Novus Ordo: "ReBranded Papacy", Dont Convert the Jews & Churches For Sale
Here is the latest news coming out of the modernist cult of man
Please keep in prayer for conversions out of the Vatican II New Religion.
This picture sums of the Vatican II apostasy...
Pope gets media's attention as he rebrands church, papacy, says priest
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) -- Pope Francis has rebranded the Catholic Church and the papacy, and the media have taken notice.That was the message delivered by Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, who delivered the keynote address May 11 at the Brooklyn Diocese's observance of World Communications Day.
Sponsored by the DeSales Media Group, the event in downtown Brooklyn drew about 250 people.
Father Rosica, CEO of Canada's Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and the English-language attache to the Holy See Press Office at the Vatican, was presented with the Brooklyn Diocese's St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
"Prior to Pope Francis, when many people on the street were asked: 'What is the Catholic Church all about? What does the pope stand for?' The response would often be, 'Catholics, well they are against abortion, gay marriage and birth control. They are known for the sex abuse crisis that has terribly marred and weakened their moral authority and credibility,'" said Father Rosica.
"Today I dare say that the response is somewhat different. What do they say about us now? What do they say about the pope? People are speaking about our leader who is unafraid to confront the sins and evils that have marred us," he continued.
"We have a pope who is concerned about the environment, about mercy, compassion and love, and a deep passion, care and concern for the poor and for displaced peoples roaming the face of this earth," he added. "Pope Francis has won over a great part of the media."
The pontiff "has changed the image of the church so much that prestigious graduate schools of business and management are now using him as a case study in rebranding," the priest added.
While the pope has caused more people to take notice, that doesn't mean that everyone agrees or follows the message he preaches, Father Rosica said.
But he explained that Pope Francis has opened up a dialogue with the world and the Catholic media is a big part of showcasing the work of the Catholic Church.
He referred to Francis' message for World Communications Day to explain how church media should go about its work.
"Our primary task is to uphold the truth with love," he said.
That means that Catholic media should "listen" to, rather than merely "hear," as it engages in dialogue.
It also means that church media should communicate with everyone, without exception.
It further means that "Christians ought to be a constant encouragement to communion and, even in those cases where they must firmly condemn evil, they should never try to rupture relationships and communication."
Father Rosica further added that "political and diplomatic language would do well to be inspired by mercy, which never loses hope."
"May our way of communicating help to overcome the mind-set that neatly separates sinners from the righteous," he said. "We can and we must judge situations of sin – such as violence, corruption and exploitation – but we may not judge individuals, since only God can see into the depths of their hearts."
Father Rosica said the work of the Catholic media is to build bridges that encourage encounter and inclusion and to avoid misunderstandings that add to wounds and vengeance.
He urged a prudent use of some of the new social media.
"The character assassination on the Internet by those claiming to be Catholic and Christian has turned it into a graveyard of corpses strewn all around," he said. "Often times the obsessed, scrupulous, self-appointed, nostalgia-hankering virtual guardians of faith or of liturgical practices are very disturbed, broken and angry individuals, who never found a platform or pulpit in real life and so resort to the Internet and become trolling pontiffs and holy executioners! In reality they are deeply troubled, sad and angry people."
He pointed out that Catholic media will be held to accountability and responsibility for creating communion and engaging in a dialogue that is fueled by mercy and understanding.
"The church must shine with the light that lives within itself, it must go out and encounter human beings who -- even though they believe that they do not need to hear a message of salvation -- often find themselves afraid and wounded by life," he said.
"The light of Christ reflected in the church must not become the privilege of only a few elect who float enclosed within a safe harbor or ghetto network of communications for the elite, the clean, the perfect and the saved."
Oh! He is "Rebranding" the Church alright....much like Vatican II did!
Another homily, another heresy from the lips of Francis!
“To this people Jesus, because he knew temptation in Himself,
reproaches: ‘You traverse half the world to have one proselyte, and
when you find him, you make him a slave.’ This people thus organized,
this Church so organized, makes slaves – and so it is understandable how
Paul reacts when he speaks of slavery to the law and of the liberty
that grace gives: a people is free, a Church is free, when it has
memory, when it makes room for prophets, when it does not lose hope.”
— Francis’ Monday homily, 30 May 2016 —
What the Catholic Church teaches:
This isn’t difficult, it is basic stuff a Catholic should know.
Welcome to the Francis Circus. PRAYERS NEEDED!
Vatican official uncritically ‘welcomes’ UN development goal – despite its pro-abortion language
GENEVA, Switzerland, June 10, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis’ representative to the United Nations told the World Health Assembly in Switzerland last month that the Holy See “welcomes” goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focused on ensuring “healthy lives,” and the goal’s 13 targets.
However, the representative is coming under fire because one of the 13 targets included in his praise, specifically target 3.7, calls for “universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services.” The UN defined these terms at the 1994 Cairo conference to mean providing women with “modern contraception” for “family planning” and with “safe abortion” where it is legal.
Monsignor Jean-Marie Mupendawatu, secretary to the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers, told the 69th World Health Assembly held in Geneva on May 25: “The Holy See delegation welcomes the vital emphasis on the dignity of the human person and the strong focus on equity expressed in the pledge that 'no one will be left behind'. This, in terms of health, is expressed in goal 3, to 'Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages', which has 13 targets that are underpinned by universal coverage as the key to the achievement of all the others.”
LifeSiteNews asked Monsignor Mupendawatu if the Holy See now welcomes goal 3 with its target 7 without reservations, but no reply was provided by press time.
The 17 SDGs set an international agenda for the next 15 years to end poverty, promote the well being and prosperity of peoples everywhere, and to protect the environment. But despite the lofty goals, many pro-life leaders have expressed concern that hidden within the SDGs is an anti-life and anti-family agenda.
