The Role of Sisters in the Church: Truly Appreciating Nuns Consists in Helping Them Live Their Own Vocation - by Abp. Héctor Aguer

Sisters in the Church

by Archbishop Héctor Agüer

Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina

Buenos Aires, February 4, 2025

        Pope Francis has discovered that machismo and misogyny reign in his Vatican Curia. And that, therefore, the sisters who work there - numerous in all ranks - are not properly appreciated. He believes that, in order to elevate them, they must be turned into civil servants. In this bureaucratization of the nuns, he has set an example by appointing one as prefect and another as secretary of a dicastery. A belated and curious feminism!

Announcing the Publication of Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies

Paperback on the left, hardcover with dustjacket on the right

Arouca Press, rapidly establishing itself as the most interesting and valuable Catholic publisher in Canada, is much to be commended for its latest release, a 450-page volume entitled Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies: Letters and Statements Addressed to Pope Francis, the Cardinals, and the Bishops, with a Collection of Related Articles and Interviews.

Jesus Christ: the “Great Absence” in today’s Church

 “Today, Pastors and the entire people of God need to return to a correct order of priorities: to begin with, by shouting from the rooftops the first and most important of these priorities: the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.”

by Gianfranco Amato

President, Jurists for Life

La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

August 21, 2020

Every day, it seems like ‘a great absence’ is making itself felt inside the Church: Our Lord Jesus Christ. We talk about everything except Him. In official discourses, prolusions, interventions and now even in documents, every reference to the Son of God seems to have disappeared. The idea that there can be a Christianity without Christ is making increasing headway in a creeping manner. For that matter “the Powers that be” are fond of a religion that attends to the poor, the needy, the diverse, immigrants, social justice, respect for the environment and peace, but which eclipses the troublesome figure of Christ – the only Truth – with all the ensuing weaponry of the precepts, dogmas, principles values and ideals of this Truth.  This is why in the ecclesiastical world we keep hearing authoritative voices going on about everything except the Unicum necessarium . But wasn’t it the mission of the Church to “proclaim the Kingdom of God and Christ and establish it among the peoples”  as it would seem No. 565 of the Catechism indicates?

Coronavirus Crisis - URGENT APPEAL OF PASTORS FOR THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD: to Catholics and all people of good will

APPEAL

FOR THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD

to Catholics and all people of good will

“Veritas liberabit vos.” (“The truth will set you free.”)

John 8:32

    In this time of great crisis, we Pastors of the Catholic Church, by virtue of our mandate, consider it our sacred duty to make an Appeal to our Brothers in the Episcopate, to the Clergy, to Religious, to the holy People of God and to all men and women of good will. This Appeal has also been undersigned by intellectuals, doctors, lawyers, journalists and professionals who agree with its content, and may be undersigned by those who wish to make it their own.

    The facts have shown that, under the pretext of the Covid-19 epidemic, the inalienable rights of citizens have in many cases been violated and their fundamental freedoms, including the exercise of freedom of worship, expression and movement, have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted. Public health must not, and cannot, become an alibi for infringing on the rights of millions of people around the world, let alone for depriving the civil authority of its duty to act wisely for the common good. This is particularly true as growing doubts emerge from several quarters about the actual contagiousness, danger and resistance of the virus. Many authoritative voices in the world of science and medicine confirm that the media’s alarmism about Covid-19 appears to be absolutely unjustified.

    We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control.

An Empty Apostolic Square: The Wolf Came, the Sheep Scattered

It was impossible for us not to think of the empty squares, churches, chapels today with the words of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on this Good Shepherd Sunday.

The governmental wolves ordered churches closed, as if they were not essential. The bishops (the "shepherds" in name only) fled, and the sheep scattered and left the field.

O tempora!...

At that time Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and flieth: and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep. [From the Gospel for the Second Sunday After Easter.]

