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[Catholic Caucus] Statement of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in defense of Reverend Mother Prioress, Teresa Agnes, o.c.d., and of the Carmel of the Most Holy Trinity of Arlington, TexasThe persecution of the Carmel of Arlington by the Bishop of Fort Worth, Michael Olson, shows no signs of abating.We have witnessed a crescendo of aggression, verbal violence, abuse of power, institutional cover-up, intimidation, and outrages carried out against a religious community that is firmly determined to return to Tradition. The targeted victim of this vile operation is the Mother Prioress, Teresa Agnes of Jesus Crucified, who has been publicly defamed in...

[Catholic Caucus] Guest Post: Spiritual Diocesan Malfeasance in the Diocese of Arlington? by Brian KoppThe SSPX Chapel in Linden at ChristmasEditor's note: All the information in the commentary below by Brian Kopp is first hand witnessed by Brian himself and the people involved and/or their parents. The situation in the Front Royal area is tragic. Rather than recognizing who the real enemy is, the local diocese and parishes have chosen to attack the SSPX and those who attend the chapel. It is hard to believe a priest would label a faithful believing and practicing Catholic as "not a Catholic." My...

[Catholic Caucus] Texas bishop ousts Carmelite Mother after getting Vatican backing in ongoing conflictBishop Michael Olson has made the shock move to dismiss Mother Teresa from the Carmelites, citing an unspecified sin against the sixth commandment.FORT WORTH, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — In a stunning move, Bishop Michael Olson of Texas has unilaterally moved to dismiss a Carmelite nun from the entire religious order, claiming that he found her guilty of violating the sixth commandment with an unnamed priest.In a statement issued June 1, the Diocese of Fort Worth announced that Bishop Michael Olson had deemed Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach) of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Backs to the wall: Can bishops ban 'ad orientem'? a.image2.image-link.image2-540-728 { display: inline; padding-bottom: 74.17582417582418%; padding-bottom: min(74.17582417582418%, 540px); width: 100%; height: 0; } a.image2.image-link.image2-540-728 img { max-width: 728px; max-height: 540px; } Bishop James Conley offers the Ordinary Form of the Mass ad orientem. Credit: Southern Nebraska Register.U.S. dioceses in recent weeks have seen new liturgical policies introduced in response to Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditiones custodes. But while the pope’s new laws pertain to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, some dioceses have also announced new policies pertaining to the Ordinary Form, and especially to the ad orientem...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Viganò asks Catholics to support persecuted clergy, warns of ‘epochal clash’ in ChurchViganò encouraged Catholics to host priests in their houses to say Mass, and to ‘protect the victims of these wolves in sheep’s clothing.’DUBUQUE, Iowa (LifeSiteNews) – In a video message to the Coalition for Canceled Priests, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò declared that the “entire general staff of the Catholic Church has revealed itself to be allied with the enemy,” and urged the lay faithful to support priests who are “victims of persecution and of canonical abuses” in a kind of underground church.The former apostolic nuncio...

Catholic Bishops’ Response to Biden’s Vaccine MandatePresident Biden has made clear his belief that everyone has a moral obligation to receive the Covid vaccine. The refusal of many citizens to act accordingly has, in his view, put the health of many Americans at risk. He therefore signed an executive order mandating that businesses with more than 100 employees ensure that all employees be either vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid. Any business that fails to comply could be penalized up to $14,000 per violation.Biden’s mandate has prompted a response from elected officials, the business community, and the media, but also...

[Catholic Caucus] “Men Must Be Changed by Sacred Things, and Not Sacred Things by Men”The title of this article is taken from the words uttered by Cardinal Egidio da Viterbo in 1512 during the inaugural oration of the Fifth Lateran Council: “Homines per sacra immutari fas est, non sacra per homines.” Against that backdrop, imagine the following conversation between two seminarians, both studying for their dioceses. They have discovered and fallen in love with the traditional Latin Mass and want to embrace its riches, but they disagree over how to go about doing so.Michael: It’s possible to bring tradition into...

[Catholic Caucus] PARIS: Traditionis custodes … good news and bad newsThe Archbishop of Paris, Most Rev. Michel Aupetit, issued a letter to priests of that venerable see about Traditionis custodes.Good news and bad news.The good news is that the TLM will continue at Ste Odile (17e), Ste Jeanne de Chantal (16e), St Eugène-Ste Cécile (9e), St Roch (1er), and ND du Lys (15e). However, Aupetit suppressed TLMs at Notre-Dame-du-Travail (14e – South Paris). What a lovely birthday gift for Our Lady.Also suppressed, Saint-Georges-de-la-Villette (19e – East Paris), both in poorer areas. I am told that the miffed reaction was, “No...

[Catholic Caucus] German(FSSP) priest challenges COVID jabs and LGBT agenda, gets forced out of parishA letter to the diocese emphatically expressed ‘our indignation and horror’ at the priest over criticizing ‘the current zeitgeist’ in his monthly bulletin to the faithful attached to the Traditional Latin Mass. RECKLINGHAUSEN, Germany (LifeSiteNews) — A German priest will be transferred to the Czech Republic after the parish where he was allowed to say the Traditional Latin Mass reported him to the diocese for questioning mainstream narratives about the COVID-19 vaccine, homosexuality, and gender ideology. Fr. Michael Ramm FSSP, a member of the Priestly Fraternity...

Vaccine tyranny is not Catholic: Analyzing arguments of vaccine moralityTo decide imperiously that the conscience conflicted by the cooperation in ethically compromised vaccines is necessarily in error and opposed to authoritative teaching – in other words, to suppress the faculty of reason in others and replace it with own’s own – is the worst form of clericalism. It is spiritual abuse. (LifeSiteNews) — As vaccine mandates loom and even go into effect across our nation and world, the moral question of the liceity of COVID vaccines currently on the market becomes ever more pressing. More and more frequently, apologists for...

