TWISTING THE NEWS ON THE CHURCH, BOTH THE CATHOLIC AND SECULAR PRESSES, THUS MAKING THE CHURCH A QUASI POLITICAL INSTITUTION WITH A CHANGING PLATFORM AND ITS ELECTED LEADER A MERE POLITICIAN

A Further Perspective

‘Fantasy’ Francis?

He is real enough.

Okay, a disclaimer. I recognize that Pope Francis is a progressive when it comes to pastoral sensitives, reforms in the governance of the Church, especially the Curia's much needed reform, and pastoral policies concerning ecumenism, interfaith dialogue and dialogue with non-believers and secular interests. (I would not call him a liberal, because that is a political term).

Yet, we know that Pope Francis is a believing Catholic (I won't use the political term conservative or the loaded term traditionalist) when it comes to the Magisterium, the Deposit of Faith (found in the CCC) the authority of bishops, including the Bishop of Rome, and the dogmas and doctrines of the Church to include morality, the sacraments and the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the angels and saints, including the fallen Archangel and his minions, Lucifer and the demons.

He has reiterated that women cannot be called to Holy Orders because of the infallible teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church concerning the sacramental nature of the Sacrament of Holy Orders which requires by Tradition and dogma that only men be ordained. He teaches that a woman's place is in the home being a good wife and mother while children are being formed into good practicing Christians. This does not exclude women taking on other important roles in society and the Church, after much prayer and reflection, as long as the primary vocation of a woman who is married is to be a good wife and mother. 

The Holy Father is not about to change the Church's teaching on chastity as it concerns heterosexuals or homosexuals as sex outside of marriage goes against Scripture and Tradition and unnatural sex of any kind of any gender and of any orientation goes against natural law thus making these acts illicit and immoral and when turned into an agenda to overthrow traditional Church teaching on morality it becomes an ideology of the Evil One. Marriage will remain as a sacrament and institution for one man and one woman and for a life time despite any pastoral overtures to those in irregular situations. 

Oh and yes, Pope Francis is not opposed to celebrating Mass ad orientem, either in facing the congregation with the pre-Vatican II set-up for the altar or facing toward the wall as he has done in St. Peter's and now in the most explicit way possible and in continuity with Pope Benedict in the Sistine Chapel for the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord.  

We can say Pope Francis is a traditionalist, in the classic meaning of the word, when it comes to popular piety or what he refers to as "popular spirituality" of the lowly, the rank and file Catholics of the world, especially in his beloved South American Continent. He sees in popular piety the inculturation the Church needs. This was very profound in the pre-Vatican II Church, which he acknowledges in his recent Apostolic Exhortation, that was called into question and denigrated in the immediate aftermath of Vatican II, but with a healthy recovery in the years since, especially under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

A few years back, maybe two or three only, John Allen, who is wise enough to know that his talents were being wasted at the National Chismatic Reporter (NCR), so he quit and has moved on to a slightly higher notch at the secular Boston Globe or Glob, depending on your point of view, stated that the Vatican was quickly becoming irrelevant due to the sex abuse scandals, the internal Vatican scandals and the horrible banking scandals. It had lost its clout in the world of diplomacy which had always been its strong suit under previous pontificates.

What a difference 10 months makes. The Vatican is once again regaining lost ground as it concerns diplomacy and was a major player in preventing President Barack Obama from intervening in a war-hawk fashion in Syria. It appears the Vatican is also playing a significant role in pursuing true peace in Syria. This is the classic role of the Vatican as a City-State and Pope Francis is single-handedly responsible for this quick recovery!

But I digress. The point of this post is to bitterly complain about how the Catholic and secular press report on the Church and her pope as though the pope and the Church are some kind of human, political party with special interests when in fact she is a supernatural organization, the Mystical Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ, with Christ as her head and we as His Body. The Church is the People of God imbued with the Holy Spirit and in an indelible way.

And despite the strengths and weaknesses of her members,popes, bishops, priests, deacons, religious and laity, the vices, sins and immoral acts clergy and laity commit, Jesus Christ has said the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church!

I use Yahoo as my internet search engine. Currently there are no less than 4 stories on the pope or the Catholic Church on their home page and usually the stories are from either AP or Reuters. But the reporting is terribly political and portrays Pope Francis as a secular political leader who is going to change the Church by changing doctrine rather than pastoral direction.

The secular presses is deluded into thinking that Pope Francis will change our moral teachings on sexuality and gender identity when he says "who am I to judge" a gay person's salvation if that person earnestly seeks God and recognizes his sin and seeks God's mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance through the repentance of sin.

The secular press thinks that when Pope Francis states that some in the Church (and he really means the secular press) are obsessed with contraception, abortion and sex, that he will change the Church and make her unfaithful to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who reveals through Scripture, Tradition and Natural Law the truths of God.

And they actually believe that when he says the Church should expand the role of women that this means they will one day be ordained deacons, priests and bishops. They do not realize the absurdity of such claims in light of what Pope Francis and other popes have said in the areas of faith and morals to which all popes must be faithful themselves. They have no authority to change doctrine or dogma or natural law, no authority whatsoever. Popes are limited in what they can do!

With the above said, read in the SPECTATOR BY PRESSING HERE, an article by George Neumayr who thinks Pope Francis is the most liberal pope ever. He is reporting his findings as a political reporter, not a religious one and cannot distinguish between Pope Francis' pastoral theology and leadership (compared to Pope Benedict) and the sure and certain unchangeable elements of Catholic dogmas, doctrines and moral teachings (with natural law included in the moral teachings) that Pope Francis will not change since he cannot change these even if he wanted, which he doesn't, because he's Catholic and has no authority to change these. But this is what politicized Catholic Neumayr believes:

"While some of the media’s claims about Francis are excessive, at least one is dismayingly real…: that Francis is more liberal than his predecessors. Indeed, not a week passes without some new papal statement or action to puzzle conservatives and embolden liberals."

