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[Catholic Caucus] Vatican communications prefect: Removing Rupnik art ‘not the Christian response’The prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication told a group of Catholic journalists Friday that removing artwork by disgraced religious artist and alleged serial sexual abuser Fr. Marko Rupnik is “not the Christian response.” Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, speaks at a synod on synodality briefing at the Vatican on Oct. 14, 2023. Screenshot from Vatican News YouTube channel.“I don’t think we have to throw stones, thinking it is the way of healing someone,” said Paolo Ruffini, according to video footage of his remarks...

[Catholic Caucus] “Queering” the Catholic ChurchAn article published in The Stream last March featured this headline: “Pope Francis Must Choose: LGBTQ Ideology or Children.” A few days before “Pride Month” began, Francis announced his choice, quietly but blatantly.When the Vatican celebrated World Children’s Day in late May this year — a holiday it created — a male drag performer danced in front of children, who even saw the performer’s posterior deliberately exposed to them.The performer, Carmine De Rosa, said on social media that the Vatican invited him to perform and knew what his act contained: “I would like to point...

[Catholic Caucus] “Before the Egghead Fell Off the High Wall and Shattered into a Thousand Pieces”: Charlier on GrilloThe devotional map of the late 19th century depicts the Holy Mass as the center of the unity of the triumphant, struggling and suffering Church. As in heaven, so also on earth.If Andrea Grillo were a professor at a German theological faculty, we could confidently put his interview to one side—irrelevant drivel, like most of what is produced by theology professors. But although he would fit very well into the German environment, his position as a liturgy teacher at a papal university...

Pope Francis to Lutherans: ‘Jesus Christ is the heart of ecumenism’Pope Francis this morning received a delegation from the Lutheran World Federation at the Vatican and stressed that “Jesus Christ is the heart of ecumenism.”In his talk given during the audience held in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, the Holy Father called this encounter “an important gesture of ecumenical fraternity.”The pontiff recalled the visit of this delegation to Rome three years ago, an occasion in which they reflected on the upcoming 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in 2025 as an ecumenical event.In this context, he noted...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Archbishop Viganò confirms he will not attend Vatican ‘schism’ trial'I therefore wish to make it clear that I did not go to the Vatican yesterday, and that I have no intention of going to the Holy Office on June 28, and that I have not delivered any statement or document in my defense to the Dicastery, whose authority I do not recognize,' Viganò wrote.The following is a statement sent exclusively to LifeSiteNews by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò on Friday, June 21, 2024.(LifeSiteNews) — The reports spread by certain media outlets, stating that I presented myself yesterday, Thursday,...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Parolin says infamous Vatican-China deal will be renewed at end of 2024Cardinal Pietro Parolin has announced that the Vatican will renew its heavily criticized secret deal with Communist China at the end of this year.During a presentation of the book Cardinal Celso Costantini and China – Constructor of a “bridge” between the East and West on Thursday at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University, Parolin told journalists, “With China, we are dialoguing as we have been for some time.”READ: Cardinal Zen torches the Vatican and his critics over China deal“We are trying to find the best procedures also for...

Priest: Pope Francis is waging a ‘war against the Church’ at every turnPopes don’t usually wear black pants under their white robes, and they don’t wear black shoes either.They do not live in the Vatican guest house and do not use simple wheelchairs. No matter how frail a pope may be, he always maintains maximum dignity. He owes this less to himself than to his high office; after all, being pope always means fulfilling a role that is greater than yourself; but it also means that you become someone else to some extent. The numerous titles of the popes indicate...

[Catholic Caucus] Sermon for the “Final” Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne – 19th June, 2024 - The Prophetic Words of Cardinal Pell in 1992Feast of Sts. Gervase & ProtaseIf you be reproached for the name of Christ, you shall be blessed: for that which is of the honour, glory, and power of God, and that which is His Spirit, rests upon you.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.May it please Your Grace. Very Rev’d Monsignor, the Dean, Dear Fathers, dear brethren, Tonight my mind goes back to Saturday, 13th June,...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Discards the Psalms"Not all the Psalms - and not every Psalm - can be repeated and made their own by Christians, and even less so by modern man," Francis waffled at the Wednesday audience on 19 June.Nobody knows what "Christians" means for Francis and who his "modern man" is. While for Christians the Psalms are part of the Word of God, Francis believes that they "sometimes reflect a historical situation and a religious mentality that is no longer our own". The term "our own" refers to Francis, who in this case uses the pluralis majestatis.Trying to reconcile...

Can the Vatican Ban the Latin Mass? Catechism Says “No”A canonically-approved catechism, supported by many catechisms of the past, answers whether the Vatican has the authority to shut down the traditional Latin Mass.Lately in Rome, the city where rumors are often reliable news, murmurs have been circulating that the Vatican may soon impose a more rigorous edict of suppression for the Traditional Latin Mass, and perhaps for other rites as well (e.g., the sacraments and divine office). Should such an edict appear, it will once again raise two major questions of “practical theology” for universal debate, namely: (a) Does the...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal O'Malley's Former Episcopal Vicar to "Marry" a Man 32 Years His JuniorJames Flavin, 62, a former priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, is to 'marry' Michel E., a man 32 years his junior. A two-day celebration is planned for February 2025 in Mexico.Flavin was ordained a priest in June 1987. He was a favourite of Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who appointed Flavin an episcopal vicar in 2014.Flavin worked as a psychotherapist, specialising in internet addiction and treating priests with drug, alcohol or psychiatric problems. In 2019, Flavin took a sabbatical time.In May 2020, he bought a $1...

