Blast from the Past on Bergoglio: Pascal Was Right

“Yes I know Bergoglio [, says a Jesuit superior from another Latin American country]. He’s a person who’s caused a lot of problems in the Society and is highly controversial in his own country. In addition to being accused of having allowed the arrest of two Jesuits during the time of the Argentinean dictatorship, as provincial he generated divided loyalties: some groups almost worshipped him, while others would have nothing to do with him, and he would hardly speak to them. It was an absurd situation. He is well-trained and very capable, but is surrounded by this personality cult which is extremely divisive. He has an aura of spirituality which he uses to obtain power. It will be a catastrophe for the Church to have someone like him in the Apostolic See. He left the Society of Jesus in Argentina destroyed with Jesuits divided and institutions destroyed and financially broken. We have spent two decades trying to fix the chaos that the man left us.”

Paul Vallely

Pope Francis: Untying the Knots
2013

______________________________

In those cases in which the State is interested as well as Religion, your apprehension of man's justice has induced you to divide your decisions into two shares. To the first of these you give the name of speculation; under which category crimes, considered in themselves, without regard to society, but merely to the law of God, you  [the  Jesuits] have permitted, without the least scruple, and in the way of trampling on the divine law which condemns them.

2019 liturgical calendar reviews continue: ICR

Our latest 2019 liturgical calendar review comes from the always-focused-on-beauty Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

For the Record: Msgr. Bux questions Ratzinger's resignation, Bergoglio's legitimacy

We post this now as an important part of the record during the reign of Bergoglio. While we discussed this on Twitter a few days ago, we are just now able to post this on the blog. Long-time readers know we have followed the "Good Bux" for many years (click the tags at the bottom of the post to read more). 

What the Msgr. is speaking to, the validity of Benedict's abdication, and naturally following the legitimacy of Bergoglio's election, is no longer now reserved to online chat rooms and church basement coffee hours. What has been hidden for five years in the shadows is now illuminated and out in the open. 

We take no position on this here at Rorate -- other than sunlight is always the best disinfectant. 

From PJ Media, with original interview from Aldo Maria Valli:

To address the current crisis, he suggested that an examination of the “juridical validity” of Pope Benedict’s XVI’s resignation was in order to “overcome problems that today seem insurmountable to us.” The theologian consultor to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was implying that further study of the situation could reveal that Francis is not and has never been a valid pope, but is, in fact, an antipope who could be removed from the papacy, thus nullifying his "insurmountable" errors.

Pope Francis the Problem

In the print edition of today's USA Today, online here, is a sad commentary by Melinda Henneberger, a former Vatican correspondent for the New York Times, where she announces her apostasy.

Henneberger, who is known to be center-left (dissident on, for instance, Humanae Vitae, but sympathetic toward limited pro-life causes) via her many years of writings, blamed her apostasy decision on "these men" and "the men who run the church" while avoiding any blame toward the man who runs the Church.

Who runs the Church?  Who is the Supreme Pontiff?  Who blocked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week from moving forward with a plan to get serious about the abuse crisis?  Even Tom Reese, S.J. (deemed too liberal for America magazine), called the move this week a "disaster" that would result in "terrible public relations for the pope."

De Mattei: The “Viganò case” and the “impasse” of Pope Francis

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

November 14, 2018

An answer has finally arrived. Not the answer – vainly expected - from Pope Francis, but a significant one nevertheless, from a journalist who is part of his close entourage. The author is Andrea Tornielli, the Vatican reporter for La Stampa, in charge of the website Vatican Insider. Along with the journalist Gianni Valente, he just published The Day of Judgment, an extensive paper on the “Viganò case”, with the eloquent subtitle: Conflicts, power struggles, abuses and scandals. What is really happening in the Church (Edizioni Piemme, 255 pp.).

Event: Installation Mass of FSSP pastor in PA

"Two men and a dog": The definition of a happy couple, or of a bishop's residence in a former convent?

