Please note that this prelate who knows poverty and I mean real poverty and from a personal experience of it, fears not to wear his grandmother’s lace, as Pope Francis denigrates it, and has no phobia of cuff-links! No phobia of cuff-links. WOW!!!!
This Cardinal gets it! Here’s the money quote from an interview Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke gave to Catholic News Service:
A recent study found that 94% of Nigeria’s 30 million Catholics say they attend Mass at least weekly or more, while only 17% of American Catholics attend Mass weekly.
Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, who leads the southern Nigerian diocese of Ekwulobia, sees three key factors behind the active participation of Catholics in Nigeria.
In an interview with CNA when the cardinal was in Rome this month, Okpaleke said that he believes Nigeria’s traditional worldview, the role of the family, and a sense of community within parishes have kept Nigerians close to the sacraments generation after generation.
My astute comment: In the Nigerian state and other countries that have a high Mass attendance, there is clarity of doctrine and a clear delineation between what is acceptable and not acceptable for a Catholic to believe and live. There is a clear distinction between grace that unites us to Christ and sin that separates us. In these states too, Catholic or Christian morality is encoded into civil law, so much so that sins are also crimes, like adultery, sodomy and the like.
When a traditional worldview is ridiculed by the hierarchy and also by the current pope, and this has happened since Vatican II to denigrate pre-Vatican II sensibilities, this eats away at Sanctifying and Actual Grace and Mass attendance.
Secondly, when we turn away from a Godly world view to a secular world view, this has implications for the family and the nuclear family rearing somewhat healthy children to include their expressions of Catholic sexual morality but also altruism when it comes to overcoming selfishness and becoming selfless. This has implications for faith, hope and charity.
Finally, he is right about community. Intentional communities, like the new movements provide enables this. My experience with a covenant community in Augusta which is charismatic in spirituality and Traditional Latin Mass communities in my diocese, provides this community and not just for social reasons but also as a grace to live the Catholic faith in an alien world.
The hierarchy, especially in Rome, needs to wake up and the synodal process they are initiating will accelerate the loss of Catholic practice by the complete loss of Catholic identity in her anthropology of sex, family, community and sound doctrine and morals. As much as the leaders of this movement say it ain’t so that they want to change doctrine, they also say to the schismatic Germans that it will take time to change doctrine. These prelates are gaslighters. They may have been able to get away with it prior to the social medias and in the immediate post Vatican II period, but no more in this day and age.
10 comments:
Even though two of the most celebrated figures among trads are Africans (Arinze and Sarah), there is no doubt in my mind that any criticism of an African Pope will be interpreted as racism. We saw it immediately with Obama and Cupich already tried that with Bergoglio, stating that people didn't like him because he was Latino. Truly ridiculous and disgusting - but that is who these people are.
When Traditiones Custodis came out, Twitter was full of "blue-checks" repeating the mantra that the TLM was full of racists. These blue-checks are self absorbed pleasure and attention seekers who knew nothing about the TLM - so they must have gotten it from somewhere. I figured if was direct from the Vatican but now we know perhaps even the FBI was involved.
Race is the preferred method of disinfranchising honest people using dishonest, bad faith tactics. If they did with Bergoglio, we can expect hyper-intensified bad faith dealings from the modernist degenerates if there is ever a black African Pope. That is my only concern and yet another example of how the people who claim to want diverse representation make diversity a struggle for honest people.
Please allow my commentary here: My daughter is the Director of Catholic Campus Ministry at the University of Louisville. She was formerly with the Nashville Dominicans which is bursting with young women in the Novitiate. She has countless friends in her age group who are discerning Priesthood. I naturally listen to her and am learning what I think we all know: The #1 reason young men and women are discerning a vocation and why young families are attracted to faith communities and parishes that lean on the more traditional side (note: I did not say TLM on purpose) is that these places offer CLARITY, community and focus. In communities; religious, diocesan or lay that cannot or will not come down on one side of the line or another, life is stagnant, lagging or simply going extinct. In short, moral relativism rules in these places to varying degrees. Communities of faith, lay and religious, that offer clarity, community, and purpose, and speak to the faithful without equivocation, are thriving. This is where our church is to be found. This synodal process is a joke. It is a waste of time, money and resources and is led by old hacks who won't get out of the way.
At a US college, where my daughter attends, this was a recent students’ peroration:
“ Historically, white supremacy has venerated the idea of objectivity, and wielded a dichotomy of ‘subjectivity vs objectivity’ as a means of silencing oppressed peoples. The idea that there is a single truth - ‘The Truth’ - is a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment, which was a move that also described Black and Brown people as both subhuman and impervious to pain. This construction is a myth and white supremacy, imperialism, colonisation, capitalism and the United States of America are all its progeny. The idea that the truth is an entity for which we must search, in matters that endanger our abilities to exist in open spaces, is an attempt to silence oppressed people.”
“The Truth” is a construct of the Euro- West. It is hard to think of a phrase which can at one and the same time be so wildly misguided and dangerous in its implications. If “The Truth” (in scare quotes) is a white thing, then what is everyone else meant to live in and strive towards?
The worrying thing about such cases is not that young people would regurgitate such positions. The disturbing thing is that they have been taught them.
Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke is on board with Pope Francis' Holy Ghost-driven vision for Holy Mother Church.