“Target 3.7 in effect is used by the World Health Organization and UN agencies as synonymous with contraception and abortion, and very little else,” Stefano Gennarini, director of the Center for Legal Studies at the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM), told LifeSiteNews.
Last year pro-life advocates became alarmed when Holy See representative Archbishop Bernardito Auza told the UN that the Vatican supported the goals and targets of the SDGs “verbatim” despite two goals having targets that call for “universal access” to “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights” as well as “family planning” services. Holy See spokesman Monsignor Joseph Grech told LifeSiteNews at that time that the Holy See had previously raised reservations concerning the targets and that it “cannot and will never support … anything that can undermine the Family or the Right to Life from the moment of conception.”
On May 25, instead of raising reservations about the “universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services” target of goal 3, Monsignor Mupendawatu told the assembly that more needed to be done to “combat climate change and its impact on health,” underscoring the “need for more political will and strong commitment from civil society in order to reach truly meaningful and effective global agreements on the environment.”
Voice of the Family, the international coalition of pro-life and pro-family organizations, stated in a press release that Monsignor Mupendawatu’s address to the assembly “in welcoming goal 3 and target 7 of the SDG’s, is effectively welcoming calls for universal access to abortion and contraception by 2030.”
“There has been extensive collaboration between other Holy See bodies and powerful proponents of abortion, contraception and population control during the current pontificate, under the guise of promoting sustainable development,” they wrote.
Lepanto Institute President Michael Hichborn also expressed concern with the way the Holy See is supporting the SDGs.
“When the Lepanto Institute pointed out that the Holy See had endorsed the SDGs ‘verbatim’ a year ago, the only response offered to explain why this endorsement held no reservations regarding the contraception and abortion supporting elements was that the Holy See had ‘already stated its reservations.’ This explanation hardly suffices given that UN agencies implementing the SDGs will ignore the diplomatic language used on the floor of the United Nations and implement the SDGs under their own vision anyway,” he told LifeSiteNews.
Hichborn said the Holy See’s recent interactions with the UN under Pope Francis should be concerning to all faithful Catholics.
“There are only two possible explanations for the Vatican's continued support of the SDGs as written: Either the Holy See's delegation is incompetent or it is complicit. Either these individuals don't fully understand or grasp the abortive and contraceptive nature of the SDGs as they push ‘universal coverage,’ or they don't care.”
Despite concerns with the statements from Archbishop Auza and Msgr. Mupendawatu, not all delegations from the Holy See to the UN have ignored the concerning aspects.
On Wednesday, a Holy See delegation told a UN General Assembly that was meeting to discuss a Political Declaration on the fight against AIDS that it held strict reservations on the terms “sexual and reproductive health,” “sexual and reproductive health-care services,” and “reproductive rights” mentioned within the declaration.
“The Holy See considers these terms as applying to a holistic concept of health. The Holy See does not consider abortion, access to abortion, or access to abortifacients as a dimension of these terms,” the delegation stated.
In August 2015, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the UN in Geneva, criticized the SDGs for containing what an implicit push for abortion under the guise of “reproductive rights.”
And in September 2015, Archbishop Auza himself made formal “reservations” on behalf of the Holy See to the SDGs’ usage of terms like “reproductive rights,” “family planning,” and “gender.” He insisted the Holy See interprets these terms only in a way that accords with the Church’s teachings.
According to Gennarini the Holy See is “still the best friend, and sometimes the only friend, the unborn has at UN headquarters.”
Admiration for Pope Francis in sharp decline, study shows
Three years into his papacy, a recent study shows global admiration for Pope Francis is in sharp decline.
The pontiff fell seven spots in 2016, from sixth down to 13th among the world’s men, the biggest drop for anyone on last year’s list, and is now no longer either the planet’s most admired spiritual leader (the Dali Lama) or even the most admired Argentine (soccer star Lionel Messi).
However, Pope Francis remains the second-most admired man in the United States after President Barack Obama.
That’s according to a study released by YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm headquartered in the UK, which ranks the world’s 20 most admired men and women separately.
According to YouGov, the pope’s drop may be explained by expectations of reform that distanced Francis from his predecessors, which have dimmed as the Argentine pontiff becomes “institutionalized”.
According to the study, American billionaire Bill Gates and Russian President Vladimir Putin both have better numbers than the pontiff.
The 2016 “world’s most admired” poll, conducted in 30 countries, places Gates in the first slot, U.S. President Barak Obama second and Putin sixth out of the top 20 most admired men.
On the women’s side, Angelina Jolie leads the chart, followed by Queen Elizabeth II, Hillary Clinton, Oprah, Michelle Obama, and Celine Dion.
Among American men, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump, finished 18th, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, facing Clinton in the still-ongoing Democratic primaries, closes the list.
The leader of the French far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, also made the top 20 most admired women in the world.
Altogether, YouGov polled in countries that constitute nearly two-thirds of the world’s population. The list of 30 includes nations such as China, India, and Pakistan, where Christians represent less than three percent of the total population.
Breaking down the results by country shows that in China Francis ranks 17, in India he has the last slot, while in Pakistan he’s not even in the top 20, coming up in number 25.
One surprising result is Brazil, the country with the largest number of Catholics in the world, who represent 85 percent of the population, and a nation Francis visited in 2013. There, he only ranks 20th, meaning he had a better finish even in Russia (19), an Orthodox country where Catholics represent just 0.6 of the total population.
A similar situation occurs in Mexico, where Catholics amount to 90 percent of the population, and Francis ranked only ninth, with the Dalai Lama heading the chart.
The only country where Francis headed the list was the Philippines, another country where Catholics represent an overwhelming majority (82 percent), and where Catholic faith and practice remains pervasive.
According to the polling house, since the research is internet-based, some parts of the world were better represented than others. YouGov said they increased the impact of certain countries on the final scores and downplayed others, so the scores more accurately reflect the breakdown of sentiment around the world.
