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[Catholic Caucus] A Unified Theory of “Backwardism”What was so awful about the pre-Vatican II Church that its memory needs to be obliterated and those who hold to doctrines that are ancient in provenance must be labeled as “rigid” and psychologically damaged?Pope Francis has presented many of his key initiatives as pope as efforts to “move the Church forward,” as the saying goes. As you probably also know by now, he is vehemently opposed to anything that takes the Church “backward.” In recent months, he started using an Italian neologism—“indietrismo” or “backwardism”—to describe those Catholics who are opposed to progress in...

[Catholic Caucus] Schneider: Enemies of the Church Rule The VaticanBishop Athanasius Schneider discovered the Roman Mass only after Summorum Pontificum (2007), he told @cjm-media and Gloria.tv (interview recorded on November 17 below).He explained that in the Roman Rite "I am actually only a servant" because every gesture and every step are prescribed in a very precise way.His then Archbishop Jan Paweł Lenga, 72, of Karaganda knew that Schneider was celebrating the Roman Mass but showed no interest for this.When Lenga resigned and returned to Poland in 2011, a priest offered to teach him to celebrate Mass and Lenga accepted. After...

St Peter's Basilica Converted into a Debate HallCardinal Ravasi organised a panel discussion ("Lectio Petri") on 22 November inside Saint Peter's.The four participants sat behind a desk in the basilica's sanctuary, in front of the communion table. Each of them had a bottle and a glass in front of them.The Novus Ordo regards churches as secularised meeting rooms. Among the participants was the Protestant pastor and theologian Paolo Ricca, 86.He spoke about Mt 16, where Christ calls Peter a rock ("on this rock I will build my church"), and suggested that "one Peter is not enough", that "we too are...

Sodomy? Nihil Obstat! Tokyo Archbishop Shills for Pro-LGBT Book, Pro-LGBT Pastor LGBT Catholic Japan tent at the Tokyo Rainbow Pride event, Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, 2019LGBT ideology has been making steady inroads into Japan. Unfortunately, the Novus Ordo Catholic hierarchy here has done little to stand against it. In fact, some Novus Ordo Catholic prelates in Japan, including the current Archbishop of Tokyo, have helped expose the faithful to LGBT ideology, and have even recommended it. In many ways, the Novus Ordo Catholic hierarchy in Japan is even worse than the mainstream media when it comes to pushing LGBT ideology.I am...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis just said he won’t comment on unborn children as ‘persons’But what was more controversial in the interview was the Pope’s talk of polarization.(LifeSiteNews) — In a new interview with America Magazine, Pope Francis upheld the humanity of our unborn brothers and sisters but refused to say that they were, well, people. “Therefore, there is a living human being,” he said of the month-old fetus. “I do not say a person, because this is debated, but a living human being.” But in the United States of America, the personhood of the unborn child is a big deal....

Head of German bishops’ conference says he will not accept Vatican’s ‘No’ on women priests 'Access to the ecclesiastical office must be opened up, or it is hard to imagine the future of the Church in our country,” said Bishop Georg Bätzing.(LifeSiteNews) — The head of the German bishops’ conference has declared that he does not want to “accept an irrevocable ‘No’ from the Vatican” regarding the ordination of women priests. According to a report by the German bishops’ own news site katholisch.de, Bishop Georg Bätzing said that “even if Rome sees this point as settled, it is still an...

[Catholic Caucus] “Last of Vatican Fathers” Proposes Killing Children as He Nears His Particular Judgement (Rome) The "last living council father", the "red bishop", wants to justify the killing of unborn children as his last act before his death - at least up to the "fourth/fifth month". The process of disintegration in the church, illustrated by a concrete, shocking example.IMonsignor Luigi Bettazzi will celebrate his 99th birthday in three days. In 1946 he was ordained after his training at the seminary of Bologna and in 1963 was installed by Pope Paul VI. as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of...

[Catholic Caucus] The US Bishops Promote a Protégé to the Rapist Theodore McCarrickRichmond Bishop Barry Knestout will head up of all things the bishops’ child protection committee.It is impossible to overstate the tone-deafness of America’s Catholic bishops in recent years. They seem determined to give the Catholic Church a black eye. The Theodore McCarrick scandal — he was a prominent cardinal in Washington, D.C., who preyed on boys, seminarians, and priests in plain sight for decades — marks one of the lowest points in the history of the Church. In light of that, wouldn’t the bishops want to avoid any...

What’s it like to be a 'traditionalist' Catholic in Germany?As the "synodal way" shapes Catholicism in Germany, 'The Pillar' talked with Germany's "traditionalist" Catholics.If you are ever browsing at a newsstand in a big German train station, look out for a magazine called Dominus Vobiscum.The cover is likely to feature a photograph of a Mass, or perhaps a statue of a saint, or a page from a medieval manuscript.Beneath the image will be a line explaining that the magazine is produced by Pro Missa Tridentina, a lay association dedicated to “the Classical Roman Rite in the Catholic Church.”The magazine is...

The Problem With the US Bishops Christopher Manion points to a few historical problems with the US Bishops (and the USCC bureaucracy as a whole)....Today, [the Bishops'] agenda features a vast array of government programs and policies as the authoritative teaching of “the Church,” while they fall silent on the magisterial teachings of Humanae Vitae on contraception, Romans 1:26-27 on sodomy, and Matthew 19:3-6 on marriage and divorce....That 'vast array of government programs and policies' is translated "Distributive Justice." That's the claim, anyway: that the 'distributive justice' portion of 'social justice' is served by Federal programs. (You'll recall that 'distributive...