Cardinal Okpaleke has, in particular, referenced Laudato Si, as well as Fratelli Tutti, as having offered the way forward for Holy Mother Church.
Cardinal Okpaleke said the the "challenge is how to make love the principle of life, not only at the individual [level], but also at the level of society — national and international."
"Society is changing, and so fast. Persons, things, and processes are interconnected. What is happening in one part of the society or of the world affects other parts. This is more so in Africa."
"As we play catch-up, may we remember that the interconnectivity of the different parts of the world requires a new ethos, a new vision that is inclusive of all humanity and of our common home; a way of thinking that is expansive, and practices that flow from commitment to the realization of the values of God’s kingdom of love, justice, truth and peace."
"These are what I take away from the Holy Father’s Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti."
In line with Pope Francis, Cardinal Okpaleke added:
"Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Ours is the task of translating this truth of our faith into everyday life."
"As we sustain our interaction through communication, and as citizens of this world and of heaven, we embrace all creation with our prayers and good will."
Cardinal Okpaleke, has, for years, received tremendous support from Pope Francis.
Late last year, for example, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Okpaleke to the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.
Cardinal Okpaleke is a true "FrancisCardinal."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Father McDonald, thank you for having focused attention upon Cardinal Okpaleke.
Late last year, Mike Lewis (Where Peter Is blog) had written about Cardinal Okpaleke's remarkable story/journey that has unfolded since 2012 A.D.
-- A Most Unlikely Cardinal
BY MIKE LEWIS · AUGUST 17, 2022
https://wherepeteris.com/a-most-unlikely-cardinal/
To begin:
"Bishop Okpaleke’s period of exile began in 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as bishop of another Nigerian diocese, Ahiara in the region of Mbaise in Imo State."
"Following his appointment, he was immediately opposed — rejected by most of the clergy and the laity of the diocese, who demanded a bishop from their own diocese and from the local Mbaise ethnic group."
"...Okpaleke was ordained a bishop in May 2013, but he was never able to take possession of the diocese due to the strong and vocal opposition of many in the local Church."
From their, Mike Lewis' report continues.
======================================================================================
Father McDonald, I agree with you: "This Cardinal gets it!"...and would serve as a holy, and great, Pope.
Pope Francis' tremendous years-long support of Cardinal Okpaleke has been very uplifting/inspiring.
By all indications, the Holy Ghost, via Pope Francis, has, in Cardinal Okpaleke, blessed us with a holy, outstanding, man of God.
Cardinal Okpaleke is very much a "FrancisCardinal."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Deo gratias for Pope Benedict XVI's decision to have elevated now-Cardinal Okpaleke to the rank of bishop. Pope Benedict XVI's decision in question has blessed the Church abundantly.
In regard to Cardinal Okpaleke:
The continuity between Pope Benedict XVI, as well as Pope Francis, in regard to their support, and promotion, of such a holy, outstanding son of Holy Mother Church (Cardinal Okpaleke), is wonderful.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Paul,
What you quoted is utter garbage. Places like this are now spouting that math is "racist" blah, blah, blah. I remember not so long ago when liberals promoted objectivity rather than superstituion (feelings). That school is promoting superstition. I would sue to get my tuition money back.
Benedict XVII?
The Catholic Church in Africa is an enigma, as it reflects some of the best and worst of what we see here in the western world in our Church. I am hesitant to make much of an assessment of Cardinal Okpaleke, since most of what we know of him comes from varied media sources, each with their own biases--again, not unlike the western world, but with far fewer to choose from.
One thing that DOES stand out, if you read his history, was the intransigent resistance of several priests in the Ahiara diocese to his appointment as bishop. While they did not oppose Okpaleke being consecrated as a bishop, what they DID oppose was having their diocese led by an outsider, insisting that someone from THEIR diocese must be elevated to bishop. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but that suggests to me that these are poorly formed priests. Some of the best bishops in our Church's history have been "outsiders" brought in from other regions--and to be fair, some of the worst too and such moves are often done with hidden agendas. But the other problem is the spirit of rebellion that this reveals. As much as I may not particularly like the current hierarchy, the Church IS hierarchical and NOT a democracy. I greatly fear that our excessive use of such terms as "collegiality", "collaboration" and "accompaniment" in terms of prelates and their jobs has helped foment this rebellious attitude.
None of us know who our next pope will be. But I greatly fear that the current trend of magisterial invention and doctrinal gaslighting is going to continue through at least one more pontificate. Please, dear God, let me be wrong.
Jerome, what we “westerners” don’t understand very well, is the tribal system of Africa. Tribalism I suspect has good and bad aspects to it, but it is also a caste system, similar to what occurs in India’s caste system.
This may not be the best analogy, but I suspect that if an American Diocese, let’s say in Charleston, SC were to receive a bishop that was not an American citizen, that would cause some problems, but I doubt the same kind of problems where the priests of Charleston and any retired priests there, would not accept a non-citizen of the USA bishop.
In the white community of the USA, there isn’t too much a a caste system except perhaps from an economic point of view and what side of the railroad tracks you live on.
In the black American community, there is some “tribalism” of sorts in black, black African Americans and lighter skin African Americans. There is a kind of latent prejudice where lighter skin blacks look down on dark skinned blacks.
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