On May 3, 2016, Francis' Vatican broke a new record for desecration: It invited a rock star to perform in its Sistine Chapel.
Under the pretext of supporting research for a cancer cure, lead guitarist David Evans (The Edge) from the Irish rock band U-2 was invited to perform before the participants of a conference on regenerative medicine, which was taking place at the Vatican.
The Edge performed four songs, followed by a choir of seven Irish teenagers, standing above in front of the Altar.
Although the Sistine Chapel has an intrinsically censurable aspect, which is its promotion of nudism in art that came from the Renaissance, it is one of the most solemn places on earth for meetings. It serves as the room for the conclave that elects the Pope.
Given its symbolic importance and solemnity, Francis could not bear to leave it without further desecration. This seems to be the deepest motive for taking the initiative to host a rock concert in it. The rock star himself understood that the invitation was coming straight from the Pope and thanked him warmly.
Last row, the two, Francis and The Edge, meeting at a general audience.
News reports are available here, here and here; a video here.
Not your usual liturgical dancers
Young nuns. In full, traditional habits. Dancing at a charismatic Mass
(apparently celebrated this past Sunday) in a parish in Brazil.
The full video:
(NB: Video has now been deleted by the Facebook page on which it was posted).
***
I am posting these to illustrate an important lesson.
One of the most simplistic assumptions prevalent in Traditional and
Conservative Catholic circles, especially in North America and Western
Europe, is that the "young" (at least the ones who bother to show up at
church) are traditionally-inclined almost by default, and that modernism
and a desire for novelty in theology and worship are the preserve of
people "of a certain age" and "a certain generation".
Now, these might be true of the pockets of sanity where the young are
consistently exposed to reverent liturgies and orthodox theology.
However, these assumptions simply do not hold in general, especially in
the vast Catholic lands where traditional worship and theology have
become virtually extinct. Despite the best of intentions, Catholic
youths starved of any meaningful contact with the authentic Catholic
heritage will not, as a rule, magically go off looking for something
they do not know, namely, Tradition. Even when they do pick up elements
of the Tradition -- a desire for traditional religious dress and the
practice of some forms of asceticism and traditional devotions, for
example -- it will only be to amalgamate these with the inherited
heteropraxis and modernism and the utterly deficient theology of the
"Catholic Lite" or "Pentecostal Catholicism" that is the only
Catholicism nearly all of them would have ever known.
Francis effect growing among seminarians, says Theological College rector
Sulpician Fr. Phillip J. Brown, rector of the Theological College at Catholic University of America, meets with Pope Francis in 2013.
[In the descriptions from Michael Rose’s 2002 book Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church/How Catholic Seminaries Turned Away Two Generations of Vocations From the Priesthood, will Theological College at Catholic U. again become known as the “Theological Closet”? The current rector was previously the academic dean at St. Mary’s Seminary (“The Pink Palace”) in Baltimore]
Peter Feuerherd | May. 12, 2016 | National un-Catholic Reporter
The Pope Francis effect?
Some express hope, others dread, still more argue that day-to-day church life is business-as-usual, with little change.
But Sulpician Fr. Phillip J. Brown, rector of the Theological College, the national diocesan seminary of the Catholic University of America in Washington, said the Francis effect is alive and well, and growing, at least among seminarians. It’s been a sudden development.
Last fall, asked by reporters about the impact of Francis on the seminary, which educates and forms 84 men sponsored by dioceses across the U.S., the rector said it was too early to gauge. That’s not true anymore, he told NCR in a recent interview.
A message the seminary always taught, he said, is catching on. “You are not a priest to be a policeman. You are to be a pastor. That’s the message of Francis,” he said.
The numbers have remained steady, but the attitudes of newer arrivals has begun to transform the place, he said. That transformation will be felt soon at a parish near you.
The subject of change in the attitudes of seminarians is “a delicate situation for me as a seminary rector,” acknowledged Brown, who will be moving on to a similar position at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore later this year.
“Our basic approach to formation would have always been congenial to Pope Francis,” he said, noting in particular the requirement that seminarians engage in direct service to the poor, an opportunity readily available in the nation’s capital. He’s aware of complaints from some U.S. Catholics that sometimes the newly-ordained come into parishes intent on forcing changes of a more traditional view in liturgy and the role of clergy.
That view is “contrary to how we form seminarians,” he said. “We would always say to go in for a year or so and see where the parish is at. Then gain people’s confidence if you want to make changes.”
He’s seeing a shift in attitudes among seminarians particularly in the areas of:
View of church tradition. “They are more open to diversity,” he said, noting that there is less of an embrace of apologetics — the view that church teaching should be preached to a secular culture that often ignores it — and more of an embrace of the view, echoing Francis, “to get in with people and see where they are … The guys coming in now are more curious, ready to apply the teaching to people’s real lives.”
There’s less focus on the sacerdotal nature of priesthood — the view that priests are men set aside with particular sacramental powers — and more on how a priest can work among people, what Francis has described as being a shepherd who smells like the sheep.
There is less of an emphasis on signs and symbols indicating traditionalism. They can seem like small things: the wearing of cassocks, Communion only on the tongue and not in the hand, to name two. But in recent years these symbols became what Brown described “as markers of orthodoxy” with an indication that those who didn’t follow such practices were suspect.
“I don’t see that now,” he said.
The newer seminarians have a more Francis-like, some would say Vatican II, view that the church should engage the culture and not see itself as a community set apart. Previously, seminarians were keenly aware that they were different from their peers in the wider culture of the millennial generation. They are now more likely to see themselves as very much like their peers in the wider world, with the goal of transforming the culture with the message of the Gospel.
More impressions from the seminary rector, who has been at the Theological College for the past five years:
Seminarians are more inclined to move from what Brown called a Calvinistic, rule-based view of moral theology, to a more nuanced understanding of the role of church teaching in people’s lives. They are less likely to view psychological counseling with suspicion. The Francis message on the environment is also catching on, he said.
