues, for the first time, offers his thesis for the canonization of the “Admiral of the Ocean”.  He writes in a subsequent work: “…he was the ambassador of God to unknown nations that the ancient world were unaware of”  and “ the natural legate of the Holy See in those new regions”. (Della vita di Cristoforo Colombo e delle ragioni per chiederne la beatificazione, tr. it., per Ranieri Guasti, Prato 1876, p. 83)

The Modernists will continue to divide the Church over the Mass

“Hello. We’re from the Vatican and we’re here to help you.” Those are words I always believed I would be very happy to hear. The unyielding persecution of Catholic Tradition from the very top in the Eternal City has changed that. And the Mass is at the center of the battle for our faith and salvation. Anything else is a distraction from the Evil One.


The novus ordo is a service with Catholic components. It is "valid". But as a “Mass” it’s not pleasing worship to God. We have such a Mass already and it’s called the traditional Latin Mass.


The Mass was divinely revealed by Christ Himself and entrusted to the Apostles to be handed down by means of the Holy Spirit in the Church through time and space.

Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, a Spiritual Note: One of the "Guardian Angels" of Archbishop Lefebvre


by Côme de Prévigny


Archbishop Lefebvre used to tell his seminarians that he had two guardian angels: Fathers Aulagnier and Tissier de Mallerais. 


These two valiant priests were among the nine young men who knocked on the door of the famous archbishop on October 13, 1969 in Fribourg, Switzerland, even though the Society of St. Pius X had not yet even been created. 

Rest in Peace, Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais


Rorate has learned H. E. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais has died in Sion, Switzerland. He had been under hospital care since suffering an unfortunate fall, a few days ago.


Good and Faithful Servant: may he rest in peace!


His funeral Mass and rite of interment will take place in the Seminary of Saint Pius X, in Écône, Switzerland, next Friday, October 18, 2024, at 9:30 am, local time.


***


Bernard Tissier de Mallerais was born on September 14, 1945, in Sallanches (Haute-Savoie), France, not far from the Swiss-French-Italian border, in a strongly Catholic family. Following his university studies, dedicated to biology, he joined the Seminary of Saint Pius X (still in Fribourg, in its early years), studying for the priesthood under the guidance of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on June 29, 1975, in Écône.

Stunning Photos from the Fourth National Latin Mass Pilgrimage

 


The Fourth National Latin Mass pilgrimage is now in the books. Inaugurated in 2022 in response to the draconian restrictions imposed by Vatican fiat on the thriving Latin Masses in the Diocese of Arlington and the Archdiocese of Washington, the pilgrimage has now become a yearly tradition showcasing the power and beauty of Catholic Tradition in the streets of our nation's capital. 

Bishop Tissier de Mallerais - prayers for a fighter


Rorate is able to independently confirm the news that the consequences of the unfortunate fall suffered by H.E. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, of the Society of Saint Pius X, seem to be irreversible regarding his state of health.


Militia est vita hominis super terram: Bishop Tissier de Mallerais has fought the good fight, and will persevere until the end. Prayers to the Immaculate Virgin for this indefatigable man of God.





New Cardinals - just one Sub-Saharan African

 The Pope of the “peripheries” has once again reduced the cardinalatial representation of the churches of greatest faithfulness and most explosive growth (those of Sub-Saharan Africa) — to the lowest level since the Council…


And nothing could be more shocking than the elevation of Dominican Tim Radcliffe, a man whose heterodoxy is...beyond recognition. (And not only honorary, he might still be able to vote if the future conclave takes place before his 80th birthday in 2025.)


Here is the list of the Cardinals to be created in the upcoming consistory (on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 2024):

Sermon for Michaelmas 2024: "Prayer to the great champion of God, whose name means 'Who is like God?', is salutary and necessary in today’s world."


Sermon for the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel

by Fr. Richard Cipolla


From the book of Revelation:


Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought ,but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 


It is always an occasion of joy for me to celebrate this Mass of St. Michael the Archangel.  For some, this feast is at best quaint, looking back to another time, but with little relevance to today.  

Francis Orders Apostolic visitation of the Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)

 Communiqué of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Fribourg, September 26, 2024

Chatgpt's disturbing "prophecy" of a pontificate in the hands of Satan

The following article originally appeared in Spanish at InfoVaticana.

