Francis' CRAP - Church Report on Amazon Problems: the "Amazon Synod" Document does not rise to the level of toilet paper

Public latrines in Ancient Rome (Ostia)

Yes, we all know what the "Amazon Synod" (officially, the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region, to take place in Rome in October 2019) was made for: to achieve the ordination of married men in the Latin Church as the new normal.

Naturally, it will be clothed as exceptional and extraordinary, but, since the only thing in the Church that remains extraordinary in both name and practice is the Traditional Mass, it will soon become the norm. Because, honestly, can't upstate New York or Utah, or Patagonia, or the Congo, all be considered "remote"? Stretch a little, and the spiritual deserts of secularized metropolises throughout the West can be as "remote", spiritually, as the vast expanses of the Amazon River basin.

And yet...in order to achieve that, Francis made up his Synod. Just as in the "Family Synods" they had one objective, and pursued it -- that is, communion for the "remarried divorcees" -- in this Synod the goal is the ordination of married men. However, just as in the "Family Synods" they took the time to include all kinds of unrelated scandalous matters (particularly related to homosexuality), in this one they plan to introduce paganism and pantheism as acceptable forms of Christianity.

Which leads us to the Instrumentum Laboris, the guiding document for discussions of the Synod, released Monday in Rome in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. We choose to call it the "Church Report on Amazon Problems", or CRAP. Still no English version available -- and we refuse to waste our resources to translate it. We know from other sources that this delay in the English translation is purposeful: they know where the greatest opposition would come from, so they wish to limit their criticism.

These are some of the theological pearls of the text:

"Life in the Amazon communities not reached by Western Civilization is reflected in belief on work of spirits, of divinity - named in different ways - with territory, with and in relation to nature. This cosmoview is summarized in Francis' 'mantra': "All is interconnected." (n. 25)

"There is a need for a process of discernment in relation to the rituals, symbols and celebratory styles of indigenous cultures in contact with nature, which must be assumed in the liturgical and sacramental ritual. It is suggested that the liturgical celebrations be festive, with their own songs and dances, in tongues and with original costumes, in communion with nature and with the community.A liturgy that corresponds to their own culture, to be the source and summit of their Christian life (SC, 10), and linked to their struggles, sufferings and joys. The sacraments should be a source of life and medicine accessible to all (EG 47), especially to the poor (EG 200). It is asked to overcome the rigidity of a discipline that excludes and alienates, in favor of a pastoral sensitivity that accompanies and integrates (AL 297) In view of a salutary "decentralization" of the Church (EG, 16), the communities ask Episcopal Conferences to adapt the Eucharistic rituals to their own cultures." (n. 126)

What we can say, after careful reading of the text, is that never in the history of Rome has such a pathetic document been published, and this since Romulus founded the City... It actually saddens us, in an environmentally-conscious sort of way, that this detritus in the shape of words will be printed, in many copies, for the members of the assembly: toilet paper is destined to a much higher and dignified use than the cellulose which will be wasted with this document.

“What Good is a Changing Catechism? Revisiting the Purpose and Limits of a Book” — Dr. Kwasniewski’s Chicago Lecture

Note: Below is the lecture I gave at the Union League Club in Chicago on Friday, June 14, 2019, as part of the lecture series of the Catholic Citizens of Illinois. My lecture could have been given the alternative title: “The Death Penalty for the Catechism? A How-To Guide for Excluding a Text from the Catholic Tradition.” Fortuitously, the lecture came at the end of an eventful week in Illinois and in Baltimore. On Wednesday, June 12, the state of Illinois disgraced itself by the passage of the most extreme pro-abortion legislation yet seen in the United States. Ironically, those who celebrate the indiscriminate murder of innocent children are usually opposed to capital punishment for guilty criminals, and the reasoning is consistent: the unborn, not having consciousness of their own personal dignity, cannot defend themselves, so the strong may do away with them at pleasure; but adults, no matter how wicked, are recognized as autonomous individuals with inviolable dignity who must be given free room and board by the state for the remainder of their lives. Then, on Thursday, June 13, the United States bishops voted, by a huge majority (194 in favor, 8 against, 3 abstentions), to alter the text of the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults to bring it in line with Pope Francis’s novel teaching on the death penalty. The revolution in moral teaching thus continues unabated.

What Good is a Changing Catechism? Revisiting the Purpose and Limits of a Book[1]

Peter Kwasniewski

What is a catechism? How would you answer that question?

A standard dictionary definition runs like this: “a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians.” Wikipedia, which as we all know is hit or miss, does a decent job: “A catechism (from Ancient Greek κατηχέω, to teach orally) is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as an introduction to the Sacraments” and for the “Christian religious teaching of children and of adult converts. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals—often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized.”[2]

It seems to me that this is the answer of history, of Church practice, and of what we might call “supernatural common sense.” A catechism is a convenient guide to what the Church teaches; more than that, a guide to what she has always taught and will always teach. A good catechism is like a clean, smooth, untainted mirror that reflects the content of the Catholic Faith and nothing else.