Those who see this change as good news can take heart, said Brown. The impact of Francis’ teachings is not only affecting new seminarians beginning studies early in his pontificate. It is also seeping into the culture of the entire system.
Parishioners, he said, should be seeing its impact in the ministry of newly-ordained priests within a few short years.
New Archbishop of Brussels Proposes the Abolition of Priestly Celibacy
(Brussels) The new Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium, Msgr. Jozef De Kesel, said in an interview with the Free Sunday newspaper De Zondag on 8 May that the Church could not require every priest celibacy.The Archbishop De Kesel was asked by De Zondag whether celibacy has not “discouraged” him:
“No, not when I was 18 years old. As you opt for the seminary, it then takes many years to become a priest. But then, when the moment has come, that … is a difficult decision. ”
“I am for the Eastern Catholic model”
De Zondag: Did you have to decide between a bride and the church?
De Kesel: No. I had good friendships, but they never brought me in conflict with my choice of life. This is true for others, and I can understand that it is very difficult to let someone go. Maybe I, therefore, consciously or unconsciously avoided a relationship.
De Zondag: Should the Church adhere to this celibacy?
De Kesel: I’m not for its abolition. A celibate life is not a life without meaning. I chose it deliberately: It was a part of the life of Jesus. On the other hand I do not think that you can charge it of any priest, especially not in a moment in which sexuality plays such an important role. I am for the Eastern Catholic model, where married men can be ordained priests.
No “Catholic model”
With the “Eastern Catholic model” said De Kesel, is in reality the Orthodox model. The Orthodox Churches understand celibacy like the Catholic Church but this is not employed like the Catholic Church, for historical reasons. Bishops and monks are still called to it today, which is why only. In the diocesan clergy in contrast, there was softening. Once the ordination has been received, a wedding is no longer possible with the Orthodox. The seminarian marries before ordination, he can stay married. The result is that seminarians marry very young in order to forestall the celibacy requirement. If the wife of a priest dies, he is not allowed to marry. The somewhat complicated scheme proves, however, that the ministerial priesthood is also linked to the Orthodox inseparably with celibacy. However, you can – as in the sacrament of marriage – also recognize the Orthodox discrepancy between requirement and reality, because it is the Orthodox Church in those points which concern two sacraments, and more pertinently, failed to maintain the original apostolic teaching.
When smaller parts of the Orthodox churches returned from the 16th century to union with Rome, they were allowed during the course of the ecumenism of return to maintain certain traditions. These include the Byzantine Rite in the liturgy and the Orthodox practice of celibacy. What De Kesel falsely, but probably deliberately, sees as the “Catholic model” is called not really a “Catholic model,” but a foreign practice to the Roman tradition, which was granted only for historical reasons, clearly to formerly Orthodox communities.
The true and faithful retaining of priestly celibacy in the Latin Church since apostolic times, as well as the indissolubility of sacramental marriage, are ultimately special evidence that the Roman Catholic Church is actually the one true Church of Jesus Christ. However, this evidence itself is currently not held in very high esteem by Catholic dignitaries and sometimes, as De Kesels remarks show, recklessly called into question.
De Kesel uses a dialectic in his claim, which suggests a retention in theory, but at the same time seeks a fundamental change in practice. A dialectic as it has been frequently heard in the past two years in connection with the recognition of divorce and remarriage. Its spokesman, Cardinal Walter Kasper made his speech to the Cardinal Consistory in February, 2014.
Pope Francis has sent mixed signals on this issue, according to his nature. According to the Vaticanist Sandro Magister, these contradictory signals would nevertheless demonstrate the desire for a weakening of priestly celibacy. The request made by De Kesel would probably come closest to the papal intention.
Cardinal Danneels’ preferred candidate: Thanks to Pope Francis still Archbishop
Msgr. De Kesel was appointed by Pope Francis as the new archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, 6 November, 2015. The archbishop of Brussels is automatically Primate of Belgium and President of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference. The Archdiocese has been a liberal stronghold since 1961. An epoch which was defined by Cardinal Leo Suenens (Archbishop of 1961-1979) and by Cardinal Godfried Danneels (Archbishop of 1979-2010) and was accompanied by an unprecedented decline of the Catholic Church. In the Belgian capital today, only 12 percent of its residents profess as Catholics. Of these, only one in ten makes his Sunday duty and visits the Holy Mass.
In 2010 Benedict XVI. tried to bring about a reversal. He did not appoint Danneels’ chosen successor the leftist De Kesel, but the Bishop of Namur, André-Joseph Leonard, instead. Leonard was then equally relentlessly opposed and boycotted just like Pope Benedict XVI. Above all this was directed at Benedict XVI’s personnel decision of 2010 which drew the the hostility which Danneels and his allies drew upon. Danneels was, since the 90s, a conspirator with the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Martini, in the clandestine Sankt Gallen circle, which had already opposed the election in 2005 of Benedict XVI.
In 2013 Daneels belonged to the so-called Team Bergoglio. Together with the German cardinals Lehmann and Kasper and the English Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, he organized, this time successfully, the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Archbishop Leonard was denied the dignity of cardinal and retired with the completion of his 75th birthday. After only five years of intermezzo, Pope Francis appointed Danneels’ still preferred candidate De Kesel as archbishop of Brussels. The Belgian Church thus remains firmly on progressive course, as stressed by the remarks of the new archbishop to abolish the celibacy priest.
De Kesels’ proposal on celibacy was also supported by the Internet platform katholisch.de of the German Bishops’ Conference.
Catholic Vicar of Arabia: Amoris Laetitia, the beauty of marriage and family also for Muslims[!?]