New technologies and artificial intelligence are here to stay

Faced with the lack of regulation and control, there are more and more voices calling for greater regulation and education on everything that concerns the various artificial intelligence tools that threaten to replace man in many tasks.

Chatgpt is one of the first tools to be born as a result of artificial intelligence. This kind of 'human brain' is a useful tool for many people in their daily lives. To test this tool, we asked it how it would design a pontificate if it were Satan. Pay attention to the answers offered by the artificial intelligence because they are not to be missed:

Announcement: A New Catholic Magazine

Dear Rorate Caeli Readers,

I am proud to announce the second and latest issue of The Corner Cabinet magazine entitled Matrimony.

 

Francis, the Peronist President of Argentina: What Catholics need is for Francis to act as Pope, not as politician - by Abp. Héctor Agüer


THE PRESIDENT OF PERONISM

Archbishop Héctor Agüer
Emeritus of La Plata
Buenos Aires, September 25, 2024


Pope Francis has repeatedly announced that his intention is to visit Argentina; but he will not do so: he knows that he would not do very well here. So, now, he descends to the dirty field of political debates with an unusual speech, of fury, against the libertarian government of President Milei. He never made the slightest allusion to Cristina Kirchner's governments, which plunged the country into poverty and destitution. Neither did he react to the worst government in history: that of the useless and abusive Alberto Fernandez, the hypocrite who boasted of being a feminist and beat his wife. The main source of Francis' speech has been, as other times, the news reached by his friend Juan Grabois.

Announcing “Something for Nothing? An Explanation and Defence of the Scholastic Position on Usury”

Usury is a topic with a long and complex history. While it is typically understood today as the practice of charging excessive interest, this is a far cry from the meaning given to it by ancient and medieval authors, who considered the charging of any interest on a mutuum (a loan of such things as are estimated by weight, number, or measure) to be usury.

Finding a thorough, coherent, and believable explanation for so monumental a difference in outlook has been nearly impossible—until David Hunt’s new work, Something for Nothing? An Explanation and Defence of the Scholastic Position on Usury (number 14 in the Os Justi Studies in Catholic Tradition series). Hunt explains and defends the traditional view that usury is a charge for something that does not exist and is therefore a form of theft. Indeed, usury begets a form of chattel slavery, since charging interest on a mutuum is an attempt to profit by treating the borrower as the lender’s property.

Book Review: "The Tragedy of Orpheus and the Maenads" - by David Lane

A Review by Fr. Richard Cipolla



This review of David Lane’s The Tragedy of Orpheus and the Maenads, a play in  five acts, was written by this writer as a response to Mr. Lane’s kind invitation to do so.  What could have been the result of only sense of obligation became, in my reading of this work, a source of delight.  And for that I am grateful to David Lane.

“Christ is no longer to be spoken about—and can no longer be spoken about”: New essay by Vigilius on Pope Francis in Southeast Asia

Rorate welcomes once again the crystal-clear and profound contribution of Vigilius, pen-name of a German theologian. The original text may be found here; the following translation has been approved by the author.


Pope Francis in the “Tunnel of Friendship”


Vigilius

Pope Francis was completely in his element during his trip to Southeast Asia. This is because he was once again able to engage eagerly in “interreligious dialogue”. If you read the Pope’s now published speeches, this dialogue enjoys an almost sacred status of grandeur, which is fed by impressive moral claims. This is because the essence of the intended dialogue is aimed at unity, fraternity, harmony and concord. Central to the Bergoglian concept of dialogue is the “detection of what connects us”, i.e., everything that brings us together by allowing us to discover what is, in truth, always already identical—as symbolized by the underground “tunnel of friendship” between the Istiqlal Mosque and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Jakarta.

The Latin Mass Returns to Dorchester Abbey: The St Birinus Festival, 30 Oct - 2 Nov 2024

A campaign has been launched to help fundraise for the music of rarely heard liturgies in an extraordinary location.

By kind permission of the Church of England parish of Dorchester on Thames, the St Birinus Festival 2024 will take place at the beautiful mediaeval abbey, once host to the remains of St Birinus and a destination for pilgrims from around the world. St Birinus, along with St Augustine, was responsible for  bringing much of England to Christianity. Just by the abbey runs the River Thame, in whose waters St Birinus baptised the king of Wessex in 636 AD.