My final comment: Those in the media, Catholic or secular, twisting and spinning Pope Francis for their own ideological reasons are the ones who are deluded and will be extremely unhappy by Pope Francis' successes in his progressive pastoral endeavors and in maintaining Catholic orthodoxy (right teaching) in the areas of Scripture and Tradition, Faith and Morals, (Natural Law) and what is called the Deposit of Faith and fidelity to the Magisterium!

PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY IN AN ECUMENICAL SOLEMN SUNG VESPERS WITH POPE FRANCIS AND LOVELY IT WAS

Please note the presence of Cardinal "deacons"

The English translation of the Italian homily:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“Has Christ been divided?” (1 Cor 1:13). The urgent appeal which Saint Paul makes at the beginning of his First Letter to the Corinthians, and which has been proclaimed at this evening’s liturgy, was chosen by a group of our fellow Christians in Canada as the theme for our meditation during this year’s Week of Prayer.

The Apostle was grieved to learn that the Christians of Corinth had split into different factions. Some claimed: “I belong to Paul”; while others claimed: “I belong to Apollos” or “I belong to Cephas”, and others yet claimed: “I belong to Christ” (cf. v. 12). Paul could not even praise those who claimed to belong to Christ, since they were using the name of the one Saviour to set themselves apart from their other brothers and sisters within the community. In other words, the particular experience of each individual, or an attachment to certain significant persons in the community, had become a yardstick for judging the faith of others.

Amid this divisiveness, Paul appeals to the Christians of Corinth “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” to be in agreement, so that divisions will not reign among them, but rather a perfect union of mind and purpose (cf. v. 10). The communion for which the Apostle pleads, however, cannot be the fruit of human strategies. Perfect union among brothers and sisters can only come from looking to the mind and heart of Christ Jesus (cf. Phil 2:5). This evening, as we gather here in prayer, may we realize that Christ, who cannot be divided, wants to draw us to himself, to the sentiments of his heart, to his complete and confident surrender into the hands of the Father, to his radical self-emptying for love of humanity. Christ alone can be the principle, the cause and the driving force behind our unity.

As we find ourselves in his presence, we realize all the more that we may not regard divisions in the Church as something natural, inevitable in any form of human association. Our divisions wound Christ’s body, they impair the witness which we are called to give to him before the world. The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, appealing to the text of Saint Paul which we have reflected on, significantly states: “Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian communities present themselves to people as the true inheritance of Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but they differ in outlook and go their different ways, as if Christ were divided”. And the Council continues: “Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the sacred cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature” (Unitatis Redintegratio, 1).

Christ, dear friends, cannot be divided! This conviction must sustain and encourage us to persevere with humility and trust on the way to the restoration of full visible unity among all believers in Christ. Tonight I think of the work of two great Popes: Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II. In the course of their own lives, both came to realize the urgency of the cause of unity and, once elected to the See of Peter, they guided the entire Catholic flock decisively on the paths of ecumenism. Pope John blazed new trails which earlier would have been almost unthinkable. Pope John Paul held up ecumenical dialogue as an ordinary and indispensable aspect of the life of each Particular Church. With them, I think too of Pope Paul VI, another great promoter of dialogue; in these very days we are commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of his historic embrace with the Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople.

The work of these, my predecessors, enabled ecumenical dialogue to become an essential dimension of the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, so that today the Petrine ministry cannot be fully understood without this openness to dialogue with all believers in Christ. We can say also that the journey of ecumenism has allowed us to come to a deeper understanding of the ministry of the Successor of Peter, and we must be confident that it will continue to do so in the future. As we look with gratitude to the progress which the Lord has enabled us to make, and without ignoring the difficulties which ecumenical dialogue is presently experiencing, let us all pray that we may put on the mind of Christ and thus progress towards the unity which he wills.

In this climate of prayer for the gift of unity, I address a cordial and fraternal greeting to His Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, and to His Grace David Moxon, the personal representative in Rome of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to all the representatives of the various Churches and Ecclesial Communities gathered here this evening.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask the Lord Jesus, who has made us living members of his body, to keep us deeply united to him, to help us overcome our conflicts, our divisions and our self-seeking, and to be united to one another by one force, by the power of love which the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5).
Amen.
------
And on another front Pope Francis is calling for women's first and primary place in the home with her children as well as collaborating with priests as the Blessed Virgin Mary did at the wedding feast of Cana and in many other situations especially at Calvary. 

Of course, in the USA and other parts of the world, women have had and continue to have prominent places in the Church, first as baptized Christians and thus evangelizing wherever they find themselves, at home, work, with friends, strangers and acquaintances, and secondly as workers in the vineyard as religious women have done so now for generations especially in monastic prayer and labor, teaching, nursing and social work. In the parish they are pastoral assistants and catechists and direct many important ministries as heads of schools, colleges and universities. 

But Pope Francis continues to emphasize for married women who are mothers the primacy of the home and being a good Catholic wife to her husband and mother to her children thus heading up with her husband the domestic Church and making abundantly clear the spousal relationship of Christ the Bridegroom to the Church His bride.

Of course the Holy Father had previously reiterated the infallible teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church that women may not be admitted to the Sacrament of Holy Orders, that of deacon, priest and bishop due to the spousal relationship that this Sacrament conveys on men to be an image of the Bridegroom of the Church as well as Son of Man and High Priest. 

Vatican Radio) Pope Francis earlier today met with participants at a national conference sponsored by the Italian Women’s Centre, which is due to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of its foundation in October of this year. The Italian Women’s Centre (Centro Italiano Femminile, or CIF) was set up in 1944 as a federation of Catholic women’s associations. It was established in response to the need for guidance on civic and social issues which arose at the end of the Second World War, when Italy introduced universal suffrage and millions of women were called to vote for the first time ever.

