IT IS NO WONDER THAT SECULARIZED, POLITICIZED CATHOLICISM HAS LOST SO MANY CATHOLICS TO PENTECOSTAL FUNDAMENTALISTS WHO PREACH AND TEACH JESUS CHRIST AND A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!

What does this photo have to do with Catholicism? Certainly the Church has something to say about it just as Cardinal Marx has some political opinions inspired by his secular faith and Catholic moral and ethical teaching.

Cardinal Marx an atheist could agree with this. Yes we should save the earth if it isn’t terminal or give it palliative care if it is terminal. Yes we can work with political powers of all kinds of persuasion to achieve political consensus and improve a worldly quality of life.

But should the Church also promote the ecology of the sin sick soul that only Jesus can save from the pollution of sin and corruption? Shouldn’t the Church promote the integral ecology of the soul and body that at the termination of the world, the final consummation, Jesus will return for the Last Judgment and from the rubble of the destroyed earth raise up bodies that have returned to the earth in dust and join these bodies to their souls and their just eternal reward?

Cardinal Marx are you a political operative or a Catholic Bishop? Inquiring Catholic minds which integrate the Deposit of Faith in an ecologically integral way would like to know.

Synod of Bishops 2019 in Rome – Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazon region
Statement by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference

At the Synod of Bishops in Rome, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference, spoke on the Instrumentum laboris. We document his statement before the Synod:

1. The Instrumentum laboris describes the destruction of Amazonia: “The massive felling of trees, the extermination of the tropical forest by intentional forest fires, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and monocultures are the cause of the current regional climate imbalances, with obvious effects on the global climate, with planetary dimensions such as great droughts and increasingly frequent floods.“ (IL 54) This destruction of nature fundamentally contradicts the Christian understanding of responsibility for creation.

2. As the “lung of our planet“, Amazonia is of great importance for the global climate and, with its diversity of species, also a valuable natural heritage. This extraordinary biodiversity is not only useful for humans, for example in medicine, but every species has its own value. This treasure of mankind, however, is threatened. If forest areas continue to be cleared – for which the industrialized countries are partly responsible in view of global trade links – the tropical forest threatens to dry up completely, resulting in incalculable consequences for the global climate.

3. The climate is a global public good and we have the mission to protect it and preserve it for future generations, in Amazonia and around the world. This requires a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and comprehensive ecological change. This change can only succeed with the right political and social framework conditions that prevent the ecological and social resulting costs of economic action from being passed on to uninvolved third parties. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol speak of “common but differentiated responsibilities“ between countries. Accordingly, the major industrial nations have a special responsibility for climate protection in view of their emissions of greenhouse gases. The industrialized countries can take the lead in ecological change and develop sustainable consumption and production patterns. They also have a duty to support the countries of the South in adapting to the climate change that is already being observed. Ultimately, we are talking about global solidarity, the basis of which is a “new notion of progress“ (cf. also LS 46, 194).

4. If we want to rescue the Amazon territory, as the Instrumentum laboris demands (IL 56), we need an integral ecology and a change of perspective that leads us to a new balance between mankind and nature and a peaceful coexistence of people. In this context, we are not concerned with individual questions, but with a new, comprehensive perspective, as Romano Guardini has already analyzed:

“The only measure for properly evaluating an age is to ask to what extent it fosters the development and attainment of a full and authentically meaningful human existence, in accordance with the peculiar character and the capacities of that age.” (cf. EG 224) It is part of integral ecology and economy to put an end to corruption, exploitation and global indifference and to review our actions again and again for the effects they have on nature and on people in the world. It is as you, Holy Father, have expressed in your Encyclical Letter Laudato si’: Everything in the world is connected!

FEMALE LAY MINISTRY!

A terse summary from the Amazon on the role of women. Please note the Vatican heading:

A female lay ministry

Widespread violence against women must be confronted. Some proposed establishing a female lay ministry for evangelization. It is necessary to promote a greater active participation of women in the life of the Church, in a “Samaritan” perspective.

 My comments:

In the Name of God and all that is Holy! Haven't we had women in some of the most powerful servant roles in the Church for the past 2000 years???????

We call them nuns and sisters. Some of monastic others work in the world. Prior to Vatican II there were phenomenal numbers of these women who, my friends, are not clergy, they are lay women! 

Keep in mind, too, that all deacons, priests and bishops are lay people who wanted to serve the Church as ordained clergy. We don't come from Mars dammit!

What have Women Religious done?

Started schools and universities, charitable organizations and hospitals and hospices. 

They got laymen and women active in  the parishes where they are or were.

And in terms of women, in my 40 years as a priest, women have places of ministry as Religious Education Coordinators/Directors, pastoral assistants, principals, teachers and a whole host of volunteer ministries that keep parishes going. 

Men, including this priest, are in the minority in terms of woman having so many paid and volunteer roles in parishes. 

CARDINAL SARAH: THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE POPE ARE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH! (SCHISMATIC AND OR PROTESTANT)!

Let's be clear, when a Catholic or a group of Catholics break with the pope and say to the Supreme Pontiff, you are no longer the head of the Church, this is what is called schism. The biggest group to declare this to a pope was the Eastern Church. When they became schismatic, they called themselves Eastern Orthodox and became very national. But there were other schisms some big and some small.

Not all schismatic groups lose apostolic succession or the Sacraments of the Church, i.e the Orthodox and the Polish National Catholic Church.

But some do lose these things, like the Protestant Reformation sects and the Old Catholics after Vatican I who today ordain women and are quite liberal.

So what Robert Cardinal Sarah has to write about this is extremely important for those tempted to throw in the towel and think things have never been this bad with the Church in general and this papacy in particular. Yes, things have been worse and faithful Catholics stuck with the Church.