[Hat-tip to the British Catholic Herald: “Amoris Laetitia is unlikely to have a big impact in the Muslim world, Bishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, has said.” The Catholic Herald puts it correctly, but His Excellency’s response is a perfect example of dhimmitude, pollyanna-ism and Bergoglianism]
05/12/2016
www.asianews.it/news-en/Vicar-of-Arabia%3A-Amoris-Laetitia%2C-the-beauty-of-marriage-and-family-also-for-Muslims-37474.html
Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) – Amoris Laetitia shows “not only the problems” but also “the beauty of marriage and the Christian family,” said Mgr Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia (UAE, Oman, Yemen) about Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation, published in early April.
For the 73-year-old prelate, the document is very important “for our families in the Gulf”, even Muslim ones, because it deals with issues “in a in a language that is plain and close to their actual reality, good or bad. “
Pope Francis “provides many actual guidelines on how to love in families, and how to educate children in an atmosphere of understanding and love.” Moreover, “The sections where he talks about migration reflect the reality of our families: geographically split families, families in crisis because of the unfaithfulness of one or both partners, families uprooted from their cultural environment, etc.”
In the UAE, 76 per cent of the population is Muslim (80 per cent immigrants). Catholics are only 9 per cent, mostly foreigners from Africa, as well as South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan and India).
“Although many values are shared with the Muslim world,” the prelate doubts the exhortation will make any inroads among Muslims because “When Christian values are presented explicitly, there is always the barrier caused by the fear of proselytising.”
The issue of mixed marriages is compounded by the non-validity of civil marriages and the need to provide pastoral outreach to couples “separated because of work”.
Mgr Hinder’s interview with AsiaNews follows:
Mgr Hinder, what value does the Amoris Laetitia have for Christian families in the Gulf?
The exhortation is very important for our families in the Gulf because it deals with all the problems they face, in a language that is plain and close to their actual reality, good or bad. For those working in family outreach, Amoris Laetitia will be a mine to accompany and help families, as well as those preparing for marriage. Pope Francis provides many actual guidelines on how to love in families, and how to educate children in an atmosphere of understanding and love. The sections where he talks about migration reflect the reality of our families: geographically split families, families in crisis because of the unfaithfulness of one or both partners, families uprooted from their cultural environment, etc.
And to what extent does it also embrace the Muslim world?
Although many values are shared with the Muslim world, I do not think the exhortation will seep a lot into their perception of things. When Christian values are presented explicitly, there is always the barrier caused by the fear of proselytising. Then there’s the issue of mixed marriages, which is generally not recommended for the simple reason that, as a rule, the Catholic partner must convert to Islam (men) or is the victim of pressures that push towards conversion (women). Children by law are deemed and raised as Muslims. If the section in Amoris Laetitia that speaks of religious freedom (AL 248) was really respected we would have a new situation. For now, this remains a dream for almost all Muslim countries.
Your Excellency, what does it mean to be a family in a place of violence (Yemen), or in areas where Christians are a small minority?
In a situation of war and violence it is essential that family members support each other. This transcends the individual household. Families are called to help and encourage each other. This is even more important when one or both parents are separated from their children because they are drafted into the army or – more often – killed in war. Very often family and/or tribal ties are the only social network that still provides some protection and security. This applies to everyone, but especially to minorities like Christians.
Has the Church of Arabia promoted specific initiatives in favour of the family?
We know the “movements” that seek to provide care to families like Couples for Christ (mostly Filipinos), Marriage Encounter, Family Ministry, and others. We are also developing family and marriage counselling programmes. We seek to ensure close parental involvement in children’s catechesis. Where necessary, we provide families with economic and financial support for their children’s education. We are always improving marriage preparation. We also organise family planning seminars in accordance with Church principles.
What are the areas that need the most urgent action?
Among the problems that need urgent actions is the non-validity of marriages, because they were only celebrated civilly. This is largely a cultural problem. In certain cultures, marriage celebrations must be lavish. Very often they get into debt for the rest of their married life because of social pressures. To be in good standing in a Muslim country, where common law relations are not allowed, people marry civilly, putting off the religious marriage to a later time, to avoid the exorbitant costs of the celebrations. We try to overcome this problem by organising – after solid preparation – simple group weddings to regularise non-valid marriages without forcing people into debt.
Another field is pastoral outreach to couples that are separated because of work. Very often they find themselves in an ambiguous situation, in which they seek an occasional or permanent companion for as long as they stay away from their family. Frequently marriages and families break down because of it. In some cultures, like India’s, parents still arrange marriages. Couples meet for the first time only a few days before the wedding. After that they are separated again for months or a whole year. It is obvious that in such cases a family cannot develop well, even if the marriage was properly performed.
The Emirates, Oman, and Yemen are nations with high immigration rates. Many Christians are economic migrants from Asia. What message does the apostolic exhortation have for them?
Amoris Laetitia (46) challenges us when it speaks about families in migration. Chapter 4 (AL, 89-164) on love in marriage is of great value for spousal and family relations. For our families, it can serve as a guide to improve the quality of family life and open up to others, not to turn the family into a self-sufficient closed island. Ultimately, I find it important that with Pope Francis we can see not only the problems, but also and above all the beauty of marriage and the Christian family.
Church Revolution in Pictures
Photo of the Week
Francis puts on communist decoration
On May 4, 2016, Pavel Dorokhin, a communist member of the Russian Parliament, second from the right, gave Pope Francis a ribbon to commemorate the May 9 victory of Communist Russia over Nazi Germany. Dorokhin reports the event to the RIA news agency :“Yesterday I had an opportunity to attend a papal audience in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.”
“They put me in the front row in the VIP box. I told the Pope that with Victory Day now five days away, I wanted to present him with a medal commemorating the 70th anniversary of our great victory over Nazi Germany. I told him about the 26 million lives our people sacrificed during WW2 and asked him to put on a St. George ribbon in a sign of solidarity with our people. The Pope attached it to his robe and we talked on.”