Pope Francis opened his address by giving thanks for the organization's work over the past 70 years and for its value as witness to the changing role of women within Catholic communities and Italian society as a whole. In recent decades, the Pope said, within the context of other cultural and societal developments, the role of women has been greatly transformed, their participation and responsibilities have increased. It is with great joy, he added, that I see many women sharing pastoral responsibilities with priests, both in theological reflection and by supporting individuals, families and communities, and I hope the space for women to contribute incisively to the life of our Church may continue to increase.

If the contribution of women to the public or professional sphere is important, Pope Francis went on, their contribution to family life is even more vital. But at this point, he said, the question arises naturally – how is it possible for any woman to develop an incisive presence in the many areas of public and professional life where important decisions are made, and at the same time to maintain a special presence within the family? This, the Pope said, is the field of discernment, which requires assiduousness and perseverance in prayer, as well as reflection on the reality of women within society.

It is in dialogue with God, Pope Francis concluded, that Christian women must answer his call – a dialogue which is always supported by Mary. May she – who cherished her divine son, who propitiated his first miracle at the wedding in Cana, who was present on Calvary and at Pentecost – show you the path to understanding the role of women within society.

Listen to Giulia Cirillo’s report:

BOMBSHELL: MORE OF THE HERMENEUTIC OF CONTINUITY BETWEEN POPES FRANCIS AND BENEDICT!

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., confirmed on Friday that Pope Francis has begun work on a draft text on the topic of ecology, which could become an encyclical. But, Father Lombardi said, the project is in an early stage, so it is too early to make any prediction about the timing of possible publication.

Father Lombardi said it is important to note that Pope Francis intends to put particular emphasis on the theme of “human ecology,” a phrase used by Pope Benedict to describe not only how people must defend and respect nature but how the nature of the person – masculine and feminine as created by God – must also be defended.

My Comment: Apart from ecology as it is popularly understood today and which Pope Benedict XVI certainly endorsed, Pope Francis also joins Pope Benedict to emphasize the "human ecology" which defends and respects the nature of persons, masculine and feminine. Obviously this has great importance in today's secular culture spiraling out of control as it concerns gender issues, human sexuality and the nature of marriage, not to mention, the nature of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. 

A FUTURE GERMAN POPE FROM THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH?

MONEY QUOTE:
“What interests the Pope is an overcoming both of lethargy and of resignation to extreme secularization, and bringing to an end the debilitating disputes within the Church between traditionalist and progressive ideologies.”

“'Evangelii gaudium' desires interior reunification in the Church, so that the People of God, in their missionary service, may not be an obstacle to a humanity that is in need of salvation and help.” 
My comment: Doesn't this sound like what Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum, about "interior reunification in the Church?"

These are Pope Benedict's exact words in his Letter:

I now come to the positive reason which motivated my decision to issue this Motu Proprio updating that of 1988. It is a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church. Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church’s leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden.  This glance at the past imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to enable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew.  I think of a sentence in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, where Paul writes: “Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide.  You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.  In return … widen your hearts also!” (2 Cor 6:11-13).  Paul was certainly speaking in another context, but his exhortation can and must touch us too, precisely on this subject.  Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows.

Cardinal Elect, Archbishop Gerhard Müller is clear in what he says and leaves little from for spinning that leads to outrageous interpretations of his words. He uses precise language. He's very German in his engineering!

He's also quite open to the Mass being celebrated ad orientem as is Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict. Like both popes, Cardinal Elect Müller believes that the liturgical reforms have been good but just need some tweaking.  

My own opinion, and I'm not sure it would be shared by the good Cardinal-elect, although the Anglican Use Mass with its options in the appendix had to pass through his congregation for approval, is that our own current Roman Missal needs no radical updating except for some clarification of rubrics, and allowing the Anglican Use options of the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, slightly revised order to the Introductory Rites when using these, the EF's Offertory Prayers, the EF rubrics for the Roman Canon, kneeling for Holy Communion as a clear option as well as ad orientem for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, not to mention the Last Gospel and the Anglican Use revision of the modern Roman Calendar.If this was done, there would be clear continuity between the 1962 Roman Missal and the Modern one. And doesn't the new Anglican Use Missal bring liturgical progressivism and traditionalism together in the use of options and the options clearly showing the continuity between the older Roman Rite Mass and the newer? Doesn't this tie in with the MONEY QUOTE I have above?

But the following report really hits the nail on the head concerning the proper ecclesiology of the Catholic Church and the role of the papacy and reforms that must remain true to our Tradition and with a capital, not a little, "T."

Valencia, Spain, Jan 23, 2014 / 03:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At a Spanish university's canon law conference, the Vatican's head for doctrinal matters spoke this week about collegiality and unity in the Church, emphasizing their orientation to evangelization.

The speech by Archbishop Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, focused on Church structures and served as a commentary on Pope Francis' Nov. 24 apostolic exhortation “Evangelii gaudium,” in which he discussed a “conversion of the papacy” and “sound 'decentralization.'”

“A readjusting of independence and collaboration with the local Churches, of episcopal collegiality and of the Primacy of the Pope will enable us not to lose site of the transcendent need for the question of God,” Archbishop Müller explained Jan. 20 at the St. Vincent Martyr Catholic University of Valencia.

“The life of the Church cannot be concentrated in this way on the Pope and his Curia, as if what happens in parishes, communities and dioceses were something secondary. An exaggerated centralization in administration does not help the Church but instead impedes her missionary dynamic.”

The archbishop, who will be made a cardinal at next month's consistory, was speaking during the university's 12th annual conference on canon law; his speech was titled “Collegiality and the Exercise of Supreme Power in the Church.”

