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Ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick is not the only wrong person on whom Francis bet. Because at least three others can be pointed out, in the upper levels of the hierarchy, each one tied with double thread to the changes that this pope wants to introduce into the Church. Francis too had known for some time about McCarrick’s bad conduct, his grooming of young people and seminarians, taking them on outings and then to bed. And yet he kept him right with him until the end, as his chief adviser in the appointments aimed at tipping the balance of power among the...

Franciscan Media Image: Statue of Pope Callistus I on the Saints portal | Northern transept of Our Lady cathedral of Reims, Marne, France | photo by Fab5669 Saint Callistus I Saint of the Day for October 14 (d. 223)  Saint Callistus I’s Story The most reliable information about this saint comes from his enemy Saint Hippolytus, an early antipope, later a martyr for the Church. A negative principle is used: If some worse things had happened, Hippolytus would surely have mentioned them.Callistus was a slave in the imperial Roman household. Put in charge of the bank by his master,...

The Fall of the Gay Mafia’s Don The Pope’s glowing words won’t save Wuerl. He will end his days in disgrace. Some of Donald Wuerl’s priests called him the “Tin Man,” a reference to his cold, heartless style as the archbishop of Washington, D.C., a position from which he has now formally resigned, though outrageously Pope Francis is permitting him to continue as an “apostolic administrator” until his successor arrives. It is hilarious that Wuerl became arguably the most powerful American cardinal in the “pastoral church of Pope Francis,” given that Wuerl is the least pastoral prelate imaginable. He instinctively...

What Does Heaven Cost? A Homily for the 28th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • October 13, 2018 • The Rich Young Man Goes Away Sorrowful, J. Tissot (1894)The Sunday Gospel invites us to wrestle with these fundamental, essential, focal questions: “What does Heaven cost?” and “Am I willing to pay it?” I. Problematic Pondering – A rich man asks Jesus, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?Though his question is a good one, it is problematic because he couches it in terms of his own personal power and achievement. He wonders what he...

Franciscan Media Image: Blessed Marie Rose Durocher | Achona, The Online Newspaper of Academy of the Holy Names, Tampa | photo by Keri Kelly/Achona Online Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher Saint of the Day for October 13 (October 6, 1811 – October 6, 1849)  Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher’s Story Canada was one diocese from coast to coast during the first eight years of Marie-Rose Durocher’s life. Its half-million Catholics had received civil and religious liberty from the English only 44 years before.She was born in a little village near Montreal in 1811, the 10th of 11 children. She had a good education,...

Why We Need Not (and Should Not) Call Paul VI ‘Saint’ Many who have studied the life and pontificate of Pope Paul VI are convinced that he was far from exemplary in his conduct as pastor; that he not only did not possess heroic virtue, but lacked certain key virtues; that his promulgation of a titanic liturgical reform was incompatible with his papal office of handing on that which he had received; that he offers us a portrait of failed governance and tradition betrayed. In short, for us, it is impossible to accept that a pope such as this could ever be...

How Many Moseses Wrote the Torah? By Philip Cottraux I wrote two previous blogs discussing mid-19th century German theologian J.G. Eichhorn, originator of many modern criticisms of the Bible. In “The Daniel Lynchpin,” (click here to read) I addressed his proposal that the book of Daniel was a product of the Maccabean period. In “How Many Isaiahs Wrote Isaiah?” (click here to read), I addressed his theory that Isaiah has more than one author. This is a follow-up of sorts, as there is a similar claim that the Torah has multiple authors (at least in the Isaiah theory, the prophet...

The Case against Pope Francis He has elevated immoral men in order to change the Catholic faith Just over five years ago, the Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio came out onto the loggia of St. Peter’s as Pope Francis. It is useful to recall the situation of the Church that he inherited.The sex-abuse scandals that had rocked the Church in America and some European countries at the turn of the millennium were subsiding, or so it seemed. But the dysfunction at the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI had overwhelmed the scholarly pontiff. Benedict’s chosen reformer for the corrupt Vatican...

Franciscan Media Image: Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, St Magn Basilica, Füssen, Germany | photo by Myke Rosenthal Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Saint of the Day for October 12 (January 11, 1819 – October 4, 1867)  Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos’ Story Zeal as a preacher and a confessor led Father Seelos to works of compassion as well.Born in southern Bavaria, he studied philosophy and theology in Munich. On hearing about the work of the Redemptorists among German-speaking Catholics in the United States, he came to this country in 1843. Ordained at the end of 1844, he was assigned...

Fatima Perspectives #1241 (pictured above: The Face of Occupied Rome)As Life Site News reports, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio (pictured above), “a close collaborator of Pope Francis, was present at the homosexual drug-fueled party raided by the Vatican police in the summer of 2017 at which his secretary, Monsignor Luigi Capozzi, was arrested.” Indeed, he was reportedly presiding over the abomination in progress. Yet Coccopalmerio was allowed to leave the scene of the crime, an apartment in the very building that houses the former Holy Office, now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.Thus no one should be surprised that...

