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Vatican officials have mounted an extraordinary challenge to the ancient Order of Malta. But what is the row really about?The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is one of the more improbable success stories of the 21st-century Church. Founded in 1099 to provide hospital care and military defence in the Holy Land, it has retained much of its medieval tradition and ceremony. But it has also, by gradual reform, become a powerhouse of international aid. More than 100,000 members, medical staff and volunteers are offering practically every form of charitable assistance around the world, from handing out sandwiches to the homeless...

*** Principally new data obtained in course of investigationMoscow, January 6, Interfax - Head of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, rector of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Yegoryevsk tells when results of the church expertise of the criminal case on the murder of Nicholas II family will be released. "We hope that as the work is very extensive and the report will be very voluminous, it will be ready by the second quarter of this year: investigators will report to the Investigative Committee, and we will report to the coming Bishops' Council," the bishop told in his...

A passage from the Koran that denies one of the central tenets of the Christian faith was sung aloud at a cathedral service in Scotland. The passage from Surah 19, which specifically denies that Jesus was the Son of God and says He should not be worshipped, was sung during a Eucharist service at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow to mark the feast of the Epiphany. A video of the recital was posted on YouTube showing a girl singing the passage in a typical Islamic style. It narrates the Islamic account of the birth of Jesus, which includes the...

Vatican (kath.net) The emeritus Pope Benedict XVI received a visit from Curia cardinal Robert Sarah. The meeting took place on Tuesday in the monastery of Mater Ecclesiae, Benedict's residence. Sarah, who is from Africa, is the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacramentary Order.In 2015, the Cardinal published the much-respected book "God or Nothing".

Full Title: Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Family -- The Family Under the Shadow of Amoris Laetitia This is the first year that the feast of the Holy Family is being celebrated in the context and shadow of Pope Francis’  Apostolic Exhortation,  Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love.  The Feast of the Holy Family was added to the Church’s calendar in the first decade of the twentieth century.  To contemplate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is indeed a good thing to do within the celebration of the Christmas season.  The bond of love that existed...

Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:Therefore, ye mountains of Israel,...

Lots of lefties are hopping up and down in little circles because the Four Cardinals (Burke, Caffara, Meisner, Brandmueller) offered Five Dubia (questions, narrowly framed, asking for yes or no clarificatory responses) arising from the objective lack of clarity in Chapter 8 of Amoris laetitia.  As these catholic libs, chimp-like, fling their stuff around, Card. Burke continues to give interviews in an attempt to bring sobriety to the debate.Today I saw an interview dated 11 January in the Italian publication La Verità.  Card. Burke is asked some tough questions and he gives straight on answers.  Asked whether they are “inventing” a way to...

The reform of the Vatican curia that Pope Francis is carrying out is being done partly in sunshine and partly in shadow.Among the provisions recently adopted in shadow, there are two that are emblematic.*The veil was lifted on the first by the vaticanista Marco Tosatti, when on December 26 he broke the news of an order the pope had given to a dicastery head to summarily fire three of his officials, an order given without explanations and without accepting objections.It is now known that the dicastery in question is not second-tier, it is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the...

By now you've probably heard about what a number of Christians are calling the Revelation 12 Sign that will supposedly occur on Saturday, September 23rd, 2017.  There is a lot of rampant speculation on the internet both for and against the legitimacy of this sign and much information to weed through.  What's true?  What's false?  Is this all hype?  The goal of this article is to provide readers with a comprehensive and straightforward analysis of the purported sign, addressing many questions and concerns.  The three sections below cover the sign itself, it's possible significance, and claims and critiques about...

[St Raymond of Penyafort] Not one of my favourite saints: for some reason canonists called Raymond tend to upset me. Anyway, at dawn my servant Spadaro (whose duties include a little light cleaning, cooking, and insult-writing, and who feeds the papal sockpuppets) rushed into my humble chambers brandishing a letter from Raymond, Cardinal Burke. Dear Sir or Madam, Following your lack of response to our five dubia, we have the honour of informing you that Amoris Laetitia is an heretical document, and you are therefore officially in schism with the Catholic Church. Your title henceforth is Antipope Francis, and your...