The distribution of the St. George ribbon has been associated in the countries of the ex-USSR with the promotion of the Soviet Regime and the desire to return to it. For confirmation, please read from communist sources here and here.
So, with this symbolic gesture of solidarity, we have Francis indirectly promoting the return of Russia to the Union of the Socialist Soviet Republics...
Original news report here.
THESE POOR KIDS ARE BEING RAISED IN THE NEW RELIGION!
Polish cardinal hopes Krakow World Youth Day will spark moral revival in Europe
Krakow’s Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, head of the archdiocese organizing World Youth Day this summer, says he hopes the event will help spark a religious and moral revival in Europe.
Earlier this month, the cardinal discussed the situation in Poland and the state of Europe with foreign correspondents covering preparations for World Youth Day.“Europe has deep Christian roots. If we cut these roots, the tree will die,'' he said. ''We are fighting to safeguard moral values and Christian roots, the foundation of Europe. We must be able to protect ourselves from destructive tendencies, even if Europe accuses us of being destructive.''
The 31st World Youth Day is scheduled for the week of July 26-31 July in Cracow. The event was started by the Pope John Paul II, who spent most of his life in Cracow before becoming the pope. The place is also known as the center of the Divine Mercy devotion, inspired by Saint Faustina Kowalska, who was born in the area. The theme of the World Youth Day is “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
The archdiocese of Cracow expects millions of pilgrims from all over the world, including up to two million for a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis. About 6,000 journalists, both from Poland and abroad, will cover the events.
In his meeting with the reporters, Cardinal Dziwisz also spoke about the state of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. He touched on some problems, for example decreasing mass attendance in different regions. However, he denied that the Church is facing a crisis. He nonetheless mentioned worryingly low birth rates in Poland, which he attributed to Poles’ mentality rather than poverty.
The Polish government, for one, seems to blame falling birth rates in part to financial insecurity. To address this problem, it recently passed a law providing a monthly allowance of 500 zł ($135) for every child after the firstborn.
Cardinal Dziwisz went on to address criticism of the Polish government. The conservative ruling Law and Justice Party is constantly under fire in foreign press.
“This is a free and sovereign country, that safeguards its freedom both in terms of ethics and politics,'' he said.
For almost 40 years Dziwisz was an aide and secretary to now-canonized Pope John Paul II. During John Paul II’s papacy, Dziwisz became one of the most influential figures in the Vatican. He is an outspoken defender of traditional marriage, the family, and the unborn. On numerous occasions, he spoke against in-vitro fertilization, gender ideology, and abortion.
NOVUS ORDO WONT SELL BUILDINGS/CHURCHES TO REAL CATHOLICS BUT TO THOSE IN FALSE SECTS/RELIGIONS.....NO PROBLEM!
Now for Sale in Chicago: Prime Catholic Church Real Estate
By WALL STREET JOURNAL REAL ESTATE
May 18, 2016
The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has tapped an adviser to sell the sprawling lot across the street from its 140-year-old Holy Name Cathedral, in the latest sign of a religious institution selling prime real estate in response to hot property markets. Experts say it is worth as much as $100 million.
The Archdiocese has hired Eastdil Secured LLC to market the site, which takes up most of a block, according to Betsy Bohlen, who became the Archdiocese’s chief operating officer last year. She declined to put a value on the property, but experts say it is worth as much as $100 million.
Ms. Bohlen said Eastdil would be exploring options including an outright sale of the property and a long-term lease. “There’s been an interest in this property for decades,” she said in an interview. “Given the strength of the market and increased development in downtown Chicago, we decided to take a hard look at developing the property now.”
[More about this and other dioceses and religious orders putting up their properties for sale in view of declining numbers and income @ www.wsj.com/articles/now-for-sale-in-chicago-prime-catholic-church-real-estate-1463506522 ]
Pittsburgh Catholic diocese launches new initiative as it faces decline in parishioners, priests
[The “springtime” of Vatican II continues to come to the Pittsburgh, PA, diocese – the latest round]By Frances Borsodi Zajac | Pittsburgh Herald-Standard
Facing a decline in parishioners and priests, Bishop David Zubik announced the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is undergoing a diocesan-wide planning initiative that may call for the closing of some churches and schools …
Zubik spoke at media breakfast Friday morning at Lawless Hall at St. Mary of Mercy Church in downtown Pittsburgh where fact sheets were provided on state of the diocese that shows fewer people attending Mass, fewer priests to serve them and aging buildings without financial resources to care for them.
Figures released by diocese show the Catholic population within its borders has dropped from 753,147 in 2000 to 632,138 in 2015 while the number of priests in active ministry decreased from 338 to 225. It’s projected the number of priests will fall to 112 by 2025.
Media sheets noted involvement in church life has steadily declined in the diocese’s 199 parishes through these years.
“In 2000, about 247,000 people attended Mass weekly. By 2015, that number had fallen by 40 percent to about 149,000. The number of parishioner weddings fell 48 percent, from 3,258 in 2000 to 1,693 in 2015. In the same period, infant baptisms declined 47 percent,’’ the diocese reported.
“Many of our parishes are struggling financially. Overall giving has remained stable due to the generosity of many parishioners. However, operating costs continue to increase as participation decreases. Currently, nearly half of the parishes run annual deficits, up from one-third three years ago, and are rapidly depleting their savings,’’ according to the diocese.
The diocese noted that many people have lost their connection to the Church and attending Mass and practicing the faith “is no longer a strong, driving force in America.’’
More at www.heraldstandard.com/news/mon_valley/pittsburgh-catholic-diocese-launches-new-initiative-as-it-faces-decline/article_8b1f8692-870c-544f-8e76-0bae1d3a02e5.htm
Christians have a mission to convert all non-Christians including Muslims but NOT Jews, says Vatican official
Cardinal Kurt Koch, who leads ecumenical relations for the Vatican, made the comments at an interfaith meeting in Cambridgeposted Monday, 23 May 2016
Christians have a mission to convert all Muslims, according to one of Pope Francis’s senior aides.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, who leads ecumenical relations for the Vatican, made the comments at an interfaith meeting held by Cambridge University’s Woolf Institute.
