RORATE CÆLI

The Jesuit Pimpernel: A book review by Fr Konrad Loewenstein, FSSP

Dowry

FSSP Quarterly

Summer 2019, Issue N˚42

Fr John Gerard: The Jesuit Pimpernel Fr Gerard S.J. (1564 –1637) could have been the inspiration for Baroness Orczy’s celebrated novel The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) where in 1793 a chivalrous baronet masquerades as a fop to better delude French revolutionaries and save aristocrats from the guillotine. It was English Catholics though, whom Fr Gerard rescued from Elizabethan gaols, and many Anglicans whom he saved from the spiritual dungeon of schism and heresy, reconciling them with the Church of Christ at his life’s peril. Fr Konrad Loewenstein, FSSP reviews a too little-known classic autobiography of this heroic and humorous Englishman.

The book is a memorandum of the exploits of the Jesuit priest, Fr. John Gerard, on the English Mission in 1588, translated from the Latin by Fr. Caraman and first published by him with the title ‘John Gerard, portrait of an Elizabethan’ (perhaps a more felicitous title).

He arrives at night by boat, accompanied by three other priests, all destined for martyrdom. Posing as a falconer in search of a lost falcon, he is soon directed by Divine Providence into the arms of the most outspoken opponent of Anglicanism and the Elizabethan Reform in the county. The latter, an influential member of the local gentry, welcomes him into his home and helps him initiate an apostolate amongst friends and their servants in the other great houses in the area.

The “Ars Celebrandi” liturgical workshops have started at the Marian shrine in Licheń, Poland

The “Ars Celebrandi” liturgical workshops started yesterday, on 11 July, at the Marian shrine in Licheń, Poland, with a solemn votive Mass and a procession with the litany of the saints for the intention of the workshops. This is the sixth edition of the world’s largest workshops of the traditional Roman Catholic liturgy.

VIDEO: Largest ever SSPX church to be built and the history of St. Mary's, Kansas

This video isn't short, but it's well worth your time. See a beautiful computer rendering of what will be the largest church the Society has ever built, as well as a wonderful history of St. Mary's, Kansas. If you're inspired, you may CLICK HERE to donate to the church fund.

“Hyperpapalism and Liturgical Mutation: The Case Against the Novus Ordo” — Full Text of Dr. Kwasniewski’s Lepanto Lecture

Rorate is pleased to present the full text of the lecture given by Dr. Kwasniewski at the Lepanto Conference held in New York City on February 16, 2019. A video of this lecture may be found at this link. The text has been edited for publication.

Hyperpapalism and Liturgical Mutation: The Case Against the Novus Ordo

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.

All which notwithstanding the jury found him guilty, and incontinent upon the verdict the Lord Chancellor [for that matter chief commissioner] beginning in judgment against him, Sir Thomas More said to him,

"My Lord, when I was towards the law, the manner in such case was to ask the prisoner before judgment, why judgment should not be given against him."

Whereupon the Lord Chancellor staying his judgment, wherein he had partly proceeded, demanded of him what he was able to say to the contrary. Who then in this sort mildly made answer:

"Forasmuch as, my Lord, this indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church, the supreme government of which, or of any part thereof, may no temporal prince presume by any law to take upon him as rightfully belonging to the See of Rome, a spiritual preeminence by the mouth of our Saviour himself, personally present upon the earth, to St. Peter and his successors, bishops of the same see, by special prerogative, granted, it is therefore in law amongst Christian men insufficient to charge any Christian."...

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: "Do not be afraid."

Fr. Richard Cipolla

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke5:8)

This gospel seems straightforward. Jesus wants to teach the crowd from a boat, sees that Simon’s boat is empty, asks him to pull out a little from the shore and starts speaking to the crowd. When he is done, he tells Simon Peter to bring the boat into deeper water to get a good catch. Simon explains that they have been trying all night long with no success. They are tired and discouraged. But Simon does as Jesus tells him and they not only catch a lot of fish, but there are so many fish the boats almost capsize. The allegorical level so far would also seem obvious. Peter’s boat is the Church, and to increase the number of followers of Jesus Christ, the Church cannot stay in the shallows but has to go out into the deep and trust in the Lord and there will be a huge increase in the members of Christ’s body that is the Church.

On the 12th Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum: Benedict XVI once again placed the Church on the path of eternity and immortality.