For the Church, it is the End of an Age:

In the Covid-19 crisis, Pope Francis has forgone the transcendental approach of his predecessors: for the Church, it is the End of an Age: it has de facto abandoned its relationship with the Divinity

Domenico Cacòpardo

ItaliaOggi

April 8, 2020

Among the many things archived by the Corona virus, there is one which is rather dramatic, but possibly temporary: it is the Catholic Church.  The resulting impression is that it will have difficulty in recovering from this shock. I write this as an unbeliever, though for family reasons, I have been a frequenter of  priests, friars and the Vatican.  

De Mattei: The real mess is the cohabitation of 2 Popes

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

January 15, 2020

The latest controversy, erupting just after the publication of the book on the priesthood by Cardinal Sarah and Benedict XVI, makes plain the pitiful confusion the Church is facing today.

On January 12^th , the news of a text written by the Pope emeritus and Cardinal Sarah exploded like a bomb. The book, edited by Nicholas Diat, Cardinal Sarah’s right-hand man, was published by Fayard with the title Des profondeurs des nos coeurs From the Depth of Our Hearts) and carries a strong defense of ecclesiastic celibacy.  The media of the  progressive lobby immediately went on the offensive by denying that the Pope emeritus had ever written a book with Cardinal Sarah and accused the latter of having engaged in an “editorial operation” against Pope Francis. Cardinal Sarah, for his part, reacted in the strongest possible terms: “I declare solemnly that Benedict XVI knew that our project would have been made into a book (…). Certain attacks seem to be insinuating that I am lying. These defamations are exceedingly grave. “

On January 14, however, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Joseph Ratzinger’s secretary and Prefect of the Papal Household, partially contradicted Cardinal Sarah, requesting that the Pope emeritus’ signature as co-author be removed from the book: “The Pope emeritus knew that the Cardinal was preparing a book and had sent his text on the priesthood authorizing him to use it as he wished. But he had not approved any project for a co-authored book, nor had he seen and authorized the cover.  This was a misunderstanding that doesn’t call into question Cardinal Sarah’s good faith.” 

             

Will “defrocked” priests now be able to remain in the Diocese and collaborate with it, as if nothing ever happened ?

By Luigi

Messa in Latino Blog

November 7, 2019

Pope Francis greets a defrocked Bergamo priest now married

On September 27, Aleteia  published an article* entitled “When nuns and priests ‘hang up their robes’: the reasons for some innovations to a ‘Rescript’”, announcing some new instructions by the Holy See, regarding priests and religious who leave the clerical state and are dispensed from their vows. The article is by Giovanni Marcotullio, unhappily known for having justified the pagan rites of the Pachamama (see here).**

For the time being, this is about a Pontifical Rescript ‘only’, mediated by the Congregation for the Clergy for one single case, but if true, it would be really insane:

“[…] If in the past the priest who left the ministry was not allowed even to continue being in contact with his parish, it is now being asked that he assist in the carrying out of “useful services” for the community. In particular, no. 5 of the Rescript reads as follows: “The ecclesiastical Authority will endeavor to make it possible for the dispensed cleric to carry out useful services for the Christian community, by placing his God-given gifts and talents at its service.” (no.5).

Furthermore, no.6 adds that “the dispensed cleric be welcomed by the ecclesial community in which he resides, to continue his journey, faithful to the duties of his baptismal vocation”. (no.6). Thus, the root of the previous reference to the priest’s “exile” is done away with. It reads as follows: “the priest dispensed from celibacy and even more so the priest who has married, must stay away from the place or territory where his previous status is known” (no.5f). The obligation prescribed by the previous Rescript of imposing a penance on the dispensed priest is also totally done away with, as it presupposed that he had committed a sin and violated his duties.  Regarding this the new Rescript established: “Some  act of charity or piety will be set for the person concerned”. Moreover, if the priest asking for the dispensation wanted to marry (something common in most of the cases), the previous Rescript prescribed that “the ordinary must lend the greatest care whereby the celebration is conducted with discretion, with no pomp or fanfare.” (no.4). That is to say, hiding the priest’s sacrament of marriage from the community. [To show that] receiving such a sacrament were, in this case and only this one, a disgrace, or worse still, a scandal to the faithful. Now, instead, it says that the marriage be celebrated “respecting the sensibility of the faithful of the place” (no.4). 

