Families and Children – Another View

A guest article by Joseph Bevan, in honor of the feast of St. Nicholas.

De Mattei: The Birth of Humanae Vitae in light of the Vatican Archives

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

July 18, 2018

At the beginning of 2017, Pope Francis set up “a study committee” to prepare for the 50^th anniversary of the encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25^th 2018). The existence of this “secret” committee was brought to light some months later by two Catholic publications Stilum Curiae* and Corrispondenza Romana**

The committee coordinated by Monsignor Gilfedo Marengo, has the task of finding the documentation in the Vatican Archives, related to the preparatory work for Humanae Vitae, which occurred during and after the Second Vatican Council. The first fruit of this work is the volume by Monsignor Marengo, The Birth of an Encyclical. Humanae Vitae in the light of the Vatican Archives, published by the Libreria Editice Vaticana. Other publications will perhaps follow and other documents will presumably be submitted, privately, to Pope Francis. 

For the record: Video plea to the Pope for doctrinal clarity

ROME, July 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) -- In a spirit of love, humility, and faithfulness, 16 international life and family advocates are asking Pope Francis in a powerful new video to unambiguously speak the truth of the Catholic faith, to end doctrinal confusion, to restore clarity, and to be the Holy Father that Catholics need.  

Event: Rome Life Forum (and an incredible speaker lineup)

From Voice of the Family: 

The Forum is open to all who have, or aspire to, a leadership position in the life and family movement – whether it be internationally, nationally or in your local parish or community. In this critical hour for the Church it has never been more necessary for such leaders to come together to defend and promote Catholic teaching on the family.

On Family Day, the Catholic Majority spoke in Italy - despite Pope's silence (by Roberto de Mattei)

THE ITALY OF FAMILY DAY

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

February 3rd 2016

The Family Day of January 30th brought to light the existence of another Italy, quite different from the relativist and “pornomania” one proposed to us by the media as the only real one.

The Italy of Family Day is that portion of the population, much larger than we can perhaps imagine, that has remained faithful, or has won back in recent years, what Benedict XVI defined as “the non-negotiable values”: life, the family, the education of children, with the conviction that only on these pillars can a well-ordered society be founded.

Forgotten warrior for the faith

Today would have been the 80th birthday of one of the great conservative cardinals of the era of John Paul II, Alfonso Cardinal López Trujillo (Nov. 8, 1935 -- April 19, 2008). He was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for the Family (PCF) exactly 25 years ago (November 8, 1990, his 55th birthday); he remained at this post until his death from cancer in 2008, at the age of 72. It can be argued that it was López Trujillo, even more than Ratzinger, who provided much of the steel behind John Paul II's war on the "culture of death" -- no surprise given the unusual militancy he showed against the Catholic Left and Liberation Theology when he was Secretary General of CELAM from 1972 to 1979 and Archbishop of Medellin from 1979 to 1990. (He was made Cardinal in 1983 at the age of 47.) The international media (particularly the BBC) and EU famously vilified him in 2004 over his remarks against condoms. 

His two successors as head of the PCF, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli (2008 - 2012) and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia (since 2012), have been virtually mute in comparison. In addition, Paglia has expressed or openly condoned positions on homosexuality and the divorced-and-remarried that would have absolutely horrified López Trujillo. 

Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Attack on marriage and family from "atheist, neo-Communist world"

We are pleased to bring our readers two sermons from His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, and titular bishop of Celerina. Bishop Schneider was in the United States this past weekend for events and priestly ordinations for the Canons of New Jerusalem. Please see below for the texts of these two powerful and timely sermons.

