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German Bishops Vote to Adopt Statutes for Synodal Assembly The bishops of Germany have voted to adopt a set of statutes for their long-planned “Synodal Assembly.” The decision was taken in a vote on Sept. 25, the final day of the plenary session of the German bishops’ conference. The bishops voted to adopt the statutes by a margin of 51-12, with one abstention.

[Catholic Caucus] The Rhine-Tiber Two-Step II: Electric Boogaloo Earlier this month, I wrote a commentary on an alleged conflict between the Vatican and the German Church over their proposed “binding synodal process” on issues “arising from the clerical abuse crisis: clerical celibacy, the Church’s teaching on sexual morality, and a reduction of clerical power.”It was reported by CNA in early September that the decision of the German bishops to proceed with their proposed synodal assembly (which would have major input from an uber-progressive lay group known as ZdK) “comes despite a warning from Pope Francis to the German bishops that they must remain in...

Cardinal Zen: Rome Has ‘Sold Off the Chinese Church’ Chinese Catholics highly mobilized in Hong Kong HONG KONG (ChurchMilitant.com) - Cardinal Joseph Zen is again criticizing the Vatican for its silence with regard to the plight of Chinese Catholics. In a recent interview with La Vie, the Hong Kong prelate spoke about the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement in Hong Kong and the Vatican's response. "Not a word has come out of the Holy See since the beginning of this mobilization," said Zen. "Rome no longer dares to criticize the Chinese government, to which it has sold off the Chinese Church." Rome no...

[Catholic Caucus] Amazon. Three More Cardinals Rebuff the Base Document of the Synod One after another, over three days, three more cardinals - like the Germans Walter Brandmüller and Gerhard Müller before them - have aimed severe criticisms at the “Instrumentum Laboris,” the base document of the upcoming synod on the Amazon, as well as at the general state of confusion into which they see the Church plunging.The first is Cardinal Robert Sarah, Guinean, prefect of the congregation for divine worship, in an interview with Edward Pentin for the “National Catholic Register” of September 23:> Cardinal Sarah’s Cri de Coeur:...

African Cardinal fears Westerners are taking over Amazon Synod to advance dissident agenda ROME, September 24, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – An African cardinal who is no stranger to mission territory raised concern that the upcoming Amazon Synod is being taken over by Westerners to promote an agenda contrary to Catholic teaching.  Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Guinean Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, gave voice to his worries in a recent French-language interview with the National Catholic Register’s Edward Pentin.   “I have heard that some people wanted to make this synod a laboratory for the universal Church, that others said...

ROME — The Vatican published the list of participants in its upcoming pan-Amazon Synod Saturday, which includes as “special invitee” Jeffrey D. Sachs, who is among the world’s foremost proponents of population control. In his 2008 book Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, Sachs argued for legalizing abortion as a cost-effective way to eliminate “unwanted children” when contraception fails. Abortion, he wrote, is a “lower-risk and lower-cost option” than having unwanted children born into the world. The “legalization of abortion reduces a country’s total fertility rate significantly, by as much as half a child on average,” he wrote approvingly,...

[Catholic Caucus] Now We’re Getting Somewhere: Cardinal Burke and Bishop Schneider Finally Point the Finger at Pope Francis Courtesy of the Remnant Newspaper In an addendum to their historic eight-page declaration against the errors of the Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming “Shamazon Synod,” as Michael Matt dubs it, Cardinal Raymond Burke and Bishop Athanasius Schneider finally squarely identify Pope Francis as the ultimate source of “the almost general doctrinal confusion which is reigning in the life of the Church in our days,” which they had hitherto attributed to some sort of malaise of indeterminate origin.The addendum begins with the usual...

Cdl. Burke: ‘We must pray and fast for the Church because we are in a moment of profound crisis’ September 24, 2019 (La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana) – “The working document for the Amazon Synod is totally unacceptable; we must do everything we can to defend the integrity of the Catholic faith.”  “It is also dishonest to present a synod supposedly for the evangelization of the Amazon, when the true objective is to revolutionize the whole Church.” These are statements by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke from the United States in an interview with the Nuova Bussola Quotidiana.  He will hold the...

Pope Francis Doesn’t Understand Islam “Is the pope Catholic?” used to be a punch line. Now, sometimes, you almost have to wonder. Of course, I’m not suggesting that Pope Francis is a secret apostate or a Masonic agent. It’s just that he seems dissatisfied with certain Church teachings.What apparently rankles him most are Catholic claims to exclusivity. For example, the belief that all men are saved through Christ can be looked upon as an impediment to interreligious harmony. Francis, for whom interreligious harmony is a top priority, seems to see it that way. Many of his statements seem to suggest...

Catholic Missionaries Compare Greta Thunberg to Virgin Mary The Maryknoll missionaries have thrown their support behind 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, comparing her to the Virgin Mary. “Christians getting their knickers all in a twist over the passionate, articulate & knowledgeable witness of Greta Thunberg because of her age seem to overlook the age of the Virgin Mary at the time of the Annunciation,” the group wrote on Twitter.