The danger that "traditionalists" have brought to the table and they should not have been the ones doing it as it undermines otherwise good intentions, is all the horrible things they say about "Pope Bergolio" which in this country is an insult to the person of the Pope. How in the name of God and all that is holy could anyone call themselves a traditional Catholic and insult the person of the pope? Pre-Vatican II Catholics would be mortified.

Cardinal Sarah: Those who oppose the pope are outside the Church

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

10.9.2019 9:20 AM ET 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the people who portray him as an opponent of Pope Francis are being used by the devil to help divide the church.

"The truth is that the church is represented on earth by the vicar of Christ, that is by the pope. And whoever is against the pope is, ipso facto, outside the church," the cardinal said in an interview published Oct. 7 in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily.

The 74-year-old cardinal, who Pope Francis appointed in 2014 as head of the office overseeing liturgical matters, often is portrayed as a critic of Pope Francis, especially because of the cardinal's cautious attitude toward welcoming Muslim migrants to Europe, his concern about the church acting more like a social-service agency than a missionary church and his traditional approach to the liturgy.

The Corriere piece was published to coincide with the release of a new book-length interview with Cardinal Sarah, "The Day is Now Far Spent." The English edition was released Sept. 22 by Ignatius Press in the United States.

The cardinal's book dedication reads: "For Benedict XVI, peerless architect of the rebuilding of the church. For Francis, faithful and devoted son of St. Ignatius. For the priests throughout the world in thanksgiving on the occasion of my golden jubilee of priesthood," which was July 20.

In the Corriere interview, the cardinal was asked what the "truth" was about his relationship with Pope Francis.

"The truth is that many people write not to give witness to the truth, but to place people against one another, to damage human relationships," he said. "The truth doesn't matter to them."

"Those who place me in opposition to the Holy Father cannot present a single word of mine, a single phrase or a single attitude of mine to support their absurd -- and I would say, diabolical -- affirmations," Cardinal Sarah said. "The devil divides, sets people against each other."

Cardinal Sarah said it is normal for the church to experience difficulties and divisions, but every Christian is called "to seek unity in Christ."

"I would add that every pope is right for his time," the cardinal said. "Providence looks after us very well, you know."

However, Cardinal Sarah's new book is filled with warnings about how a lack of faith, trust in God and adherence to tradition is threatening the Catholic Church, particularly in Europe and the wealthy West. But he especially focuses on clerical sexual abuse and how that has meant "the mystery of betrayal oozes from the walls of the church."

Still, in the chapter, "The Crisis of the Church," the book includes the cardinal saying, "I would like to remind everyone about Jesus' words to St. Peter, 'You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church' (Mt 16:18). We have the assurance that this saying of Jesus is realized in what we call the infallibility of the church. The spouse of Christ, headed by the successor of Peter, can live through crises and storms."

Noting that some Catholics "are quick to hurl anathemas at those who do not follow their line of thought," the cardinal said that it is time "to rediscover a bit of peace and benevolence. Only faith, confidence in the magisterium and its continuity down through the centuries can give us unity."

Catholics today must ask themselves if they truly believe the faith the church always has taught, the faith of their ancestors, is still valid today, Cardinal Sarah told Corriere. "We are called to rediscover the truth of these (teachings) both with the incomparable analysis of Benedict's thought and with great and sunny industriousness of Francis."

Although the two popes have obvious differences, Cardinal Sarah said, "there is a great harmony and great continuity between them as everyone has been able to see these last few years."

"The history of the church is beautiful," he said, and reducing it to a political battle "typical of a television talk show is a marketing ploy, not a search for truth."

My comments:

Those traditionalists who have completely undermined orthodox traditionalism, have also politicized the clergy, deacons, priests, bishops and the pope. They act as if they are a political party and are on CNN's side or Fox's side and they can win adherents in the most crass political way as we see what is happening with those who oppose or support President Trump. 

The pope is not elected by the people and His Holiness only answers to God. That's why His Holiness is called the Supreme Pontiff.  

VATICAN RADIO REPORTS WOMEN HEARING CONFESSIONS IN THE AMAZON SINCE THERE ARE NO PRIESTS AVAILABLE! IS THIS KOSHER?

Amazonia: the women religious who "hear confessions"

The first briefing of the Synod hears about the experience of women religious in villages where priests visit very rarely. We cannot give absolution, they say, but we think of the comfort we bring that person

A 1943 western had a similar subplot:


The Oxbow Incident on Turner Classic Movies. 

Three innocent men are about to be lynched. One, a Mexican played by Anthony Quinn, asks for a priest to hear his confession. There is no priest and the Mexican asks a Mexican layman to hear his confession and take it to a priest. KOSHER?

CARDINAL MUELLER, GID BLESS HIS LITTLE HEART, HITS THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!

Treating Jesus as simple a historical person, a dead hero, was and is the 1970’s great manipulation of rank and file Catholics to accept the heterodoxy of the heterodox. They still use this worn out hermeneutic!

08 ott 

Müller Accuses: From This Synod They Have Driven Out Jesus

> Italiano
> English
> Español
> Français

> All the articles of Settimo Cielo in English

*

The Synod on the Amazon has begun. “But it will have consequences for the universal Church,” warns Cardinal Gerhard Müller, in a lengthy interview with Matteo Matzuzzi for the newspaper “Il Foglio,” released on the very day of the opening of the work. “If one listens to the voices of some of the protagonists of this assembly, one understands easily that the agenda is entirely European.”

European, and above all German. Also in Germany, in fact, there has been launched a “synodal path” that will take its cue from the Amazon in order to reform nothing less than the universal Church, a synod in which the laity will have numbers and votes on a par with the bishops, a synod whose resolutions will be “binding” and will concern the end of priestly celibacy, the ordination of women, the reform of sexual morality, and the democratization of powers in the Church.

