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1 posted on 03/12/2013 7:34:47 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

Petrus Romanus.... please step forward to the front of the conclave. (’


2 posted on 03/12/2013 7:38:41 PM PDT by tflabo (Truth or Tyranny)
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Cardinal Sodano is a catastrophe waiting to happen

His sinister record would give the press a field day if he was left in charge of the conclave

By on Friday, 9 July 2010

Dr William Oddie is a leading English Catholic writer and broadcaster. He edited The Catholic Herald from 1998 to 2004 and is the author of The Roman Option and Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy.
>

Cardinal Sodano has blocked investigations of child abuse by senior Church figures (Photo: CNS)

Most accounts of Cardinal Schönborn’s recent wigging by the Pope for his criticism of Cardinal Angelo Sodano (for calling accusations of clerical child abuse “petty gossip”) tended to deflect attention from the fact that Sodano himself did not escape criticism. However wrong Cardinal Schönborn may have been to make his criticisms to journalists and not to the authorities in Rome, the fact is that he was dead right about Sodano. The wording of the Vatican’s press release made his real mistake clear: “when accusations are made against a cardinal”, specified the statement, “competency falls exclusively to the Pope”. After Cardinal Schönborn “clarified” his own remarks, Cardinal Sodano was made to do the same: “The word chiacchiericcio [gossip] was erroneously interpreted [hum, hum] as disrespectful to the victims of sexual abuse, towards whom Cardinal Angelo Sodano nourishes the same feelings of compassion… as … the Holy Father.”

I think not. Cardinal Sodano appears to have an exceptionally sinister record of shielding abusers, particularly eminent ones, which goes back many years. He blocked a 1995 investigation into subsequently proven accusations of child abuse against Schönborn’s predecessor as Archbishop of Vienna, Hans Hermann Groër. The most shameful episode was his consistent defence over decades of Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legion of Christ. And, according to reports in the National Catholic Reporter, he had his reasons: he stands accused of receiving a great deal of money and other benefits from the Legion of Christ. In 1998, according to reports, Sodano halted investigations into sexual abuse by Maciel then being carried out by the CDF. One of Pope Benedict’s first actions was to depose Maciel and forbid him to function as a priest.

Cardinal Sodano’s continuing danger to the Church comes from the fact that he is still Dean of the College of Cardinals. This means that if the Pope were to die before he can be removed, Sodano will be in charge of the obsequies (he will preach the panegyric) and of the conclave: and the international press will have a field day, with millions of column inches about his alleged support for child abusers, his corruption and his sheer incompetence. This is a disaster which must not be allowed to happen. Sodano must go, soon.


3 posted on 03/12/2013 7:42:29 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
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Pope Makers and Cardinal Sins

by Hilary White POSTED: 3/12/13
REMNANT COLUMNIST, Rome

www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/2013-rome-reports-hilary-white.htm

ROME, March 12, 2013 – The waiting time is drawing to a close. This afternoon, the cardinals will have their first ballot. Starting last Wednesday, the cardinals agreed that their discussions will be continued under greater secrecy. This means that we are left to examine the evidence and facts we already know to piece together, if not the outcome of the conclave, then at least the issues looming in the minds of the cardinal electors.

On that day it was announced that the press conferences organised at the Pontifical North American College, up the hill from St. Peter’s, where US cardinals were giving politely evasive and non-specific non-information to US and British journalists, had been cancelled. It came out that the reason was that some Italian cardinals, whose interpretation of the oath of secrecy was a little more, shall we say, flexible, were giving Italian journalists what amounted to transcripts of the meetings.

And there we have in a nutshell a hint as to how the Vatican administration works at the highest levels: chaotically, with no very strong connections to reality.

As always, the official line about the substance of the cardinals’ discussions is slightly at odds with the quiet, unofficial but much more frank assessments coming off the record. Officially we are told that the most important issue for the cardinals is “the New Evangelisation” (always capitalised). This favourite buzzword among Catholic prelates and writers of press releases, means the attempt to “reach out” to the majority of Catholics in the dechristianised west who no longer practice their faith, or even know much about it.

Of course, what is not mentioned is that the reality is that the loss of faith has been largely a product of the failure of the men running the Church in the last 50 years to teach anyone anything about it. There is a line in the old Baltimore Catechism: our purpose in life is to “know God, to love Him and serve Him in this life and be happy with Him forever in the next”. Take careful note of the order given. We cannot love what we do not know. Knowing comes first. Can it be surprising to the cardinals gathered here that, the Church on the whole having refused to teach the Faith in the last 40 years that Catholics don’t know Him, aren’t interested in serving Him in this life, or have any hope of happiness in the next?

Another unpleasant piece of reality that won’t get mentioned at the official press briefings, is that we know the origins of the corruption in the Vatican. One blessing of the Vatileaks affair is that at least officials are no longer trying to pretend that everything inside is just fine. But it is still being treated as a strange and inexplicable anomaly, unconnected to anything else. Officially we are still being asked to pretend that no one really understands where all the “filth” came from.