[Catholic Caucus] Pope invites pro-abortion UN leaders to Amazon Synod VATICAN CITY, September 23, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― Two famous names associated with both the United Nations and abortion are on the guest list for the upcoming Synod on the Amazon.   American economist Jeffrey Sachs, 64, and Korean former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, 75, are among the 185 people invited to the synod, which will take place in Rome between October 6 and 27.  Sachs is a special advisor to the current UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the UN’s “Sustainable Development Goals,” a role he played for...

[Catholic Caucus] Remaking the Church Amazon Synod in the works since earliest days of Francis' papacy One month after his election, Pope Francis began laying the groundwork to refashion the Universal Church — to remake the face of Roman Catholicism around the world. Days after becoming pope, Francis met with Peruvian Abp. Pedro Barreto Jimeno and Brazilian Cardinal-designate Cláudio Hummes to discuss setting up a Church network focused on the Amazon. Cdl. Pedro Barreto Jimeno That meeting put into motion the plan which eventually produced the Amazon Synod — a plan which has unfolded over the past six years. In a stunning...

[Catholic Caucus] Mercy in Action: Vatican Defrocks a Whole Community Eight Augustinian Fathers of the former Vicariate of Castile in Brazil have been "defrocked" by the Vatican, Folha de S. Paulo (September 14) reported. Their crime: They refused to hand over their schools to the Augustinian Province of Brazil. The Province was only created in 2013 by a merger of three groups: the Augustinian Vicariate of Castile (Spain), the Augustinian Delegation of Malta, and the Filipino Augustinians of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in Brazil. From the very beginning, the Vicariate of Castile disagreed with how the merger was...

[Catholic Caucus] Meet the new faculty at the John Paul II Institute Those who are dismayed by the dramatic transformation of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Rome can find no comfort in the newest faculty appointments. Longtime faculty members such as Livio Melina and Stanislaw Grygiel have been fired and the Institute’s mission has been redefined under the leadership of Archbishop Paglia, the new Grand Chancellor. Fr. Maurizio Chiodi has joined the faculty this fall. He’s scheduled to teach a seminar called “Conscience and Discernment: Text and Context of Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia.” Thus,...

[Catholic Caucus] Marx Admits: Vatican’s Opposition Against "Synodal Way" Was A Bluff There is "no stop sign from Rome” against the "Synodal Way”, said Cardinal Marx, the President of the German Bishops on 23 September at the beginning of their Plenary Assembly in Fulda. In early September, Cardinal Marc Ouellet still gave the impression that the Vatican had reservations against this de-facto synod. Now, Marx gave the all-clear, saying that on 20 September he had "constructive talks" with Francis and Ouellet. For Marx "constructive" means, "I made it clear that I see certain things differently." At least Marx agreed to...

[Catholic Caucus] Irish Bishop Backs Female Priests as Diocese Votes to Ordain Women Bp. John Fleming refused to permit traditionalists Latin Mass in diocese of Killala KILLALA, Ireland (ChurchMilitant.com) - An Irish bishop has committed himself to a specially devised delegation process for ordaining female priests after 69% of Catholics in his diocese voted in favor of the ordination of women. Bp. John Fleming of Killala The vote was part of a "listening process" initiated by Bp. John Fleming of the Killala diocese in north Mayo and west Sligo, after an analysis of clergy numbers indicated that the 22 parishes of the diocese...

Let the Amazon Learn From China, Where the Church Flourished With Very Few Missionaries. Celibate The mantra with which the proponents of married priests justify their demand is the irreversible shortage of celibate priests in regions with small communities scattered over remote places, like the Amazon or the islands of the Pacific. It must be guaranteed - they say - that the celebration of the Mass is offered to all on a regular basis, and not just a few times a year.Curiously, the same ones who display such generosity in wanting to bestow the Eucharist are also the stingiest in...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican office suspends Indy archdiocese's Brebeuf decision INDIANAPOLIS — A Vatican office has temporarily suspended the decision of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to no longer recognize Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School as a Catholic institution over the school's refusal to fire a teacher in a same-sex marriage.The decision of the archdiocese to cut ties with Brebeuf was announced in June in a decree from Archbishop Charles C. Thompson. The school reached out to the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome to consider "the issues at hand and, hopefully, rescind and permanently set aside the Archbishop's decree."

Time for a sober assessment of the agreement. While it would be excessive to state that all Chinese Catholics oppose it, its application is problematic, dissident priests are persecuted, and underlying theological issues on religious liberty remains unsolved.From the Secret Text to the GuidelinesThe Vatican-China deal of 2018 was signed one year ago, on September 22, 2018. Its text remains secret to this date. We have been occasionally criticized for our reserved attitude about the agreement. Bitter Winter did not share the enthusiasm of some Vatican media, nor did it join the abrasive criticism of those who believe that Pope...

[Catholic Caucus] After Cardinal Marx visits Vatican, Germany's 'synodal way' up for bishops' vote Fulda, Germany, Sep 23, 2019 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The German bishops are set this week to vote upon statutes for a “binding synodal process,” days after Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, held talks about the plans with Pope Francis and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.On Monday, the German bishops began a three-day plenary session in Fulda, which will conclude Sept. 25. Sources close to the conference told CNA that the bishops plan to debate a “substantially unchanged” draft...