The festival will include the singing of the major hours of the feasts of All Saints and All Souls according to the 1962 Roman Missal, which is normally celebrated at the nearby Catholic Church of St Birinus. These ceremonies will be sung with full Gregorian Chant and polyphonic music by the great Renaissance composers such as Victoria, Gabrieli, Palestrina and Byrd.

The newly formed St Birinus Festival Choir will be joined by sackbuts and cornetts, and will be directed by Gareth Wilson, of Girton College Cambridge. A Mass in up to 16 parts by the Venetian composer Andrea Gabrieli will accompany a solemn Pontifical Mass for All Saints on November 1st, at 11am. The celebrant will be Abbot Hugh Allan O.Praem.

Matins of All Souls will also be a unique experience early the next day, with some of the finest music of the Renaissance written specifically for this ceremony. This will be followed by a solemn Requiem with music by Lassus and Byrd.

The festival will also include major musical events in the evenings, such as concerts with the Davey Consort and students of the Royal Academy of Music, both directed by Ryan Wigglesworth, director of music for the BBC Scottish symphony orchestra. Sophie Bevan MBE will also give a masterclass.

The Festival is being organised in order to fundraise for the music at the beautiful Catholic Church in Dorchester on Thames. This neo-gothic gem [of a church] (also dedicated to St Birinus) boasts an Aubertin organ and a regular professional choir (the Davey Consort), as well as a childrens choir with ambitious plans for the future. Donations to support the costs of organising such an event can be made via the following link: https://gofund.me/42c651ff

All details of the festival events and where to get tickets can be found here:  https://thedaveyconsort.co.uk/collections/st-birinus-festival



Papal Scandal in Singapore: The Error of the Equality of Religions -- and the Faith of St. Francis Xavier (De Mattei)

 Pope Francis and the Act of Faith of St. Francis Xavier

 by Roberto de Mattei



Among the most serious errors prevalent today, even in Catholic circles, is the one according to which all religions are equivalent because they all worship one God. This error is most serious because it denies, at its root, the intrinsic truth of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, Pope Francis' statements at the Catholic Junior College in Singapore last September 13, 2024, are along these lines and, with all due respect to the Pope, are objectively scandalous.


The official Vatican account quotes verbatim these phrases from Francis: "All religions are a path to get to God. They are - I make a comparison - like different languages, different idioms, to get there. But God is God for all. And because God is God for everyone, we are all God's children. "But my God is more important than yours!" Is this true? There is only one God, and we, our religions are languages, paths to get to God. Some Sikh, some Muslim, some Hindu, some Christian, but they are different paths. Understood?" Understood? 


Our answer is immediate: no, Holy Father, we have not understood and cannot understand it. Our religion and also the history of the Society of Jesus, to which you belong, teach us otherwise.

Arlington Carmel Saga: the Texas Carmelites become a permanent TLM-celebrating community - by coming under the auspices of the SSPX

 It seems there may be a pause in the sinuous saga of the Discalced Carmelite sisters of Arlington, Texas. After years of strange events and the relentless pursuit of their convent (coincidentally, a huge piece of property right in the middle of one of the fastest growing regions in the US) by the local bishop (Fort Worth) including Vatican intervention in their favor, they seem to have a reasonably stable moment — by becoming the newest community friendly to the Society of Saint Pius X in America.



From the note published by the SSPX US district:


Statement from the Arlington Carmel on Its Association with the SSPX 
 SEPTEMBER 14, 2024


 
"The motto of Pope St. Pius X was: To Restore All Things in Christ. Such is the case for our Community as well, which has prayerfully, over a period of many years, sought to return to Tradition."

Bishop Slattery, RIP

 The Diocese of Tulsa announced His Excellency Edward J. Slattery died yesterday at the age of 84.




Bishop Slattery was the celebrant of the solemn pontifical Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2010. He graciously stepped in after a media firestorm concerning the originally scheduled celebrant, Dario Cardinal Hoyos. The day turned out to be an absolutely glorious one -- standing room only in the largest church in North America. The dozens of clergy, the numerous choirs, the magnificent pipe organ, the beautiful vestments, the joy in all who attended in-person or watched live on EWTN -- it was a traditional Latin Mass that defined the liturgical restoration of its era.

'Surprise' Novus Ordo Masses in Arlington Diocese

 


The decision by Pope Francis and the Dicastery for Divine Worship (DDW) to reignite the liturgical wars by abrogating Summorum Pontificum will be remembered as a monumental, embarrassing blunder by a papacy marked by corruption and scandal.