But it is perfectly clear, even to some in the mainstream secular media: the anti-Christian dogmas that have seeped into the Church, that Paul VI called the “smoke of Satan,” have created a moral corruption so entrenched in the upper management of the Catholic Church that it has created crippling administrative chaos. The “Vatileaks” affair has exposed the depth of the moral and organisational rot.

I find that I am not cheerful at the prospect of a new pope. It is difficult to be confident that the men of the conclave are capable of facing these awful truths. The truths of the crises of belief, of vocations to the clergy and religious life, of sexual continence among priests, of the abandonment of Catholicity in academia and schools, the ideological warping and collapse of the religious orders, the abandonment of religious purpose by Catholic charities, the financial and sexual corruption of the Vatican bureaucracy. Ultimately the whole catastrophe of the global collapse of Catholic order, discipline and culture, and the growth of a hostile and “aggressive secularism” and the “dictatorship of relativism” in the outside world, that Pope Benedict was warning about from his first day to his last, has been their own doing.

Our current calamity in the Church, and much of that of the secular world, was produced by a hierarchy and clergy who, starting about 1965, decided that it was more important to go with the flow of the world than to continue the uncomfortable and difficult work of directing it toward salvation. For decades, many of the men sitting in those plush chairs in the Paul VI Audience Hall last week have variously either failed to expunge the anti-Christian dogmas that infiltrated the Church or were themselves the ones pushing them. One can always hope – in fact one is obliged to – but, judging from their comments to the press, those men don’t seem to me to be in a mood to face up to these uncomfortable realities.

In his column on Friday for the far-left National Catholic Reporter, the well-informed liberal commentator and Vatican watcher John Allen said, “Privately, some cardinals feel that if Benedict XVI had better administrative support, he might not have felt compelled to resign.”

“Speaking on background,” Allen continued, “one cardinal told NCR on Tuesday that he had raised the question in the General Congregation meetings of whether the cardinals had done enough to help Benedict – by which he meant, in part, pressuring the pope’s support team to get their act together.”

This is something that the Catholic faithful have been asking for decades. Why do we all know what is wrong in the Church, and they still don’t? We would also dearly love to see the hierarchy get their act together.

Can any Catholics be left, whether “liberal” or “conservative” or “traditionalist” who still trust that the men inside the walls have the will to do what is best, or even what they may think is best for the Church? How many of us now have any confidence that they know what the priorities must be, or that they remember that the first and last aim is the salvation of souls?

I read last night another of the daily letters by an American Vaticanista, Robert Moynihan, the editor of Inside the Vatican. He related a conversation he had with an anonymous cardinal who also seemed deeply troubled by Pope Benedict’s abdication. I was relieved to see that this cardinal, whoever he was, also seemed to understand, and perhaps shares the terrible sense of foreboding that has filled me and many others since this whole thing began. Seeing the man’s disquiet, Moynihan asked him what we could all do for them.

“…A look passed over his eyes which seemed filled with shadows and concerns. I was surprised at his intensity…He squeezed my hand.

“Pray for us,” he said. “Pray for us.”

He turned as if he needed to go. “I have to go.”

He took a step away from me, then turned again.

“It is a dangerous time. Pray for us.”

5 posted on 03/12/2013 7:57:54 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

We don’t want Sodano — I just read terrible things about him today.

Here’s the link:

http://www.catholicthinker.net/the-third-secret-was-fully-rev/


15 posted on 03/12/2013 8:47:29 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
Cardinal Sodano and the new world order
Letter #42: Alpha and Omega (Benedict XVI and a prediction on how the conclave will vote)
The rites for the Conclave begin: The entrance procession of the Cardinal Electors (Pix)
"Extra Omnes." But Michelangelo Will Be Voting, Too
Every cardinal in his place: Internal ranking determines seating chart
10 things about the conclave

In a hurry to take things slowly: How Italian culture could shape the conclave
New Pope Will Have Adoration Before His Presentation
From Rome to Africa: Meet the 20 men who could be pope
Rome Conclave: Cardinals Set To Elect New Pope
The rites for the Conclave begin: Mass for electing a Supreme Pontiff
The ‘tough guy’ option: Picking a pope to serve as sheriff
The Next Pope and the Jews
Why we need a badass pope
The schedule for the conclave (with U.S. times)
Age matters: Popes elected as young as 24, as old as 81 (Papal Trivia!)