"Two men and a dog." That is how Siobhan O’Connor, the former secretary to the extreme-liberal (Francis-style) Bishop of Buffalo, New York, Richard J. Malone, defined the new inhabitants of the gigantic former convent converted, at parishioners' expense, into the new home for retired bishops. He gave the first house tour to a very controversial figure, Fr. Paul Miceli, formerly of Boston Law fame, and the bishop's housemate during his Cape Code vacations.

The pair living in the house will be a site to behold.

From local station WKBW (excerpts):

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - In April, Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone announced he would sell the palatial bishop’s mansion on Oakland Place to help pay settlements to victims of clergy sexual abuse.
...

[The] payouts will likely cost the diocese millions, and the bishop has since moved to a former convent at St. Stanislaus Church on Buffalo’s East Side.

Reminder: FSSP Masses, Adoration, Confessions in Baltimore during USCCB Meeting (Nov 12-15)

Here is the official poster. Please help spread the word on social media!

More information:

The high altar of St Alphonsus is a gem among Catholic churches in the greater area around the nation's capital:

The Francis Effect: A beautiful apology to traditional Catholics

Many of us have been heartened by the recent words of Msgr. Charles Pope. This interview, admission and apology to traditional Catholics everywhere is a wonderful example of how the current, rotten pontificate has brought together faithful Catholics whose disagreements were once a major obstacle.

There has been a lot of this lately. While many who have criticized traditional Catholics over the years have apologized, we were very heartened by the gracious words of Taylor Marshall:

This is how men of good will act toward one another. This is how all serious Catholics must begin to unite. This is how we survive, as a remnant in the words of Msgr. Pope, during this most awful time in the Church under a dictator pope and a cadre of rotten bishops.

Lateran, the Feast of the Church Militant: Rome is the Concrete Name of Catholicity

by P. Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist. 

Today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica by Pope Silvester I in the year 324. Following closely on All Saints and All Souls, which bring to mind the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering, we can see the Dedication of the ‘Mother of all Churches’ as the day of the Church Militant.

The texts for dedication of a Church are full of references to Jerusalem, the “city of peace”. The peace of Jerusalem is a reflection of the glory of the Lord who thrones above the Cherubim in her temple. Thus love of Jerusalem is love of the Lord: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem…Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers…For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.” (Ps 121/122) All the nations of the earth are destined to come to Jerusalem to offer gifts (cf. Ps 67/68), thus her peace is to fill the earth.

FSSP to offer Masses, Adoration two blocks from USCCB meetings

Two blocks from this month's U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) meetings stands the shrine of Saint Alphonsus, administered by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Today the FSSP announced the following:

The USCCB will meet for the 2018 Fall General Assembly next week in our nation’s premier See, that of Baltimore, Maryland. Among the issues they will be discussing is the current abuse crisis in the Church. The National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori, our apostolate in Baltimore, located just two blocks from where the Bishops will meet, is aware of the importance of this Assembly and will be supporting the Bishops in prayer with a special Mass and adoration schedule during the time of the meeting. Our North American Superior, Fr. Michael Stinson, will join the parish this weekend as they prepare to begin the three days of prayer.

Fontgombault Sermon - All Saints & All Souls: “Calm, trust, courage.”

Our Lady of Pellevoisin

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

(Fontgombault, November 1st, 2018)

Gaudete et exsultate.

Be glad and rejoice.

(Mt 5:12)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The fascinating sight of a great throng is warming up our hearts on this morning of the feast of All Saints. Our eyes keep gazing towards heaven as the author of the Apocalypse unveils his magnificent vision. First, the hundred and forty-four thousand chosen ones, coming from the twelve tribes of Israel, then “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” They stand before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and holding palms in their hands. They are those who, according to the words of one of the elders, “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Ap 7:14)

You Suggest: Traditional Requiem Mass in Brooklyn

Note: Rorate has been to this wonderful Church many times in years past. Please make it out for this. And yes, you Manhattanites can go, you won't get lost ...