For several decades now, we have lived in the "Tyranny of the Present". Tradition is forgotten and, precisely because it is forgotten, our responsibilities for the future are also dismissed. The liturgical experimentation that led to the Novus Ordo was the epitome of Vatican II: it has given the Catholic hierarchy the liturgical-theological basis for their current promotion of the "here and now" as the supreme aim of the Church.

With Summorum Pontificum, the most consequential pontifical legislative act since 1969, Benedict XVI upended this new materialistic logic: by opening the gates of the past, he once again placed the Church on the path of eternity and immortality.

There was a Church before the present reality, there will be a Church forever: and the Sacred Liturgy she celebrates here, with true Traditional and Apostolic imprint, has always been and should always be, not a reflection of the banality of the moment, but a prefiguration of her immortality as Bride of Christ and her Paschal Feast with the Lord for all Eternity, outside the limitations of our present existence.

Twelve years ago, we published the following text: we do not have reason to alter one iota of it. Priests, enjoy your freedom.

***

Summorum Pontificum: Axes of Interpretation

Peronism in the Church: "To the friend, everything. To the enemy, not even justice!" (Video)

In 2014, we said the following on the Francis Pontificate:

The current situation of ecclesiastical politics might perhaps be better understood by those who have a grasp of three important concepts in Hispanic (Spanish and Spanish-American) political tradition: Caudillismo, an ancient and powerful political concept, system, and idea that is deeply ingrained in the Hispanic mind and experience, regardless of the theoretical political system in place; Caciquismo, a very peculiar and mostly Latin American version of Caudillismo; and the Argentine hazy political sub-concept of Caudillismo and Caciquismo known as Peronismo, which transformed the highly successful Argentine Republic of the early 20th century into what it is today.

This week, we were sent a link to a video of Argentine tyrant Juan Domingo Perón in an interview conducted in July 1973, 46 years ago. This is what Perón says in the video:

While the whole nation was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence, on the 4th of July, 1826, "the year of Jubilee," there remained but three surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence — Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. These three names were mingled with the songs of national joy, and saluted with peals of artillery. But two of the illustrious trio saw not another sun. Adams and Jefferson passed from the scenes of the earth that same day. Charles Carroll alone remained— the sole survivor of the fifty-six patriots of 1776!

The undivided homage of the United States was now reserved for the last of that glorious band. In the words of Lossing, "the good and the great made pilgrimages to his dwelling, to behold with their own eyes the venerable political patriarch of America; and from the rich storehouse of his intellect he freely contributed to the deficiencies of others." Six years more rolled by, and the great and good Charles Carroll of Carrollton went to receive the reward of the faithful servant. "Death softly touched him and he passed away," on the 14th of November, 1832.

The following letter is written by a young priest who is a curate at a Novus Ordo parish in Fairfield, Connecticut. Father Tim Iannacone, ordained in 2017, was a parishioner at Saint Mary's Church in Norwalk, CT, where he served at the altar at the Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form. It was there that he discovered the Traditional Roman Mass, a discovery, as his letter explains, that changed his life. His pastor asked him to write this letter to the parishioners not only as an explanation of the Extraordinary Form but also as a personal witness to the power and beauty of the Traditional Roman Mass and its effect on his life and priesthood. Fr. Tim is but one example of young priests who are discovering the Traditional Roman Mass, who have learned how to celebrate that Mass, and are brining the Mass to the people in their parishes. The Second Spring is real and alive within the Church. Thanks be to God.

Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Fr. Sam is away with our youth group this week for the annual mission trip, and he’s asked me to take on the weekly bulletin column. I’d like to share with you a bit about the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the Traditional Latin Mass. Typically, the Latin Mass is offered here on Holy Days of Obligation and certain feast days throughout the year. As this form of the Mass is not commonly celebrated, I want to explain some of the reasons behind its use in our parish.

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. We added two new priests to the ranks in the last 30 days -- five total in the last two months -- and the Society now stands at 95 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses for the Souls. Come on Fathers, let's get this to 100!

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

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

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

Fontgombault Sermon for St Peter & St Paul: "The times in which we live are not worse than the first years in the life of the Church. It is faith that we are lacking."

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, June 29, 2019

Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam

Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church.

