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It is with much gratitude that we present today to our readers a lengthy, original interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan. He was so considerate in his answers to the following questions, which we sent to him prior to the recent 3 May meeting of German bishops with the Vatican concerning the current conflict about Communion for Protestant spouses, as well as prior to the scandalous opening of the “Heavenly Bodies” exhibition in New York. It was our intention to put questions to him that would give him an occasion to issue...

That at Least Peter’s Shadow Might Fall on Them: A Challenge to the Church in the Acts of the Apostles Msgr. Charles Pope • May 16, 2018 • Peter Healing the Sick with his Shadow, Masaccio (1426-27)As this Easter Season is nearing a close, we do well to ponder the picture of the early Church described in the Acts of the Apostles. The kind of persecution and suffering they endured in those days should serve to remind us of the sacrifices we are often unwilling to make.Yet these early descriptions are also an affirmation of what we in effect...

Media outlets worldwide, both secular and Catholic, have been discussing Francis’ Santa Marta homily of 15 May wherein he suggested that he is contemplating retirement.According to Vatican News:Pope Francis focused his reflections on the day’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles where Paul, “compelled by the Holy Spirit,” takes his leave from the Church Elders at Ephesus to go to Jerusalem. “It’s a decisive move, a move that reaches the heart, it’s also a move that shows us the pathway for every bishop when it’s time to take his leave and step down,” he said …“When I read...

Bishops defend Church teaching on birth control It is sad when the above headline is news.  Yet, it is almost impossible to find bishops (or priests) -- outside of traditional Latin Mass circles -- talking about this subject.  We commend the Kazakh bishops for issuing the following reaffirmation of Church teaching: Pastoral letter on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Humanae vitae Praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! The current year is marked by the memorable event of the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Humanae vitae, in which Blessed Paul VI...

Yesterday, I received a letter from an eyewitness who recently heard Cardinal Walter Kasper speak about Pope Francis and the intercommunion debate. In this 10 May speech, Kasper called Protestant spouses of Catholics “fresh cells in the Body of Christ’s Church” without that they needed a prior conversion. Kasper, who resides in Rome, seems to be trying hard now to influence the German debate in favor of intercommunion.For example, just yesterday, on 15 May, La Stampa’s Vatican Insider published a lengthy interview with Cardinal Kasper in which the German cardinal tries to argue that there are several Church documents which...

(Rome) The fundamental theologian Alfredo Morselli, pastor of the Archdiocese of Bologna, who since his ordination in 1986, celebrates only in the immemorial Roman rite, wondered whether the admission of remarried divorcees who are in the state of serious sin because of their concubinage is in effect, a"Trojan Horse" to introduce inter-communion with the Protestants. The theologian is convinced of an inner connection between the controversial post-synodal writing Amoris laetitia and the now discussed inter-communion with the Protestants. At the center of the current discussion is a decision by the German Bishops' Conference last February to grant communion to Lutheran...

Priests are pleading with their bishops to end doctrinal chaos. Worldwide confusion over marriage and the sacraments has moved 15 priests from America and Europe to sign a plea April 22 titled A Pastoral Appeal to the Bishops for an Apostolic Reaffirmation of the Gospel. The appeal is now backed by more than 80 priests and one cardinal, Raymond Burke, former prefect of the Apostolic Signatura. In a May 3 interview, Cdl. Burke said he hopes bishops respond to the priests' appeal.  "The growing confusion and the resulting division in the Church is causing a tremendous suffering, most of all for priests," Cdl. Burke...

Pondering St. Paul’s Lament of Savage Wolves Msgr. Charles Pope • May 15, 2018 • In the first reading for Wednesday of the 7th Week of Easter, St. Paul warns of perhaps the most damaging and wrenching evil that the Church must face: dissension from within.I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. (Acts 20:30-31).St. Paul calls them savage wolves. Is this hyperbole? No, for their work is to...

The Pope cannot abdicate the Petrine Ministry in favor of a synodal method of Church governance on questions such as intercommunion, a respected theologian and former consulter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during Benedict XVI’s pontificate has said. Writing yesterday in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, Italian Monsignor Nicola Bux said the Catholic Church is “hierarchical, not synodal” and “pastoral issues are resolved only if the ‘meal’ is made of true doctrine.” Msgr. Bux’s comments come in response to a recent interview with Cardinal Walter Kasper on intercommunion and the German bishops’ controversial proposal to allow a Protestant who is...

On Pentecost – this coming Sunday – a group of Catholic youth expect to publish a summary of what was left out of the “pre-synod” document presented to Pope Francis in March. They hope to distribute it to bishops going to the synod on youth in October to give them a clear picture of what Catholic youth actually want. The official “pre-synod” document was supposedly written taking into account what young Catholics around the world expressed via official Facebook groups set up by the Vatican. Many Catholic adolescents and young adults in these groups – particularly the English-speaking one – called for...