We shall go into the house of the Lord (Psalm 121)As a priest of the Archdiocese of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain, I have been very blessed to have been offering the Traditional Roman Mass in my home diocese since 2008. When ordained on Pentecost 1996, my hope of being able to celebrate the Vetus Ordo, even once before taking leave of this vale of tears, was rather more wishful thinking at the time.But here I am, celebrating every Sunday and preceptive Holy-day for nearly thirteen years now. And will continue to do so, though having had to switch over from...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Sarah: A Church that Claims a Reversal of Her Liturgy is a Church with no Credibility Cardinal Robert SarahLe FigaroAugust 13, 2021[Main excerpts:]Doubt has taken hold of Western thought. Intellectuals and politicians alike describe the same impression of collapse. Faced with the breakdown of solidarity and the disintegration of identities, some turn to the Catholic Church. ... But is the Church capable of responding to these calls? Certainly, she has already played this role of guardian and transmitter of civilization. ...[Cardinal Sarah at the Abbey of Saint Mary of Lagrasse]Without a sacred foundation, every bond becomes...

[Catholic Caucus] Schneider Has the Proof: Not A Single Infection Through RECEPTION of Holy CommunionIt is an episcopal abuse of power to impose grabbing Communion with the hand under the pretext of Covid-19, Bishop Schneider told Mia Barhouche in a French interview during a recent visit in Lebanon (video below).Schneider stresses that grabbing is not "safer" than receiving Holy Communion and doesn't protect better against a virus infection, on the contrary. In Kazakhstan, the bishops have only allowed receiving Holy Communion: “No one has been infected until now. Not a single case of a contamination.” Schneider calls this an “empirical...

[Catholic Caucus] On the moves against the Traditional Mass, “It’s all about the Violence”: “Why would anyone pretending to be of Christ’s Church lash out at the lambs?” (by Archbishop Thomas E. Gullickson)In the wake of the cancellation of the Pontifical Mass in the National Shrine of the United States that he was going to celebrate on August 14, 2021, Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, former ambassador (Nuncio) of the Holy See before several nations— most recently, Switzerland, until last year — wrote the following two notes in his personal blog:July 28:The Paulus Institute made a measured declaration about their disappointment...

LifeSiteNews has obtained Bishop Douglas Crosby’s letter stating that unvaccinated priests ‘may not be permitted entrance’ to hospitals and schools. In ‘order that all clergy can carry out their ministries effectively, including celebrating Mass and the other Sacraments, it is imperative that they get fully vaccinated,’ he wrote.HAMILTON, Ontario, July 26, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — In a letter obtained by LifeSiteNews, a Canadian bishop warned priests that their ministry may be restricted if they don’t receive an experimental coronavirus vaccine. “Anyone who does not receive the vaccines may find themselves limited in their ministry,” wrote Hamilton’s Bishop Douglas Crosby in a...

[Catholic Caucus] Concelebration: A new battleground in the liturgy wars?Concelebration is a control-freak’s dream.Pope Francis concelebrating Mass with many others in Mexico July 6, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The celebration of priests together, when two or more priests celebrate one Mass, has long caused controversy. For decades after the Second Vatican Council, priests have felt under pressure to take part in “concelebrated” Masses instead of celebrating their own Mass, perhaps without a congregation. Concelebration is now being enforced in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, ending the long tradition of large numbers of priests celebrating individually at side altars. Now, concelebration is...

Catholics band together to support faithful priests ‘canceled’ by bishopsApproximately 1,000 people gathered for the Coalition for Catholic Priests kickoff event in Illinois. (Photo courtesy of Coalition for Canceled Priests)Catholic clergy who feel they are being targeted by their bishops received a shot in the arm late last month.An organization called the Coalition for Canceled Priests has just been launched.On its website, the group says its goal is to provide “moral and material support” to priests who are “persecuted by forces in the secular world or … in the Church.”“We are … committed Catholic lay people and clergy who came...

BREAKING: Abp. Viganò Speaks in Support of “Coalition for Canceled Priests”Editor’s Note: Catholic Family News is honored to help circulate the following press release from the Coalition for Canceled Priests and subsequent statement of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in support of the lay-run initiative, whose principles and mission statement are available here.*****LOMBARD, IL, June 24, 2021 — The former Papal Nuncio to the United States and Vatican Whistleblower, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, released the following letter of support to faithful Catholic priests who have been persecuted without cause by their Bishops. The surprise communication from the beloved prelate was read...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Minnerath Looks for the Fly in the OintmentDijon Archbishop Roland Minnerath is denigrating the Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) to justify their unjust eviction from his archdiocese.In an unsigned June 17 statement, Minnerath recalled that the first FSSP-priest was received into Dijon Archdiocese in 1998 with the – illegal – clause that he had to co-preside “from time to time” in the New Rite so that there would be “no watertight separation” between the “two rites.” Presenting “co-presiding” as a sign of unity is inadmissible because every priest is free to co-preside or not.Minnerath who came to...

[Catholic Caucus] French diocese justifies kicking out two Latin Mass priestsIf the reasons for the FSSP’s eviction are accepted without question by Rome, it could mean that difficult days are ahead for other traditional apostolates in France and perhaps elsewhere.<June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — After the sudden and unexplained eviction of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) from the archdiocese of Dijon, in Burgundy, France, the archdiocese’s website published a statement this Thursday giving the reasons for the move. Under the title: “To put things back into perspective,” the unsigned communiqué accuses the FSSP of being responsible for the...