Mt 16:18

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The readings of today’s Mass place us before a great mystery: in order to come towards men, God wishes to make use of mediations. He comes to us through Christ’s humanity, through the sacraments, and especially the sacrament of the Eucharist. He comes to us through the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her divine motherhood, and in this unique motherhood she exercises on each of us, and which she has received at the foot of the Cross: “Woman, behold thy son… Behold thy mother.”(Jn 19:26-27) God also comes to us through the Church, pure and without blemish.

Beneath these perfect mediations, God wishes to make use of other mediations. We should be for one another mediators of the grace of God. God builds up our spiritual being by taking our neighbors on as associates. It is an honor for them. We should do the same. How could we refuse such a “service”? Amidst these imperfect mediations, a special place is assigned to the mediation of Peter, the chief of the Apostles, who is still at work today through his successors: “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church.”

A 1933 Sermon on the Missal: "Having perfectly worshiped God in this life, the faithful will be prepared to take part in the heavenly praises."

A SERMON ON THE MISSAL

Fr. Joseph Kreuter OSB

Orate Fratres

October 7, 1933

We may divide the faithful who flock to our churches each Sunday morning into three general classes. To the first group belong those who attend holy Mass merely as a duty, because the command of the Church binds them thereto under pain of mortal sin. These usually have their own way of occupying themselves during the time of the Sacrifice—a way perhaps not altogether beyond reproach before the all-seeing Majesty of God. But these frequently lose sight of their duty to attend holy Mass devoutly.

The second class comprises the larger number of worshipers. For them holy Mass is a means to keep holy the Sunday; they therefore employ their time more profitably than the others, either by reciting special prayers from their prayerbooks or by saying the rosary. They incidentally stop in their private devotions at the principal parts of the Mass and pay brief attention to the priest at the altar. We may assume that they fulfill the obligation of hearing holy Mass on Sundays.

VIDEO: Ordination day at SSPX seminary in Virginia

Congratulations to the five new priests of the Society of St. Pius X! May God help you save many souls.

Francis in his own words: There was no 'multiplication' of loaves: it was just 'sharing'.

In his own words:

Surprisingly, the account of the multiplication of the loaves does not mention the multiplication itself. On the contrary, the words that stand out are: “break”, “give” and “distribute” (cf. Lk 9:16). In effect, the emphasis is not on the multiplication but the act of sharing. This is important. Jesus does not perform a magic trick; he does not change five loaves into five thousand and then to announce: “There! Distribute them!” No. Jesus first prays, then blesses the five loaves and begins to break them, trusting in the Father. And those five loaves never run out. This is no magic trick; it is an act of trust in God and his providence.

Francis

Homily on Corpus Christi

Rome, June 23, 2019

On the other hand:

Fr. Cipolla's Sermon for Corpus Christi

SERMON FOR CORPUS CHRISTI

And the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. (John 6)

What indeed is the feast of Corpus Christi about? The Body of Christ. In so many ways this feast is the summation of all the feasts of the year: Christmas, Epiphany, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity. For this is the feast of the abiding reality, the abiding presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in his Church. Corpus Christi. It makes all things real. For Christ is not some mythical figure who came down from Mount Olympus to do his magic and then went away never to be seen again. This Jesus Christ, who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father with his humanity, his humanity and your humanity and my humanity, whose glorified Body is in heaven, this Jesus Christ dwells among us truly and bodily as Corpus Christi, the Holy Eucharist, in which and by which he gives himself to us more deeply and more really than any of us can give ourselves to each other, no matter how much we love the other person.

EXCLUSIVE FOR RORATE - Full Text of the Amazon Synod "Instrumentum Laboris" in English

So far, the Vatican has not made public the English translation of the most shocking document ever produced in Rome, the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod for the Amazon.

Below, the full Vatican translation exclusively obtained by Rorate:

Jesuit school no longer allowed to be called Catholic

Finally, an archbishop has used the tools in his toolbox to address opposition to Catholic teachings at a Jesuit school.

Archbishop Charles Thompson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, is expected to issue a formal statement tomorrow to prohibit Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School from calling itself Catholic. This follows open defiance by the Jesuits on the issue of traditional marriage.

CNN has a report (guess who is quoted first...) here.

Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School has a statement from Father William Verbryke, S.J. and two other school officials complaining about the decision, here.

The provincial for the Midwest Province of the Jesuits, Father Brian Paulson, S.J., has a statement complaining about the decision here.

