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The Purpose of Exile By Philip Cottraux Assyria. The terror of the ancient world is still infamous for their extreme brutality. When the Assyrians would conquer a city, they were known to have “child fires,” lining up the city’s children and forcing the parents to watch while they burned them en masse. They would flay survivors of defeated armies alive and adorn the walls of Nineveh with the skins. Inside, the streets were decorated with “head pyramids,” large piles of decapitated heads of conquered people. Lines of dismembered limbs were strewn from building to building, adorning the city like gruesome...

Print this Page BlogsCatholic Church Sat Sep 22, 2018 - 2:49 pm EST Cardinal: Pope is ‘ice cold, sly Machiavellian, and, what is worse – he lies’ Maike Hickson Follow Maike   catholic, der spiegel, pope francis, vatican September 22, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Today, the German magazine Der Spiegel, one of the most influential political magazines in Europe, published a report on the failures of the papacy of Francis. LifeSiteNews already summed up the parts of this report about the involvement of Pope Francis in a cover-up of abuse cases in Argentina. But the Spiegel authors also make a report...

The Vatican announced today that the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China have signed a “provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops,” allowing the faithful to “have bishops who are in communion with Rome but at the same time recognized by Chinese authorities.”   In a short communique (see full text below), the Vatican said the agreement is the “fruit of a gradual and reciprocal rapprochement” that follows a “long process of careful negotiation.” In an accompanying briefing note, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had decided as part of the agreement to “readmit to full ecclesial communion” eight bishops (one...

Mental reservation Deception, even for very good reason, is always a sin, but we can still rely on God’s abundant mercy Msgr. Charles Pope September 23, 2018 Question: As a product of Jesuit education, I learned that if someone is not entitled to know the truth, then it is permissible to lie in order that the truth not be revealed to them, especially if they will use that information to harm others. Is this a valid view? — Ed Siering, Muscatine, Iowa Answer: If someone is not entitled to know the truth or facts about a certain situation, the clear...

HONG KONG, September 21, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong is calling for the Vatican secretary of state to resign over the Holy See’s impending deal with China that he says is “an incredible betrayal.” Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who is considered papabile, was chief negotiator in the agreement that is expected to be finalized when a Vatican delegation travels to China at the end of this month, according to AsiaNews. America Magazine reported Tuesday a Vatican source confirmed “a high-level Holy See delegation will travel to the Chinese capital for the signing and that a...

Franciscan Media Image: St. Matthew and the Angel | Guido Reni Saint Matthew Saint of the Day for September 21 (c. 1st Century)  Saint Matthew’s Story Matthew was a Jew who worked for the occupying Roman forces, collecting taxes from other Jews. The Romans were not scrupulous about what the “tax farmers” got for themselves. Hence the latter, known as “publicans,” were generally hated as traitors by their fellow Jews. The Pharisees lumped them with “sinners” (see Matthew 9:11-13). So it was shocking to them to hear Jesus call such a man to be one of his intimate followers.Matthew...

The Archbishop of Newark has announced that he will not attend an October gathering of bishops slated to discuss young adults and vocational discernment. The archbishop cited his pastoral obligations in the archdiocese amid the U.S. Church’s ongoing sexual abuse crisis.“This Synod is a uniquely important moment in the life of the Church, and I was honored to have been named by the Holy Father as a member of this special gathering whose topic, Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment, is of vital concern to the Church today and in the future,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin wrote in a Sept. 21...

Why is this accused gay predator still running the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception? The other day I received a call from a former Catholic University of America student who recounted episodes of sexual harassment that he suffered at the hands of Monsignor Walter Rossi, the Gay Mafioso whom pederast Cardinal Theodore McCarrick appointed to run the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 2005. Rossi succeeded another accused gay harasser, (then monsignor, later bishop) Michael Bransfield who is currently under investigation for preying upon men. So in Rossi’s rise we see another case of gay...

Knowing the Bad News Unlocks the Good News Msgr. Charles Pope • September 20, 2018 • Christ in the House of Simon, Dirk Bouts (1440)Some people suggest that the Church should speak less of sin and instead emphasize positive things. After all, it is said that one can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. In that vein, we in the Church have been collectively de-emphasizing sin to a large degree for decades, and yet our churches have been getting emptier and emptier. Maybe this is because people are just a little more complicated than the flies in...

And so he spoke. Knowing the personal risks of truth-telling in the Church of Bergoglio, Archbishop Viganò stepped off the ledge without a safety net, confident that the truth would provide a soft landing in eternity.No one should doubt the validity of his allegations. They ring true, confirmed by eyewitnesses, validated by his integrity and credibility, grounded in the facts, and boldly asserted in spite of dire personal consequences.These are the markings of a white martyr.Reeling from the powerful aftershocks of the Viganò testimony, Francis chose stone-cold silence. He uttered nine callous words: “I will not say a single word...

