Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: Pope Francis’ comments on all religions being paths to God are ‘heresy’I have often expressed my deep concern regarding heresy and the atmosphere of apostasy as it emanates from the Vatican, but I must now ask: ‘Where is the outcry of the shepherds? Where is the courage and conviction to defend our faith?’Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,“We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.” This familiar prayer offered as part of the Stations of the Cross is familiar to Catholics, and well it should...

The Spirit of Paul VI Is a False Spirit and, like All False Spirits, It Is Unconsciously CruelIn 1970, the Belgian philosopher Marcel De Corte (+1994), who taught at the University of Liège, wrote a letter to the French publisher Jean Madiran (+2013) about the Novus Ordo- "I confess that for a long time I was deceived by Paul VI. I thought he was trying to preserve the essential".- But there is no example in history of a deceiver who does not eventually expose himself.- "How dare Paul VI proclaim that there is no 'new Mass', that 'nothing has changed',...

Exposing False Shepherds: Should We Really Mind if Heretics Like Cupich Hide the Cross?“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)In the wake of Blase Cupich’s invocation at last week’s Democratic National Convention, some Traditional Catholics have criticized the bishop for hiding his pectoral cross. While the impulse to criticize Cupich is seldom wrong, his scandalous behavior in this particular instance invites us to ask a question that may make us less censorious: do we really mind if heretics like Cupich conceal their supposed Catholic identity? To...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland warns of apostasy ‘at the top’ of the ChurchBishop Joseph Strickland warns in his latest letter about ‘corruption and the powerful evil forces’ in the Church and society and calls on the faithful to ‘cling fiercely’ to Our Lady and the Eucharist in response to Our Lady’s messages at Fatima and Akita.The following is the full text of a new letter by Bishop Joseph Strickland, the bishop emeritus of Tyler, Texas, warning the faithful about the “evil that grips our world and the Church” and urging them to “be spiritually prepared for whatever may come,” especially...

Vatican II and the Deformation of Catholic Consciences“It is impossible to speak with veracity of liberty, of conscience, of the dignity of the human person except by reference to divine law.” (Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, from his September 1965 intervention read at the Second Vatican Council) In the eyes of those who want to impose their wicked agendas on society, the problem posed by Catholicism has always been about how to overcome properly formed consciences. If a Catholic has a properly formed conscience, and a firm determination to follow it, he or she would rather die than accept evils forbidden by...

What Can We Learn from Hugo Klapproth: the Sola Scriptura Doctrine is Wrong The publication of Hugo Klapproth’s work, Letters to a Protestant Friend (The Remnant Press, 2022), represents an editorial event that can help us acquire a deep understanding of the mentality and constellation of values of a pre-conciliar Catholic. And not just any Catholic, but a convert from Lutheranism who dedicated his life to defending and transmitting the truths of Christian Revelation. Klapproth’s book is not only a highly useful read but also a source of inspiration that urges us to follow in the author’s footsteps to rediscover...

[Catholic Caucus] Hope Lies Not in Some Future PopeI get little solace from the idea that some future pope will come along and undo the Francis papacy. Not that I don’t think it could happen. But what is the point of a religion that changes from time to time depending on who is pope?What got me to this point is the scandal of Traditionis Custodes.First, let me clarify what I mean by “scandal.” I am not talking about tabloid “scandal.” I am talking about theological “scandal,” which St. Thomas Aquinas describes as a word or action evil in itself, which...

The Failure of Interreligious Dialogue with IslamLast week, on the morning of August 7th, Pope Francis, just before his regular Wednesday general audience, received a group of representatives from the Afghan Muslim community in Italy. He touched upon the “complicated and dramatic history [in Afghanistan], marked by a succession of wars and blood-stained conflicts, which have made it very difficult for people to lead peaceful, free and secure lives.” The pontiff went on to tell the Afghan males—there were, surprisingly, no women at the encounter—“to continue in [their] noble endeavour to promote religious harmony and to strive to overcome misunderstandings...

The Most Pressing Need in the World Today: Restoring the Belief in Immutable Catholic Truth “Then Jesus said to those Jews, who believed Him: If you continue in My word, you shall be My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32) Commenting on this passage from the Gospel of St. John, St Augustine emphasized the unchanging, or immutable, nature of truth:“The truth is unchangeable; it is the bread of the soul, refreshing others, without diminution to itself; changing him who eats into itself, itself not changed. This truth is the...

[Catholic Caucus] The Magisterium of Francis Illuminates Saint PaulIn the light of the Magisterium of Pope Francis, Aldo Maria Valli (AldoMariaValli-it, 8 August) has updated Saint Paul's speech on the Areopagus in Athens, which in its original version is rigid and narrow-minded and does not correspond to the gigantic progress in theology after the Second Vatican Council. Here is the new version:Then Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: 'Athenians, I see that you are very religious in everything. As I passed by and looked at your monuments, I also found an altar with the inscription 'To an...