You Suggest: Institute of Christ the King day of recollection for young adults in Missouri

You have abandoned me in Purgatory!

From the writings of Don Giuseppe Tomaselli (1902-1989).

In this life of moral wretchedness, to justify our weaknesses, we say: my passions are so strong that I can’t always resist them! Anyway, after sinning I rush back to Confession! Others say: I don’t commit serious sins! I fail constantly in certain small things, which are unavoidable! There are those instead who sin more than I do and much more gravely! 

When someone dies, we are want to exclaim: What a holy person! He did so much good! For sure he went to Heaven! On headstones the most illusory and flattering inscriptions present the dear departed as models of noble virtue.   

We are simply what we are before God.  

All Souls' Day and first week in November: Plenary indulgence reminder and the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. We now have 89 saying monthly and weekly traditional Latin Masses for the Souls.

Also, please, we beg you, don't forget the poor Souls on All Souls Day tomorrow (Friday). Besides getting Masses said for them, as we do here, the best way you can help them tomorrow is this: Plenary Indulgence for each day of the First Full Week in November.

But remember:

• * Make a sacramental confession within a week of All Souls Day

• * For a plenary indulgence be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin (otherwise, the indulgence is partial, not plenary, “full”).

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 Souls enrolled in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society."

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.

Event: Solemn Requiem Mass for All Souls in Chicago

From our friends at the Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago:

Liberal Censorship: Synod asks Vatican to create "Vatican Certification" of Acceptable Websites

The most astonishing demand of the "Synod Fathers" who approved their final document without actually reading it is in paragraph #146:

Well, well, well... We know what those "certification systems of Catholic sites" mean: a new form of censorship.

The old censorship, which was excellent in intent, tried to protect Catholics from books promoting heresy and immorality. But this was when many in the Vatican itself were not themselves promoting heresy and living in utter immorality. 

You can just imagine that a man in the shape of Uncle Ted McCarrick could be in charge of this "Vatican Digital Commission" that would promote the "Vatican Certification" of acceptable websites: those promoting sodomy would be accepted, while those promoting the Baltimore Catechism would be rejected...

De Mattei - To the youth: there is only one way to be happy: be holy!

On October 20, 2018, the Voice of the Family held a conference in Rome entitled Created for heaven: the mission of Catholic young adults in today’s world. This  inspiring talk published below was delivered by Professor Roberto de Mattei.

What to say to the young of today? I can say nothing other than what I tell myself each day: be holy. This isn’t an abstract question; it’s a concrete question that concerns each one of us, man or woman, young or old, nobody excluded. I need to be convinced of this: I might attain all the fortunes of life: health, wealth, pleasure, honors and power, but if I don’t become holy, my life will have been a failure.

Tyranny and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church: A Jesuit tragedy

By John R. T. Lamont

In the light of new revelations about sexual abuse in the Church, many Catholics are asking how the situation that these revelations have disclosed can possibly have come about. The first question that occurs, a question of long standing, is; why did bishops deal with sexual abusers by concealing their offences and moving them to new assignments, rather than by removing them from ministry? No sufficient answer has yet been given to this question. It has now been made more pointed by a further question; how did Theodore McCarrick get appointed as Archbishop of Washington and Cardinal, and even become a principal drafter of the American bishops’ policy on sexual abuse in 2002, when his own involvement in sexual abuse was widely known in clerical circles and had been made known to the Holy See?

These things did not happen because of the law of the Church. Until November 27, 1983, the law in force in the Latin Church was the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Canon 2359 §2 of this code decreed that if clerics commit an offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue with minors under sixteen years of age, they are to be suspended, declared infamous, deprived of every office, benefice, dignity, or position that they may hold, and in the most grievous cases deposed. 

This canon was replaced by Canon 1395, §2 in the 1983 Code, which states that 'a cleric who in any other way has committed an offence against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, … with a minor below the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.’ The 1983 Code addressed offences of the kind committed by Cardinal McCarrick with Canon 1395 §2, which states that  ‘A cleric who in another way has committed an offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the delict was committed by force or threats or publicly or with a minor below the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.’ These canons do not present these punishments as options; they require that such offences be punished by ecclesiastical authority. So our question now becomes; why did ecclesiastical authorities break the law by not enforcing these canons?