What This Protestant Pastor Would Like to See in the New Pope
Italian Cardinal Scola Once Again Emerging as Papal Favorite
Quid est in nomine? Latin name is first clue to new pope’s identity
Before Smoke Rises at Vatican, It’s Romans vs. the Reformers
The springtime has failed, the time has come for the sowing season
Why is Cardinal Mahony Voting in the Conclave?
'The will of God is not entirely clear': Cardinal hints at tough task facing church
The Church That the New Pope Will Govern (some surprising stats)
Press Coverage on the Eve of the Conclave
Cardinals Pray Before Conclave To Choose New Pope

Top Contenders To Be The Next Pope
Day Six: Timeless Skies – and Electoral Blocs
Dare we hope for Burke?
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco Pope? [Gays Worst Nightmare: Received Death Threats!]
Cardinal Dolan eager for conclave to start
A few “bloopers” (Cardinal Dolan addresses misunderstandings about the papacy)
The men who could be pope: Cardinal Leonardo Sandri (A diplomat who tames enemies)
The men who could be pope: Cardinal Seán O’Malley (The Capuchin with a gentle heart)
Catholics worldwide mobilize support for new Pope
An Illustrated Guide to the Conclave (how the entire process works)

The lesson of Sistine Chapel (What the Cardinals electors will see when they enter the Conclave)
Letter #39: 48 Hours To Go (until the Conclave)
The men who could be pope: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
The men who could be pope: Cardinal Timothy Dolan
The men who could be pope: Cardinal Peter Turkson
The men who could be pope: Cardinal Angelo Scola
Conclave: timetable for first days
Day Four: The Great Game Begins (Daily Conclave Report)
What have the cardinals been doing? One of them explains
BREAKING NEWS: Cardinals select Tuesday, March 12 for conclave

Inside the Conclave: A Visual Chart
You’ve heard about Pope on a rope — how about a cardinal on a bike?
Where cardinals will stay during Conclave
Letter #37: A Living Stone
Conclave date to be announced after 7 pm local time
Is this Cardinal, Pope Emeritus Benedict's candidate to be his successor
Cardinal plotting anti-Ratzinger progressive Papacy
Vatican post office sells over 150k Vacant See sets
General congregations: With all electors present still no date for Conclave
LA's Cardinal Mahony tweets: We're close to setting conclave date

Patriarch Raï: The Conclave from a Middle Eastern perspective
Curia silences U.S. cardinals: “You talk too much”
Little-known Facts about a Papal Conclave
Filipino Cardinal Stirs Papal Talk With Rapid Rise
Letter #36: Silence (victory for the “old guard” of the Vatican)
General congregations: Profile of future Pope emerging from sessions
Cardinals contemplate insider, outsider papal candidates
College of Cardinals imposes media silence after breach
Last Two Cardinal Electors Will be in Rome by Thursday
Letter #33: Sistine Chapel Closed (approx 5 days for workers to prepare for conclave)

Pope Prediction: 10 Reasons Cardinal Burke Will Be the Next Pope
Popeless but not Hopeless
Election of Pope Trivia Quiz
Black Socialist Pope to Follow Black Socialist President?
Pope watchers keeping tabs on Vatican 'backroom boys'
Catholicism, True Reform and the Next Pope
Cardinals announce adoration, Vespers ceremony for conclave
When Will the Conclave Start? Pope Benedict's Final Legislative Act
Vatican Diary / The "who's who" of the new pope's electors (broken down by continent)
Letter #31: The Program, and the Sheriff (Mahony, Sandri, Anti-Pope)

Famous last tweets before cardinals enter media blackout of conclave
Cardinal O'Malley lists sex abuse, Curia reform as priorities
Old establishment cardinals hope for quick conclave
Cardinals Begin Pre-Conclave Meetings Amid Scandal
Lombardi: 12 Cardinal electors yet to arrive as 1st Congregation concludes
A ticket to vote for the first Latin-American Pope
Three candidates for Pope who are on few people's lists
Omens and portents and signs! OH MY! (minor earthquake near Castel Gandolfo)
‘Church changing big time,’ says Cardinal Dolan
Letter #30: The Next and the Last (media, papabili, Ganswein in tears)

Editorial: "Religious correspondents", "Vaticanists": don't know more about Conclave than us
During “Sede Vacante” what must priests say in the Eucharistic Prayer now that there is no Pope?
What is a [Catholic] Cardinal? A Basic Review of the College of Cardinals in History and Today
Benedict XVI's first night as Pope emeritus
Toward the Conclave. The Pressure on the Cardinals [Catholic Caucus]
Papal Apartments, Basilica Sealed for Sede Vacante
Update on Conclave Start Date
Cardinal Dolan: Pope Benedict 'fragile' on last day of papacy (good handling of msm)
Prayer for the Election of a New Pope
Interregnum Terms and Expressions, Q and A Format (Nuts & Bolts-current situation) [Catholic Caucus]

17 posted on 03/12/2013 9:01:29 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
What was expressed to me this week that the inside battle is not the sex abuse scandal or anything the Curia could dream up but this:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20121111_caritas_en.html

My understanding this is the sole reason Benedict16 stepped down for he had no fight left in him to see this edict through.

This potentially will split the Catholic Church right down the middle as once fully implemented and if to the degree Ratzinger wanted well it's a battle that is going to get ugly.

I think Sodano was speaking directly to this and took the opportunity the mess of man he is to try and influence the conclave in respect to it.

It's easy to see what side of the fence he rests.

19 posted on 03/13/2013 5:41:12 AM PDT by winoneforthegipper ("If you can't ride two horses at once, you probably shouldn't be in the circus" - SP)
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