Cardinal Koch also said that Christians should not try and convert Jews and should view Judaism as a “mother”.
“We have a mission to convert all non-Christian religions’ people [except] Judaism,” he said, before reportedly adding that this extended to jihadis responsible for persecuting Christians in the Middle East.
The cardinal also urged Christians to view Judaism as a “mother” and said Christainity and Judaism shared a special relationship.
“It is very clear that we can speak about three Abrahamic religions but we cannot deny that the view of Abraham in Jewish and the Christian tradition and the Islamic tradition is not the same,” he said.
“In this sense we have only with Jewish people this unique relationship that we do not have with Islam.”
Francis is a cafeteria ‘catholic’
“In fact, to be a Christian does not primarily mean to belong to a certain culture or adhere to a certain doctrine, but rather to join one’s own life, in all its aspects, to the person of Jesus and, through Him, to the Father.”—Francis, 15 May 2016—
Pope shares stage with movie stars Clooney, Gere and Hayek
“When peoples, families, friends separate, only animosity and even hatred can come out of that division. But when they come together in a ‘social friendship,’ we find a defense against every kind of throwaway culture,” Francis said.
The award, “Medal of the Olive,” was presented by the Scholas Occurentes Pontifical foundation, a pet-project of Francis, first conceived when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, and which has become a worldwide network of schools that through sports, technology and arts tries to promote the “culture of encounter.”
Pope Francis arrived over 90 minutes later than expected, after running over time in a Scolas-sponsored session with a group of “Youtubers.”
Representing a group of 12 Youtube aficionados, Dulce Candy and Matthew Patrick, who have 2.4 and 6.3 million followers respectively, asked Francis to respond to these questions when the event began: “Have you ever considered resigning because of the excessive responsibilities?” and, “What can we do to help create a more diverse and integrated world?”
To the first question Francis said that no, “I never considered resigning because of the responsibilities,” and reiterated what he’s said before about receiving “a great peace” in the moment of his election “which I didn’t expect.”
This peace, he said, remains with him today and is what keeps him going.
The second question was harder to answer for the pope, who, following a recent tendency of carrying pictures or objects with him to make a point, showed several pictures given to him of children killed at war.
“A nun sent me pictures of what’s going on in an African country, marred by constant wars,” he said showing the first image. “This child was beheaded. A child.”
He tied the victims of war into bullying, a topic one of the speakers had addressed earlier.
“Seeing what happens in this country, we can understand bullying. If a child can be beheaded, how could we not have bullying?” Francis added. “It’s the same cruelty, against a child, done by a child.”
“Bullying is an agression that hides a lot of cruelty,” he said. “The world is cruel. And wars are a monument to that cruelty.”
To build a better world, Francis said, “we must banish pride and arrogance. Those who take these paths end badly … the world needs less of these and more tenderness, more gentleness.”
Francis’ words along with the recognition to the Hollywood stars, came at the closing of the VI Scholas World Encounter, which took place May 27-29 in the Vatican. Over 400 people from 190 countries participated in the encounter, which included representatives of 42 universities, Catholic, lay and Muslim, from around the world such as Fordham University and John Carroll University from the United States, Ishik University of Iraq, and the Nigerian Turkish Nile University.
Participating in the workshop were students, teachers, business owners, trade unions, academics, politicians, athletes, artists, Youtubers, scientists and religious leaders, all working in what organizers call “making the mandate of Pope Francis to restore reality in the world the educational pact.”
As is usually the case in Scholas events, several projects were presented. One of those was “Ask Pope Francis,” a book that will be written by Francis answering questions from young people around the world, who are being invited to submit their questions through the website.
Other projects included an agreement among 39 universities to build a system of “patronage” with schools for low-income students, and the Scholas Orchestra, active in several countries, which aims to take underprivileged children from the streets through music.
To make the wait shorter for those who arrived on time to the Vatican’s Synod Hall, several planned and “improvised” speeches were given.
One of these “outside the program moments,” was when the master of ceremonies approached Clooney, who was accompanied by his wife Amal Alamuddin.
“Bouna sera, buona sera,” the actor joked, before saying he doesn’t speak Italian.
“I would suggest that this is a wonderful program that we’re working on here today, to see so many religions talking about inclusion,” Clooney said.
“We have to start with schools, because we know that hatred and bigotry has to be taught. We’re not born this way, it’s a learned behavior. Pope Francis is focusing on schools, because he knows that this is the only way we’re going to fight it.”
Among the participants were not only Hollywood stars, but also several Jewish and Muslim leaders.
A rabbi from the Israeli University of Haifa also spoke before Francis’ arrival. He too thanked the pontiff for bringing together the whole world “to think what’s better for our kids.”
“Seeing a global leader of Pope Francis’ stature, willing to risk his credibility for the future of our children, is something that should inspire us all,” the rabbi said.
Francis’ reference to bullying came after listening to the words of Ariadna, a 17-year-old Mexican student living in Chicago, who moved the room to tears by talking about the suffering she went through in school.
It was her, not Francis, Clooney, Hayek or Gere who stole the spotlight.
From the sixth to the nine grade, Ariadna said, she was mocked by her peers and pushed around. She saw her first attempt at writing in English, in which she spoke about her family and the difficulties she went through when her parents divorced, destroyed and thrown in the garbage can.
“I felt like all my feelings, all my life, was being thrown away,” she said. “I didn’t belong.”
The insult that hurt the most, she said, was when her classmates told her she was “worthless” and that she would never “accomplish anything.”
Ariadna also shared that she’d decided to stay in the school first because she wanted to learn to forgive those who bullied her. She went back the third year, she said, on the advice of a priest.