                                                  The Family - Domestic Church, Front Royal, Virginia

"Christ's New Homeland - Africa" - Book review - Cardinal Sarah and other African Prelates demolish Pre-Synod Documents

Cardinal Sarah and Bishop Adoukonou

Strongly Criticize the Preparatory Synod Documents

a guest book review by 

Dr Maike Hickson

In addition to the earlier “Eleven Cardinals Book” (Eleven Cardinals Speak On Marriage and the Family), Ignatius Press published this month a book written by eleven African Prelates – Cardinals and Bishops – dealing also with the topics Marriage and the Family, in preparation for the upcoming October Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome: Christ's New Homeland – Africa (Ignatius, 2015, transl, by Michael J. Miller)

This review deals specifially with the first part of the book, which include two specific essays in which two prestigious African prelates, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and Bishop Barthélemy Adoukonou, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, have analyzed and sharply criticized the essential preparatory Vatican documents for the upcoming Synod – both the Lineamenta (questionnaire which contains the Final Report – Relatio synodi – of last year's Synod) and the Instrumentum laboris (working document). Even though I recommend reading and savoring the entire book, I shall here in the following exposition only concentrate on these important, first two contributions in the book.

First of all, Cardinal Sarah discusses the problems contained in the 2014 Synod's own Final Report (Relatio synodi) as it was sent out in December 2014 to the whole Catholic Church in the form of the Lineamenta, together with an additional set of questions inviting further world-wide commentaries. Sarah says that, in this Final Report, there is “some confusion and even some serious errors that need to be pointed out, because, coming from an official Roman body, they could very well be troubling and confusing for those whose consciences are weak.” I propose now to present a few specific points from Cardinal Sarah's fuller critique.

The Splendor of Truth Against the Darkness of Error

Not too long ago, as I recall, the Catholic Church throughout the world was singing the praises of John Paul II.

Is it not sobering, not to say hypocritical, that so many can pay lip service to a pope’s life while conveniently forgetting his unequivocal teaching on the absolutes of the moral law and the demanding requirements of the Gospel? Quite possibly the greatest doctrinal legacy of his pontificate is the sweeping Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor of 1993, the first comprehensive treatment of the foundations of moral theology in the papal magisterium. 

Curiously, it seems to have escaped the notice of some members of the hierarchy that the authoritative teaching of this encyclical condemns ahead of time Cardinal Kasper’s outrageous “pastoral” proposals that violate Catholic doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage—proposals shamefully echoed once again in the Instrumentum Laboris of the upcoming Synod on the Family in October 2015.

Anyone who plans to engage these issues in a public way had better set aside a weekend for reading (or re-reading) Veritatis Splendor, because it exposes the deep roots of the entire discussion and shows clearly what is at stake: the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the credibility of the New Covenant, the reality of God’s grace, and the infallibility of the Church.

While one might usefully quote nearly the entire encyclical, what follows are some passages particularly relevant to our times.

Excerpts from Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (1993)

26. In the moral catechesis of the Apostles, besides exhortations and directions connected to specific historical and cultural situations, we find an ethical teaching with precise rules of behaviour. . . . From the Church’s beginnings, the Apostles, by virtue of their pastoral responsibility to preach the Gospel, were vigilant over the right conduct of Christians, just as they were vigilant for the purity of the faith and the handing down of the divine gifts in the sacraments. … No damage must be done to the harmony between faith and life: the unity of the Church is damaged not only by Christians who reject or distort the truths of faith but also by those who disregard the moral obligations to which they are called by the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 5:9-13). The Apostles decisively rejected any separation between the commitment of the heart and the actions which express or prove it (cf. 1 Jn 2:3-6). And ever since Apostolic times the Church’s Pastors have unambiguously condemned the behaviour of those who fostered division by their teaching or by their actions.

49. A doctrine which dissociates the moral act from the bodily dimensions of its exercise is contrary to the teaching of Scripture and Tradition. Such a doctrine revives, in new forms, certain ancient errors which have always been opposed by the Church, inasmuch as they reduce the human person to a “spiritual” and purely formal freedom. This reduction misunderstands the moral meaning of the body and of kinds of behaviour involving it (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). Saint Paul declares that “the immoral, idolaters, adulterers, sexual perverts, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers” are excluded from the Kingdom of God (cf. 1 Cor 6:9). This condemnation — repeated by the Council of Trent — lists as “mortal sins” or “immoral practices” certain specific kinds of behaviour the wilful acceptance of which prevents believers from sharing in the inheritance promised to them. In fact, body and soul are inseparable: in the person, in the willing agent and in the deliberate act, they stand or fall together.

John Paul II’s “Letter to Families”—Remember That One?