Calling a “reform” of papal primacy pertinent to the new evangelization, Archbishop Müller said that “a Church which only revolves around her own structural problems would be dreadfully archaic and unconnected to the world, for in her being and mission she is nothing other than the Church of the triune God, the origin and destiny of every man and of the entire universe.”

“Communion and mission are the two elements that constitute the community of the disciples of Jesus as the sign and instrument of the unity of mankind with God and with one another. Therefore, the Church is essential one, as a servant and mediator of that union.”

He clarified, however, that “Evangelii gaudium” is a “corrective,” and has “not given a signal for a change of direction or revolution in the Vatican,” criticizing “superficial interpretations.”

“What interests the Pope is an overcoming both of lethargy and of resignation to extreme secularization, and bringing to an end the debilitating disputes within the Church between traditionalist and progressive ideologies.”

“'Evangelii gaudium' desires interior reunification in the Church, so that the People of God, in their missionary service, may not be an obstacle to a humanity that is in need of salvation and help.”

Archbishop Müller cited civil wars, terrorism, poverty, the situation of refugees, and pornography among the “global and daily tragedies” that give the Church “the momentous task of giving new hope to humanity.”

He emphasized that “separatist tendencies and arrogant behavior will only hurt the Church”, and that it is part of the Church's holiness that bishops are united “with and under Peter,” decrying a “power struggle” between centralist and particularist views of the Church.

The Church, he said, “is not a federation of national Churches or a global alliance of confessionally related ecclesial communities, which respect, by human tradition, the Bishop of Rome as an honorary president,” but is what both “testifies to, and realizes, the unity of peoples in Christ.”

Church unity, Archbishop Müller said, comes from Christ, who established the apostles and their successors, adding that nationality, language and culture are not “constitutive principles” of the Church.

This vision would end in “a secularized and politicized Church, different only in degree from an NGO.”

“The invitation of the Pope to a renewed perception of the Collegiality of Bishops is contrary to a relativization of the service which Christ entrusted directly to him.”

The doctrine chief explained that the college of bishops “serves the Church's unity,” founded on Christ, and that “a bishop can only be pastor of a local Church, and not president of a federation of regional and continental ecclesial alliances.”

He added that national conferences “cannot be a pure objective principle” in the Church, for the office of bishop is essentially one of “personal testimony”: therefore “the principle of the unity of the episcopacy itself is incarnated in a person.”

Bishops' ministry, he reflected, should be seen as “a sacramental reality” and not “confused with the service of a moderator of purely human associations.”

Concluding his talk, Archbishop Müller reminded those gathered that the Church “is not the Light,” but exists to give testimony “to the Light which illumines every man, Jesus Christ,” and that “despite all the storms and strong winds, the barque of Peter must raise again the sails of joy, for Jesus is with us.”

APART FROM FOX NEWS AND NEW YORK'S LOCAL NEWS, HAS ANY OTHER NETWORK REPORTED THIS?

And yes, Cardinal Dolan has some strong words for the fascism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his clone the new mayor of New York:

A COOL TRUE STORY FOR THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

Welcome to The Order of Saint Helena

The Mission of the Order of Saint Helena (Episcopal) is to show forth Christ through a life of monastic prayer, hospitality and service. We are women living communally under a vow of monastic poverty, celibate chastity and obedience to God. From Benedictine roots, we discern new ways to interpret traditional monasticism, striving to grow in diversity and inclusivity.
More about our mission and our history.

OSH Online

VIDEO about being an Episcopal nun
VIDEO of Faith Anthony's Life Profession
RECORDINGS of our chant including Compline
RECORDING of radio interview with Sr ES
RECORDING of Ch 6 TV interview with Srs ES and Ellen Francis
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December 2013 issue of the saint helena newsletter is now online.

eBreviary and ePsalter

DONATION: In appreciation for your donation of $25 or more, we are offering a gift of the Saint Helena Breviary: Monastic Edition and Saint Helena Psalter in PDF (Portable Document Format) on a CD.

Blessing of the Land for our New Convent

The service of Blessing was held on Sat Oct 26, 2013, and The Rt Rev W Andrew Waldo was the presider for the liturgy.

Upcoming Events -- Register Here

FLYER FOR ALL EVENTS

Contemplative Prayer for Peace and Justice

Monthly group meeting on Sat mornings, starting at 9:30 a.m.: Jan 18, Feb 22, Mar 22; led by Sr. Linda Elston, OSH

Advent: Season of Hope, Justice, and Joy

Dec 6-8, 2013,led by Sr. Ann Prentice, OSH

New Convent Update

ARCHITECT'S RENDERINGS of our new convent! Our architects are Cheatham, Fletcher and Scott of Augusta GA. We currently expect the construction to begin in January 2014, for the building to take at least a year.

MY STORY AND I'M STICKING TO IT:

I grew up in Augusta, Georgia moving there when I was six years old in 1960. In the woods near our rented home there was an Episcopal Convent of nuns called St. Helena's. They were called the Protestant nuns which sent shivers down my spine as Catholic nuns were bad enough, but Protestant ones? Parrish the though!

We kids in the neighborhood would trespass onto their secluded property and play in there barn. On more than one ocassion one of the Protestant sisters would chase us off telling us that she would call the police if we came back.

Flash forward to 1991 when I was named pastor of Augusta's downtown Church of the Most Holy Trinity, now at the age of 37. My first Saturday Vigil Mass there in June of 1991 I saw sitting on the front row this elderly Protestant Episcopal Sister. My heart stopped. Had she finally caught up with me after all these years since I had trespassed on her property and in her barn at the age of 6. Did she have a warrant for my arrest?

Well it turns out that it was the same sister since she had been at the convent since the late 1950's! And was the only one of that era still there. She was in her late 80's and had grown disillusioned with the path the Episcopal Church had taken and her convent now had sisters who were also Episcopal Priestesses. She could not go to the Holy Eucharist presided over by a priestess. So she began to attend Mass at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, where her good friend and former Episcopal priest who had become a Catholic priest under the pastoral provision of Pope John Paul II assisted.