It is an earthquake that, ever since it was announced, has sown disquiet in Pope Francis himself, who in June wrote an open letter to the German bishops to persuade them to moderate their exorbitant ambitions. In September, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the congregation for bishops, wrote an even more pressing letter to them, rejecting as canonically “invalid” the synod set in motion in Germany. And that Ouellet is acting in accord with the pope is beyond doubt. He gave evidence of this a few days ago when he said he was “skeptical” about the idea of ordaining married men - a key point of the Amazonian and German synods - and immediately added that “someone above me is also” skeptical. As for Francis, he decided to meet on September 25 with eight young catechists from northern Thailand, the leaders of small communities far apart from each other, visited very rarely by a priest who celebrates the Mass and yet averse to asking on account of this for the ordination of married men. “The kingdom of heaven belongs to the little ones,” the pope told them, “deeply moved,” in the account of “L’Osservatore Romano.”

But the warnings Rome has given to Germany have so far had no effect. “Rome will not be the one to tell us what we have to do in Germany,” Munich archbishop and German episcopal conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx had already stated between the first and second session of the synod on the family. And that mantra continues to hold firm in Germany with the approval of most and the opposition of few, the highest-ranking of whom is the archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, who has gone so far as to decry the threat of a “schism.”

“In Germany,” Müller now says - he a German as well, although he does not govern a diocese and therefore is not part of the episcopal conference - “they almost want to refound the Catholic Church. They think that Christ is just a man who lived two thousand years ago, they maintain that he was not a modern man, they are convinced that he had none of their education. They therefore think that it is necessary to fill in these gaps and that it is up to them to act. In a homily Cardinal Marx asked rhetorically: ‘If Christ were here today, would he say what he said two thousand years ago?’ But Christ is not an historical figure like Caesar. Jesus Christ is risen and present, he celebrates the Mass through his representative, the ordained priest. He is the subject of the Church, and his Word remains and stands true forever. Christ is the fullness of revelation, because of which there will be no other revelation. It is we who must seek to know it more and better, but we certainly cannot change it. Christ is unsurpassable and irreversible, and today this does not seem to be very clear at certain latitudes.”

For Müller, this error is also present in the “Instrumentum Laboris,” the base document of the synod on the Amazon: “a document that does not talk about revelation,  about the incarnate word, about redemption, about the cross, about the resurrection, about eternal life,” but instead raises up in place of divine revelation, to be accepted as such, the religious traditions of the indigenous peoples and their visions of the cosmos.

In Aparecida, in 2007, Benedict XVI cautioned the bishops of the continent about this. “The utopia of going back to breathe life into the pre-Columbian religions, separating them from Christ and from the universal Church,” he said, “would not be a step forward: indeed, it would be a step back. In reality, it would be a retreat towards a stage in history anchored in the past.” But he was overwhelmed with criticisms from theoreticians of “a new understanding of God’s revelation” to be identified in indigenous peoples, and therefore without the desire to convert them. Among the most battle hardened was none other than a German theologian who had emigrated to Brazil, Paulo Suess, the inspiration of Bishop Erwin Kräutler, born in Austria, leading strategist of the synod on the Amazon, coauthor of the “Instrumentum Laboris” and proponent of the idea of having the Eucharist celebrated not only by “viri probati” but also by “married women who lead a community.”

“But there does not exist nor can exist a right to the sacrament,” Müller objects. “We are God’s creatures, and a creature cannot claim a right from his creator. Life and grace are a gift. Man has the right to marry, but he cannot demand that a particular woman marry him by invoking a specific right. Jesus freely chose from among all his disciples twelve of them, exhibiting thereby his divine authority. He chose those whom he wished, it is God who chooses. No one can enter into the sanctuary without being called. Once again the secularized mentality prevails: one thinks like men, not like God.”

“Priestly celibacy,” Müller continues in the interview with ‘Il Foglio, “can be understood only in the context of the eschatological mission of Jesus, which has created a new world. It has been a new creation. With the categories of secularism one cannot understand the indissolubility of marriage, as also the celibacy or virginity of the religious orders. Nor, with these categories, can problems be resolved that have their origin exclusively in the crisis of faith. This is not a matter of recruiting more people to administer the sacraments. A spiritual and theological preparation is needed, one must enter into the spirituality of the apostles, not paying attention to the secular agencies that advise much and on many things for reasons entirely in contrast with the mission of the Church. Spirituality is needed, not worldliness.”

And Cardinal Müller also sees worldliness in the way in which part of the Church has sided with environmentalist ideology:

“The Church belongs to Jesus Christ and must preach the Gospel and give hope for eternal life. It cannot make itself a protagonist of any ideology, whether that of ‘gender’ or environmentalist neopaganism. It is dangerous if this happens. I come back to the ‘Instrumentum Laboris’ prepared for the synod on the Amazon. In one of its paragraphs it speaks of ‘Mother Earth’: but this is a pagan expression. The earth comes from God and our mother in faith is the Church. We are justified through faith, hope, and love, not through environmental activism. Of course, taking care of creation is important, after all we live in a garden willed by God. But this is not the decisive point. What is is the fact that for us God is more important. Jesus gave his life for the salvation of men, not of the planet.”

To "L'Osservatore Romano," which has published an obituary for the Icelandic glacier Okjökull, which died “through our fault,” Müller objects: “Jesus became man, not an icicle.” And he continues::

“Of course, the Church can make its own contribution, with good ethics, with social doctrine, with the magisterium, recalling anthropological principles. But the Church’s first mission is to preach Christ the son of God. Jesus did not tell Peter to concern himself with the government of the Roman empire, he does not enter into dialogue with Caesar. He kept himself at a good distance. Peter was not a friend of Herod or of Pilate, but he suffered martyrdom. Cooperation with a legitimate government is just, but without forgetting that the mission of Peter and of his successors consists in uniting all believers in faith in Christ, who did not recommend involvement with the waters of the Jordan or the vegetation of Galilee.