A poor catechism—like the infamous 1966 Dutch Catechism that caused so much trouble after the Council—is, on the contrary, a cloudy, scratched, bent, or chipped mirror that does not lucidly reflect the Faith. Good catechisms preserve and pass on the teaching of Christ and His Church, while bad catechisms distort it, or one-sidedly exaggerate it, or muffle or silence it.

The Spectator: "Is the Pope a Catholic? You have to wonder."

By Melanie McDonagh, for The Spectator:

Is the Pope a Catholic? You have to wonder. In the old days, a pope’s remit was modest: infallible, but only in the vanishingly rare cases when he pronounced on matters of faith and morals concerning the whole Church. But even at their most bombastic and badly behaved, earlier popes would have hesitated to do what nice Pope Francis has done, which is to approve changes in the liturgy which amount to rewriting the Lord’s Prayer.

That bit that says ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’ is, for Pope Francis, a bad translation. ‘It speaks of a God who induces temptation,’ he told Italian TV. ‘I am the one who falls. It’s not him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen. A father doesn’t do that; A father helps you to get up immediately.’

De Mattei: An Exceptional Document - Monsignor Vigano’s Interview to The Washington Post

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

June 12, 2019

"The bottom line is this: Pope Francis is deliberately concealing the McCarrick evidence."

The extensive interview that Archbishop Maria Viganò gave to Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli in the Washington Post of June 10^th is of exceptional importance for several reasons.

The first and most important reason is that this interview indicates the utter failure of the Vatican’s  strategy of ‘silence’, faced with the detailed accusations of the former Nuncio to the United States. Those in charge of the Vatican media were convinced that Monsignor Viganò’s revelations would have been confined to a ‘niche audience’, ready to be forgotten after some moments of emotional excitement. This did not happen..

The Washington Post is one of the most widely read newspapers in the planet, with millions of readers and the Archbishop’s interview was, for almost three days, the second most popular article  on its site. Monsignor Viganò’s voice has had an impact world-wide, shattering the wall of silence and imposing evidence that cannot be ignored or minimized.

The second reason, connected to the first, is that with his interview, The Washington Post recognizes Monsignor Viganò as a historical witness, whose credibility cannot be placed in doubt by anyone.  The Archbishop does not enter into the theological problems arising from documents like Amoris Laetitia, but limits himself to addressing the facts that he knows: the existence of a “corrupt mafia” which “has taken control of many institutions of the Church, from the top down, and is exploiting the Church and the faithful for its own immoral purposes”. This mafia “is bound together not by shared sexual intimacy but by a shared interest in protecting and advancing one another professionally and in sabotaging every effort to reform the sexual corruption”.                                                                    

Regarding the clumsy efforts of the Vatican media to discredit him, by accusing him of having  ambitions of power: “In any case, my motivation is not the point, and questions about it are a distraction. The truly important question is whether my testimony is true. I stand by it, and I urge investigations so that the facts may appear. Unfortunately, those who impugn my motives have been unwilling to conduct open and thorough investigations”.

Communiqué of the International UNA VOCE Federation on Order of Malta ban of the Traditional Latin Mass

Rome, June 13, 2019

The FIUV notes with regret the letter, dated 10th June, from Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaler Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta (the ‘Order of Malta’), forbidding the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (the Extraordinary Form) in the context of the Order’s liturgical life.

Since this letter has become public, we would like to observe that it does not accurately present the provisions of Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, given motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. Article 3, cited in the Grand Master’s letter, explicitly allows religious communities to have not only private but conventual celebrations of Mass in the Extraordinary Form, without reference to the Major Superior (in the case of the Order of Malta, the Grand Master or the Prelate). His permission is required only in cases where the community ‘wishes to have such celebrations frequently, habitually or permanently’.

The Grand Master’s letter also neglects the right of the faithful, from which the religious and lay members of the Order of Malta are not excluded, from requesting celebrations of Mass in the Extraordinary Form (Article 4). Celebrations in the context of special occasions such as pilgrimages are explicitly anticipated (Article 5 §3). Pastors and rectors of churches are directed to accede to such requests (Article 5, §1 and §5).