De Mattei: Monsignor Viganò and The Hour of Judgment

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

October 24, 2018

The Supreme Judge 

In the climate of silence and downright “omerta” which is reigning in the Church, once more Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s voice has resonated.  Replying to Cardinal Marc Ouellet he reiterated that the McCarrick scandal is merely the point of an immense iceberg represented by the dominance of a powerful homosexual lobby inside the Church.

Cardinal Bacci's "Meditations for Each Day of the Liturgical Year"

Cardinal Antonio Bacci is well beloved of all Traditional-minded Catholics: along with Cardinal Ottaviani, he wrote the introduction an presented to Paul VI the famous "Brief Critical Study of the New Order of the Mass", showing how the Novus Ordo was (and is) opposed to all main aspects of the apostolic Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist.

Arouca Press, a new Catholic publisher in Canada, is republishing Bacci's delightful "Meditations for Each Day" (first published in Italian in 1959, and in English in 1965), as written by this man who loved and cherished the Traditional Liturgy of the Roman Church. The book is $25.99 plus s&h and can be ordered directly from them at orders@aroucapress.com or can be purchased through various online retailers such as Amazon. The following is an excerpt of the book's introduction.

The frenetic pace of modern life presents a host of challenges for the Catholic who wishes to grow in sanctity. Distracted by the pressures of modernity, it often leaves him little room for making a profound and serious study of the state of his interior life. The Catholic Faith is not only to be believed but applied to our everyday life and as St. James has said, “faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself” (Js. 2:14). An excellent means of helping a soul interiorize the principles of the Faith and to dispose the soul to greater acts of love of God is through a book of meditations. This brings us to the present book written by Antonio Cardinal Bacci, who was one of the most renowned Latinists of the 20th century.

Event: Dr Kwasniewski on Liturgical Chant in Whiting, Indiana, Nov. 3

For those in the Chicago area, I will be giving a lecture on "Liturgical Chant: Wellspring, Model, and Heart of All Sacred Music" on Saturday, November 3, 2018, at St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church, 2011 Clark Street, in Whiting, Indiana. Byzantine Vespers will be sung at 5 p.m., with the lecture immediately after. All are welcome.

You Suggest: Sung Requiem Mass for All Souls in Philadelphia

You Suggest: Solemn Requiem Mass for All Souls in New Orleans

A priest must be entirely for God

“A priest must be entirely for God ... For this the Church clothes him in a long tunic … The priest’s cassock must show that the consecrated minister has almost no body and is turned to God with all his heart, seeking only the salvation of souls. Now, if the priest’s cassock has a worldly cut, if  his head is styled fashionably with fringes and even perfumed curls, if under a scanty soutane you can see trousers … what then can a Priest represent for his people?  That kind of exteriority does not favour him, and in itself is a very evident sign of too little spirituality and scarce renunciation of the world. …  If he dresses fashionably, he extinguishes his light and shows himself far from the soul’s race towards God.”

(From “In the radius of the greatness of the priestly life” by Dain Cohenel [pseudonym of Don Dolindo Ruotolo] published 1940)

[Source]

Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana

You Suggest: Retreat in Rome for entrepreneurs with Cardinal Müller

We were proud last year to help promote this fine event. Please consider and make your plans now:

We are honored to invite you to an unique event that StartupWithMax.com initiative is organizing together with the Business Association, a Polish-based Catholic business venture. Entrepreneurs from all over the world will meet in Rome in November to learn from Maximilian Maria Kolbe who, in our opinion, was a great example of a successful entrepreneur and manager. The International Max Retreat will take place for the second time, and this year's keynote speaker will be His Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Müller.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Happy 30th Anniversary, FSSP

This week marks 30 years of amazing work by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.  On 18 July 1988, the Fraternity was founded at the Abbey of Hauterive in Switzerland. As observed at NLM, on 18 October 1988 the Fraternity was canonically founded.