DO RANK AND FILE CATHOLICS GIVE A FLIP OR ARE THEY EVEN AWARE OF INTERNAL CHURCH ANXIETY?

My cogent comments at the end in RED.

This is a very sober and I believe right on analysis:

Father Thomas Weinandy: Threat of Church Division ‘Growing in Intensity’

Father Weinandy calls on the Catholic faithful to pray “in fear and trembling” that Jesus might “deliver us from this trial.”

Edward Pentin

The Catholic Church is heading toward an “internal papal schism” whereby Pope Francis effectively leads two opposing factions, Capuchin theologian Father Thomas Weinandy has warned.

These are divided, he said, into one loyal to the papacy yet critical of this pontificate, and the other supportive of him due to his tolerance of ambiguous teaching and pastoral practice.

“This is the real schism,” observed Father Weinandy, a former chief of staff for the U.S. bishops' doctrinal committee, in a commentary published today in The Catholic Thing.

It is a situation “ever growing in intensity,” he added.

A member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, Father Weinandy began by clarifying that he believes when the Pope refers to contemporary schismatics in the Church, he means his American critics.

But he pointed out that the “overwhelming majority” of those critics “would never initiate a schism” as they wish to remain faithful to the Pope, even if that means being critical of him.

The Capuchin also believes that the German Church would also not go into schism, despite their bishops’ wish to take their faithful down a “binding” synodal path contrary to the universal tradition of the Church.

They would not break away, he believes, because they would lose their Catholic identity, something they could not afford, and will, in any case Father Weinandy believes, be allowed to pursue ambiguous teaching and practice as it is “in accord with Francis’ own.”

Read the rest there.

My comments:

1. Is the Pope making us like the Anglican Communion which has always touted that it is the bridge between Catholicism and the Protestant sects with high and low churches? In this way the Anglican Communion gets a pope they can accept as he is the pope of confusion and a mess.

2. What's wrong with married priests who come from a limited pool like what Pope Pius XII allowed with some Lutherans which was extended to other Protestestnt sects by John Paul II and Benedict XVI?

3. If married clergy is the panacea for the Amazon, why aren't there plentiful numbers of married Permanent deacons in the Amazon that could be called to the priesthood? 

4. The first day of the synod speaks of saving the earth from ecological disaster which is a noble thing for the Church to desire especially if we can do it. But Catholic dogma teaches that the earth is terminal. Why isn't there a nod to that and the final consummation and that we are always walking toward the Second Coming and the Final judgment and the resurrection of the bodies of the dead? Isn't this in fact where the Church's expertise lies, Catholic must accept and all must prepared? No Catholic has to accept ecology theories or believe we can stop the final consummation. We do need to take care of the physical and spiritual though! But we aren't our Saviors in either realm, only Jesus is!

WHY ISN’T THE AMAZON PRODUCING VOCATIONS WHILE MOST THIRD WORLD REGIONS PRODUCING ABUNDANT VOCATIONS UNLIKE THE AMAZON REGION? THE CONFUSIONS OF POLITICAL SOCIAL JUSTICE TO THE NEGLECT OF FAITH AND MORALS!

Are the progressives at the Synod drunk on this 1960’s vintage altar wine?

Progressive religious orders and dioceses are dying. But that does not disturb the ancients at the synod from ramming  down the throats of the people of God a failed model of the spirit of Vatican II that has corrupted so much! Progressives want a non Catholic ministerial order and a church freed from the rigidity of faith and morals. They simply want an NGO with kumbaya!

They have become such a caricature in their ongoing mantras!

Yet one synod member, a lowly priests, hits the nail on the head:

 The Rev. Martín Lasarte, an Uruguayan priest who is one of the 21 non-bishops among the synod’s 184 voting members, has said ordaining married men is an “illusory, almost magical proposal that does not touch the true fundamental problem” of the church in the Amazon.

Father Lasarte said the Amazon region has the potential to produce abundant vocations to the celibate priesthood but suffers from decades of inadequate evangelization. Catholic missionaries there have provided charity and fought for social justice but often neglected to teach the Catholic faith out of an exaggerated fear of showing disrespect for local cultures, he said.

Why can’t the Holy Spirit of common sense be heard by the pope and his cronies?

I DON'T THINK I EVER SAW THIS FROM THIS CAMERA ANGLE OR THE REACTION WHEN POPE BENEDICT XVI ARISES AND RESUMES THE PROCESSION AT 2009'S MIDNIGHT MASS WHERE HE WAS ATTACKED!

OKAY, JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WAY OF MAKING CARDINALS?

OKAY, I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER SAY THIS! BRING ON THE CLOWN MASSES PLEASE ANY DAY OVER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, I MEAN, OF THE VATICAN ON THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS, OCTOBER 4, 2019

Yes, puppet and clown Masses are more appealing than this horrible thing that happened at the Vatican in the presence of the pope. If this is the fire of creativity that is sorely needed in the Church's missionary activities, I want to become a Mormon!

Pagan fertility ritual in the Vatican gardens

Pope Francis could have imitated our Lord, Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane as portrayed by the Passion of the Christ:



Of course by clown Mass, I mean this type of clown Mass! This is in France in 1952,  yes, 1952 and yes it is a clown Mass in the ancient rite!

And yes, the altar is facing the clowns!!!!!! 

POLARIZATION AND DIVISION AND THE ROOT OF IT IS THE VATICAN

South American banana republicanism has come to the highest levels of Church leadership.