The Federation would like to emphasise that the Extraordinary Form is a part of the liturgical patrimony of the Church which represents ‘riches’ for the Church, which should not be neglected or excluded, and certainly not on the basis of a narrow conception of unity which excludes the variety of liturgical expressions permitted in the Church. As Pope Benedict expressed it:

‘These two expressions of the Church’s lex orandi will in no way lead to a division in the Church’s lex credendi (rule of faith); for they are two usages of the one Roman rite.’ (Summorum Pontificum, Preamble)

Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce

Events: Numerous Corpus Christi events in London

Make sure to click "read more" to see two more events that follow the first:

Saint Anthony warns negligent superiors and prelates of the dire personal consequences of their omission

Exsulta, Lusitania felix! O felix Padua, gaude! -- with these words, Pope Pius XII, of most glorious memory, started his Apostolic Brief naming Saint Anthony of Padua Doctor of the Church. The Doctor Evangelicus was a fiery preacher, filled with the righteous indignation of a true saint -- not at all like the emasculated simpleton some seem to believe him to have been.

We present below two excerpts of his "Sermon on the justice of hypocrites and of true penitents", commonly included, in the "Sermones Dominicales", in the sermons for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. Saint Anthony warns negligent superiors and prelates of the dire personal consequences of their omission -- and the danger of ambition, particularly of superiors ("In superiori gradu præferuntur, ut lapsu graviore ruant.")

___________________________

If the ox was wont to push with his horn yesterday and the day before, and they warned his master, and he did not shut him up, and he shall kill a man or a woman: then the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. [Exodus xxi, 29] The ox that pushes with his horn is the carnal appetite, which with the horn of pride kills a man or a woman: that is to say, his reason or his good will. Because his owner, the spirit, does not shut him up, he is killed along with the ox: body and soul will be eternally punished together. Hear this, you abbots and priors! If you have an ox that pushes with his horn, a monk or canon who is proud, a lover of wine and pleasure, and you will not shut him up, so that men and women are not scandalized by his bad example: the ox shall be stoned to death, and die in his sin, and the abbot or prior who would not restrain him will be punished eternally.

Knights of the Condom ("Malta") formally forbid Summorum Pontificum

The Knights of Malta ended in 2017, with the illegitimate coup promoted by the bishop of Rome. Ever since that time, as we said then, they have simply become the Knights of the Condom.

So, it is not surprising that in their new incarnation their wicked and devilish leaders are formally suppressing the Traditional Latin Mass -- it is actually expected.

Document below (click for larger view):

 What a joke they have become. Ridiculous.

But, as ridiculous as this is, it is a sign: THEY are testing the waters.

(Image: @holysmoke, Damian Thompson; confirmed as genuine in the early morning by Knights' spokeswoman to top Vatican correspondent Edward Pentin.)

Archbishop Viganò speaks up: Washington Post interview - "This archbishop called on the pope to resign. Now he’s in an undisclosed location."

For the record of events of the current pontificate, we post the main excerpts of the article published this Monday by the Washington Post:

By Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli
June 10, 2019

ROME — In the instant he became one of the most controversial figures in modern Catholic Church history, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò went dark.

The retired Vatican ambassador to Washington wrote a bombshell letter last summer calling on Pope Francis to resign on the grounds that he had tolerated a known sexual abuser. As that letter was published, Viganò turned off his phone, told friends he was disappearing, and let the church sort through the fallout.

Nine months later, in his first extended interview since that moment, Viganò refused to disclose his location or say much about his self-imposed exile. But his comments indicate that, even in hiding, he is maintaining his role as the fiercest critic of the Francis era, acting either as an honorable rebel or, as his critics see it, as an ideological warrior attacking a pope he doesn’t like.

For the Record: “Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time”

Explanatory note

In our time the Church is experiencing one of the greatest spiritual epidemics, that is, an almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation, which is a seriously contagious danger for spiritual health and eternal salvation for many souls. At the same time one has to recognize a widespread lethargy in the exercise of the Magisterium on different levels of the Church’s hierarchy in our days. This is largely caused by the non-compliance with the Apostolic duty - as stated also by the Second Vatican Council - to “vigilantly ward off any errors that threaten the flock” (Lumen gentium, 25).

Our time is characterized by an acute spiritual hunger of the Catholic faithful all over the world for a reaffirmation of those truths that are obfuscated, undermined, and denied by some of the most dangerous errors of our time. The faithful who are suffering this spiritual hunger feel themselves abandoned and thus find themselves in a kind of existential periphery. Such a situation urgently demands a concrete remedy. A public declaration of the truths regarding these errors cannot admit a further deferral. Hence we are mindful of the following timeless words of Pope Saint Gregory the Great: “Our tongue may not be slack to exhort, and having undertaken the office of bishops, our silence may not prove our condemnation at the tribunal of the just Judge. (…) The people committed to our care abandon God, and we are silent. They live in sin, and we do not stretch out a hand to correct.” (In Ev. hom. 17: 3. 14)

Fontgombault Sermon for Pentecost 2019: "Television and the Internet are invasive weeds on our soul, occupying the place that belongs to the Holy Spirit."

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

(Fontgombault, June 9th, 2019) 

Mansionem apud eum faciemus.

We will make our abode with him.

