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Our Strengths Are Often Our Struggles Msgr. Charles Pope • November 18, 2016 • One of the things that I have learned about myself, and humans in general, is that our strengths are very closely related to our struggles. Some people are very passionate; this makes them dedicated and driven to make a difference. But it also makes them prone to anger or depression. Their passion in one area (e.g., truth, justice) can cause difficulties with passions in other areas such as sexuality, food, or drink. Passionate people can inspire others and are often great leaders. But they also...

After nearly two months, the wait is finally over. In an interview with the Italian newspaper, Avvenire, Francis has addressed the dubia. As all but those who live in either fear or abject denial will affirm, Francis provided his answers to each of the five questions that are posed therein. [NOTE: English translation courtesy of Andrea Tornielli at Vatican Insider.] Without specifically mentioning the dubia by name, Francis said with respect to criticism of Amoris Laetitia: The Church exists only as an instrument for the communication of God’s merciful plan to the people. During the Council, the Church felt it...

The neverending drama about Amoris Laetitia continues. The formal request submitted by “Cardinals” Caffarra, Meisner, Burke, and Brandmuller for clarification of five specific points in the infernal exhortation Amoris Laetitia (the so-called dubia, or “doubts”), was released to the public this past Monday, since for almost two months the “Sovereign Pontiff” had refused to give them the courtesy of a response. “Cardinal” Burke added more fuel to the fire by saying in a follow-up interview that the next step would be to confront Francis with a “formal act of correction” should he persist in his errors. Clearly, Francis is not...

In an unprecedented development in the post Vatican II Church Pope Francis has cancelled his meeting with the world's cardinals at the consistory he convoked to take place on Saturday 19th November. The Holy Father's surprise decision follows the unusual step he has taken not to respond to the dubia -- the five questions --- submitted to him by senior cardinals to clarify confusion arising from his post-synodal exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. A consistory is a formal meeting of the college of cardinals convoked and chaired by the pope that are usually conducted in secret, though can be held in public....

The Meanest Thing Jesus Ever Said Msgr. Charles Pope • November 17, 2016 • The Gospel from Wednesday’s Mass (Wed. of the 33rd Week – Luke 19:11-27) is known as the “Parable of the Ten Gold Coins.” It has an ending so shocking that, when I read it at Mass some years ago, a young child said audibly to her mother, “Wow, that’s mean!”I’d like to look at it and ponder its shocking ending.Today’s parable is like Matthew’s “Parable of the Talents,” but with some significant differences. In today’s parable, ten people each receive one gold coin. We only...

The fireworks just keep on coming. As the reliable Vaticanist Giuseppe Nardi reports today, a 1975 theological study by the learned Brazilian layman Arnaldo Vidigal Xavier da Silveira is currently making the rounds in the Vatican, and it’s not just any study: It’s a study on whether it is possible for a Pope to be or become a heretic, and if so, what consequences would follow from this. What might possibly have given occasion for Vatican theologians to occupy themselves with such abstruse thoughts? Have they all gone into studying abstract hypotheses for the sake of sharpening their intellects? Clearly,...

Clergy, religious and laity in the Detroit archdiocese on Friday will convene for the archdiocese's first synod in almost 50 years. "Synod '16: Unleash the Gospel" — the official title — "is both an event and a process that sees people … gather to discuss important matters of faith" according to a press release from the archdiocese. In the release, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron also stated that the synod serves two roles: to focus on the missionary purpose of the church and to change the "DNA" of the archdiocese. "The focus of this Synod is evangelization, to attempt a radical...

Newly designated Cardinal, Bishop Kevin Farrell, an American and head of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has given an interview to the French publication, La Croix published also at the National "Catholic" Reporter. Bishop Kevin J. Farrell - Official Photograph (Courtesy of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas).jpg "Honestly, I do not see how and why some bishops seem to think they have to interpret this document, "said in an interview to the National Catholic Reporter to be published on Thursday, November 17, the one to whom Pope Francis entrusted the pastoral family." "I believe that the document Amoris...

A Funeral Sermon Designed to Teach on the Last Things and Inspire Prayer Msgr. Charles Pope • November 16, 2016 • In Monday’s post, I discussed some of the more common problems with funerals; it provides background for the homily I summarize in today’s post. In it, I tried to teach on what I think are the central themes that should be emphasized in Christian funerals. I do not necessarily preach every word you see here at every funeral, but I do address these basic themes.The homily I typically give at funerals is broken into three main parts: Praise...

Love of the World Fuels the Fear of Death – A Meditation on a Teaching of St. Cyprian Msgr. Charles Pope • November 15, 2016 • As November winds down and Advent still looms, the traditional meditation we make on the four last things (death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell) is still operative. A classic writing by St. Cyprian comes to mind. It is a meditation on the fundamental human struggle to be free of undue attachment to this world and to have God (and the things waiting for us in Heaven) as our highest priority.In this meditation, St. Cyprian...