How quickly we forget… In an age of ephemeral communications and ever-multiplying pronouncements, even the finest papal documents can get buried in the sands of oblivion. I am as well aware as the next traditionalist of the many problematic elements in John Paul II’s pontificate—but, to be perfectly honest, as time goes on, I find he is looking better and better. It’s amazing what a contrasting backdrop will do for a man’s reputation. As the Polish pope’s overpowering personality and whimsical decisions recede into the background, certain of his writings acquire greater and greater relevance (one might even dare to use the word “prophetic”) for our contemporary situation, serving as tall guideposts for the orthodox and a fearful scaffolding for dissenters. 

One such nearly-forgotten but extremely rich and rewarding document is the “Letter to Families” of 1994, also known by its official Latin title Gratissimam Sane.

APOSTASY - How Suppression of Truth about God led to Depravity and Supression of Truth about Marriage and Family

Don Pietro Leone, a priest who celebrates the Traditional Mass exclusively in an Italian diocese, and who has sent so many gifts to Rorate readers, including his booklet on the destruction of the Roman Rite and his essay on Modernism, has a new Summer reading gift for our readers -- a long essay on Apostasy.

It is a booklet on Apostasy, and on how abandonment of the truth about God has led to all other evils in the Church and in Society. We strongly suggest you read, print out, send to friends, and spread it around as widely as possible, as it helps explain so much, including how a minority of perverted activists has been trying to alter the very words of Christ on the truth on marriage.

Is there hope? Read the essay to find out!

**********

APOSTASY

a special essay by Father Pietro Leone for Rorate Caeli

Watchman, what of the Night?        (Is. 21.11)

       In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

   Here in Italy the summer has reached its height: the sun beats down on the city and on the countryside by day, and by night the elderly sit outside and watch the people passing by.

   To the eyes of the Faith, by contrast, the whole of mankind is plunged in the most profound darkness, for both the Church and the World are in the throes of the gravest and most profound crisis in the history of their existence. The crisis is one of Apostasy, not so much in the formal sense of the explicit rejection of the Catholic Faith, but rather in the general sense of the falling away from God. 

    To help us understand the nature of this apostasy we shall make a brief meditation on the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (vv. 17-32), in which St. Paul refers to this same phenomenon in his own epoch. Holy Scripture is widely applicable to the events of human history: we shall see how the passage in question may usefully be applied to the circumstances of our contemporary world.

   The elements which we propose to consider in this essay are the following:

I)   The suppression of the Truth about God;

II)  The refusal to honour God;

III) Foolishness;

IV) Idolatry;

V)  Depravity.

PART 1.

   I   The Suppression of the Truth about God

   St. Paul writes (v.18) of ‘those men that detain the truth about God in injustice’. ‘Detain’ (detinere in the Latin, catechein in the Greek) signifies the suppression of that which moves the agent to the good; ‘in injustice’ signifies that this suppression is in opposition to the order that God has established; ‘the truth’, as the context shows and as we proceed to explain, is both the supernatural knowledge of God, namely the Faith, and the natural knowledge of God which is acquired by the use of reason.

   The Truth about God which is suppressed in the contemporary world belongs, like the Truth of which St. Paul treats, both to the supernatural and the natural orders.

    A.  The Suppression of the Supernatural Truth about God

IMPORTANT: POPE - Couples who are "in a second union" are "part of the Church" - but the Pope also mentions Familiaris Consortio 84

What does this signal for the October "Family Synod"? We shall see. From Vatican Radio (we shall add the full English text of the audience following official translation):

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis resumed his General Audiences on Wednesday, following the summer holiday. In his catechesis, the Holy Father continued his teaching on the family, reflecting on the situation of those who have divorced and entered into a second union.

FIUV Position Paper: The Traditional Mass and Men

No shortage of men at Mass during the LMS' walking pilgrimage to Walsingham.
This year's pilgrimage starts on August 28th; details here.

Today I am publishing the 26th in the series of Position Papers prepared by the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV), on the subject of the contribution which can be made by the Traditional Mass to the Evangelisation of men.

I've put some additional commentary on my own blog here.