Silence? No, it seems the Bishop of Rome has gone insane: Medication may be needed. When questioned on the plane from Dublin what he had to say on the declaration of Abp. Viganò, the Bishop of Rome Francis said the following: I read it and sincerely I must tell you, and all those who are interested: read it yourselves carefully and make your own judgment. I will not say a single word on this. And yet, since his return, if there is one thing he has not been is silent. On the contrary: every single day, in his homilies at...

Franciscan Media Image: Saint Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions | CNS Photo Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions Saint of the Day for September 20 (August 21, 1821 – September 16, 1846; Companions d. between 1839 – 1867)    Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions’ Story The first native Korean priest, Andrew Kim Taegon was the son of Christian converts. Following his baptism at the age of 15, Andrew traveled 1,300 miles to the seminary in Macao, China. After six years, he managed to return to his country through Manchuria. That same year...

“But look, what a scandal! You can’t live like that! We have lost our values... Now everyone has the right to enter the church, even divorced people, everyone? But where are we?”. In the past or in the present many have been the “just” and “pure” people who have pronounced such phrases inside and outside the Church. Francis gives a name to these criticisms and public denunciations: “the scandal of the hypocrites”, he says in today’s mass in Santa Marta. It is “the hypocrisy of those who believe themselves saved for their own external merits”.   Jesus himself shows a...

All God’s Children and Nothing Greater Msgr. Charles Pope • September 19, 2018 • We often get anxious about rather petty notions related to our ranking relative to one another. On this topic, the Lord teaches an important lesson in the Gospel of Luke:An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who...

Franciscan Media Image: The Martyrdom of Saint Januarius | Neri di Bicci Saint Januarius Saint of the Day for September 19 (c. 300)  Saint Januarius’ Story Little is known about the life of Januarius. He is believed to have been martyred in the Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of 305. Legend has it that Januarius and his companions were thrown to the bears in the amphitheater of Pozzuoli, but the animals failed to attack them. They were then beheaded, and Januarius’ blood ultimately brought to Naples.“A dark mass that half fills a hermetically sealed four-inch glass container, and is preserved in...

VATICAN CITY, September 18, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – To Archbishop Carlo Viganò’s allegations, Pope Francis will say not a word. But on the theme of the Great Accuser, he has preached four times. This morning, September 18, after preaching on the Gospel of the day – in which Jesus raises the son of the Widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17) – Francis shifted from thoughts on Christ’s compassion to those concerning His silence before the “Great Accuser.” According to the Vatican’s own news website, Vatican News, Francis believes Christ’s silence was itself a form of compassion. “The Pope brought up that it...

DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Young priests in the United States are voicing their concerns about the sex abuse crisis and the upcoming Synod on Youth.  Eight priests signed their names to an open letter published online by First Things on Wednesday. Addressing the bishops who will be attending the Synod, the letter states, "We wish to express our concern about the unfolding crisis of sexual abuse in the Church, especially the Church in the United States. Specifically, we are concerned about how this crisis relates to the Synod on the Faith, Young People, and Vocational Discernment, which is to take place in Rome in...

A Prescription for Peace in a World of Woe Msgr. Charles Pope • September 18, 2018 • Raising of the Widow’s Son at Nain, by James TissotThe Gospel for Tuesday of the 24th Week provides a kind of prescription for peace in a world of woe. Let’s look at it in four stages. I. The Place – Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.The name of the city, Nain, means fair (in the sense of beautiful)—and it was, for it sat upon a high hill and commanded a magnificent view.This...

Franciscan Media Image: Saint Joseph of Cupertino. Engraving after F.A. Lorenzini | Wellcome Images Saint Joseph of Cupertino Saint of the Day for September 18 (June 17, 1603 – September 18, 1663)  Saint Joseph of Cupertino’s Story Joseph of Cupertino is most famous for levitating at prayer. Already as a child, Joseph showed a fondness for prayer. After a short career with the Capuchins, he joined the Conventual Franciscans. Following a brief assignment caring for the friary mule, Joseph began his studies for the priesthood. Though studies were very difficult for him, Joseph gained a great deal of knowledge...

While the eyes of most of the faithful who follow Church news remain fixated on the near-constant drumbeat of new information about Clerical Abuse Scandal 2.0, another papal document has dropped, and in it, another likely time bomb.This morning, Pope Francis issued the Apostolic Constitution Epicopalis Communio (EC) – “Episcopal Communion” – which aims to “reform” the synodal process. The document, available thus far only in Italian, makes changes that should be of familiar concern to anyone who paid attention to the 2014 & 2015 synods on the Family. From Chris Altieri’s commentary today at the Catholic Herald: The role of the General Secretary...