Read the Crux article. It's enough to make Archbishop Lefebreve blush!

I am afraid schism is coming and is already here but the far right fomenting it in reaction to what Pope Francis is doing will become the new version of what Eastern Orthodoxy did at the Great Schism except this new orthodoxy schism will be much smaller than even the SSPX. And why not simply join them???????

Critics accuse Amazon synod of ‘poly-demonism’

• Elise Harris
  Oct 4, 2019
  

Pope Francis leaves St. Peter's Basilica after celebrating a ceremony in which he ordained four new bishops, at the Vatican, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Credit: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.)

VATICAN ORDINATION OF NEW BISHOPS IS A SOBER AFFAIR AND EVERY DIOCESE IN THE WORLD SHOULD COPY IT!

I have complained often about the fiasco triumphalism that episcopal, priestly and diaconal ordinations have  become in the Ordinary Form. Usually this triumphalism is associated with the music and instrumentation and in this country the political correctness of trying to get everyone's cultural music into the liturgy. What a mess!

But today's ordination of several bishops by Pope Francis has none of this nonsensical triumphalism. Yes, there is a blend of Italian and Latin but the propers are chanted and also for the various parts of the ordination rite. It is not a coronation by any means.

This ordination is a sober affair and truly acquires the status of noble simplicity so unlike episcopal ordinations in this country!



Now compare the Vatican's way of ordaining bishops to this fiasco in Iowa last week:

THANK YOU SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT! PRECIOUS, MY ALLIGATOR, IS PLEASED !

Pet blessings – from hermit crabs to a chicken

Drew Martindmartin@islandpacket.com

Matthew Humphrey hoists his pet turtle Tuck into the air on Thursday morning as the pair wait for Father Pedro Gomez to administer holy water during the annual blessing of the animals at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School in Bluffton. Although Matthew’s pet was unusual among the many dogs and cats, others brought hermit crabs, a chicken and several students brought their favorite stuffed toy animal.

ANOTHER KILJOY PRIEST ALIENATING PARENTS AND STUDENTS, LIKE BANNING HARRY POTTER: DOES THIS HELP THE MISSIONARY ETHOS OF THE CHURCH IN HER INTEGRAL ECOLOGY SEEING THAT PETS AND HUMANS ARE INTERRELATED.? I ASK; YOU ANSWER!

My pet alligator, PRECIOUS, is not amused!

I just don’t about this in this snowflake day and age!

This comes from the public Facebook page of St. Vincent de Paul  Catholic School in Mobile, Alabama.

Father Stephen Vrazel posted the following message: 

People have been asking me if we will be blessing pets at St. Vincent’s on the feast day of St. Francis—this Friday, October 4.

We will not. Let me explain why.

I do not feel it is in keeping with the mission of our parish or our school to host an event for which families will bend over backwards to bring their pets, even though it is a workday, while at the same time, many of those same families consistently fail to bring their children to Sunday Mass.

Your pets are beautiful creatures of God, but they are not sinners in need of redemption, and they are not members of the Church. They have no need to hear the word of God proclaimed nor of receiving the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist. Your pets will be fine without a blessing. Your children will not be.

I know it is hard to bring your children to Mass. I know that teaching them how to behave in a pew is a long process. I realize that you might feel you do not get much out of it yourself or that you might even have been hurt by someone in the Church.

In spite of that, your children need Jesus, and so do you. God has given you your children with the expectation that you will provide not only for their physical needs, but also their spiritual needs. While it might be difficult to come to Mass, I promise you that the rhythm of life of weekly Mass attendance does get better, and it does bear fruit.

“Your pets will be fine without a blessing. Your children will not be…Failure to bring your children to Mass is a mortal sin.”

Just this morning our Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 students came to daily Mass (as they always do on Thursdays), and they were very well behaved. They got a little squirmy toward the end, but they made it just fine, and they were attentive and saying the responses. I am very proud of the great job our teachers are doing with them. It takes some repetition, but children can learn how to sit still and listen. In a world where our children hardly ever get a chance for silence, I hope you can see the value in giving them some quiet moments before the Lord. The same could be said for us adults.

We teach the Catholic faith in its fulness at St. Vincent’s, so that means our students are taught that failure to attend Mass on Sunday is a mortal sin. We do not teach them that they are at fault for missing Mass—we are not interested in crushing a child with guilt for something that is not his or her fault. But just as we teach them, I want to teach you: failure to bring your children to Mass is a mortal sin that should be confessed before receiving Communion. They have an excuse: their parents do not bring them. You do not have an excuse.

To further clarify: Friday school Mass does not fulfill your obligation. (It is your obligation, not your child’s.) Christians have gathered on the first day of the week since the very beginning of the Church, because Sunday is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Regular Sunday Mass attendance is fundamental to your identity as a Christian. In this family, you are expected to be at family dinner.

You might right now be thinking of all the excuses you have for not being present on Sunday. (Some of them might actually be valid.) But I beg you instead to start looking for reasons to come rather than reasons to stay away. Christ invites you and your family to something wonderful and powerful. If there is brokenness in your family, coming to Mass will help not hurt. Your first week back at Mass might be challenging, but stick with it. You will not regret it.

(Finally, I recognize that we have non-Catholic families in our parish. We are so happy to have you as part of the St. Vincent’s family! It is good for you to be faithful to your own religious tradition, but know that you are always welcome to come to Mass with us.)

See You On Sunday!
Fr. Stephen Vrazel

VATICAN NEWS IS UPSET ABOUT HOW NEWS IS BEING REPORTED, ALMOST LIKE PRESIDENT TRUMP!