Some years later I was able to get Bishop Kevin Boland to extend to Sister Clare permission to recieve Holy Communion at our Vigil Mass since she qualified for it due to her circumstances, age and that she actually believed in transubstantiaion and was more faithful that most craddle Catholics.

Eventually around 2002 or 03, she asked to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church and the Feast of Saint Augustine the First Bishop of Canterbury.

I was transferred from Most Holy Trinity in 2004 but in 2006 since died and had left a request that I preside at her funeral at Most Holy Trinity.

Keep in mind that she continue to live in the Episcopal Convent until her death at the age of 102.

At her Requiem Mass the entire convent of Episcopal Sisters were present!

How's that for ecumenism during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity?

BELIEVING AND PRACTICING CATHOLICS BEWARE: FASCISM FROM THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT IS PUTTING YOU ON THE TRAIN TO NOWHERE

 Are we on the slippery slope of history repeating itself and pro-life Catholics who also support the traditional understanding of marriage being forced on a train out of communities that fear Catholics? It happened to Jews for simply being Jews and they were slaughtered by the fascists. Could it happen to another religious group? Is New York's Governor and New York City's mayor fomenting such a turn of events? 

New York's radical and former Catholic mayor agrees with Governor Andrew Cuomo that pro-lifers and those who uphold the traditional definition of marriage are not welcomed in New York because they are opposed to the rights of women and foment violence in our society. This is what it has come too.

Both the mayor and the governor are from Catholic backgrounds and formation. Their political dogmatism is pre-Vatican II authoritarianism but without God or moral values. There current attitudes are a result of not only mortal sin but deep rooted corruption and perhaps fomented by coloring book Catholicism of the 1960's and 70's. 

Read it for yourself:

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio emphatically backed New Governor Andrew Cuomo’s controversial remarks that “extreme” conservatives – which he defined as being pro-life, second amendment advocates, or supporters of traditional marriage – “have no place in the state of New York.”

 

“I stand by that 100 percent,” de Blasio told reporters at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. 

“I agree with Governor Cuomo’s remarks. I interpret his remarks to say that an extremist attitude that continues the reality of violence in our communities or an extremist attitude that denies the rights of women does not represent the views of New York State,” he added. 

Governor Cuomo riled up conservatives in New York state as well as all over the country when he told a local New York State radio program last Friday “extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay....have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

The remarks have snowballed into a major controversy, with Fox News host Sean Hannity vowing to leave New York City, prompting a bidding war between Republican governors to persuade him to move to their states. Hannity is reportedly eyeing a political bid in Texas. At the March for Life yesterday, one participant pushed back at Cuomo, telling Breitbart News, "We're here, we're pro-life, get used to it."

De Blasio conceded that “we all understand there’s a right to free speech. I wouldn’t disagree with that right and neither would Governor Cuomo.” 

But exercising that free speech could put you on the wrong side of New York “values,” de Blasio maintained. “I think he’s saying that the attitude of those who want to continue the status quo on guns or want to challenge and deny the right to choose does not reflect the values of New Yorkers. He was absolutely right to say what he said,” de Blasio stated.

When asked by a reporter if he does not feel the need to reach out to those who disagree with him and would rather others share his values instead, de Blasio responded, “The first point is, we represent our people and Governor Cuomo is right and I believe I’m on firm ground in saying our people, the people in New York State and the people of New York City reject extremists views against a women’s right to choose and in favor of the proliferation of guns in our society. And I stand by that 100 percent.”

De Blasio is under fire in New York for the city's disastrous response to the recent snow storm, which prompted questions about why he was in front of the television cameras in D.C. instead of working to fix the roads back home. De Blasio admitted Wednesday "more could have been done."

THE APPLE DOESN'T FALL TOO FAR FROM THE TREE: THE TWO GOVERNOR CUOMO'S AND THE REPORTER SON FROM CNN: FROM SINNERS TO THE CORRUPT!

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CORRUPTION AS WELL AS THE FASCISM!

Sinners, the corrupt, and saints: Pope Francis focused on these three groups in his homily for Mass Monday morning (June 3, 2013) in at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope said the corrupt do great harm to the Church because they are worshipers of themselves; the saints, on the other hand, do great good, they are lights in the Church.

 “This is a danger for us, too,” he added. In the “Christian communities,” he said, the corrupt think only of their own group: “Good, good. It’s about us - they think - but, in fact, ‘they are only out for themselves”:

“Judas [was the first]: from a greedy sinner, he ended in corruption. The road of autonomy is a dangerous road: the corrupt are very forgetful, have forgotten this love, with which the Lord made the vineyard, has made them! They severed the relationship with this love! And they become worshipers of themselves. How bad are the corrupt in the Christian community! May the Lord deliver us from sliding down this road of corruption.”

The first Gov. Cuomo (Mario) began his descent into becoming one of the CORRUPT that Pope Francis describes in articulating his corrupt brand of Catholicism way back in 1985 at of course Notre Dame University! He and his democratic party continue to this day "sliding down this road of corruption" as Pope Francis puts it!

The logical conclusion to this corrupt road is the fascism of the second Gov. Cuomo (Andrew) whose immortal soul, due to this corruption, is in danger of the fires of hell. He said pro-lifers, no matter their religion, do not belong in New York! Of course we can smell not only corruption here, but out and out fascism on both the religious and political levels.