Vittorio Messori: “The Church does not belong to Bergoglio”

Bruno Volpe

La Fede Quotidiana

September 17, 2019

“The Church doesn’t belong to Bergoglio but to Christ. Certainly, I’m worried” says the well-known Catholic journalist, Vittorio Messori, fine intellectual, author of a historic, John Paul II interview, at the time when interviewing a pope was not the done thing by newspapers.

“I have seen many people worried, even desperately. As a believer, nonetheless, I keep in mind that  the Church is not a business, a multinational or a state. In a word, it cannot fail. Certainly, there are plenty of reasons for alarm. I’m thinking, for instance, of the upcoming Synod on the Amazon and its related equivocations; I don’t know what they want to attain – probably the married priesthood.   So, I’m worried, but not desperate because the Church does not belong to Bergoglio or the bishops, but to Christ alone and He governs it with wisdom. The forces of evil will not prevail,”

Aldo Maria Valli: For Future Reference -- The Church and Freemasonry in Our Days

On The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 2019

The following are some quotations suggested by a dear friend, which I would like to share with you today, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. United in prayer.                                                                                                 

***

'They are the principles written in our Constitution and which – in my many public interventions – I have often referred to, summarizing them with the formula “new humanism”. '

Giuseppe Conte, Italian House of Parliament, September 9^th 2019.

'We need a global educational pact which teaches universal solidarity towards a “new humanism...”'

Pope Francis, video-message for the launching of the Educational Pact, September 12, 2019. 

The significance of Cardinal Brandmüller's latest condemnation of the Amazon Synod: "A situation never before seen in the Church's history"

By now (6th September 2019), many media outlets (among them Catholic Herald and Catholic News Agency) have reported on the latest broadside against the upcoming Amazon Synod (and its Instrumentum Laboris) by Cardinals Raymond Burke and Walter 

This is not the first time that either Cardinal has denounced this horrid document. What is new is Brandmüller's declaration that the current crisis surpasses even the Arian Crisis in severity: 

"'We must face serious challenges to the integrity of the Deposit of the Faith, the sacramental and hierarchical structure of the Church and its Apostolic Tradition. With all this has been created a situation never before seen in the Church’s history, not even during the Arian crisis of the fourth and fifth century,' Brandmüller added.

De Mattei: The 'Assisted Suicide' of the Church and Society

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

August 21, 2019

All attention in Italy at the moment is focussed on the political crisis. Yet there is another much graver and vaster crisis, which constitutes the background for the political crisis: the religious and moral crisis of the West. The political crisis is visible; it enters our homes through the mass-media and even a distracted eye or ear perceives it. The religious and moral crisis can be perceived only by those who have a developed, spiritual sensitivity. Those immersed in the materialism of modern life, have a refined capacity in appreciating the pleasures of the senses, but are spiritually darkened, if not completely blinded. The religious and moral crisis is a crisis that happens when man loses sight of his ultimate end and the criteria that must guide his actions. A society that is immersed in agnosticism, dissolves and dies.

In Italy, for example, the government crisis has made us forget an important date. A hearing is scheduled for September 24^th with the Constitutional Court, to judge the legitimacy of Article 580 of the Penal Code, which punishes the crime of instigating or aiding suicide. The highest juridical authority of the Italian State invited Parliament to promulgate a new law before this date, otherwise it will be the Court itself that will determine the route to take. But the Court has already affirmed that in certain cases, suicide may be permitted (and thus “assisted” on the medical and administrative level) given that: “the absolute prohibition of assisted suicide ends up, in limiting the sick person’s freedom of self-determination, in his choice of treatment, including that aimed at liberating him from suffering.” (Ordinance  n.2017 of November 16^th, 2019). The self-determination of the individual is the supreme rule of a society which ignores the existence of a moral law written in the heart of every man and to which men and societies must comply if they want to avoid self-destruction.