I hope in the course of August to publish the next paper, which is on the concepts of Tradition, Restoration, and Reform.

The complete series of papers can be seen here. This paper can be downloaded as a pdf here.

They attempt to summarise, in 1,600 words, the most important arguments related to the Church's ancient liturgical tradition, each paper addressing a specific issue: Prefaces, the Lectionary, liturgical participation, the use of silence, the Kiss of Peace, and so on. They are where appropriate larded with references to the Magisterium and to scholarly studies. No one interested in the debate about the Catholic liturgy, from any perspective, should fail to read them.

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FIUV Position Paper 26: The Extraordinary Form and the Evangelisation of Men

Since the 1970s, in the developed world, the ratio between Catholic men and women attending Mass, and committed in other ways to the Church, has changed noticeably. The size and resources of the Church in the United States enable us to consult carefully researched statistics for this phenomenon, which can be seen throughout the West. For example, in 1974, 46% of men and 45% of women surveyed regarded themselves as ‘strong Catholics’; in 2012, 24% of men and 30% of women did so.[1] In 2005 a survey reported that only 37% of regular worshippers at Masses in the United States were men.[2] A study published in 1985 showed that 70-90% of parish activities (catechesis, service, bible studies groups) were led by women.[3]

Women's Fashions

Mater Castissima

Some excerpts from the writings of the late Don Vincenzo Cuomo, exorcist, (R.I.P. July 18, 2009) against the indecent fashions that are now spreading even into sacred places. Unfortunately, we rarely hear anyone today condemn these shameless fashions. We miss zealous priests like Don Giusppe Tomaselli, Don Lindo Ruotolo and Don Vincenzo Cuomo:

"Looking back at the summer season now over, we need to acknowledge, unfortunately, that nothing has improved with regard to women’s fashions, which have become increasingly more indecent. Nudism, these days, has even crossed the thresholds of our churches!

"There is a topic which has become taboo: women’s fashions. Who talks about it? Is it all acceptable? And if something isn’t acceptable, who should illuminate, rebuke and correct? Nudism, alas, has become increasingly more brazen and intrusive, fomented by [TV] shows, newspapers and billboard advertising […] We are now witnessing the globalization of immodesty, since the idea that a woman is not a woman if she isn’t provocative has taken root in [the minds] of the masses. It first began with the shortening of sleeves and then - sleeves disappeared altogether.

Pontifical Family Council President Paglia: "World Family Meeting in Philadelphia open to homosexual couples."

“Everyone is welcome, nobody is excluded”. With these words Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, replied to the questions from journalists at a press conference for the presentation of the eighth World Meeting of Families, planned for the 22nd to the 27th of September in Philadelphia. Asked about the presence or non-presence of homosexual couples in Philadelphia, Monsignor responded: “We are following Instrumentum Laboris on the Synod to the letter. Everyone can come, nobody is excluded. And if anyone feels excluded, I’ll leave the 99 little sheep and go and get him”, he added with a quip.

“The intimate connection” between the meeting in the USA and the Synod, specified Monsignor Paglia, “is evidently not only temporal. The hope is that the meeting in Philadelphia and the Synod in October may truly build an ecclesial and social season, characterized by a renewed focus on the family. We want to work towards this. We want the Gospel of mercy proclaimed in the great cities of the world, most of all in the poorest and most marginalized quarters.” (SIR).

(Source: La Fede Quotidiana, translation by Contributor Francesca Romana)

Urgent: An Appeal to Prayer for Italy

Louis Duveau
A Mass at Sea in 1793 (1864)
Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes

Don Pietro Leone is a priest who has written numerous relevant pieces for Rorate, including the remarkable series "The Roman Rite - Old and New".

In view of the current legislative situation in the nation where the seat of Saint Peter presides to the Catholic Church, a situation that led to the massive rally in favor of Natural Law and the Family last Saturday in Rome, he sends us the following appeal to prayer.

Dear Brothers in the Holy Priesthood and Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Italian government is on the verge of passing a law to impose on the schools from the kindergarten level upwards the so called “Gender Ideology” , characterized by its peculiar intellectual and moral baseness which promotes natural and unnatural fornication within a purely hedonistic conception of sexuality.