[Catholic Caucus] The People-Pleasing VaticanSeeking celebrity acceptance sacrifices seriousness and credibility. It is sad when leadership in the Church shows star-struck, stage door behavior.One of the catch phrases you hear about and from people in recovery from addiction is the danger of “people pleasing.” It is the old concept from spiritual theology which used to be called “human respect.” The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori refer to that in one of the meditations, and I try to give a gloss on it during Lent when we pray the Way of the Cross. “Human respect” treated as a...

[Catholic Caucus] A Father’s Day TaleThe Priest Who Took Down a Gang To Protect His FlockIn 1955, an American seminarian studying in Louvain, Belgium read a line from a poem that changed his life—and eventually the world. The poem that jolted Venerable Aloysius Schwartz was “Still Falls the Rain,” by British poet Edith Sitwell, after a German air squadron’s bombardment in 1940. Sitwell depicts Christ nailed to the cross as a “Starved Man,” observing death in London’s fire-scorched streets. “Fr. Al,” who grew up poor in a Washington D.C. rowhouse during the Great Depression, began to understand his priestly identity...

[Catholic Caucus] Fr. James Martin’s pro-LGBT group publishes article connecting ‘Pride Month’ to Sacred HeartAn 'Outreach' op-ed attempted to argue, in conflict with Catholic teaching, that 'the message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Pride flag seem to me to be highly aligned.'The pro-LGBT advocacy group Outreach, run by Father James Martin, S.J., published an op-ed blasphemously arguing that the sexually immoral agenda of the rainbow “Pride Month” is compatible with the traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to which Catholics have long dedicated the month of June.READ: Five things you should know about devotion to...

[Catholic Caucus] French Catholic Voters Reject Globalism, Liberal BishopsA fascinating takeaway from last week’s European parliamentary elections is the extent to which French Catholic voters have not so much drifted but hurled themselves to the right. According to an exclusive survey by French pollster IFOP for news site La Croix, 42 percent of practicing Catholics voted on June 9 for so-called “far right” parties. That’s more than double the 18 percent who voted for the “far right” in the 2019 elections. 28 percent of practicing Catholics voted for left-wing parties and a paltry 12 percent voted for centrist Valérie Hayer,...

[Catholic Caucus] The Faith of Pope Pius IX’s Qui Pluribus is Alone Capable of Defeating Catholicism’s Enemies In 1846, Blessed Pius IX began his first papal encyclical, Qui Pluribus (On Faith and Religion), by describing his purpose in writing to the Church’s bishops:“Its purpose is to urge that you keep the night-watches over the flock entrusted to your care with the greatest possible eagerness, wakefulness and effort, and that you raise a protecting wall before the House of Israel; do these as you battle with episcopal strength and steadfastness like good soldiers of Christ Jesus against the hateful enemy of...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Viola, the violator of Tradition -- the dangerous secretary of Divine Worship and the man behind the attempts to ban the Traditional Mass. His letter to the Melbourne ArchbishopWho is Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, OFM? The Secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship is said to be proud to wear the episcopal ring of none other than the devious creator of the Novus Ordo, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini (cf. here, in Italian). (Archbishop Viola, celebrating something - image: Silere non possum)We can affirm today that he is the main dangerous ideologically motivated cleric whose final intent is to...

[Catholic Caucus] Andrea Grillo: An astonishing interview of the main lay ideologue behind Traditionis Custodes and the desire to ban the Traditional Mass(Chartres Pilgrimage)While Archbishop Viola, Secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, is the main clerical ideologue interested in the ultimate ban of the Traditional Latin Mass, the main lay ideologue is Italian lay theologian Andrea Grillo, whose ideas and words are the very essence of the first partial ban instituted as "Traditionis custodes". Italian blog Messa in latino has just released an interview with him, from which it can be gleaned how exactly the Francis pontificate sees faithful...

Joe Biden meets with Pope Francis at G7 Summit to discuss foreign policy, climate changePresident Joe Biden privately met with Pope Francis early Friday evening in Apulia, Italy, at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit to discuss foreign policy and climate change.Francis is the first pope to address the G7 summit, which is an annual meeting of government leaders from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy. The European Union also participates but is not an official member.

Bishop Eleganti: Papal primacy must not be defined by ecumenical ‘negotiations’ with non-CatholicsThere is an infallible dogmatization of the Petrine office. The answer to the question of what the Petrine office consists of and how it is exercised cannot be the result of negotiations that seek the highest or lowest common denominator.Editor’s note: This text by Bishop Marian Eleganti was written in German and translated by LifeSiteNews with permission from the bishop.(LifeSiteNews) — To see the acceptance of the Roman Catholic papal primacy of jurisdiction by other Christians as a criterion for its validity and legitimacy and to understand or...