DC basilica shrine rector under investigation

Another high-profile cleric in the Archdiocese of Washington is under investigation.  To no one's surprise (except the Washington Post and other mainstream media) Monsignor Walter Rossi, the current rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, is the subject of a "full forensic investigation" by the Diocese of Scranton (Rossi's home diocese) and the Archdiocese of Washington (where Rossi works at the basilica shrine).

The issue of the affairs of Walter Rossi has been pushed for at least a year by investigative reporter George Neumayr.  This week a question was asked directly -- and in public -- about Rossi to the new DC Archbishop, Wilton Gregory, at a "Theology on Tap" event. The next day an investigation was announced.

[Ah, such memories of the news about high-ranking clergy that can be made at DC Theology on Tap events.]

So far, former DC cardinal-archbishop (Mr.) Theodore McCarrick has been defrocked after years of bishops, dioceses and the mainstream media covering for him. His successor, Donald Wuerl, was forced into retirement as a result of years of scandal. The former rector of the basilica shrine in DC, Michael Bransfield, was removed as bishop of Wheeling-Charleston due to scandal, and his basilica shrine successor, Walter Rossi, is now under investigation by two dioceses. And then there's this mess stemming from DC, starring Rossi's close priest-friend, co-featuring the bishop of Trenton who formerly headed Catholic University in, of course, Washington.

De Mattei: Is the principle of legality being extinguished in the Church?

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

July 10, 201

If Pope Francis should be accused of a crime by any judge, in any part of the world, he should divest himself of his office as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and submit himself to the judgment of a court. This is the logical and necessary conclusion to the stunning decision by which the Holy See denied diplomatic immunity to the French Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Luigi Ventura, accused of sexual molestations.

The Holy See could have discharged the Nuncio from his office, and, pending the outcome of the French justice system, initiate a canonical investigation on him, also for his own guaranty. The decision to dispatch the papal representative into the hands of a secular court, violates the institution of diplomatic immunity, the expression par excellence of the sovereignty, freedom and independence of the Church. That same diplomatic immunity, by the way, was invoked to protect the crimes committed in Italy by Pope Francis’s Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

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.

De Mattei: “The most terrible schism the world has ever seen”

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispomdenza Romana

May 1, 2019

On February 4, 2019, at Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmad Al- Tayyeb, signed the document on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together”. The declaration opens in the name of a God, who, if he has to be a God common to all, cannot be anything other than the Allah of Muslims.  The God of Christians, in fact, is one in nature, but Triune in persons, equal and distinct, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since the time of Arius and thereafter, the Church has been battling the anti-Trinitarians and the Deists who deny, or set aside this mystery, which is Christianity’s greatest.  Islam, on the contrary, rejects it in horror, as the Sura “of authentic worship” proclaims: “He, God, is one! God, the Eternal One! He will not generate, nor was he generated, and none is equal to him!” (Koran, 112, 2,4).  

De Mattei: HOLY WEEK 2019: THE CHURCH IS BURNING

“Thou didst hear his words out of the midst of the fire” (Deuteronomy 4, 36)

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

April 17, 2019

Why did the fire of Notre Dame Cathedral generate such enormous shock all over the world? Because apart from the intrinsic value of the monument, Notre Dame is a symbol. It was written everywhere: a symbol of Christianity, a symbol of Western conscience, a symbol of a collective cultural patrimony, a symbol of European identity, a symbol of French national history.

