German Bishops Stand Behind Mammon - Ratzinger explained it better than anyone, and he paid a price for it

Nicolas Poussin
The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1633)
The National Gallery

Libero Quotidiano: "Islam: When Bergoglio attacked Ratzinger"

Regensburg, 2006

When an Islamophile Bergoglio attacked Ratzinger

by Fausto Carioti

Libero Quotidiano

August 22, 2014

"Reform of the Reform" Apparently Put on Hold - Part drei

After giving Communion in the hand to a standing (sort of) Queen Sofia of Spain last fall, it appears there may be a different standard for politicians, who seem to get a pass on the so-called "reform of the reform."

The video below, unfortunately, shows the President of the German Parliament, Norbert Lammert, receiving Holy Communion in the hand from the Holy Father. 

And please remember to follow @RorateCaeli on Twitter.

Mein Freund ist mein, und ich bin dein, die Liebe soll nichts scheiden.

The Pope's last address in Germany, to the Catholic laity (officially, to "Catholics active in the Church and society gathered in the Konzerthaus", in Freiburg im Breisgau), is certainly the most impressive of his visit to his nation - including on the need that the "reform" of the Church begin by those who truly need reform: each Christian faithful. And, as we had mentioned yesterday regarding the Kirchensteuer, on the absolute necessity of the "organized" and "wealthy" Church to rid itself of all that renders it "worldlike". It is the official response of the Pope to the disgraceful attitude of much of the German-speaking hierarchy, priests, and lay faithful, including those making up or supporting the "Pfarrer-Initiative", in Austria - and one of his most important addresses this year.

For some decades now we have been experiencing a decline in religious practice and we have been seeing substantial numbers of the baptized drifting away from church life. This prompts the question: should the Church not change? Must she not adapt her offices and structures to the present day, in order to reach the searching and doubting people of today?

Blessed Mother Teresa was once asked what in her opinion was the first thing that would have to change in the Church. Her answer was: you and I.

Open thread - Der Papst in Deutschland

Dear friends - at the end of a personal recess, it can be seen that the visit of our dear Holy Father to his homeland has been fruitful. Well, fruitful in the number of news items it has inspired. How about an open thread about all that has taken place in Germany in the past few days?

Will we see part drei of the Altar-Frauen saga tomorrow in Freiburg im Breisgau (the image above is taken from a paraliturgical ceremony that took place today in Freiburg)? Does that really mean, as we have often implied here, that there really is no such thing as a "reform of the reform" that is not set in law - and that, anyway, the only true "reform of the reform" has a name and a surname, Summorum Pontificum? Does the Kirchensteuer really allow the German Bishops to do anything they want - and is this German "Church tax" really a bad thing, even though based on very (small t) traditional practices, since it makes the local episcopate afraid of hurting the "sensibilities" of non-practicing Catholics who finance most of the needs of the Church? Please, feel free to discuss anything related to the Papal visit or to the Church in Germany.

"The real crisis facing the Church in the western world is a crisis of faith."

We live at a time that is broadly characterized by a subliminal relativism that penetrates every area of life. Sometimes this relativism becomes aggressive, when it opposes those who say that they know where the truth or meaning of life is to be found.

And we observe that this relativism exerts more and more influence on human relationships and on society. This is reflected, among other things, in the inconstancy and fragmentation of many people’s lives and in an exaggerated individualism. Many no longer seem capable of any form of self-denial or of making a sacrifice for others. Even the altruistic commitment to the common good, in the social and cultural sphere or on behalf of the needy, is in decline. Others are now quite incapable of committing themselves unreservedly to a single partner. People can hardly find the courage now to promise to be faithful for a whole lifetime; the courage to make a decision and say: now I belong entirely to you, or to take a firm stand for fidelity and truthfulness and sincerely to seek a solution to their problems.

"We are all the early Church that is still present and new"

While the press coverage of this speech is focusing on Benedict XVI's call for a unified moral front with the Orthodox Churches, the following passages should be of greater interest to our readers.

...I willingly repeat in this setting what I have said elsewhere: among Christian Churches and communities, it is undoubtedly the Orthodox who are theologically closest to us; Catholics and Orthodox have maintained the same basic structure inherited from the ancient Church; in this sense we are all the early Church that is still present and new. And so we dare to hope, even if humanly speaking constantly new difficulties arise, that the day may still be not too far away when we may once again celebrate the Eucharist together (cf. Light of the World. A Conversation with Peter Seewald, p. 86).

"Reform of the Reform" Apparently Put on Hold - Part Zwei

When are the girl altarboys going to finally leave the papal sanctuary?

Benedict XVI on Luther and the challenges to Christianity today

A speech noteworthy for its strong criticism of "a new form of Christianity" (most likely referring to Pentecostalism and / or 'Evangelical Protestantism') as well as for its statements on Martin Luther.

The following is the translation of Benedict XVI's address to the representatives of the German Evangelical Church (EKD) today:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I begin to speak, I would like first of all to thank you for this opportunity to come together with you. I am particularly grateful to Pastor Schneider for greeting me and welcoming me into your midst with his kind words. At the same time I want to express my thanks for the particularly gracious gesture that our meeting can be held in this historic location.

Bishopess and Joint Blessing in Erfurt

The "programme/missalette" with the main events of the Pope's visit to his homeland next week is up in the Vatican website - it includes almost all words that will be pronounced, except for the homilies and addresses.

The "Ecumenical Celebration of the Word of God" (pages 69-80), a paraliturgical event that will take place in the "Evangelical Augustinian Monastery" in Erfurt, Thuringia, in which the great heresiarch lived and which was stolen by the "Reformers", is a sad reminder of all that is empty and meaningless in the post-Conciliar world that the Bishops beyond the Rhine tried to create.

It will be jointly presided by His Holiness and by President Schneider (Nikolaus Schneider, President of the Evangelical Church in Rhineland). The general intercessions will be led by a Lutheran "Bishopess", Ilse Junkermann (pictured above), who will also introduce the Our Father. In the end, President Schneider and the Pope will give the blessing (two separate ones, Schneider's being the usual Lutheran version of the Aaronic Priestly Blessing).

German MPs prove inerrancy of the Bible - once again

"Amen, I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country." (St. Luke iv, 24)

Around 100 members of the lower House of the German Parliament (the Bundestag) plan to boycott the visit of the pope to their House, on September 22 (several sources, including, for instance, Mittelbayerische). Most, of course are members of the post-Communist Die Linke ("The Left") or the post-Communist members of Die Grünen ("The Watermelons": green on the outside...). Stalin's heirs, both pink and green, cannot stand the fact that the Papacy had some divisions after all.

One of the Watermelon members of the Bundestag, Volker Beck, also made headlines this week by criticizing the Pope for speaking to the Fraternity of Saint Pius X - according to him, a "hardcore-antisemitische und antidemokratische Sekte" (to which the Society's German District responded today by telling him, "see you in Court"). The attack was so out of line that the new Archbishop of Berlin, Rainer Woelki, had to defend the Fraternity - in what must be a first in the history of the post-Conciliar German Episcopate.