So I print what the first Gov. Cuomo said at Notre Dame in 1984 and what the second Gov. Cuomo said just recently and what the Bishop of Buffalo also said about Andrew Cuomo's fascism and corruption:

October 1, 1984
Editorial: Gov. Cuomo at Notre Dame

by Terry Hall

Gov. Mario Cuomo’s lecture at Notre Dame University last month, “Religious Belief and Public Morality: A Catholic Governor’s Perspective,” was a significant event. It was perhaps the most detailed and thorough attempt by a major Catholic office holder to set forth a reasoned “pro-choice” position on the abortion issue. As a rhetorical exercise, Mr. Cuomo’s speech is indeed impressive. As an exercise in moral-political analysis, however, it is seriously flawed.

Central to Gov, Cuomo’s argument that it is not in-consistent to oppose abortion personally while refusing actively to resist it is his contention, that such a strategy would divide the nation so severely that it would disrupt the civil peace. Imposing legal sanctions in the absence of a supporting consensus, he contends, is both morally wrong and practically unworkable. Gov. Cuomo evidently holds that civil harmony is the highest political good. Whatever threatens social harmony is disqualified from legislation. But surely there are some values so paramount that their defense is worth risking civil discord. And surely in this category are values for the sake of which our polity was established in the first place. As Archbishop Bernard Law has recently pointed out, it is rigorously logical that the right to life is the first of the three foundational rights enunciated in our Declaration of Independence. When this right is systematically denied, its defense takes precedence over the maintenance of civil peace. Thus Gov. Cuomo’s principle that the obligation to protect innocent life is “unique but not preemptive” is simply backward: on the contrary, the right to life is a preemptive right because it has a unique purchase on us. Civil peace is indeed a good not to be lightly set aside, but it is not a “preemptive” good, before which all other goods must give way.

It is curious that a man who in the keynote speech to his party’s convention this summer evoked a sense of pride in its past, should now counsel against legally prohibiting abortion on the grounds that a, consensus supporting such a prohibition is lacking. After all, it was the governor’s party that stood in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s — which struggle, aided by the force of law, was certainly disruptive and lacked a prior consensus. But as Martin Luther King eloquently argued, the massive deprivation of the civil rights of blacks warranted risking such disruption. Does Mr. Cuomo repudiate the civil rights struggle? Or should it have been postponed until a consensus in favor of legislative remedies was present?

Let’s assume that Gov. Cuomo is right, that there is not at present a consensus for restricting abortion. What he fails to see is that the law itself often assists in the formation of a consensus. As the classical view had it, the law is a teacher. It instructs people that certain values have a privileged place in our society. The constraints it imposes are not only legal but moral as well. The enactment of civil rights legislation was divisive for awhile; but eventually attitudes began to change and a new consensus emerged. Today few would baldly assert their moral right to discriminate on the basis of color. Those who do can expect their neighbors, and virtually their entire society, to rebuke them. It is convenient for the pro-choice position to maintain that first we must have a consensus against abortion, and then and only then can we move to legal measures. But it is an unconvincing argument.

Why, then, does Gov. Cuomo give such weight to the “consensus” and “civil peace” arguments? Perhaps because he repeatedly characterizes opposition to abortion as “derived from religious belief” and — along with opposition to divorce and contraception — as a “specifically Catholic” position. The implication, of course, is that efforts to curtail such behavior are “sectarian,” and hence unfit to shape public policy. But the governor is simply wrong here: the case that abortion is homicide does not rest on narrow religious grounds, but on the recognition that the child in the womb is in fact a human being and thus deserves the protection of law. In short, the anti- abortion position rests on grounds that are accessible to any rational mind, regardless of religious affiliation. That the Catholic Church has made abortion one of its principal concerns is cause for pride. Yet abortion is essentially a deprivation of human rights, and therefore it is altogether fitting that the pro-life cause should claim the right to help shape public policy. Gov. Cuomo obscures this crucial feature by representing the pro-life position as flowing from narrow, sectarian dogma.

Finally, there is the question of what obligations Mario Cuomo incurs as a Catholic official. It is gratifying to learn that he wishes (and believes himself) to be in accord with the official teaching of the church. (Some who applaud his conclusions couldn’t care less about the teaching authority of the church.) But he contends that, while he agrees with the church on the level of principle, he is still free to disagree on the practical measures to be taken to eliminate the evil of abortion. After all, he points out, the U.S. bishops themselves have taken various positions on how to combat abortion.

On this point, the governor has failed to think the matter through. The U.S. bishops have been unified on two points: on the moral principle involved (abortion is the direct taking of innocent life and so is a moral evil) and on the strategy that fidelity to this principle entails. This strategy is one of active resistance within the democratic process. Because of the heinousness of abortion, other strategies, such as acquiescence or active cooperation, are ruled out. Where the bishops do permit a diversity of action is at the tactical level, i.e., whether active resistance is best served by the Hatch Amendment, or a Human Life Amendment, or some other tactic. But whatever tactics are pursued by Catholics in public life, these must, it would clearly seem, serve the strategy of resistance. Only then can Catholic officials legitimately claim that they are in agreement with church teaching.

To the extent that pro-choice advocates gather under the Cuomo tent, the governor may have done the pro-life movement a favor, for pro-lifers will then have a single quite vulnerable target with which to contend. Gov. Cuomo’s speech deserves a wide reading, for it furnishes a compendium of ways in which even a sustained, sophisticated defense of the pro-choice position fails.

The views expressed by the authors and editorial staff are not necessarily the views of
Sophia Institute, Holy Spirit College, or the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts.

REQUIESCAT IN PACE, PENNY LORD--SHE AND HER HUSBAND UNDERSTOOD THE NEW EVANGELIZATION AND THIS WAS PRIOR TO POPE FRANCIS!

Penny Lord and her husband Bob for years has had an EWTN show that showcased the various shrines having to do with the Blessed Mother and the saints around the world. They promoted old fashioned popular devotions in a time in the Church when these were ridiculed by the academic iconoclasts of the early post Vatican II period. These academics and neo-academics looked down upon the simple faith of a great number of laity and tried to destroy it as best they could. But they didn't bargain on Pope Francis coming to the rescue!