Francis’ glowing send-off of Wuerl signals he’s ‘not the Pope to clean out the stables’: scholar WASHINGTON, D.C., October 12, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis’ praise of Cardinal Wuerl for his “nobility” and “docility to the Spirit” in his letter accepting the Cardinal’s resignation signals that Francis is “not the Pope to clean out the stables” of the abuse crisis that is rocking the Church, a Catholic scholar said.  Oxford University’s Dr. Joseph Shaw told LifeSiteNews that Pope Francis’s Oct. 12 letter accepting Cardinal Wuerl’s resignation “makes it very clear” that he doesn’t want to punish his subordinate.  “In...

Vatican II at 56: Like all Totalitarianisms of the 20th Century, Vatican II will still cause great havoc The Second Vatican Council was opened in Rome exactly 56 years ago, on October 11, 1962. John XXIII had chosen this day, the Feast of the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, a memento of the Council of Ephesus, as the day of its beginning. Irony of ironies: the whirlwind generated by the Council that would almost extinguish the Traditional liturgy of the Roman Church included the abolition of the Feast on this day and the transformation of the Octave Day...

What Conscience Dreads and Prayer Dares Not Ask Msgr. Charles Pope • October 11, 2018 • The Collect (Opening Prayer) for this week’s Masses (27th Week of the Year), though directed to God, teaches us that our prayer is not always about things with which we are comfortable. It sometimes leads us to examine areas of our life in which we struggle with sin or we struggle to desire to be free of sin. Here is the prayer:Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour...

Vatican City, October 11, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Fourteen small groups of members of the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment discussed the Instrumentum Laboris (IL), or working document, guiding the Synod’s deliberations this week.   Divided by language groups, there were four English-language conversations, three French, two Spanish, one German, and one Portuguese. For many of the participants, these were foreign, or second, languages.  The reports of these sessions were largely difficult to read; most were verbose and poorly organized. However, certain themes and tendencies were clear.  First, the English-speaking groups were concerned that the IL...

Franciscan Media Image: Pope John XXIII begins the Mass | Saint Peter’s Basilica, October 11, 1959 | photo by Medici con l’Africa Cuamm Saint John XXIII Saint of the Day for October 11 (November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963)  Saint John XXIII’s Story Although few people had as great an impact on the 20th century as Pope John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much as possible. Indeed, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” seems one of his most remarkable qualities.The firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo in northern Italy, Angelo...

How could you, Archbishop Vigano? “How can you celebrate Mass,” Cardinal Ouellet angrily demands of Archbishop Viganò, “and mention the pope’s name in the Eucharistic Prayer?” An excellent question. It forces us to ask whether we have ever imagined that in praying for our shepherds we were thereby paying tribute to their rectitude and decency. Think of the faithful whose priests, over, say, the last 30 years, have invited them to pray for John Paul our pope, or for Benedict our pope … “… and for Rembert our bishop”—who used $450,000 of his flock’s contributions to buy the silence of...

On 9 October, the Vatican issued a report summarizing the Synod’s first round of small group discussions, which focused on Part One (paragraphs 1 to 72) of the Synod’s working document, the Instrumentum Laboris [IL].  As in past synods, bishop-delegates, Synod auditors, and invited observers divide into language-based discussion groups when the Synod is not meeting in general assembly. In Synod-2018 there are fourteen such groups, or Circoli Minori in Synod-speak: four for English speakers, three for French, one for German, two for Spanish, three for Italian, and one for Portuguese. (Once upon a time, there would be “circle” using...

Why St. Paul Called Some Disciples Stupid Msgr. Charles Pope • October 10, 2018 • The first reading for Thursday’s Mass (27th week of the year) contains St. Paul’s provocative assessment that some of us are stupid.The Greek word used is ἀνόητος (anóētos), which comes from a (without) + noiéō, (to think). Therefore, this refers to not thinking, not reasoning through a matter, being unmindful, or acting in a mindless, dense way. This is rendered in English as “stupid.”There are three reasons that he calls some people stupid:1. They have looked away from the Cross. The text says,O stupid...

Franciscan Media Image: Carlos V receives a visit from Saint Francis Borgia in Yuste | Joaquín María Herrer y Rodríguez Saint Francis Borgia Saint of the Day for October 10 (October 28, 1510 – September 30, 1572)  Saint Francis Borgia’s Story Today’s saint grew up in an important family in 16th-century Spain, serving in the imperial court and quickly advancing in his career. But a series of events—including the death of his beloved wife—made Francis Borgia rethink his priorities. He gave up public life, gave away his possessions, and joined the new and little-known Society of Jesus.Religious life proved...

October 10, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The gutted and repurposed Vatican Academy for Life admonished Catholics over the weekend to cut the “gossip” on the Church’s sexual abuse scandal and trust the Vatican’s handling of the crisis. Responding via Twitter to the October 6 saying Pope Francis is and has been taking care of the Archbishop Theodore McCarrick sexual predation scandal, the Pontifical Academy for Life gave assurances by way of a three-year-old quote from the pope that the truth of the McCarrick scandal would indeed be attained. “McCarrick: @HolySeePress: “We will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead,”...