Jn 14:23

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

Today, the Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, who were gathered praying with Mary in the Upper Room. The narrative of this event is taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel is taken from the discourse after the Last Supper, and recounts the Lord’s words to His disciples:

If any one love me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him and We will come to him and will make our abode with him. (Jn 16:5-7)

Jesus adds the promise of a Defender, “the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name”. His role will be to teach the Apostles and bring to their remembrance all the words of Christ. 

This morning, I beg leave to point out the most topical character of this feast. What are we expecting from this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, from His presence, in our lives, our families, our communities, our countries? One thing, and one thing only: that He should make of all these places His abode, according to the promise made by Jesus to those who love Him.

Yet, is it indeed necessary to beg for the coming of the Spirit? Today, knowledge reaches us through media such as the television, the internet… Those are the competitors of the Holy Spirit. They can make their abode in us, to such an extent as to arouse in us an unquenchable need. The tawdry nature of a manifold and superficial knowledge dazzles our intelligence. As compared with that, an in-depth knowledge of God, of a few close persons, seems to be but a poor surrogate.

The "curse" of Pentecost

If we pay close attention, we can see implicit signs of self-curse in the New Covenant oaths which we swear via the sacraments (sacramentum means "oath" in Latin) - for example, in Baptism there is the grace of new life, but it is accomplished via the symbolism of death and burial in the water. To forsake the grace of Baptism is to return to the waters of death from which we were raised up in the sacrament. Blessing and curse are both operative here.

It should not surprise us, then, if we see in the liturgy several "both-ward" pointing signs - the plea of the priest at the prayer before the Gospel explicitly evokes the mission of Isaiah, a mission which was guaranteed by God to end in the curse and condemnation of those who heard it; the action of the priest in kissing the altar stone recalls the symbolism of Christ as the "cornerstone" of the New Jerusalem, but it also recalls the prophecies of Isaiah and the Psalmist that those who rejected the cornerstone will soon be crushed by the weight of this stone.

This dual meaning is more-than evident in the Feast of Pentecost, although certainly the aspects of judgment and curse have rarely been noticed by those attending the liturgical worship. There is an urgency in this Feast that we would do well to feel and hear - and this urgency, this climactic moment of decision, is especially strong in the narratives that describe the Descent of the Holy Ghost.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

Many Old Testament images come to mind here, all of them related to a decisive moment that would result in either blessing or curse.

Three New Books in English by Roberto de Mattei

The year 2019 has turned out to be a special year for English readers of the fine historical work of Roberto de Mattei. Before now, his only book in our language was The Second Vatican Council: An Unwritten Story (Fitzwilliam: Loreto, 2012). Now, however, three new books have appeared almost simultaneously from three different publishers (Angelus, Angelico, and PCP).

De Mattei: Pope Francis, the philosopher of inclusion

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

June 4, 2019

On June 2, in Italy, the traditional military parade celebrating the birth of the Republic, took place under the sign of “inclusion”. “The theme of inclusivity, which has characterized this event, represents well the values engraved in our Constitutional Charter, which stipulates that no citizen may feel they are abandoned, rather, that the full exercise of their rights be guaranteed,” declared the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.

The same day in Blaj, Romania, Pope Francis offered a “mea culpa”, in the name of the Church for the discriminations suffered by the Roma [gypsy] community: “I ask forgiveness – of the Lord and you, in the name of the Church, whenever, in the course of history, we discriminated against you, maltreated or looked at you in the wrong way, with the look of Cain instead of Abel, and weren’t able to recognize, appreciate and defend your uniqueness.”    

When The Twitter Mob Came After Me

by Fr. Kevin Cusick

Twitter has a dark, demonic side, raging against God and the Church. That brood of vipers and braying, bloodthirsty hounds lurking in readiness was visited upon me with nearly unrelenting fury and incredible magnitude last week. Wave after wave of calumnious, blasphemous, and obscene memes, gifs, and messages were posted with comments, likes, and retweets ranging up to the tens of thousands. Those who styled themselves my enemies crowed with pleasure that I had been “ratioed” — when negative comments outnumber likes and retweets. Many called for me to delete my account when they weren’t wishing a more horrible fate upon me. Blue check mark accounts with nearly 200k followers piled on.

Aldo Maria Valli: If even the BBC wises up to the fact that Christians are being persecuted…

Aldo Maria Valli

H/T Ricognizioni 

(once known as Riscossa Cristiana)

June 4, 2019

Our persecuted and forgotten brothers and sisters in Christ

“The persecution of Christians is at a level near that of genocide.” This statement is from an unexpected source - the British BBC, which reports on a study commissioned by the Foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt, and carried out by the Anglican Bishop of Truro, Philip Ian Mounstephen.