We live in a world that has lost the value of logic, but the power of symbols is still extraordinary, given that symbols are used by the mass-media system to create emotional-reactions, often replacing the role of reason. There are in fact two ways of arriving at the truth: one through reason, the other through symbols. But the two ways are complementary, not alternative. Jesus, for example, uses the language of symbols, but also convincing logic. Rational language is founded on the principal of non-contradiction, whereas symbolic language is based on images and visible signs referring to an invisible reality. A symbol renders immediately comprehensible that which is veiled to the eyes of reason. Logic helps to decipher the language of symbols. Everything our senses experience has a significance and leads to the invisible, of which it is a reflex and imitation.

 

In the case of the Notre Dame fire, everyone perceived the symbolic value of the wounded cathedral, but few have sought to understand the symbolic significance of what happened. Notre Dame, like all cathedrals, represents the Catholic Church in its architectural impetus towards Heaven. How not to see in the smoke and flames that enveloped it on April 15^th, the image of the smoke and flames enveloping the Church of Christ? As far back as 1972, Paul VI spoke of the “smoke of Satan” penetrating the Temple of God. This smoke today is the result of a fire that ravaged  the Church, until it carbonized the very top.  Might it not be possible to see in the collapse of the fleche - Notre Dame’s tall spire - the fall of the pinnacle of the Church?

“That which thou dost, do quickly” for the Masquerade is over

Francesco Lamendola

H/T Riscossa Cristiana

April 2, 2019

That which thou dost, do quickly. Jesus addresses these words to Judas Iscariot, in the cenacle, after washing the feet of his disciples and after telling them He would be betrayed by one of them. And Judas, after these words, leaves the room and goes to the Elders of the people to arrange the arrest of Jesus and be their guide in the garden of olives – Gethsemane - where he knows Jesus is going to pray, after the Supper. And the Evangelist John adds: and it was night - while showing us Judas leaving the house to go and sell his Divine Master. It was night as the stars were already shining high in the Jerusalem skies; and it was the night of the soul, the night of the supreme sin: the betrayal of Jesus Christ by one of His own.

By one of those who had followed him, listened to Him, heard Him pronounce sublime truths and seen Him do extraordinary things: calm the waters of a tempest-tossed lake; heal the crippled; liberate the demonically possessed; feed a crowd of thousands of people with a little bread and a few fish; and even call forth His friend Lazarus from the tomb.  

It was the great night of mankind: the Son of God had come into the world to bring the light, but men had preferred the darkness to the light. Men, Jesus says, prefer the darkness because their actions are not good, and the night conceals them. Those who walk according to the will of God love the light, because God is light and He illuminates the way; but those who have something to conceal, prefer the dark of night, because, if there was light, everyone would see their ignominy; and perhaps they would see also their hypocrisy, seeing that many, who have their hearts full of darkness, love, however, to make an exhibition of great virtue, to be admired and praised by men.

The historical time we are living in, demonstrates, more than any other, a striking analogy to the Gospel extract which describes Judas Iscariot leaving the house of the Last Supper.  That which you must do, do it quickly, would mean: enough of this farce, let’s put all our cards on the table: let the betrayal of Christ be done openly, in the light of day; it is too comfortabe to continue doing it under cover of darkness, all the while staying in the grey area of ambiguity.

Protest in Rome, February 19, 2019 : Acies Ordinata

Acies Ordinata: a protest in silence to draw attention and destroy the wall of silence on the scandal of homosexuality, the root cause of the clerical sexual abuse crisis in the Church, subject of the summit to be held in the Vatican 21-24 February, 2019.  

Homily for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany: “There are Pirates in the Boat”

A traditional Catholic priest sent us his homily from last Sunday to publish for our readers.

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

At that time, Jesus got into a boat, and His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves; but He was asleep. So they came and woke Him, saying: Lord, save us! We are perishing! But He said to them: Why are you fearful, o you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there came a great calm. And the men marveled, saying: what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? (From the Gospel of the day: Matthew VIII, 23-27)

Dear Brethren,

The words of the Holy Gospel that we just heard tell us of what happened when the boat where Jesus was with his disciples was faced with a terrible storm. The waves were so big that it seemed that the boat would sink. So the disciples cried out to the Lord and the storm disappeared.