First of all, of those accused, are they be accompanied to see if their lifestyle, if contrary to the 10 Commandments, is compatible with the Catholic Faith if their conscience dictates that they have not actually committed any kind of sin or criminal action? If guilty, should this accompaniment lead to full integration into the job they have and the Church they are communicants? Just wondering how the field hospital that is the Church will treat them if they are found guilty.

Vatican investigation: laws that work and media that shames

Vatican Judiciary investigations concerning some persons serving in Holy See offices is proof that the processes, begun by Pope Benedict XVI and carried out by his successor, work

.

News of investigations undertaken by the Vatican Judiciary concerning certain persons serving in offices of the Holy See has produced a considerable echo in the media, and understandably so.

Interpretations, comments and analyses that accompanied publication of the news by the Vatican Press Office failed, however, to underline an important point: what happened on Tuesday in the Vatican proves concretely that the processes begun by Pope Benedict XVI, and carried out by Pope Francis, really work. It proves that the new laws of Vatican City State are being applied.

The structures responsible for revision and control, and those being controlled, can report any anomalies to the Vatican Judiciary, and request an investigation. The painful events made public this week are not a sign the system has failed. On the contrary, they show the system has developed antibodies capable of reacting, and that the process of reforming the Vatican’s economic and financial structures is well underway.

A second and equally important consideration needs to be made regarding what happened the day after the Vatican Press Office released the news. The individuals facing the investigation have been subjected to a media pillory, including having their photographs published, despite the fact that any possible responsibility on their part is still to be proven. Those involved in the investigation have the right to be respected in their dignity as men and women, whether they are priests, or fathers and mothers of families.

Regarding the way in which this information was divulged, and those who divulged it, an investigation has ben opened by the Vatican Judicial system.

JUST WHAT IS BAD LITURGY ANYWAY?

I can't say that I have ever attended a clown Mass. In the seminary I did attend Masses in faculty apartments where no vestments were worn, we sat on the floor "Indian" style (hope that term isn't politically incorrect) and there were other aberrations.

But on the parish level, I don't think I have attended anything really, really bizarre in the Ordinary Form.

What I have experienced are the following, which are, in my book, bad liturgy or liturgical abuses:

1. Casualness of priest and laity 
2. a lack attention to liturgical detail, like clean vestments
3. sloppiness
4. lack of reverence
5. Grotesque improvisation of the words and rituals of the Mass
6. Personality of the priest and lay ministers overpowering the ritual

I have experienced these things when I visit parishes on vacation. Music is a disaster in most parishes and song leaders and choirs at the front are a disaster in most parishes.

What are your experiences of so-called "bad" liturgies?

AREN'T PARISHES ALREADY INCLUSIVE AND WEREN'T THEY THAT WAY SINCE DAY ONE?

Yes, the early Church and the Church of Vatican II still can excommunicate some of her members for egregious public sins, such as being members of the KKK or other hate groups or groups that advocate for the destruction of innocent human life or for euthanasia and the like.

Catholics can be excommunicated for publicly advocating for racism and discrimination or seeking to create ideological divides in a diocese or parish. I've heard of bishops shutting down parishes that become schismatic. 

I have never heard, though, that Catholics can be excommunicated or censured for their sexual activities no matter the orientation. Yes, sins against Chasity are sins against the 6th Commandment and that is just as serious as breaking any of the other nine Commandments. We don't excommunicate Catholics who dishonor their parents, covet their neighbor's goods or even steal or murder.

We do tell sinners, mortal sinners in particular, that if they are in a state of unforgiven sin, they should repent. For venial sins repentance and an act of Contrition are sufficient. For Mortal Sins against any of the 10 Commandments, Confession is necessary with absolution.

So I find it peculiar and almost like an ideology when I read stuff like this:

According to New Ways Ministry, an advocacy group for LGBT Catholics, the meeting “refutes the unjustified barrage of criticism [Martin] has received from a minority of church leaders and other anti-LGBTQ sectors of the church.”

“It is a clear signal that Pope Francis is calling the church to conversion away from the negative messages it has sent in the past about LGBTQ people,” the group said in a statement released on Monday. “It is a day of celebration for LGBTQ Catholics who have longed for an outstretched hand of welcome from the church that they love.”

Since when do we have to welcome special interests groups with a social, political or ideological position opposed to any of the 10 Commandments? Since when does the Church have to support gender ideology and the groups that advocate for these in society and unfortunately in the Church?

I know many people who have same sex attractions and maybe would like to dress as a person of the opposite sex or maybe even be a member of the opposite sex. But you would think if one is striving to be a good Catholic, one wouldn't flaunt unnatural desires publicly, especially in the Church, and ask/demand that not only they but their sin or disorder be accepted as moral or as a virtue. 

Those who are virtuous and moral seek to live as Christ taught us through the Magisterium of the Church. 

I have seen many couples attend Mass who are same sex couples. I presume if they live together they are simply roommates or live as sisters or brothers. Just like  Catholic heterosexual couples who have separated from  a Church Sacramental marriage in order to live with another person, if that couple lives chastely as brother and sister, they too can receive Holy Communion.  The same goes with homosexual couples in a so-called civil marriage. Why should LGBTQ Catholics be given a pass when it comes chastity?

Why should special interests groups which are in fact lobbies or political entities be given a pass and embraced as a "whole?" Individuals are members of the Church and are baptized as individuals, and are judged as individuals both here on earth and at their personal and final judgement. 

IS A MOVE TOWARD TRADITION SOMETHING THAT POPE FRANCIS MUST RECOVER IN CONTINUITY WITH POPE BENEDICT?

I haven't seen any sociological studies on how many non-Catholics are joining RCIA programs. From merely anecdotal evidence, I know that our RCIA class is smaller than last year and most parishes in our Savannah deanery are indicating the same thing.