Pope tells theologians to consult ‘non-Catholics,’ avoid ‘going backward’ in TraditionThe Pontiff once again criticized Catholics attached to the traditional form of the Church's life.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has warned an influential, Vatican-based theological commission against “going backward” in “Tradition,” instead urging them to promote the Gospel by consulting non-Catholic “experts.”The 85-year-old Pontiff made the comments Thursday to the International Theological Commission, a body of theologians set up by Pope Paul VI in 1969 to advise the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).Francis first highlighted how the Commission was to fulfil its task “in...

Cardinal Zen’s conviction shows that no one is safe in Hong KongCardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the 90-year-old retired bishop of Hong Kong, has been convicted of failing to register a humanitarian relief fund and fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars (about £400) after being punished for supporting pro-democracy demonstrators during the mass protests in Hong Kong. The fine may seem small, but this is Beijing’s way of saying that even a frail and saintly cleric who walks with the aid of a stick is not safe to endorse democracy. No one is.All Beijing has done is decided not to proceed with...

[Catholic Caucus] Coadjutor: Francis De Facto Sacks Providence BishopIn a surprise move, Francis appointed Rockville Centre Auxiliary Bishop Richard Henning, 58, as Coadjutor Bishop to Bishop Thomas Tobin, 74, of Providence, Rhode Island.A coadjutor automatically succeeds once the resignation of the diocesan bishop is accepted, therefore appointing a coadjutor turns a diocesan bishop into a lame duck. Tobin will turn 75 in April. He is one of the best bishops in the US.In August he challenged the rigidity of Francis' Traditionis Custodes. In December 2020, he questioned the Vatican's decision to "allow" bishops to prohibit the reception of Holy Communion...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Viganò: Faithful Catholics will escape the authoritarian suppression of the Latin Mass'The faithful Catholic is in communion not only with the Church of his own time, but he must necessarily also be in communion with the Church of all times.'Editor’s note: The following is an open letter written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò to Bishop Franco Giulio Brambilla regarding his decision to suppress the Old Mass in his diocese.(LifeSiteNews) — Most Reverend Excellency,Your recent decision to suspend the celebration of the Tridentine Liturgy in the church of Vocogno and in the chapel of San Biagio in the...

Free to Abort Up to the Fifth Month. A Bishop and a Theologian Explain WhyHe was the first to acknowledge that the thesis he supports goes so far as to “subvert the Church’s conception of abortion.” That is, the thesis that one is a “human person” only “after the fourth/fifth month” of pregnancy, and so before this stage abortion is no longer murder nor even a sin, if carried out for good reasons.This thesis is supported by a well-known and esteemed bishop, Luigi Bettazzi (in the photo), 99 years old, the last Italian bishop still alive who took part in...

Vatican memos: Financial office risked becoming ‘a charade’Internal Vatican documents from 2016 warned top financial departments risked "the appearance of ongoing reform, but with no real substance.”Internal Vatican reports warned in 2016 that a papally-created financial reform group was in danger of becoming “a charade.” Sources also say that Cardinal Angelo Becciu authorized that year a move to drain the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy’s bank account of millions of euros overnight, in a bid to undercut the department’s independence.Confidential Vatican records show that senior members of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy were warned in 2016 that the body,...

[Catholic Caucus] Head of John Paul II Institute: Same-sex couples shouldn’t be ‘deprived of God’s blessing’Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne continued his previous defence of blessings for individuals in same-sex unions, saying 'behind the request for a blessing, there is often the same thirst for inclusion.'VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The president of the “John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family” – gutted by Pope Francis in 2019 – has defended blessings for same-sex couples, arguing that “no one can be deprived of God’s blessing.”Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne issued his statement in a recent interview published by La Croix International,...

Who Is Managing the Synod on Synodality?NEWS ANALYSIS: Voices supportive of Church teaching are not being given adequate exposure.VATICAN CITY — In light of the controversy stirred up by the working document for the next stage of the multiyear Synod on Synodality, questions have arisen over who prepared it and how it came into being.The 45-page “Document for the Continental Stage” (DCS), published Oct. 28, attempts to summarize discussions with the lay faithful, clergy and religious who participated in the synod’s first stage of “listening and discernment” and aims to be the basis of the work for the second...

“Pope Francis” is Our Reward for Tolerating the Errors of Vatican IIAs we end the liturgical year, and begin another Advent with Francis still occupying the papacy, we cannot escape the reality that the Church’s crisis has grown significantly worse over the past year. All but the most obstinate self-deceivers recognize that Rome has not only lost the Faith but has also become the loudest voice against the true Faith. It appears that we now hear Satan’s unfiltered voice through these false shepherds. We naturally look back to Benedict XVI’s abdication with more dismay as the Francis crisis deepens —...

Archbishop Viganò Critiques Benedict XVI’s Theology, Decries “Permanent Revolution” of Vatican II PDF ButtonDE HOC MUNDOThe “Secularization” of Authorityas a Premise for Religious Freedom and Ecumenical DialogueTheorized by Vatican IIRegnum meum non est de hoc mundo.Jn 18:36I. IntroductionThe wound inflicted by the Second Vatican Council on the ecclesial body and — consequently — on the entire social body is anything but healed after sixty years, and indeed continues to become gangrenous with very serious damage before the eyes of all. The enthusiastic and self-congratulatory tones with which the Bergoglian Sanhedrin praises the Council cannot cancel the ruin it has brought...