In an exclusive Register interview, he elaborates about why four cardinals were impelled to seek clarity about the papal exhortation’s controversial elements. Article main image Four cardinals asked Pope Francis five dubia questions, or “doubts,” about the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) in a bid to clear up ambiguities and confusion surrounding the text. On Nov. 14, they went public with their request, after they learned that the Holy Father had decided not to respond to their questions. In this exclusive interview with the Register, Cardinal Raymond Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, explains...

The Pope wrote a message a United Nations convention on climate change The vulnerability of the poor and of future generations to the impact of climate change creates a “serious ethical and moral responsibility to act without delay and as free as possible from political and economic pressure” to slow climate change and protect the environment, Pope Francis said. In a written message to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Marrakech, Morocco, Pope Francis praised the 100 countries that formally joined the Paris climate agreement adopted last year, but emphasised that implementing the agreement must involve...

Cardinal-designate Kevin J. Farrell believes the U.S. bishops as a whole should have discussed pastoral guidelines for implementing Pope Francis' exhortation on the family before individual bishops began issuing guidelines for their own dioceses. Implementing the pope's exhortation, "Amoris Laetitia," he said, "has to be done in communion with our bishops. I think that it would have been wiser to wait for the gathering of the conference of bishops where all the bishops of the United States or all the bishops of a country would sit down and discuss these things." A conference-wide discussion, he told Catholic News Service Nov....

You will not believe the ridiculousness of it all, but Bergoglioland has finally reached full Banana Republic status. Pope Francis, the Anastasio Somoza of Adultery, the Papa Doc of Sinful Cohabitation, has under him now a Secret "Police", the Osservatorio per l'Attuazione della Riforma della Chiesa di Papa Francesco (OARCPF - Observatory for the Implementation of the Church Reform of Pope Francis) sending our e-mail letters of official tone to professors in Roman institutions demanding them to teach Amoris Laetitia according to the mind of the Pope (that is, Holy Communion to public adulterers and fornicators) -- or to face...

For the past three-and-a-half years we have witnessed the bizarre, completely unprecedented spectacle of a wayward Roman Pontiff engaged in clever maneuvering to impose upon the Church a disastrous fracturing of her bimillenial moral and Eucharistic discipline respecting the divorced and “remarried”—and, even worse, via Amoris Laetitia (especially Ch. 8, ¶¶ 300-305), a form of situation ethics that would institutionalize admission to the sacraments of all manner of people living habitually in situations that are mortally sinful. The entire sinister program, the centerpiece of Bergoglianism, is summed up in Francis’ shocking declaration at ¶ 303 of Amoris: Yet conscience can...

Catholic Action president, Thomas McKenna, was granted the following interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke to further explain the intentions of the four cardinals and the published documents entitled “Seeking Clarity: A Plea to Untie the Knots in Amoris Laetitia." The full text is provided at the end of the interview. Catholic Action: Your Eminence, thank you for taking the time to have this interview with us about what you have published today. The substance of the documents which you and the other Cardinals have made public is called “Dubia.” Can you please explain what Dubia means and what the presentation...

As predicted by this blog, the dubia questions raised by the Four Cardinals regarding the permission of accepting Adulterers to Holy Communion has been soundly rejected by the Roman Authorities. Antonio Spadaro., S.J., the Ghost Writer of Francis', and the de facto "pope" of Rome has rejected out of hand and dismissed the Four Cardinals. In this, I am not surprised, indeed, I predicted it. In no way is Francis and his manipulator, Spadaro in any way inconvenienced.

Amoris Laetitia opens a new door that goes beyond Familiaris Consortio and does away with unnecessarily harsh requirements from the Catholic Church with regard to chastity, according to a recent presentation on the Apostolic Exhortation by Bishop Marcello Semeraro in Spain. Semeraro spoke at the Jesuit University of Comillas in Madrid at the presentation of a new edition of Amoris Laetitia in Spanish with an introduction he wrote. The university rector, Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach, who is the Archbishop Emeritus of Barcelona, as well as Jesuits Pablo Guerrero and Carmen Magallón, both professors at the university, were also present. Semeraro...

Funeral Foibles – Problems in the Celebration of Catholic Funerals Msgr. Charles Pope • November 14, 2016 • In this month of All Souls, it is good to reflect on funerals. It concerns me that very few people today seem to understand the real purpose of a funeral. The way in which we conduct ourselves at funerals, the manner of preaching at funerals, and other visible attitudes expressed at funerals not only teach poorly, but are often a countersign of biblical and Church teaching on death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell.There are many problems, both sociological, and liturgical, that combine...