Scene: the Vatican. Pope Francis is addressing a few selected younger cardinals. All the usual suspects are there: Schönbörn, Cupich, Farrell, Tagle, Marx, etc., but, surprisingly not Sarah, Burke or Pell. Francis speaks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the training course for new popes. Of course I fully expect to carry on for another 15 years, until I have totally rewritten the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount; however, accidents will happen, and I may have to retire to Avignon instead. Alternatively, Burke says that if he can find four doctors, he will have me sectioned. So it seems best...

Following a violent disagreement in the Vatican about what exactly 2+2 adds up to, Pope Francis has decided to call an Extraordinary Synod to help define (or more probably, "develop") Catholic doctrine on the subject. #Father #Spadaro makes #a #hash of his #arithmetic. Now, about that expenses claim, Father... Of course, this is not a new question. The famous "Kasper proposal" was that 1+1+1 should equal 2, at least in the context of marriage, provided the numbers had been properly accompanied and allowed to discern that their consciences were really telling them to do whatever they pleased. Four (or was...

The Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Order of Malta, in response to the activities being carried out by a Group appointed by the Secretary of State of the Vatican, considers it appropriate to reiterate that the replacement of the former Grand Chancellor was an internal act of the government of the Order. Thus, considering the legal irrelevance of this Group and of its findings relating to the legal structure of the Order of Malta, the Order has decided that it should not cooperate with it. This is to protect its sovereignty against initiatives which claim to be directed at objectively...

The Knights of Malta, the ancient Catholic lay order, is refusing to cooperate with a Vatican investigation into the sacking of a top official over a condom scandal — and is warning its members to toe the line if they choose to speak with investigators. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Knights called the investigation legally “irrelevant” and aimed at limiting its sovereignty. It insisted that the ousting of its grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, was an act of internal governance that in no way involves religious superiors. The order told its members that if they speak with Vatican-appointed...

Catholic schools in Britain must not be allowed to be “homophobic” and oppose gay marriage, the government’s top advisor on community integration has said. Speaking to MPs on Monday, Dame Louise Casey hit out at “religious conservativism”, which she called “anti-equalities”, likening conservative Christianity to extreme Islam. In a discussion on her recent report – in which she highlighted the great social divisions between different immigrant religious groups within British society – Dame Louise said that just it was not acceptable for Muslim schools to segregate boys and girls, it was also not acceptable for Catholic schools to be “homophobic”....

Perhaps no single thing any pope ever does is more consequential than the kinds of bishops and Vatican officials he chooses to appoint, and here's a rundown of some of the personnel choices Francis may face in 2017. ROME – By now, we already know much of what’s on Pope Francis’s plate in 2017, including two confirmed trips — Fatima in May, and India and Bangladesh probably later in the year — and the likelihood of a couple more, one to Africa (perhaps Congo and South Sudan) and one to Latin America (beginning with Colombia.)The pontiff will also make quick...

Chris Pratt Reveals His Conversion to Christianity Chris Pratt is a rare bird: a conservative Christian who is also a major star in Hollywood. In an interview this week for Vanity Fair, Pratt described his conversion to Christianity — and the magazine's writer felt it necessary to explain his faith away.And by major star, I mean major. Although his latest hit, Passengers (2016), has not impressed at the box office and has gotten panned by reviewers, his career is still on the up-and-up. After his breakout role in the show Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), Pratt has starred in The Lego...

Unless the Pope formally abrogates the Order's rights, no Vatican department can investigate the Order – and certainly not the Secretariat of State. The dispute between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Holy See’s Secretariat of State can be quite confusing. So much so that even the Secretary of State himself, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, seems to be having a hard time finding his place in the affair.To recap: Cardinal Parolin has announced that a commission to investigate the dismissal of the Order’s Grand Chancellor will go ahead. He has said, according to recent leaks, that the Order is...

Communist gangs hired by authorities severely beat several Christians in Hebei province in China after they resisted the destruction of an officially registered church.

There is a disturbing and growing trend in Italy and Europe. For the first time in more than 700 years, Islamic songs resonated in Florence's Cathedral, the Church Santa Maria del Fiore. Under the famous Dome of Brunelleschi, Islamic melodies accompanied Christian ones. The "interfaith initiative" was promoted a week after the barbaric massacre by Islamist terrorists in Paris at the magazine Charlie Hebdo, and included "Koran is Justice" and other such "hymns". A priest in the south of Italy then enraged parishioners by dressing the Virgin Mary in a Muslim burqa for his church's Christmas nativity scene. The pastor...