Of course, Pope Francis seems to confuse everyone with his railing against Proselytism. He doesn't seem to understand the term or maybe it is different in Italian and Spanish. Nor does he seem to know what Pelagianism is either. He throws out bombs that scatter and confuse and there isn't any real clarification, albeit, the CDF did try to indicate what real Pelagianism is.

I was listening to Gus Lloyd's Seize the Day program on Catholic Radio. He was asking if a return to tradition was needed today. Most of his callers, but not all, indicated yes.

Most though were speaking liturgically.

One guy who had left the Church for an "independent" Catholic Church (don't know if it was SSPX) said that when Pope Benedict issued Summorum Pontificum, he returned to the Church. Although he prefers the EF Mass, he even said that if the only return to tradition was a worldwide move towards kneeling for Holy Communion and receiving on the tongue, that would be HUGE! (Say that like the ailing Bernie Sanders).

 I would agree. Pope Benedict modeled that at each of his Masses. Pope Francis simply stopped giving Holy Communion at most of his Masses but when he does, communicants stand.

I am on record as saying that receiving Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue is even more important than ad orientem and I think it would be less controversial too. 

I think that if Pope Francis had been more sober about some of the things that Pope Benedict striven to do liturgically, he would not have alienated so many tradition-minded Catholics from the get-go.

I think most tradition-minded Catholics would be open to the Church's Social teachings because St. Pope John Paul II was very concerned about these teachings and he was well received.

What say you?

WILL THIS ACTUALLY GAIN TRACTION?

Conference to Promote Communion Kneeling and on the Tongue

Saturday’s conference will take place at 6 p.m. in the conference hall of the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, Rome.

Edward Pentin

VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith will be among those contributing to a Rome conference Saturday aimed at reestablishing the rebirth of Eucharistic devotion.
The archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and former Secretary at the Congregation for Divine Worship has sent his blessing to the conference, entitled “Every Knee Shall Bow — The Majesty and Infinite Love of Holy Communion.”
Other contributors will be Cardinal Raymond Burke, the patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary of Astana, Kazakhstan, who will give messages via video.
The event, aimed at raising awareness about the way Jesus in the Eucharist is received, will especially urge greater reverence by receiving the Body of Christ kneeling and on the tongue rather than standing and in the hand.
Read the rest there.

HEATON AND COLBERT BECOME LATE NIGHT EWTN

DON'T WORY ABOUT THE LOSS OF CATHOLICS

 Pope at Vespers: The Lord is calling you to bear witness

Pope Francis presides over the celebration of Vespers in Saint Peter’s Basilica to open the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October. In his homily, he urges us to be witnesses in a missionary Church that is always “on the go”.

By Vatican News
1 October is the feast day of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, affectionately known as “The Little Flower”. Although she never left her Carmelite cloister, she is the universal patron of missions, along with Saint Francis Xavier.

Three missionary models

Pope Francis recalled both of them in his homily. Saint Therese, he said, “made prayer the fuel for missionary activity in the world”. Saint Francis Xavier, said the Pope, is perhaps “the greatest missionary of all time, after Saint Paul”.

Together with the Venerable Pauline Jaricot, a French laywoman who helped create the foundations of the Pontifical Missionary Societies, they “give us a jolt”, said the Pope. They challenge us to “emerge from our shell and to renounce our comforts for the sake of the Gospel”.

Using our talents

Pope Francis began by reflecting on Saint Matthew’s Gospel that recounts the parable of the talents. “God has entrusted us with his greatest treasures: our own lives and the lives of others”, he said. God calls us “to make our talents bear fruit, with boldness and creativity”.

This extraordinary Missionary Month, said the Pope, “should jolt us and motivate us to be active in doing good. Not to be notaries of faith and guardians of grace, but missionaries”.

Being a witness

Being a missionary, said Pope Francis, means “living as witnesses”. Witness, in fact, “is the key word: a word with the same root as the word ‘martyr’”. “Martyrs live by spreading peace and joy, by loving everyone, even their enemies, out of love for Jesus”, continued the Pope. “Let us ask ourselves this month: how good a witness am I?”

Mission not omission

Returning to the parable, the Pope noted how Jesus describes the fearful servant as “wicked and lazy”. He was wicked, said Pope Francis, for not doing good: “he sinned by omission”.  “To live by omission is to deny our vocation: omission is the opposite of mission”.

Sins against mission

We sin against mission, said the Pope, when we fail to spread joy, “when we think of ourselves as victims, that no one loves or understands us”.  We sin against mission “when we yield to resignation”, or when we complain “that everything is going from bad to worse, in the world and in the Church”.

We sin against mission “when we become slaves to the fears that immobilize us”, or when we live life as a burden and not a gift, putting ourselves at the centre, “and not our brothers and sisters who are waiting to be loved”.

A Church on the go

If the Church “is not on the go, it is not Church”, stated Pope Francis. A Church on the go is a missionary Church “that does not waste time lamenting things that go wrong… a Church that does not seek safe oases to dwell in peace, but longs to be salt of the earth and a leaven in the world”.

We are all missionaries

Today we begin the Missionary Month of October, said the Pope, “accompanied by a religious woman, a priest and a lay woman. They remind us that no one is excluded from the Church’s mission”.

The Lord is calling you

In this month, said Pope Francis, “the Lord is also calling you”, fathers and mothers of families, young people. “You, who work in a factory, a store, a bank or a restaurant; you who are unemployed; you are in a hospital bed… The Lord is asking you to be a gift wherever you are, and just as you are, with everyone around you”.

The Lord is asking you “not simply to go through life, but to give life”, said the Pope, “not to complain about life, but to share in the tears of all who suffer”.

“The Lord will not leave you alone in bearing witness”, concluded Pope Francis. “You will discover that the Holy Spirit has gone before you and prepared the way for you. Courage!”

WHOA!