“He told me that sometimes we don’t realize that Jesus too suffered on the Cross, and if he went through that for us, how couldn’t I go through this for Him?” she said. “I offered that pain to God, and I understood that even when you’re bullied, you have to learn to forgive.”
“They might be able to hurt me, but they won’t be able to take my smile from me,” Ariadna said.
Müller Out, Schönborn In. The Pope Has Changed Doctrine Teachers [not “de iure” but “de facto”]
by Sandro MagisterROME, May 30, 2016 – The prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith is still the same, German cardinal Gerhard L. Müller.
Who diligently continues to carry out his task, most recently with the monumental address he gave in Oviedo on May 4 for a correct understanding of “Amoris Laetitia,” in harmony with the previous magisterium of the Church on the family:
> Reading Exercises. The “Amoris Laetitia” of Cardinal Müller
But it is increasingly evident that for Pope Francis, it is not Müller but another cardinal who is the teacher of doctrine authorized to shed light on the post-synodal exhortation: Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
On May 19, in meeting at the Vatican with the two cardinals and three bishops who make up the presidency of the Latin American episcopal conference, when asked about “Amoris Laetitia” Francis responded as follows, according to the website of the CELAM:
“The pope responds that the heart of the exhortation is chapter 4: love in family life, founded on chapter 13 of the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. While the most difficult to read is chapter 8. Some, the pope say, have let themselves get trapped by this chapter. The Holy Father is fully aware of the criticisms of some, including cardinals, who have been unable to understand the evangelical meaning of his statements. And he says that the best guide for understanding this chapter is the presentation of it made by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., archbishop of Vienna, Austria, a great theologian, member of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, highly expert in the doctrine of the Church.”
Already on April 16, questioned by the journalists on the return flight to Rome from the island of Lesbos, Francis had indicated Schönborn as the right interpreter of the document, recommending that his presentation be read and rewarding him on the spot with flattering titles, even mistakenly promoting him to former “secretary” of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith.
But then Müller gave his talk in Oviedo, with the intention of bringing clarity to the carousel of contrasting interpretations and applications of “Amoris Laetitia” that had already gained a foothold. But for the pope, that talk of his wasn’t worth a thing. Just as it wasn’t worth a thing for “L’Osservatore Romano,” which completely ignored it.
For Francis, in fact, the only one that still applies is the interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia” made by Schönborn at the official presentation of the document, in the Vatican press office on April 8, the day of its publication.
But then this presentation must finally be read in its entirety. In its written text and in the extemporaneous additions made by the cardinal. Just as the questions and answers that followed the press conference must also be read.
Further below all of this is completely and faithfully transcribed for the first time, on the basis of the video recording made by the Vatican Television Centre:
> Presentation of the exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” – 2016.04.08
It will be seen that, toward the end of the presentation, Cardinal Schönborn indicates free “discernment” of individual cases as the way to admit the divorced and remarried to communion.
And further on, in responding to a question from Francis Rocca of the Wall Street Journal, he outlines one of these cases, asserting that John Paul II and Benedict XVI had hypothesized it.
In this regard he refers to paragraph 84 of the 1981 “Familiaris Consortio,” where in effect pope Karol Wojtyla speaks of “those who have entered into a second union for the sake of the children’s upbringing and who are sometimes subjectively certain in conscience that their previous and irreparably destroyed marriage had never been valid.”
So then, Schönborn asserts that “neither Pope John Paul nor Pope Benedict explicitly brought into question” the admission of such to the sacraments, which “was already a longstanding practice.”
And further on, responding to Diane Montagna of Aleteia, he returns to insisting on how in “Familiaris Consortio” that was already “implicit” which Pope Francis now “is saying clearly, explicitly” in the wake “of the organic development of doctrine.”
In reality, neither John Paul II nor Benedict XVI ever admitted the divorced and remarried to communion, not even “implicitly,” unless in the second union – kept in place “for serious reasons such as, for example, the children’s upbringing” – they “take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence.”
In order to get confirmation of this it is enough to reread in its entirety – and not in cherry-picked phrases – precisely that paragraph 84 of “Familiaris Consortio” which Schönborn advances in support of the innovations of “Amoris Laetitia.”
Just as it is also helpful to reread what Joseph Ratzinger wrote on the same question, as cardinal and as pope:
> The pastoral approach to marriage must be founded on truth
For this reason, further below, after the presentation and subsequent question-and-answer of Cardinal Schönborn with the journalists, there is also reproduced as a necessary element of comparison paragraph 84 of the apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio” of John Paul II.
Followed by a Thomistic theologian’s critique of the improper way in which “Amoris Laetitia” cites Saint Thomas Aquinas.
And to finish, a judgment from Cardinal Carlo Caffarra – who participated in both synods at the direct invitation of Francis, but is also one of the thirteen cardinals who signed the letter to the pope against the dangers of rigging of the assembly – on the “objective lack of clarity” of chapter eight of “Amoris Laetitia” and therefore on the duty to interpret it “in continuity with the preceding magisterium.”
Selfie Sunday #10
Vloggers
a homosexual Argentinian
female fans
priests
married couples
non-catholics
football stars
papal reporters
adoring fans
refugees (aka European invaders)
school children
more adoring fans
Americans
soldiers
Francis is excited...
have Francis selfie apps!!!!
Related:
- Selfie Sunday
- Selfie Sunday #2
- Selfie Sunday #3
- Selfie Sunday #4 (the Max edition)
- Selfie Sunday #5 (the cardboard selfie)
- Selfie Sunday #6 (the joker)
- Francis said, "selfie, selfie" (Selfie Sunday #7)
- Selfie Sunday #8 (a special guest appearance)
- Selfie Sunday #9 ...taking the pomp out of the Papacy!
- Francis rejects “narcissism” for everyone but himself