[Catholic Caucus] Synodality and the continued and deceptive use of “People of God”There is an air of play-acting at real theology and of a cynical insouciance toward the actual truth of the Council, a mendaciousness that is the product of a set of foreordained conclusions in search of an argument.Larry Chapp Chapp's Schtick, Columns, Features 58 PrintA program for a Mass opening the synod process in the Diocese of Camden, N.J., is seen at St. Agnes Church of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Blackwood, N.J., Oct. 17, 2021. (CNS photo/Dave Hernandez, Catholic Star Herald) Johathan Liedl, a reporter with...

[Catholic Caucus] Eucharistic Congress a Blessing for the Church — Now What Must be Done?Traditional Mass in Indianapolis during the Eucharistic CongressThe United States Catholic Conference of Bishops recently sponsored a series of events that were meant to be an affirmation of witness to the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The first was a series of Eucharistic processions from disparate points in the United States whose ultimate goal was the site of the major event of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana. I must confess that when I first heard about the plans...

[Catholic Caucus] Ask Father: What's with the Eucharistic Revival thing? "Ask Father" is a column exclusive to The Remnant Newspaper. If you would like to send questions to our resident priest, Fr. Wilson, send your query to newstips@remnantnewspaper.com and put "Ask Father" in the subject line. Then, subscribe to The Remnant (print or E-Edition) to see your answer in future issues!Dear Father: I have been seeing lots of coverage in the Catholic press about the National Eucharistic Congress, although not a lot of notice of it in the secular media. Of course, I think Eucharistic devotion is a wonderful thing,...

[Catholic Caucus] Young Catholics aren’t ‘schismatic’ for preferring the Latin Mass to sappy Novus Ordo MassesRome - 7 September 2017 - Celebration of the Holy Mass vetus ordo, Mass in Latin, in the days of the pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum decennial(LifeSiteNews) — In Part 1 of this two part series, I discussed how young Catholics today view the Second Vatican Council. In Part 2, we shall examine how these young people experience the “fruits” of the Council and the “spirit” of Vatican II. Why is it that so many are fond of the Traditional Latin Mass? Why do so many consult...

[Catholic Caucus] The Vatican’s Response to the Olympic Scandal Rewards the Mental Gymnastics of Conservative Catholics The recent scandal of the Paris Olympics has brought all of this together in a blasphemous tableau. In it, we saw not only the LGBQT+ portrayal of the Last Supper but also the celebration of the French Revolution, complete with the decapitated head of Queen Marie-Antoinette singing along to a heavy metal song. But the most anti-Catholic touch of all has now been delivered by Francis’s Vatican, with its Communiqué about the opening ceremony.In his Principles of Catholic Theology, Cardinal Ratzinger compared Vatican II’s...

Vatican II: For Better or For WorseWhen Pope John XXIII should have been calling Catholics to repentance, prayer, and sacrifice, he decided to call a Council to do the impossible.When the bishops and their theological advisers met in Rome for the Second Vatican Council, journalists divided the participants into two main groups: Progressives and Conservatives. It was a gross exaggeration because within each group there were many different schools of thought. But, for the sake of the point that I want to make, let the names of these two main opposing groups stand, for in all caricatures there is always...

[Catholic Caucus] Retired Vatican archivist takes dim view of postconciliar eraCWN Editor's Note: In an interview granted to an Italian newspaper following his recent retirement as prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archives, Bishop Sergio Pagano offered a dim assessment of the life of the Church following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). “Sadly, after the Second Vatican Council there was a general disarray: too many expectations,” he said. “Disorder was created in discipline, in seminaries and in pontifical universities. In doctrine there was an ever deeper crisis.” “And in this climate of uncertainty, a glaring confusion prevailed,” he continued. “I see...

Young Believers Are Fueling a Renaissance of Catholic Culture The Sisters of Charity of New York announced last year that it will not accept any new members. The announcement was more of a formality than anything else, as no one has joined the order in more than twenty years. Founded by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1817 and recognized as the Sisters of Charity of New York in 1846, the order had more than 1,300 sisters in the 1960s. Today, only 154 sisters remain, and their median age is eighty-five years old. The Sisters of Charity of New York isn’t...

ITE MISSA EST: How modernizing the Church gave rise to ChristophobiaThere can be no dispute that the mission of the Church is to glorify God, to seek the Salvation of souls, to serve the poor, and to Evangelize – to spread the good news of the Gospel to all corners of the World: to build the Kingdom of Christ on earth. But among the chief duties of the Catholic Church is to hold the powerful in society to their duty to the welfare of the citizenry, to protect those human rights which derive from Divine Law, and to demand that...

Marcel De Corte's 1970 Letter to Jean Madiran “On the New Mass” - First Translation into English - "Paul VI is a man full of contradictions"(The following text was published in no. 140 of Itinéraires, February 1970. It was translated by Gerhard Eger for Rorate Caeli.)I must admit to you, my dear Jean Madiran, that I have been tempted more than once to leave the Catholic Church wherein I was born. If I have not done so, I give thanks to God and to the good peasant’s common sense with which he has blessed me. The Church—I murmur to myself...