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(Rome) The battle against the Franciscans of the Immaculata continues. Hardly had Pope Francis mounted the throne of Peter, than the opponents of the traditional rite in the Order felt themselves strong enough, with his agreement, to place the once thriving men's branch of the order under a provisional administration. The women's branch "only" received an apostolic delegate as an overseer, but was still drawn in sympathy with the men's Order because of its close spiritual and institutional connectedness. With a confidential decree of 19. October 2015, the Roman Congregation for Religious reinforced its resolve to proceed further against the...

The man who was named by the Congregation for Religious to oversee what was effectively the destruction of the Franciscans Friars of the Immaculate, Capuchin Fr. Fidenzio Volpi, deeply ill for the past few months, had his death announced today by his province (the Lombardy Province of the Capuchins). May he rest in peace. When he was first hospitalized, there were rumors that his replacement would be a member of the Pope's own order, the Jesuits.

Sic transit gloria mundi. For the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the Institute founded by Father Stefano Maria Manelli, ( externally commissioned on 11th July 2013) the “era of Volpi” , which will certainly be remembered as one of the saddest in the history of this religious order, is over. Father Fidenzio Volpi, assigned by the Congregation for Religious as Apostolic Commissioner to liquidate Father Manelli’s order, is in fact in a Roman clinic, after suffering a cerebral ischemia, followed by a hemiparesis, which has seriously compromised his health, forcing him to renounce, irrevocably, his appointment as Commissioner. In February 2014,...

As Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life (CICL), Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz of Brazil is responsible for overseeing the brutal destruction of one of the few flourishing institutes of consecrated life in the Church today, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, on the direct orders of Pope Francis. Because the order founded by the saintly Father Stefano Manelli, lauded by both John Paul II and Benedict XVI, had dared to take advantage of Benedict’s liberation of the Latin Mass from its unjust imprisonment, it had to go. To recall Pope Francis’ words during the bizarre celebration...

I find it striking how often Pope Francis engages in pejoratives against people who really tick him off. The list of people who Pope Francis clearly does not like includes “fundamentalists”, the rich, conservatives, capitalists, self-absorbed promethean neopelagians, etc. One could be forgiven for thinking that for decades Pope Francis has been carefully putting groups he does not like in a “them” category as opposed to the “us” category he belongs to, and that his papacy is payback time against the thems. A striking example of this occurred recently: The Argentine pope, who has been trying to foster cooperation with...

With so many serious problems in the world today, any sane person has to ask; “why are the powerful people in the Catholic Church trying to destroy traditional orders, priests and purposely stopping the offering of the Latin Mass?”

The Pope inasmuch as he is supreme pastor of the universal Church, has full right to remove a bishop or cardinal from his office, even a distinguished one. A well-known case was the one of Cardinal Louis Billot (1846-1931). He was one of the greatest theologians of the 20th Century, who replaced his cardinal’s hat into the hands of Pius XI, with whom he had had differences regarding Action Francaise, and ended his days, as a simple Jesuit, at the house of his order in Galloro. Another striking case is Cardinal Josef Mindszenty, who was removed by Paul VI from...

THE “D’ESCOTO CASE” AND THOSE WHO WANT TO WIPE OUT THE WORK DONE BY JOHN PAUL II AND BENEDICT XVI Antonio Socci Libero September 7, 2014 In the era of Bergoglio, the Vatican has practically rehabilitated Liberation Theology, which came into existence in the 1960s and has caused untold disasters, mainly in Latin America, by fostering the Church’s subordination to Marxist thought. Over the past months there have been startling occurrences, such as the “landing” of Gustavo Gutierrez (“the father” of Liberation Theology) in the Vatican itself. A year ago, “L'Osservatore Romano” published large extracts from one of his books...

By the senior religious correspondent of Italian daily La Stampa, the startling news: those responsible for the intervention of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, after silencing their innocent victims inside the Church, now use the Police to intimidate journalists and bloggers -- and their family members ! -- in Italy. It is probably the most serious attempt by an ecclesial authority to make use of the police forces (and police that are members of the military forces) to limit the freedom of the press or public free speech by laymen in Italy in living memory -- the attempt is based...

A significant rally in defense of the Franciscans of the Immaculate was held in Rome over the weekend. The effort was basically an appeal by the laity formerly attached to the FIs (their association being terminated by the direct order of the apostolic overseer Fr. Volpi) to Pope Francis to have mercy on the Immaculates and stop the severe intervention in the order, which many insiders report as dying as a result of the draconian actions taken against both the male and female sides over the past year. The rally was attended by hundreds (it could have been more, but...