In the wake of growing crisis in the Church that came into more stark relief after the startling resignation of Pope Benedict and the equally startling and disheartening papacy of Pope Francis, a number of Catholic prophecies came under widespread discussion.  Among the most prominent was Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s oft (partially quoted) vision on the “relationship between two popes,” and the “baleful consequences” of the “false Church” that would supposedly follow.It seemed to many that the vision was a glimpse offered to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich of our troubled times and our troubled Church, particularly with its precise reference...

The Vatican published an instruction Tuesday aimed at applying norms established in Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic constitution on women’s contemplative orders, which emphasizes the need for networks of monasteries in contemplative life. The instruction states that all monasteries of nuns must be affiliated with a federation, or organization, of religious houses. Published May 15, the document concerns the nearly 38,000 nuns around the world in contemplative religious orders, and underscores that these religious institutes, “wholly devoted to contemplation, always occupy an eminent place in the mystical body of Christ.”Therefore, even if there should be an urgent need for assistance in...

Not a parody. This is really happening. HERE The President of Germany…Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “Let us seek ways of expressing the common Christian faith by sharing in the Last Supper and Communion. I am sure: Thousands of Christians in interdenominational marriages are hoping for this.”  Cardinal Marx echoed the words of the German President, saying: “When someone is hungry and has faith, they must have access to the Eucharist. That must be our passion, and I will not let up on this.”Protestant German comedian Eckart von Hirschhausen caused particular controversy by demanding to be “handed that wafer” because, since he is married...

That statement you make when you think all blue collar workers are stupid:   “It really seems too daring that Jesus entrusts the task to a small group of simple men without great intellectual abilities!” The man seems to subscribe to an awful lot of urban legends. Blue collar workers are stupid. People who own guns are not Christian. Women who trust God and are open to life know about as much about procreation as wild bunny rabbits. Folks who come to Mass to immerse themselves in Christ in mystical prayer are people who don't like to dance. People who...

Monsignor Antonio Livi, a professor of philosophy and former dean at the Lateran University in Rome, has made some incisive and strong statements concerning the papacy of Pope Francis. He claims that this pope was put into his office in order to protestantize the Church; he says that the pope is putting “the worst heretics” at the top of the Church; and he also states that the post-conciliar popes all had sympathies for neo-Modernism. Monsignor Livi made these statements in an interview with Gloria.tv – whose content Gloria.tv published in English in three installments, from 25 April until 10 May...

We Must Teach and Insist on the “Whole Counsel of God” Msgr. Charles Pope • May 14, 2018 • The first reading from Tuesday’s Mass is Paul’s farewell speech to the presbyters (priests) of the early Church. Here is a skilled bishop and pastor exhorting others who have pastoral roles within the Church. Let’s examine this text and apply its wisdom to bishops and priests as well as to parents and other leaders in the Church.Paul’s Farewell Sermon – The scene is Miletus, a town in Asia Minor on the coast not far from Ephesus. Paul, who is about...

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German bishops, is now opening up to the idea of different German dioceses having different rules concerning the possible admittance of Protestant spouses of Catholics to Holy Communion. Another bishop just said, moreover, that Pope Francis seems not to see in the new German intercommunion guidelines a “threat to the Faith.”Last Saturday, the German Katholikentag (a national Catholic gathering with some 50,000 participants) in Münster came to an end. Now, at the beginning of this week, the statements of the participating German bishops concerning the ongoing intercommunion debate are being widely reported in...

German Bishop: "Gays Are Wanted By God“ “Gays are wanted by God“, the Essen Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers claimed at the Katholikentag in Münster, Germany (May 11). According to domradio.de, Schepers even asked that the Church has to “recognize her [alleged] history of guilt” in dealing with homosexuals. He said that Pope Francis has opened doors to "reconcile" the Church with the homosexuals. For the future, Schepers hopes that there will be liturgical ceremonies to bless [the mortal sin of] co-habitating homosexuals.

How Christ’s Ascension is to Be Manifested in Us Msgr. Charles Pope • May 13, 2018 • “Noli Me Tangere,” Giotto (1304-06)There is an interaction between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, recounted in John’s Gospel, teaching that Christ’s ascension is about more than just His going up to Heaven. In this, His ascension is like all of His actions: they are not just for Him but also for us.As Christ ascends, we are called to ascend in at least two ways:The event with Mary Magdalene takes place early in the morning on the day of His resurrection. Mary recognizes the...

Today, on the Fest of Our Lady of Fatima, the Bishops and Ordinaries of Kazakhstan issued a Pastoral Letter concerning the continued relevance of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae concerning matters of life. With this letter, the authors wish to confirm “the teaching of the constant Magisterium of the Church regarding the transmission of human life,” which they discussed during a recent meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The signatories — among them Bishop Athanasius Schneider — affirm “that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life.” With reference to different papal statements,...