This shameful and entirely despicable initiative in the very heart-land of Catholic Christendom certainly represents one of the focal points of this the gravest and most profound crisis that the Church and the world has ever known. It will result not only in the corruption and perversion of all our children but will also provoke the avenging fire of Divine wrath on the entire nation.

Cardinal: "What Sister Lucia told me: Final Confrontation between the Lord and Satan will be over Family and Marriage."

A Cardinal tells: Sister Lucia wrote me…

On Feburary 16, 2008, Cardinal Carlo Caffara (Archbishop of Bologna), after a Mass celebrated at the tomb of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, granted an interview to Tele Radio Padre Pio, which was subsequently reported in the monthly magazine “Voce di Padre Pio” March, 2008 . Here are some significant excerpts.

Luca Signorelli
Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist (detail)
1499-1502
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

Q. Your Eminence, recently in Corriere della Sera you said that you had always had a great devotion to Padre Pio. Please tell us why.

I have had great devotion to him since the beginning of my priesthood as a result of a rather unique experience. I had been a priest for some months and a brother-priest came to see me. He was quite a bit older than me and was going through a serious crisis of faith. It is difficult to describe what a crisis of faith is for a priest: a terrible thing! I told him “Brother, I’m too little, and sense that I can’t carry such a burden. Go to Padre Pio.” So he went, and while he was talking to Padre he had a great mystical experience, touched profoundly by the mercy of God. Now he is one of the best priests I know. There you have it, it all began like that.

Q. Did you ever meet Padre Pio personally?

The Neo-Modernist Theology of Eberhard Schockenhoff

The Rev. Fr. Eberhard Schockenhoff

According to Edward Pentin, “the ‘mastermind’ behind much of the challenge to settled Church teachings among the German episcopate,” and “the leading adviser of the German bishops in the run-up to the synod” is Fr. Eberhard  Schockenhoff, professor of moral theology at the University of Freiburg, about whom we have had occasion to report in the past. It is a sign of the state of theology in the German speaking world that Fr. Schockenhoff is considered a theological “moderate.” He is careful to quote the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to support his positions, and always makes a show of respect for magisterial teaching. This is probably the reason why the German bishops have chosen him, and not one of his more extreme colleagues to help them make the case for changing the unchangeable teachings of the Church on sexual morality.

A Priest Responds to the 2015 "Family Synod" Preparatory Document: - "Vague, secular, naive, sentimental, discouraging."

A response to the [Lineamenta, the preparatory] document on the Synod of the Family, submitted to the Very Rev. Michael Pavlakovich, V.F. at the request of the Archbishop of Denver.

1. In the Preface the desire is expressed to "find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront." I suggest concentrating on one or two difficulties, and trying to solve those.

For example, if the Universal Church tried to stop cohabitation of couples, and was at all successful, then many other problems would improve. This would mean a united effort, with at least the Pope and the bishops working together. But trying to address all the numerous problems outlined in the Relatio at the same, time is not realistic.

2. The language of sin and redemption was missing from the documents.

The Danger of "Gender": The shaking up of sexual identity is a prelude for totalitarian ideologies.

"Male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27)

Avvenire [daily of the Italian Bishops' Conference]
An interview by Luciano Moia

February 28, 2015

“The shaking up of sexual identity is a prelude for totalitarian ideologies.”

Monsignor Tony Anatrella

“A cultural shift, sustained by an intellectual lobby and very powerful politics, which risks sapping the roots of the very foundations of Western civilization. Opposing and fighting it should be the task of all people of good will.”

This is what Monsignor Tony Anatrella sustains, a French priest and psychoanalyst, one of the greatest scholars in the world on the “gender-risk” and author of many essays on the same theme.

Yesterday evening at the Cultural Center in Milan, he presented two of them, the latest translated into Italian – Gender Theory and The Origins of Homosexuality and The Reign of Narcissus, both published by San Paolo.

***

Q. More than once you stated that behind the origins of “gender” there is a great lie: the assertion that sexual identity can be changed according to one’s liking, along the lines of an imaginary perspective that doesn’t take into account biological facts. Why is it dangerous to encourage such a conviction?