Free Republic

The Catholic Mass as No One Ever Explained It Before. A Brand New Work From Pope BenedictOf the fifteen texts Benedict XVI wrote after his resignation from the papacy and arranged to have released after his death, in the volume published by Mondadori, “What Christianity is. A spiritual quasi-testament,” four are making their debut, and among these one stands out above the rest.It is 17 pages long and bears the title “The meaning of communion.” It was completed on June 28 2018, just when a very heated clash was underway within the German Church and between it and Rome on...

Vatican cardinal objects to ‘intercommunion’ argument that Protestant Last Supper is identical to Catholic Mass 'The thought of the Sacrifice does not even occur' in Protestant services, said Cardinal Kurt Koch January 27, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, gave an interview to Vatican News in which he in part contradicts a German ecumenical document calling for intercommunion.  While also seeing the good parts of the German document, Koch says that the document is based on an “assumption” which he cannot share, “namely: that the Catholic Eucharistic celebration and...

The German Rebellion on Eucharistic Communion for Protestants: The Ground Opens Up Sandro Botticelli Punishment of the Rebels [Moses and the Sons of Korah] Sistine Chapel, 1482 And immediately as Moses had made an end of speaking, the earth broke asunder under their feet: And opening her mouth, devoured them with their tents and all their substance. And they went down alive into hell the ground closing upon them, and they perished from among the people. But all Israel, that was standing round about, fled at the cry of them that were perishing: saying: Lest perhaps the earth swallow us...

VATICAN CITY, June 4, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Just one month after directing the bishops of Germany to reach a “unanimous” decision on whether a Protestant spouse married to a Catholic may receive the Holy Eucharist, Pope Francis has changed course and blocked the German bishops’ intercommunion proposal. In a letter sent to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx “with the explicit approval of the Pope” by Archbishop Luis Ladaria, S.J., prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Holy Father has halted the publication of the German bishops’ intercommunion document that ignited the controversy. Veteran Italian Vaticanist, Sandro Magister,...

Not a parody. This is really happening. HERE The President of Germany…Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “Let us seek ways of expressing the common Christian faith by sharing in the Last Supper and Communion. I am sure: Thousands of Christians in interdenominational marriages are hoping for this.”  Cardinal Marx echoed the words of the German President, saying: “When someone is hungry and has faith, they must have access to the Eucharist. That must be our passion, and I will not let up on this.”Protestant German comedian Eckart von Hirschhausen caused particular controversy by demanding to be “handed that wafer” because, since he is married...

In his Monday column at First Things, Italian journalist and veteran Vatican-watcher Marco Tosatti gave voice to what had previously been little more than a whispered rumor: that a group was at work, with Vatican knowledge and support, on a kind of interfaith liturgy: [T]here is the matter of the “Ecumenical Mass,” a liturgy designed to unite Catholics and Protestants around the Holy Table. Though never officially announced, a committee reporting directly to Pope Francis has been working on this liturgy for some time. Certainly this topic is within the jurisdiction of the Congregation for Divine Worship, but Cardinal Sarah...

The group "Spezzare il pane" ("Breaking the Bread") in the archdiocese of Turin, Italy, has officially started with the celebration of "ecumenical masses" where Holy Communion is distributed to Catholics and non-Catholics. The group is headed by Father Fredo Oliviero, an apologist for illegal immigration, who has the support of his archbishop, Monsignor Cesare Nosiglia. The practice of the group to distribute Holy Communion to non-Catholics, is openly promoted in the newspaper of Turin Archdiocese "La Voce e il Tempo". Among the members of the group are "Catholics", Anglicans, Baptists, Waldensians and Lutherans. They gather once a month in one...

It is the same with Lutherans and Anglicans. They might have a high liturgy and a more sacramental view of the Lord’s presence than a Baptist, but the 39 Articles of Religion–the Anglican statement of belief (which has never been scrapped) specifically denies transubstantiation. The Lutheran Formula of Concord also denies transubstantiation. The Lutherans and Anglicans believe “The Lord is present” but not as Catholics do, and although individual Lutherans and Anglicans may have a Catholic understanding we can’t decide policy and behaviors according to each individual’s theological opinion. It is very nice of the Holy Father to be kind...

Aqua regia ("the king's water") is a mixture of acids which dissolves gold. It does one heck of a job: A useful short history of the king's water can be found here. Since 1965, Catholicism has had its own version of aqua regia, and the Church has been guzzling it. It's called ecumenism, but it has gone well beyond rational discussion to a positive hysteria--ecumania, if you will. And it appears to have made ecumaniacs of the USCCB, what with their recommendation for expanded intercommunion. Sounds positively ecumaniacal, in fact. A better dissolver of Catholic teaching you will not find....

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embraces Pope Francis at a celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Istanbul - REUTERS (Vatican Radio)  In an address upon conclusion of the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul, Pope Francis said “the one thing that the Catholic Church desires and that I seek as Bishop of Rome…is communion with the Orthodox Churches.” Below, please find the complete text of the Holy Father’s address:             When I was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, I often took part in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of...

Speaking on Wednesday morning to the ACNA Assembly, His Beatitude, Jonah, Metropolitan of All America and Canada and leader of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), called for a "full... intercommunion" with the Anglican Church in North America. "What will it take," he asked, "for a true ecumenical reconciliation? That is what I am seeking by being with you today." This marks the potential resumption of an Orthodox/Anglican dialogue that began a hundred years ago between two missionary bishops, St. Tikhon of Moscow and Bishop Grafton of Fond du Lac, only to be broken off in the 1970s with the...

GG stirs protest by taking communion Officials say Anglican should not take part in Roman church's central ritual Bob Harvey The Ottawa Citizen Wednesday, January 22, 2003 CREDIT: Art Babych Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson receives communion from Archbishop Marcel Gervais during the memorial for Yousuf Karsh, Sept. 19, 2002. Catholic Church officials say Canada's Anglican Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson, should not be taking communion in Roman Catholic parishes. With a few narrow exceptions, the church's practice is to refuse communion to non-Roman Catholics, yet the Governor General's spokesman, Stewart Wheeler, said she "does take communion in Roman Catholic services. She...