(Barcelona / Rome) Does the Congregation of Religious suffer from a villainous portrait of tradition? This question has hung in the air since last weekend. The Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, for a year secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, participated in a Conference of Religious of Catalonia. In his speech he delivered last Saturday without directly mentioning the Order by name, gave a first official hint as to why the Franciscans of the Immaculate have been reprimanded by his Congregation. The reason implied much to the young religious Order, and is of...

(Rome), a new blow by the Commission set upon the Franciscans of the Immaculate by the Congregation for Religious. The lay association Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix (MIM) was denied the Marian Sanctuary of Pompeii. Since the year 2004, MM brought believers together to take a pilgrimage from Naples and Campania to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, the most famous Marian shrine in this part of southern Italy. Yesterday, on Divine Mercy Sunday, however, the faithful were denied access to the holy image Prohibition of Commissar Volpi Led Prelate of Pompeii to Ban On 10...

First, they silenced the majority inside the Franciscans of the Immaculate who had done their best for years to apply the Benedictine line of "hermeneutic of continuity". Their Summorum rights were reversed and subjected to an absurd authorization, their seminary shut down, their conservative majority disbanded and muzzled. The books and journals published by them were forbidden to be sold - greatly reducing the reach of the few Italian theologians who had tried to promote a moderately critical reading of Vatican II that was nevertheless respectful of the Holy See. Then, they came for Mario Palmaro and Alessandro Gnocchi in...

Rome) The joy of Christmas 2013 has brought another sad note for the Franciscans of the Immaculate. Shortly before the Solemnity, the Apostolic Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap has closed up three more branches of the Order. Many Traditional Mass locations in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite were connected to the closings. The faithful were faced with this fact just before the holidays, that they would be without priests and Mass locations for Christmas. Of the convents that were closed, one held two Marian shrines, that of Our Lady della Rovere in San Bartolomeo al Mare on...

Unable to withstand the fallout from two Katrina-related prosecutions, Attorney General Charles Foti narrowly missed a runoff that will leave the former Orleans criminal sheriff out of public life for the first time in three decades. Foti fell short of second place in a three-man field, with Republican Royal Alexander, a Shreveport lawyer, emerging to face primary leader James "Buddy" Caldwell, a Democrat and longtime district attorney from Tallulah. The two will meet in a battle sure to be vitriolic, judging from the increasingly caustic tone of the campaign leading up to Saturday's vote. Another longtime statewide official, Agriculture Commissioner...

A unilateral decision in July by the Orleans Levee Board's then-president, Jim Huey, to pay himself nearly $100,000 in back salary was a clear violation of state law, Attorney General Charles Foti said Thursday in an opinion issued by his staff. Furthermore, Foti wrote, the $1,000-a-month salary that Huey collected from June through October was illegal because Huey failed to get approval from the board of commissioners. The opinion, written in response to an Oct. 17 request by state Inspector General Sharon Robinson, does not address whether Huey must repay the money. But the salary matter is expected to be...

<p>BATON ROUGE - Republican Bobby Jindal, R-Baton Rouge, increases his lead, and there's a statistical tie for second place between Democrats Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette and Richard Ieyoub of Lake Charles in the Louisiana gubernatorial race, according to The Times/Louisiana Gannett poll.</p>

<p>Absentee voting slowed statewide for a while Thursday when the St. Landry Parish registrar of voters ran a program to check if precincts are registered correctly.</p> <p>The state computer used to verify registration and tell registrars of voters which precinct ballots to hand to absentee voters mysteriously became bogged down for about 45 minutes, state Assistant Elections Commissioner Pat Bergeron said. State computer experts checked the system when two registrars called to find out why it was taking two minutes instead of a few seconds for the computer to issue the information.</p>

La. AFL-CIO endorses Ieyoub, Landrieu, Foti John Hill Posted on July 22, 2003 BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana AFL-CIO endorses Attorney General Richard Ieyoub's bid this fall to succeed Gov. Mike Foster. Union officials announced the endorsement Monday following a closed convention Saturday during which some 200 leaders from throughout the state heard sales pitches from Ieyoub, a former Lake Charles district attorney, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette, former Senate President Randy Ewing of Quitman and former state Rep. Claude "Buddy" Leach of Lake Charles. State AFL-CIO President Red Bourg said those four candidates for governor in the Oct....