A 30th anniversary celebration is underway in Rome (among other places), with a pilgrimage, Masses and meals.  The Missive, the FSSP North American District's excellent online news site, has shared a summary with photos of the commemoration.  More photos will be added to that page.

Twenty years ago this writer had the opportunity to travel to Rome with friends for the Fraternity's 10th anniversary celebration, running into then-Cardinal Ratzinger randomly on a side street as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith took one of his many solo walks.  He was delighted to meet young men interested in the Fraternity, the Latin Mass and tradition, offering us a blessing in Latin as we knelt on the sidewalk following our conversation.  Before the age of cell phone and digital cameras, our bulky 35 millimeter cameras were (of course!) still in suitcases, so the visual memory remains with the participants.

Event: All Souls Requiem High Mass in Gas City, Indiana

Una Voce Lafayette will be hosting a Requiem Mass for All Souls' Day at Holy Family Parish in Gas City, Indiana (325 East North Street, 46933) on November 2, 2018, at 7:30 pm. Fr. Christopher Roberts will be our celebrant. 

In honor of the bicentennial of his birth, the Saint Dunstan Schola will be singing the Requiem in C Major by Charles Gounod. Joining the choir will be organist Jacob Minns of St. Charles Borromeo, Peru, students of the Ball State School of Music, and the Reen Family String Quartet.

De Mattei: True and False Saints in the Church

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

October 17, 2018

Among the anniversaries of 2018 there is one that has gone unnoticed: the sixty years since the death of Venerable Pius XII, after a 19-year reign, at Castelgandolfo on October 9^th 1958. Yet today his memory still lives on, especially, as Cristina Siccardi notes, as an icon of holiness, worthy of the Vicar of Christ, and for the vastness of his Magisterium, in the context of tragic events, like the Second World War, which erupted six months after his election to the Papacy on March 20^th 1939. The death of Pius XII closed an era, which today is referred contemptuously as “pre-conciliar” or “Constantinian”.  With the election of John XXIII (October 28^th 1958) and the calling of the Second Vatican Council, a new era in the history of the Church opened: that which had its moment of triumph, on October 14^th, with the canonization of Paul VI, after that of Pope Roncalli.  

REMINDER: The Case for Pacelli

Rorate Note: Re-posting this from April 2014. Vatican II, Liberation Theology and the near destruction of the liturgy and the Church were canonized today. While we are now asked to pray to Pope St. Paul VI, we are also asked to ignore the last traditional pontificate of Pius XII, whose case for canonization has been thwarted. Yet, while Paul VI laicized so many priests and religious, and oversaw the destruction of the Roman Rite, Pope Pacelli reigned over a glorious flourishing of the Church in almost all measurable aspects. See below for some staggering statistics:  
----------------------------------------------------------------
Original post:

The canonizations of Pope John XXIII and John Paul II will take place this Sunday, with many flocking to Rome to be a part of the historic event.

Without questioning the two already-mentioned canonizations, the question still remains: Why not Pacelli? 

Let it not be forgotten that his cause for beatification was expressly launched by Paul VI together with that of John XXIII precisely to combat their "almost being turned into symbols or banners of opposite tendencies within Catholicism". (Source) In beatifying and canonizing one but not the other -- does this not imply something about the relative strength of these "opposite tendencies" within the Church? 

Clearly, a very strong case can be made for Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (Pope Pius XII), from a standpoint of sheer numbers alone.

For those who say we are now living in the greatest age of the Church, let us consider the numbers below, just for the dioceses of the United States during the reign of Pius XII. They are remarkable, to say the least -- if the canonization of a Pope also takes into consideration the appraisal of his pontificate (other than his personal holiness and his prophetical wisdom, both of which are irreproachable regarding Pope Pacelli), then these surely deserve observation:

Guest Note: "Paul VI: the 'Pastoral' Canonization of the Spirit of Vatican II" -- by Fr. Pio Pace

Francis tomorrow will proceed with his sanctification procedure of the worst Pope ever, Paul VI -- not even he, Francis, unleashed such destructive forces upon Holy Mother Church as Paul VI (despite the couple of things he did right). 