Vatican prosecutors raid Secretariat of State in financial transaction investigation

Oct 1, 2019

by Joshua J. McElwee

 

 

Vatican City — Vatican police officers conducted a raid Oct. 1 on the offices of the Vatican's Secretariat of State and the city-state's financial watchdog authority regarding an investigation into unspecified financial transactions.

The Vatican press office, which announced the raid in a two-sentence note, did not give many details about its scope or the matter being investigated. Its statement said merely that "documents and electronic devices" had been collected with regard to transactions that took place this summer.
The raid was authorized by the Vatican's chief prosecutor, following a report on the matter from the Vatican's auditor general and officials at the Institute for the Works of Religious, commonly known as the Vatican bank, said the release.

Officials at both the Secretariat of State and the financial watchdog, known formally as the Financial Information Authority, did not immediately respond to requests for more information.

Pope Francis has made reforming the Vatican's financial system a priority of his six-year papacy, focusing on streamlining operations and bringing them up to international standards. The Vatican bank announced just a day ago that as part of those efforts, it had been able to rejoin the Single Euro Payments Area, which allows for faster bank transfers throughout Europe.

[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent.

AUGUSTA NATIVE JESSYE NORMAN DIES, ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HER, O LORD

Augusta has given the world two music greats albeit in two great extremes, James Brown and Jessye Norman!

Opera star, Augusta native Norman dies

Let’s remember the incredible Jessye Norman by savoring this performance with the equally incredible Kathleen Battle.

From The Augusta Chronicle, October 1, 2019
By Susan McCord Staff Writer

Opera great and Augusta native Jessye Norman has died at 74, The Associated Press reported.

Norman was scheduled to appear in Augusta on Oct. 11 for the dedication of Eighth Street as Jessye Norman Boulevard.

A statement from her family said Norman died at 7:54 a.m. Monday from septic shock and multi-organ failure related to complications from a 2015 spinal cord injury.

“As an opera superstar, she commanded the world’s stages, but here in Augusta, she quietly used the arts to make a positive impact on the lives of hundreds of children each year,” said Gary Dennis, executive director of the Jessye Norman School of the Arts. “The world knew her voice and our school knew her kindness and generous heart.

“She challenged all of us to live up to our full potential and to represent something larger than ourselves. She will be greatly missed.”

Norman and the Rachel Longstreet Foundation endowed the Augusta school, a performing arts program for disadvantaged students, when it opened in 2003.

Damien Sneed, Norman’s accompanist who graduated from Davidson Fine Arts magnet school in Augusta, was with Norman and family members Monday, Dennis said.

Norman previously confirmed to Dennis she planned to attend the honorary street naming ceremony.

The ceremony will go on, said Augusta arts benefactor Ellis Johnson, a founding board member of the school and now a member emeritus.

Johnson said he last saw Norman in February when he took a group of Jessye Norman school students to Toronto. Norman was the recipient of the prestigious Glenn Gould Prize, a Canadian lifetime award for enriching the human condition through the arts.

“She was our friend,” Johnson said of himself and his late wife, Ann. “For many years we had many associations, especially when she would come to Paine College to perform. We would always get together receptions and parties that she would come to and enjoy.”

Johnson said Norman loved humanity and especially children, which showed in her involvement with the Augusta school.

“She was just a lovely person who cared for humanity,” he said. “She especially was fond of and cared for children. She loved children in such a way that in the very first year of the school’s existence, she endowed. That made a great deal to the founding of the school and she has never stopped supporting the school.”

When the group was in Toronto, Johnson asked Norman if she would join them for dinner.

“Her response was, ‘With pleasure, Ellis. I would be happy to have dinner with them,’” Johnson said.

Don Edmunds, director of artistic operations, education and outreach for the Augusta Symphony, shared a very special memory he has of Norman.

While practicing organ years ago, Edmunds said he “suddenly heard this amazing soprano voice.” Turning around, it was Norman, in Augusta to meet with students.

“I’d forgotten she was expected and apologized to her,” he said. “She said, ‘Oh please don’t stop’” and he continued to practice hymns while she sang.

“For 30 minutes I played for this great star. The four times we met after, she called me by name. I won’t ever forget that accidental meeting – ever,” Edmunds said.

During their encounter Norman was “no diva, no world-renowned soprano. Just her singing to the glory of God,” he said. “I’m not ever forgetting how warm and kind she was.”

In a statement to the AP, family members said Norman’s performances and humanitarian work will continue to inspire.

“We are so proud of Jessye’s musical achievements and the inspiration that she provided to audiences around the world that will continue to be a source of joy. We are equally proud of her humanitarian endeavors addressing matters such as hunger, homelessness, youth development, and arts and culture education.”

The opera star’s dazzling career saw her provide memorable performances and appearances at historic events, including President Reagan’s inauguration, Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday, Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ funeral and the 200th anniversary of Bastille Day in Paris.

Norman attended C.T. Walker Elementary, A.R. Johnson Middle and Lucy Craft Laney High schools, then received a full scholarship at age 16 to Howard University. Her talent was apparent at an early age.

At Howard she studied piano, voice and music, while singing in the university choir. At 20 she won the National Society of Arts and Letters singing competition. Norman continued her education at the Peabody Conservatory and University of Michigan.

She grew up in Augusta listening to Saturday afternoon broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera while cleaning her family’s home on Forest Avenue. Norman won her first talent contest singing in nearby Mount Calvary Baptist Church where her father was superintendent of the Sunday school classes.

“My goal has always been to be the very best singer I can be at any particular time,” she said in a 1983 newspaper interview.

Among her many accomplishments are induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center Honors award and the National Medal of Arts. The amphitheater at Riverwalk Augusta is named in her honor.

Staff writer Erika Wells contributed to this article.