Reportedly, one out of three people in the world is suffering religious persecution, and Christians are decidedly “the most persecuted group, so much so, that in three areas of the world the level and nature of the persecution is ostensibly nearing the international definition (adopted by the United Nations) of genocide.”

In this regard, Jeremy Hunt, notes how Western Governments seem to be “fast asleep” and incapable of reacting or at the very least of showing sensitivity in the face of such a situation. 

The Ottaviani Intervention Turns 50: A Perceptive and Still Relevant Critique

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass, better known as the “Ottaviani Intervention” after one of the two cardinals who signed it (Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci). The study bears the date of Thursday, June 5, 1969, which was the feast of Corpus Christi that year.

The study was, however, not delivered to Pope Paul VI until almost four months later, with a cover letter dated September 25, 1969. In this letter the Cardinals aver:

The accompanying Critical Study is the work of a select group of bishops, theologians, liturgists, and pastors of souls. Despite its brevity, the study shows quite clearly that the Novus Ordo Missae -- considering the new elements widely susceptible to widely different interpretations which are implied or taken for granted -- represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session 22 of the Council of Trent. The "canons" of the rite definitively fixed at that time erected an insurmountable barrier against any heresy which might attack the integrity of the Mystery.

Reminder: Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. We added three new priests to the ranks in the last 30 days (two of them the day they were ordained!) and the Society now stands at 93 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses for the Souls. Come on Fathers, let's get this to 100!

** Click here to download a "fillable" PDF Mass Card in English to give to the loved ones of the Souls you enroll. It's free for anyone to use. CLICK HERE to download in Latin and CLICK HERE to download in Spanish. 

Priests: The Souls still need more of you saying Mass for them! Please email me to offer your services. There's nothing special involved -- all you need to do is offer a weekly or monthly TLM with the intention: "For the repose of the Souls enrolled in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society." And we will always keep you completely anonymous unless you request otherwise. 

How to enroll souls: please email me at athanasiuscatholic@yahoo.com and submit as follows: "Name, State, Country." If you want to enroll entire families, simply write in the email: "The Jones family, Ohio, USA". Individual names are preferred. Be greedy -- send in as many as you wish and forward this posting to friends as well.

So, Francis, if you cut off the roots, what happens to the tree?

From Vatican News, on one of Francis' "plane press conferences", yesterday:

One reporter asked if Pope Francis continued to see Benedict XVI almost like a “grandfather,” recalling his message to young people calling them to maintain a relationship with their elders. Pope Francis said that he gains strength every time he speaks with the pope emeritus. “The sap from the roots helps me to go forward,” he said. “Tradition is like the root that give you the sap to grow, you flourish!” But, he said, paraphrasing Gustav Mahler, “tradition is the guarantee of the future, and not the guardian of ashes.” This kind of tradition is the “nostalgia of the integrists.” True tradition, he said, is the “root that allows the tree to grow… when the young have roots, the grandparents can dream.”

He really hates traditional Catholics, the guardians of the Roots, doesn't he? No news, then.

Vatican II? No: THIS is what a real Spring looks like!

The Sure Signs of a Real Spring

We often get discouraged given the state of the Church today, especially with respect to the liturgical life of the Church.  We also tend to pay attention only to developments that cause us great concern about where the hierarchy is leading the Church.  But we must also take note of positive movements within the Church that are a signal of a True Springtime in the Church despite the dreariness of the current Roman Winter.

De Mattei: What is at stake after the European elections of May 26

Roberto de Mattei 

Corrispondenza Romana

May 29, 2019

The elections of May 26th were an important episode in a conflict that goes way beyond the destiny of the European Parliament or any national government. In fact, a lobby exists that has as its aim, the destruction of Christian identity and the construction of cosmopolitan organisms that are assuming sovereign power of life and death over its European citizens. An example of this plan is what has just happened in France, where the Paris Court of Appeals handed over to the United Nations Organization, the ultimate decision on the life of Vincent Lambert, the French paraplegic condemned to death by his wife and the doctors at Rheims Hospital, where he is a patient.      

It is clear that power of legislation on the life of Lambert does not pertain to the French judges, nor those of Europe or the United Nations. Positive laws, both national and international, do not have their source in the entities that emanate or apply them, but in a divine law that is preexistent to the laws of men and by the laws of men cannot be changed.   Now, the natural and divine law prohibits the killing of the innocent and any human law claiming to establish the contrary must be considered a non-law, invalid and iniquitous. Further, inasmuch as the only guardian of the divine and natural law is the Catholic Church, it is first of all up to the men of the Church to proclaim the inalienable right to life.  But today the voice of the men of the Church is gone.  The only problem  the leaders of the Church seem to be interested in is that of hospitality to migrants from outside of Europe. An absolute, unconditional, total hospitality. We are not dealing here with the ancient virtue, whether Christian or secular, of hospitality, but of an ideological choice, wherein the philosophy of hospitality is presented, in reality, as a theory of renouncing European identity, or rather, its replacement.