Earlier this year, our contributor Fr. Pio Pace, an expert in Romanitas, gave us his opinion on the astonishing "canonization of Paul VI." It is merely an excuse to canonize the horrendous"Spirit of Vatican II".

***

Paul VI: a "Pastoral" canonization?

Fr. Pio Pace

Perhaps Paul VI had remarkable and heroic virtues in his private and secret life. But, as Pope, he is the object of not little debate: he promulgated the most liberal texts of the Council (Gaudium et Spes, Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra Aetate, Dignitatis Humanae); he led a liturgical reform that turned sacred liturgy upside down and inside out; and several other things, big and small, such as the suppression of the extremely ancient and venerable Roman Subdiaconate.

"This Evening I saw the Future of the Church: The Future is the Traditional Mass"

by Fr. Richard G. Cipolla

This evening I saw the future, the real Future of the Church, not the one being imagined by the crowd in Rome who mistake the future because of the mindless bureaucracy that thinks it has the Spirit imprisoned in the 1960s under the title of the “spirit of Vatican II.”  When the present Pontiff was elected, I wrote an essay called “Back to the Future”, which predicted that the Church would have to relive the sixties but this time with a vengeance. All those prelates and their briefcase carrying followers who went underground during the pontificate of John Paul II would meet and talk with great nostalgia during those dark (for them) years under John Paul II and Benedict XVI. They talked about the “unfinished work” of the Council, that work that had little to do with Council documents but much more to do with their image of the New Church that would be updated to fit the needs and desires of Modern Man. 

Poor things.  They did not realize that Modern Man died in the sixties and that Post-Modern Man was emerging and was slouching towards Bethlehem. When you live in a sealed container that is the Vatican and its bureaucracy, there is little chance you will be conversant with what is really happening in the world and in the mind and hearts of people.  But the 60s crowd are back and with a vengeance.  The only 60s program that kept on going during their exile was the program of the moral corruption of the clergy.  That continued to grow and flourish. The destruction of the liturgical life of the Church was for a time halted, and it seemed that there might be a possibility of questioning the basis of liturgical reform following the Council and of at least thinking that there was in fact a discontinuity in the liturgical life of the Church that resulted in the emptying out of our churches.

But a bureaucrat cannot possibly conceive of a discontinuity in the life of the Church, for the bureaucrat must believe that whatever happens is by definition the work of the Holy Spirit, and so the only thing that he must do is to rethink and change course according to what he hears and what he is told is the latest manifestation of the Spirit, be it in a synod, or a sermon, or an encyclical, or a press conference, or what is whispered in the hallways and the loggia. 

Wuerl I, Wuerl II and Wuerl III

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Donald Cardinal Wuerl as archbishop of Washington, nearly three years after Wuerl submitted it upon turning 75.

Far from a dismissal or firing of any kind, Wuerl and Francis managed to turn the action into a retirement party.  In the pope's "beautiful letter" (Wuerl's words this morning in a 6:09 a.m. listserv email) to the outgoing archbishop, Wuerl was praised by Francis:

"You have sufficient elements to 'justify' your actions and distinguish what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes. However your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this I am proud and thank you."

The Archdiocese of Washington has created a tribute page to Cardinal Wuerl, highlighting all of the archbishop's accomplishments and defending his reputation.  All that is missing is the presentation of a gold watch during a luncheon to celebrate such a successful career heading into retirement.

COLUMBUS IS OURS -- Let us rejoice!

Monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra, near Barcelona,
where the Catholic Monarchs welcomed Columbus back from the Indies in 1493

Now that four centuries have sped since a Ligurian first, under God's guidance, touched shores unknown beyond the Atlantic, the whole world is eager to celebrate the memory of the event, and glorify its author. Nor could a worthier reason be found where through zeal should be kindled. For the exploit 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.