This is what Pope Francis has to say about popular devotions in his recent Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium:

Popular piety enables us to see how the faith, once received, becomes embodied in a culture and is constantly passed on. Once looked down upon (in the early post-Vatican II period), popular piety came to be appreciated once more in the decades following the Council....On (my) beloved (South American) continent, where many Christians express their faith through popular piety, the bishops refer to it as "popular spirituality" or "the people's mysticism". It is truly "a spirituality incarnated in the culture of the lowly."

...Underlying popular piety, as a fruit of the inculturated Gospel, is an active evangelizing power which we must not underestimate: to do so would be to fail to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit. Instead, we are called to promote and strengthen it, in order to deepen the never-ending process of inculturation. Expressions of popular piety have much to teach us; for those who are capable of reading them, they are the locus theolgoicus which demands our attention, especially at a time when we are looking to the new evangelization... 

THE OLD WAR ON WOMEN TRICK FROM CNN

I know I'm dating myself, but Laugh-In's Fickle Finger of Fate Award goes to CNN for their coverage (and using their term) of the anti-abortion march in Washington, DC

I missed the CBS, NBC and ABC National News last night, but I did catch CNN's story on the March for Life in Washington, DC. It was framed as Republicans continuing their war on women's rights! Yes, CNN focused on one Republican who spoke and wondered if the Republicans were still waging their war on women!

There was no indication from the report about the tremendous number of people who had traveled to Washington, DC for this event and braved temperatures in the ungodly 9 degree range and were positive, respectful and full of life because the majority of them were teenagers and young people.

Rather the reporter spoke of those who had made the trip for about 41 years rather than focusing on the powerful new generation that was there and who will help to shape politics as unusual in the future.

ONE OF THE REASONS SO MANY CATHOLICS LEFT THEIR PARISHES IN DISGUST IS WHAT PRIESTS DID TO THEIR BEAUTIFUL PARISH CHURCHES IN THE 1970'S!

There are many reasons why the Church has dissipated in attendance in Mass over the years since Vatican II. Certainly the upheaval of reckless reform through iconoclastic preaching and behavior by priests and religious has to account for a large part of that. In fact it would account for the largest part and the poor leadership that was given.

Humanae Vitae accounts for an insignificant part of that loss, although progressive iconoclasts prepared a progressive laity for the let-down of Humanae Vitae in the lives of laity leading them to think that the Church's moral doctrines based on Scripture and natural law would be changed. (I fear there will be another let-down caused by the same aging progressive cabal as it concerns some of the silly things they think will occur on Pope Francis watch and of course won't.)

But back to iconoclastic  "wreckovations" of churches, euphemistically called "renovations."  Many church buildings today through the wise leadership of pastors who listen to the pain of parishioners whose beautiful churches were destroyed by unthinking, iconoclastic priests in the 1960's and 70's are restoring these churches back to their beauty. One such church is in Brooklyn, New York.

Take a look at what it was prior to the iconoclasm that was forced on it by dictatorial progressives:

Now, look at what dictatorial, iconoclastic pastors did to it all in the name of the false spirit of Vatican II! It is enough to make me sick and want to cry. Can you image how simple Catholics of that parish must have felt and the anger they must have experienced at the ruination of their once beautiful Church? I wonder how many left in disgust?

And now a new priest, sensitive to the needs and desires of his parishioners for the church to be restored is doing it. It will look like this one day soon:

And here are a couple of videos telling you of their wonderful "reform of the reform" of their once beautiful church made ugly as sin by dictatorial, iconoclastic priests in the fake spirit of Vatican II:

The first video has a wonderful iconoclastic moment of the original iconoclasm! It is delicious! However, and evidently, a deceased Sister of Mercy designed this travesty foisted upon this Church in the 1970's and she evidently gets revenge on the priest who is spearheading the restoration. This part of the video, which should be on America's Funniest Home Videos is at the end and it is truly funny!

This video tells the rest of the story of iconoclasm to restored, reform of the reform, icon!

ECUMENISM BEGINS AT HOME, ESPECIALLY WITH THOSE GROUPS TENDING TOWARD SCHISM IN AREAS OF CHURCH TEACHING THAT CAN BE QUESTIONED!

If a cardinal of the Catholic Church is willing to be blessed by a female Methodist minister in order to promote ecumenism and I have no problem with this:

Then why in the name of God and all that is holy doesn't the same cardinal or any cardinal attend Mass with a bishop of the SSPX in choir dress and at least receive his blessing at Mass and more importantly receive Holy Communion from his hands? I'd have no problem with that! The only thing preventing the Holy Communion reception is a silly canonical interdict that could be easily lifted for that ecumenical celebration!

First a disclaimer from me. I am a person who thinks it is very important to be on the same page as our Holy Father and local bishops as it concerns ecumenism and interfaith relations. In my 34 years as a priest  I have participated in a variety of ecumenical and interfaith initiatives and endeavors. I see the greatest area of our common interest and collaboration not so much in worshiping and praying together although that occurs sometimes and usually annually in interfaith and ecumenical services at Thanksgiving and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in which we are currently celebrating, but in common good works. Pope Francis like is predecessor will celebrate Solemn Vespers in an ecumenical way on January 25th at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Roma. But our ecumenical and interfaith relations should be more so in collaborating in providing services for the poor and dispossessed and advocating for social justice and the right to life. 

Here in the south most rank and file Catholics attend weddings and funerals during the year of their Protestant and Jewish friends and thus pray with them in that forum and Protestants frequently come to our funerals and weddings and do the same. And as in my family, Protestants are welcomed into our families through marriage. So there is plenty of grassroots ecumenism which is far more important than attending highfaluting conferences and workshops with academics who bloviate about it endlessly.