Thank you, good and faithful servant

We received this solemn note from our friends at the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles early this morning. Please pray for Sister and consider supporting the Benedictines of Mary's critical work by clicking here. 

+PAX

Dear Family, Friends and Benefactors,

Mother Abbess and the Sisters humbly request your prayers for the soul of our beloved Sister Mary Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary, osb (née Mary Elizabeth Lancaster) who passed away peacefully at 8:35 PM on Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 having been strengthened by the Last Sacraments and the entire community surrounding her in prayer. It seems Our Lord could not have granted a more consoling departure from the community, who loved her so dearly.

Sister became unresponsive on Saturday morning. Nevertheless, several times she joined in as best she could while the Sisters sang Marian hymns and prayed the Rosary between Sunday and Wednesday. She also briefly smiled at the Sisters gathered around her. 

Fontgombault Sermon for Ascension, 2019: "God, when will you restore a Christian Society?" God is in charge of the right time.

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

(Fontgombault, May 30th, 2019)

Videntibus illis, elevatus est.

While they looked on, He was raised up.

Acts 1:9

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
My dearly beloved Sons,

In her liturgy, the Church uses things that come under our senses so as to lead us towards the unseen mysteries.

Our senses are indeed the means through which we human beings get our knowledge. In the liturgy, sounds, colours, smells, help our minds and souls, as a reflection of a special presence of God, while they are appropriate to the mystery, the feast’s object, or the liturgical period.

High Mass in DC basilica shrine Saturday

There will be a High Mass offered in the crypt church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception this Saturday, 1 June, at 5:30 p.m.

The Mass will conclude the annual three-day pilgrimage, organized and led by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, "to do penance for our sins and for the sins of our nation."  Named after its founder, Father James Buckley, FSSP, the "Buckley March" has concluded at the basilica shrine in D.C. for over a decade, with photos of some past years here and here.

Saturday's Mass will be a votive of the Immaculate Conception during paschaltide, as permitted in the shrine so-named. The celebrant (and chaplain for the pilgrimage) will be Father David Franco, who began offering the annual High Mass at the basilica shrine immediately after his ordination in 2015 (relieving Father Buckley).  Gregorian chant propers will be sung by the men's schola of Saint Mary Mother of God church, and a polyphonic choir from the region will sing Hassler's "Missa Secunda" as the ordinary of the Mass and motets such as Asola's "Ave Maris Stella" and L'Heritier's "Ave Maria." 

FSSP ordinations happening now

If you are online now, click here to watch the ordination of four members of the Fraternity of Saint Peter to the priesthood.

Please pray for soon-to-be Fathers John Killackey, Ralph Oballo, Daniel Powers and Jesus Valenzuela, receiving holy orders at 11 a.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Central time from His Excellency Fabian Bruskewitz at Saint Thomas Aquinas church in Lincoln, Nebraska (the beautiful new Newman Center for the University of Nebraska).  Deacon Luc Poirier, FSSP, will be ordained a priest next Friday in Ottawa.

50 Years of a Religious and Cultural Catastrophe: When the Yearly Biblical Readings of Immemorial Tradition Were Cast Away

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the revised Lectionary, promulgated with the decree Ordo Lectionum of May 25, 1969, Rorate has obtained permission from Bloomsbury to post the full text (slightly revised), albeit without its 59 detailed footnotes, of Dr. Kwasniewski's contribution to Sacra Liturgia 2015 in New York City, which was published in the proceedings, Liturgy in the Twenty-First Century: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives, ed. Alcuin Reid (London/New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016), 287–320. (See here for a book review.) The publisher is offering a 35% discount on the book if you purchase it from their website using the code REID35 at checkout. Offer ends July 31, 2019.

A Systematic Critique of the New Lectionary, On the Occasion of Its Fiftieth Anniversary

Peter Kwasniewski

Yes, Research Shows Christians of Asia Minor and Thrace really were the Victims of Genocide by Turkish Muslims

Turkey, of course, still denies it. But they created modern-style genocide and initiated the process that led to the current near-disappearance of Christians in the Middle East -- Christians who were until the beginning of the 20th century a considerable proportion of the regional population.

From The Wall Street Journal (excerpts):

When Turkey Destroyed Its Christians

From 1894 to 1924, a staggered campaign of genocide targeted not just the region’s Armenians but its Greek and Assyrian communities as well​

By Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi

May 17, 2019

Between 1894 and 1924, the number of Christians in Asia Minor fell from some 3-4 million to just tens of thousands—from 20% of the area’s population to under 2%. Turkey has long attributed this decline to wars and the general chaos of the period, which claimed many Muslim lives as well. But the descendants of Turkey’s Christians, many of them dispersed around the world since the 1920s, maintain that the Turks murdered about half of their forebears and expelled the rest.