Vatican II at 56: Like all Totalitarianisms of the 20th Century, Vatican II will still cause great havoc

The Second Vatican Council was opened in Rome exactly 56 years ago, on October 11, 1962. John XXIII had chosen this day, the Feast of the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, a memento of the Council of Ephesus, as the day of its beginning. Irony of ironies: the whirlwind generated by the Council that would almost extinguish the Traditional liturgy of the Roman Church included the abolition of the Feast on this day and the transformation of the Octave Day of Christmas in a similar solemnity.

There are several ways to understand Vatican II, but one has perhaps been overlooked. It is often said that the Council was a "reaction" of transformed European bishops, "horrified" by the Second World War. And yet... those were men of the 20th century, marked by the great movements of the 20th century, both of which -- Communism and Fascism/National-Socialism -- were characterized by a hatred of the past and tradition, and a love for the New Man, the New Society, the New World. All things, all traditions, all families, all institutions, and all individuals that were obstacles to the construction of the New Socialist State, the New People, the New Volk were to be abolished forever.

Newly Published: Two Historical Novels by Benson, Two Classic Liturgical Commentaries, and a Great Vocations Pamphlet

I am pleased to announce new reprints of five works that should never have gone out of print in the first place. All are available from Amazon sites; the titles below give the hyperlinks. 

Jesuit Fordham University Student Op-Ed: In Support of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

Olivia Ingrassia

Fordham University student

This past August, former papal nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò released a revelatory letter that detailed how Pope Francis was well aware of ex-Cardinal McCarrick’s heinous clerical abuse. This scathing letter divulged that Pope Francis not only lifted sanctions placed on the sexual predator by Pope Benedict XVI, but also covered for him, even making McCarrick his “trusted counsellor.” While many have discredited the 11-page epistle merely as a far-right tactic to oppose the Jesuit Pope, this report is undoubtedly concerning, especially since the Vatican has remained silent and neither denied nor addressed these claims. This has left many demanding further responses from the pontiff, who has instead deferred to “silence and prayer” during these most tumultuous times.

However, despite the potential danger, many prelates have courageously defended Viganò’s claims. For example, Cardinal Raymond Burke said that, “the declarations made by a prelate of the authority of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò must be totally taken to heart by those responsible in the Church.” Burke continued in speaking to the validity of calls for the Pope’s resignation if these allegations are proven true. Similarly, Monsignor Jean-Francois Lantheaume and also spoke to the veracity of these claims and questioned Francis’ taciturnity in the wake of these searing allegations, equating his silence to cover-up. In addition, Viganò recently broke his silence and doubled down on his original letter, stating that his testimony was published “during a crescendo of continual news of terrible events, with thousands of innocent victims destroyed and the vocations and lives of young priests and religious disturbed," and asserts before God that it is true. Viganò, who has reportedly activated the death switch, pointed to the fact that neither the Pope nor any Cardinal in Rome denied his testimony, and accused Pope Francis of slander and hypocrisy.

News: Rome Fires Pro-Homosexual Union Jesuit College Rector in Germany (First report in English)

Rome has effectively fired, that is refused the nihil obstat for another term, the Rector of the German Jesuit theological college of Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt.

New Traditional Latin Mass in NYC: new home for the TLM in Queens

Our friends of the Sursum Corda Society report the following:

The Latin Mass in Queens has a new home! On the Feast of Our Lady of The Holy Rosary, we celebrated our first Mass at St. Josaphat's in Bayside [Queens, New York City - Diocese of Brooklyn]. The high altar was renovated, and is still in the process of renovation, for the full celebration of the pre-Vatican II liturgy and sacraments. In addition to weekly Sunday Mass, Traditional Mass will be offered on the evening of Holy Days, First Fridays and First Saturdays.

Fr. Stephen Saffron is the celebrant and administrator

(Image by Arrys Ortañez - Source)