But my point is that if we as Catholics are willing to have ecumenical relations with Protestants and more importantly with the Eastern Orthodox and we are willing to dialogue in Interfaith ways and even pray together in those forums, how much more should we be ecumenical with our Catholic brothers and sisters who tend toward schism with the pope and bishops in union with him both on the left and the right?

For example, the SSPX has far more in common with their Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, including the pope and bishops than a female ordained Methodist minister. Yet Cardinal O'Malley allows a female minister in the Methodist Church whose denomination rejects the Sacrament of Holy Orders and thus has invalid Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist and completely reject the Sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick and are quite open to redefining marriage which they do not view as a Sacrament to include homosexual unions, to place unblessed water on his head to remind him of the lowest common denominator he shares with her and her denomination. Should we glory in the lowest common denominator when we don't really share that much more together after Baptism in terms of what most Protestants reject of the vast majority of ecumenical councils and even of Vatican II and also their rejection of the Sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick and what the Church actually believes about Holy Communion, not to mention the authority of Catholic bishops including the Bishop of Rome?

On the other hand the SSPX deny none of these Sacraments or the moral teachings of the Church in any way whatsoever. They are on the same page with us. But like their Protestant counterparts they question the authority of the Pope and local bishops in union with the successor of Saint Peter when it comes to some aspects of Vatican II as it concerns ecumenism, interfaith relations and dialogue with the secular world to include agnostics and atheists.  For the most part they reject the Second Vatican Councils document on religious freedom. They also reject the aberrations of the post-Vatican II revision of the 1962 Roman Missal and the liturgical confusion and disunity this has caused in the Universal Church. I don't believe though they they reject the post-Vatican II Mass as outright invalid though.

So in the name of God and all that is holy, our beloved Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI tried mightily hard to reestablish full communion with the FSPX who have far more in common with being in full communion with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith than the Methodists do only to be rebuffed by them on certain points that Pope Benedict demanded in order for them to be regularized in the Church and to be completely reconciled to the Roman Pontiff and the bishops in union with him.

Nonetheless, from an ecumenical point of view, should not Cardinal O'Malley and other bishops reach out to the FSPX at least once a year and actually celebrate Mass with them as the celebrant of the 1962 Missal since this is permitted? Or shouldn't Cardinal O'Malley attend an FSPX Mass and participate in choir and there recieve Holy Communion at the hands of an FSPX priest?

And if that isn't possible due to some canonical red tape and unnecessary rules that prevent it, how about simply celebrate together Vespers and Solemn Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament? How much more ecumenical can you get with that?

Of course if one follows my logic to its conclusion, this ecumenical magnanimity on the part of Catholic bishops and cardinals extended to the SSPX could also be extended to the actual schismatics on the progressive heterodox, heretical left where the feigned "ordination" of women as priests and bishops have occurred. Is there anything different about that compared to a female Methodist minister blessing Cardinal O'Malley?

IN THE PAST 9 MONTHS NOW, BOTH CARDINALS DOLAN AND O'MALLEY HAVE NAMED THE ONES OBSESSED WITH PELVIC ISSUES AND ITS NOT THE CHURCH; CARDINAL O'MALLEY'S HOMILY LAST NIGHT IN WASHINGTON, DC IS NOTHING SHORT OF BRILLIANT AND STUNNING AND BREATH-TAKING IN ITS PRO-LIFE MESSAGE OF MERCY AND GOING TO CONFESSION!

I wonder which king and his news clothes (BO) is Cardinal O'Malley (BO)speaking about in his pro-life homily last night in Washington, (BO)DC last night? Please listen to the homily I have posted (BO)at the end of this post!

In an interview on CBS This Morning about 9 months ago, Cardinal Timothy Dolan made the astute remark that the Church wasn't the one obsessed on sexuality issues or abortion, but that the press was and that the presses reference point in terms of the Church is an obsession with these issues, whereas the Church isn't.

Rocco Palma of Whispers in the Loggia reports the following similar remarks by Cardinal Sean O'Malley:

As part of a Roe anniversary media push, O'Malley gave an interview for Wednesday's editions of the Boston Herald to highlight both the church's pro-life work and, indeed, how "this Holy Father making such an emphasis on the church’s ministry as a ministry of mercy and of healing."

Asked along the way about Francis' widely-blared statement in the Antonio Spadaro interview that the church "cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods," Bergoglio's counselor gave the following notable response....

“The normal Catholic in the parish might hear a sermon on abortion once a year. They’ll never hear a sermon on homosexuality or gay marriage. They’ll never hear a sermon about contraception. But if you look at the New York  Times, in the course of a week, there will be 20 articles on those topics. So who is obsessed? Now, the Church’s positions are very clear and very consistent. For us, life is at the very center of our social teachings. Life is precious. It is a mystery. It must be nurtured, protected, the transmission of life is sacred. And our defense of human life is a great service to society. When the state begins to decide who is worthy of living and who isn’t, all human rights are put in jeopardy, but the voice of the church is very clear. And we’re not just saying that life is precious in the womb but life is precious when someone has Alzheimer’s when someone has AIDS when someone is poor when someone has mental illness. Their humanity is not diminished – and they have a claim on our love and on our services. So the church’s position is a very consistent one. It is a consistent life ethic. I don’t think that we are obsessed, however, when the New York Times is writing 20 articles a week about these things and make reference to the Church in half of those articles, it gives the impression. But I think in the parishes, these things are talks, in a routine way, in CCD classes, along with the rest of the Catholic doctrine but all of our teachings fit together. They’re part of a whole. There’s a consistency in our life ethic.”

Here is Cardinal Sean O'Malley's homily on Tuesday night at the Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The first part of Cardinal O'Malley's sermon is quite powerful and indites our judicial, legislative and executive branches of our government and the shrill liberal media that promotes the destruction of innocent human life. Our parish has a contingency of young people and chaperones there too, in weather that is not conducive to southern living!