The Christians are correct. Our research verifies their claims: Turkey’s Armenian, Greek and Assyrian (or Syriac) communities disappeared as a result of a staggered campaign of genocide beginning in 1894, perpetrated against them by their Muslim neighbors. By 1924, the Christian communities of Turkey and its adjacent territories had been destroyed.

Traditional Mass celebrated for the first time in centuries in Elgin Cathedral, Scotland

Sent by local reader:

Last weekend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass returned to one of Scotland's most impressive ruined cathedrals for the first time in over four centuries. The Mass, celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite by Fr Ross Crichton on Saturday 18 May, was sung in the cathedral's Huntly Aisle and heard by around thirty people, many of whom were participating in the Confraternity of St Ninian's weekend retreat to nearby Pluscarden Abbey. It is locally understood that no previous celebration of Mass had taken place within the ruin since it was abandoned by the Church during the Reformation c.1560. The cathedral, which was founded in 1224, was one of the most prominent centres of the mediaeval Church in Scotland and its impressive structure was widely famed as the "Lantern of the North".

The Vatican against Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini

The present Vatican which never makes its voice heard when policies and laws against the traditional family and the protection of the unborn are passed, is violently against Matteo Salvini (who has anyway all the usual national, international and European 'big' powers against him, even more so after last Saturday's rally in Milan).

The President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Bassetti, has also openly condemned Salvini and the Lega Party, telling Catholics not to vote for them. (see here: https://ilmanifesto.it/partecipare-al-voto-pericolo-sovranisti/). 

Here is one strong voice in defence of Salvini, who, it would seem, despite the constant, vicious attacks, has a great part of the Italian people with him. 

How sad to see the Church taking a stance against Salvini

by Dr. Alessandro Meluzzi

SCRIPT OF VIDEO

What a sad and disconcerting stance the Vatican has taken, in the person of the Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin, who accuses Salvini and the sovereignists in general, of a blasphemous use of the Rosary, Marian devotion and religion. 

Was it perhaps blasphemous when Pius V, before the Battle of Lepanto,  invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of the Rosary [...] against the Turks, who, if they had won at Lepanto, would have eliminated Europe and Rome today would be a Muslim city?  But perhaps this is what “Bergoglioism” and “Soroism” want.

DC Archbishop Wilton Gregory's disgraced guest

At the "installation" of Wilton Gregory as archbishop of Washington this afternoon, eyebrows were raised when disgraced Cardinal Roger Mahony was spotted near disgraced Cardinal Donald Wuerl in the sanctuary.

Roger Mahony in 2011 while still archbishop of Los Angeles

Tweeted by Washington Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein, it is a telling sign of where the Archdiocese of Washington is headed.  Following his step down from public ministry in Los Angeles in 2013, at the request of Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, Mahony has been very selective on his public appearances.  He attended the "installation" of like-minded Bishop Robert McElroy in 2015.

As first revealed by Rorate, Bishop of major Swiss diocese retiring to SSPX house

In January, Rorate was the first English language venue to reveal (and confirm) that the bishop of Church, the major Swiss diocese that includes the financial center of the country, Zurich, was planning on spending his retirement in a house belonging to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).

Today, the Holy See announced the retirement of Bishop Huonder, and a joint communique by the Bishop and the SSPX confim it.

Salvini: “Personally, I entrust Italy, my life and your lives to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let’s entrust ourselves to the six Patrons of Europe.”

H/T Messainlatino blog

Yesterday, the leader of an Italian political party, at a packed rally in Piazza Duomo, Milan, invoked the intercession of Our Blessed Lady and the Holy Patrons of Europe “for the peace and prosperity of our peoples”: words that immediately stirred the hearts of Catholics who love Jesus and His Church "usque ad effusionem sanguinis".

SSPX on 'Heresy Open Letter': "A Radical Approach Doomed to Failure"

The General House of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) has published an extensive analysis of the open letter accusing the current Pope of heresy and published a couple of weeks ago.

We post it here for the record of events of this tumultuous pontificate.

Regarding the Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church

MAY 17, 2019

On Tuesday, April 30, 2019, twenty or so Catholic theologians and university professors published an Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, inviting them to intervene with Pope Francis, to ask him to renounce the heresies of which he is accused. In case he persists, the canonical crime of heresy would be established, and the pope would then be “subject to the canonical consequences.” The summary published by the authors explains this last point: if Francis obstinately refuses to renounce his heresies, the bishop will then be asked to declare “that he is freely divested of the papacy.”

Event: Another diocesan priest to offer TLM as first Mass

From a reader:

Mass of Thanksgiving offered by soon-to-be-ordained Rev. Deacon Brian O'Hanlon, seminarians of the Archdiocese of Boston. Deacon O’Hanlon will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston by Cardinal Sean O’Malley at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston on Saturday, May 18, at 11a.m.