The Amazonian Church of Pope Francis

Roberto de Mattei

Aldo Maria Valli blogspot

June 20, 2019

"Will the bishops, successors of the Apostles be silent? Will the cardinals, the Pope’s advisors in the governing of the Church be silent, in the face of this political-religious manifesto which perverts the doctrine and praxis of the Mystical Body of Christ ? "

The first reactions in response to the Instrumentum Laboris for the Amazon Synod were focused on its opening to married priests and the insertion of women into the sacramental orders of the Church. But the Instrumentum Laboris is something more: it’s a manifesto for liberation eco-theology which proposes a pantheist, egalitarian “cosmo-vision” , unacceptable for a Catholic. The gates of the Magisterim, as José Antonio Ureta, rightly highlighted, are being thrown wide open “to Indian Theology and Ecotheology, two Latin American derivatives of Liberation Theology. After the collapse of the USSR and the failure of “real socialism”, the advocates of Liberation Theology (LT), on the Marxist style, attributed the historic role of revolutionary force to indigenous peoples and to nature”.*

In the document, published by the Holy See on June 17, the Amazon “bursts” into the life of the Church like a “new entity” (n.2). But what is the Amazon? It is not only a physical place and a “complex biosphere” (n.10) but also “a reality full of life and wisdom” (n.5), which ascends to a conceptual paradigm and calls us to a “pastoral, ecological and synodal” conversion (n.5). In order to carry out its prophetic role, the Church must heed “the Amazon peoples” (n.7). These people are able to live in “intercommunication” with the entire cosmos (n.12), but their rights are threatened by the economic interests of the multinationals, which, as the natives of Guaviare (Colombia) say “have slashed the veins of our Mother Earth” (n.17).

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, June 20, 2019

Cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti.

He fed them with the finest of wheat.

Ps 80:17

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

It may not come amiss to begin the homily of this day, consecrated to the adoration of God present in the sacrament of the Eucharist, by recalling the wonderful text “to the glory of God most holy and of our Lord Jesus Christ”, commonly called the Credo of Paul VI, and solemnly pronounced on June 30th, 1968.

We shall limit ourselves to the passage concerning today’s feast (the emphasis is ours):

We believe that the Mass, celebrated by the priest representing the person of Christ by virtue of the power received through the Sacrament of Orders, and offered by him in the name of Christ and the members of His Mystical Body, is the sacrifice of Calvary rendered sacramentally present on our altars. We believe that as the bread and wine consecrated by the Lord at the Last Supper were changed into His body and His blood which were to be offered for us on the cross, likewise the bread and wine consecrated by the priest are changed into the body and blood of Christ enthroned gloriously in heaven, and we believe that the mysterious presence of the Lord, under what continues to appear to our senses as before, is a true, real, and substantial presence. […] Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery must, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, maintain that in the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the Consecration, so that it is the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine, as the Lord willed it, in order to give Himself to us as food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body. The unique and indivisible existence of the Lord glorious in heaven is not multiplied, but is rendered present by the sacrament in the many places on earth where Mass is celebrated. And this existence remains present, after the sacrifice, in the Blessed Sacrament which is, in the tabernacle, the living heart of each of our churches. And it is our very sweet duty to honor and adore in the blessed Host which our eyes see, the Incarnate Word Whom they cannot see, and Who, without leaving heaven, is made present before us.

The words used by that Pope are fraught with sense: a true, real, and substantial presence of Christ in His glory, so as to give Himself to us as a food, and associate us to the unity of His mystical Body; a presence which it is our very sweet duty to honor and adore. Yet, can God give Himself as a food? Can He debase Himself by giving Himself as a food to human beings?

Public latrines in Ancient Rome (Ostia)

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

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

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

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

These are some of the theological pearls of the text:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peter Kwasniewski

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

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

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

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

By Melanie McDonagh, for The Spectator:

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

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

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

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

June 12, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rome, June 13, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce

Events: Numerous Corpus Christi events in London

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Document below (click for larger view):

What a joke they have become. Ridiculous.

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

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

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

Explanatory note

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

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

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

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

(Fontgombault, June 9th, 2019)

Mansionem apud eum faciemus.

We will make our abode with him.

Jn 14:23

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

De Mattei: Pope Francis, the philosopher of inclusion

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

June 4, 2019

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

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

When The Twitter Mob Came After Me

by Fr. Kevin Cusick

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

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

Aldo Maria Valli

H/T Ricognizioni

(once known as Riscossa Cristiana)

June 4, 2019

Our persecuted and forgotten brothers and sisters in Christ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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