On Sunday, May 19 at 10:30a.m., at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes parish in Newton, Ma, newly ordained Father O'Hanlon, assisted by Rev. Juan Carlos Rivera, SJ, will offer a Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving as his first Mass. 

All are invited to attend. 270 Elliot st Newton, Ma., 02464.

De Mattei: Cardinal Krajevski’s “proletariat expropriation”

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

May 15, 2019

On May 12th, Cardinal Konrad Krajevski, Pope Francis’s Almoner, reactivated the electricity in an illegally occupied building on Via Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, in the centre of Rome.  In order to do this, he had to break the seals put there by the Public Electricity Corporation (ACEA) which had disconnected the electricity because of  the occupants’ unpaid bills (more than 300.00 Euros) over the last five years,   . 

Maradiaga, the Leader of the Mafia

On May 1st, Crisis magazine published an article by Julia Meloni on the open letter accusing Pope Francis of heresy.

We believe in it is gathered some important information regarding Cardinal Maradiaga, the man, one could say, who did most Mammon could do to elect Cardinal Bergoglio pope in 2013. For the record of future events, we reprint below the portions of that article dealing specifically with Maradiaga's activities. As the man behind the curtain in this Pontificate, it is useful to know what he does and what he did:

On the eve of the 2013 conclave, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga busily phoned cardinal voters from the Honduran embassy in Rome. He was one of the conclave’s key kingmakers—and he was vigorously promoting then-Cardinal Bergoglio for pope.

That same day, Maradiaga attended a private meeting of Bergoglio supporters, including key revolutionaries from the St. Gallen mafia. Together, they tallied at least twenty-five votes for Bergoglio—who later opened, notably, with twenty-six. On the conclave’s second day, Maradiaga was back at work, shooting down a rival group’s lunchtime rumor that Bergoglio had only one lung. Four days later, the newly elected Pope Francis asked Maradiaga to head his powerful new Council of Cardinals.

...

Recent Profane Novelties: A Dialogue on the Death Penalty

The papal apologists who have been so vocal in recent weeks about "how dare you criticize the pope and accuse him of heresy" have fallen eerily silent in the face of his explanation of "development of doctrine" when speaking last Friday, May 10, to the International Union of Superiors General of Women Religious:

The Church is not only Denzinger, that is, the collection of dogmatic passages, of historical things. This is true, but the Church develops on her journey in fidelity to Revelation. We cannot change Revelation. It’s true the Revelation develops. The word is “development” — it develops with time. And we with time understand the faith better and better. The way to understand the faith today, after Vatican II, is different than the way of understanding the faith before Vatican II. Why? Because there is a development of knowledge. You are right. And this isn’t something new, because the very nature — the very nature — of Revelation is in continual movement to clarify itself.

Also the very nature of the moral conscience. For example, today I said clearly that the death penalty is not acceptable — it’s immoral. But, fifty years ago, no. Did the Church change? No. Moral conscience has developed. A development. And the Fathers [of the Church] understood this. In the 800s [actually 400s] there was a French Father, Vincent of Lerins, who coined a nice expression. He says that the knowledge of faith — I’ll say it in Latin, and then I’ll translate it — ut annis consolidetur, dilaetur tempore, sublimeture aetate. That is, it grows with the years. It is continually growing. It doesn’t change, it grows. It expands with time. It is better understood. And with the years it is sublimated. 

Event: Diocesan priest's FIRST Mass to be TLM (and newest member of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society)

Two great things to report out of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. This Saturday, May 18, Rev. Deacon Michael Rocha will be ordained a priest by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. The very next day, Sunday, May 19, he will offer his first Mass -- a Solemn High traditional Latin Mass. We are told this will be the first time in decades that a diocesan priest's first Mass will be traditional in the Archdiocese. 

Also of note, on this wonderful day, he will become the 91st priest of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. 

CLICK HERE for details on the Mass, time and location. 

CHECK BACK HERE next week and video of his first Mass should be uploaded for your viewing. 

God bless soon-to-be Father Rocha and thank you Archbishop Cordileone for not only allowing, but fostering, tradition in your priests. 

Event: FSSP Superior-General celebrates Solemn Mass in Colombia

The Superior-General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) will be in the village of Anolaima, Cundinamarca (near the Colombian capital Bogota), where the FSSP has had a mission for years. A Solemn Mass will be celebrated on May 26:

(Source: local faithful)

“Of What Use Is a Changing Catechism?”: Dr Kwasniewski in Chicago, June 14

I have been invited to give a talk by the Catholic Citizens of Illinois at their monthly Forum Luncheon on June 14, 2019. The event is held at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, and begins at 11:45 am. Tickets are $40; the Club requires business attire. To register, call Maureen at 708-352-5834 or use this link.