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[Catholic Caucus] Bishop's Blog / An important prayer for our timeThe attached image is called "Amazing Lights", it seems especially appropriate as we celebrate the 104th Anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima in 1917. Interestingly these amazing lights are especially active as we celebrate this important date. In 1910 only a few years before the Miracles at Fatima, which also carried dire warnings for humanity, Pope St. Pius X issued the "Oath Against Modernism" printed here.“I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly...

Reimagining Redemption: From Vatican II to Francis and BeyondTwo councils, over four hundred years apart, set forth profoundly different interpretations of the role of Jesus Christ’s earthly mission. Can you identify the two councils based on the passages below?Council A“Whereby it came to pass that the heavenly Father, ‘the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,’ when that ‘blessed fullness of time’ was come sent to men Christ Jesus, His Son, who had been announced and promised, both before the Law and at the time of the Law to many holy Fathers, that He might both redeem the...

[Catholic Caucus] First cathedral built after Vatican II celebrates 50th anniversaryThe Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption was the first cathedral built with the Second Vatican Council in mind. The debates over design were compounded by innovations suggested by the Second Vatican Council. The council made many proposals for reform, but among them was a call to bring a “noble simplicity” to church design. Taking inspiration from the council, St. Mary’s architects heeded the call of Pope Paul VI.

Classical architecture is not a partisan issue. President Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Democratic Party, was an enthusiastic champion of the Greek Revivalism thankfully still visible in both the capital and his Monticello home. When he designed the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, he took great care in the landscaping and architecture, knowing their likely effects on generations of young minds. Fifty years later, President Abraham Lincoln insisted that construction of the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol continue despite the bloody and costly war taking place sometimes just 50 miles from the seat of government. Public beauty in civic buildings,...

Did the Holy Ghost Abandon the Church at Vatican II?In a 1976 interview published under the title of Vatican Encounter, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre made several striking statements about the role of the Holy Ghost during Vatican II:“I should have battled more vigorously, perhaps, for an improvement of the texts, or refused to sign them, as I subsequently did with others. In reality, I was hoping against hope that the Holy Spirit would prevent certain projects from coming to pass or that the Pope would intervene at the last moment.”“Only God knows what really went on during Vatican II, and what...

Ireland’s bishops plan synod to hear from people who have left the churchDUBLIN (CNS) — Ireland’s Catholic bishops plan to hold a synod within the next five years to — among other things — hear from people who were raised Catholic but have walked away from the church.A March 10 statement released after the bishops’ conference virtual general assembly explained that the prelates believe “a synodal pathway leading to a national synod is inviting us to journey together in discernment of what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church in Ireland at this time.”The bishops said they are “acutely...

Don Pietro Leone: The Council and the Eclipse of God – PART V THE CHURCH I THE CHURCH CONSIDERED IN HERSELFEcclesiae tuae, quaesumus, Domine, preces placatus admitte: ut destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, secura tibi serviat libertate 1The Church, Militant, Suffering and Triumphant by Andrea Buonaiuto (1365)After a brief introduction to expound Catholic teaching concerning the Church in Herself, we shall see how the Council opposes this teaching.IntroductionIn this introduction we shall briefly expound the Church’s:a) Nature; b) End, and Means for Attaining the End; c) Constitution; d) Properties; e) Necessity. a) The Nature of the Church The Church is...

Viganò on Italy's New PM (Arrivederci, Catholic Italy)Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem. (On the asp and the viper you will tread, And trample the lion and the dragon.) -Ps. 91:13ET CONCULCABIS LEONEM ET DRACONEMUp until the last century in Italy, free thinkers could spread ideas that were imbued with Masonic principles and rhetoric, because the social body was not liberal. They could stand in front of church on Sunday mornings and spread their lies, even while their own wives and children went to Mass, received catechism lessons, and were instructed by the Church and the...

Don Pietro Leone: THE COUNCIL AND THE ECLIPSE OF GOD - PART IV In Part IV of ‘The Council and the Eclipse of God’, Don Pietro explains how the Council attacks the very notion of Truth, how this is the basis of all its false teachings and how Decartes’s Philosophy of Doubt permeates the Council’s documents. F.R. The Council and the Eclipse of God Beatissimae Vergini Mariae humillime dedicatum,Quae cunctas haereses sola interemisti in universo mundoPART IV TRUTH – part 2Rene Descartes (1596-1650): Father of Modernist Thought - his philosophy begins with Doubta) The Fullness of Truth The Council...

A Time to Change...Again (2) On December 2, 2020, Pope Francis published a book entitled Let Us Dream (Simon and Schuster) with the subtitle: A Path to a Better Future.This article is the second part of the review devoted to this work, the result of his interviews with British journalist Austen Ivereigh, who is also his biographer (The Great Reformer – Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope).Bergoglian “Excesses” and Hegelian “Overflow”The sophistic casuistry found in the Pope's latest book is reminiscent of the four postulates posed by the Pope in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium (2013), in...

Petition to Pope: Dump ‘Darth Vader’ MangerVatican crib drops politically incorrect figures of blindfolded Jew, MuslimVATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Italian Catholics are petitioning Pope Francis to "bring back the traditional statues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph" after a universal tsunami of scorn and mockery swamped the Vatican's modernist manger in St. Peter's Square.Pope Francis has a more traditional manger in his library Social media commentators and even mainstream media — the latter normally sympathetic to Pope Francis — ridiculed the "monumental monstrosity of a manger," comparing the ceramic crib characters to Darth Vader from Star Wars and labeling it "a...

De Mattei: An eminent Cardinal, but not very prudent Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun is an eminent prelate who sincerely loves his country and the Church. Born in Shanghai in 1932, ordained to the priesthood in the Salesian Order in 1961, he was appointed Bishop by John Paul II in 1996 and created Cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2006. Between 1996 and 2009 he was coadjutor and subsequently Archbishop of the diocese of Hong Kong, No one knows better than he does the complexity of the political and religious situation in China. On January 9, 2016, Cardinal Zen, today Bishop Emeritus of...

Vatican II and the Calvary of the Church Editor’s Note: The interventions of Archbishop Viganò and Bishop Schneider have certainly ignited a debate about what the Church should do regarding the problem of Vatican II. Catholic Family News was honored to be asked to publish the English translation of a new intervention on this topic by Fr. Serafino Maria Lanzetta, a former member of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate who is now the Superior of a new community called the Family of Mary Immaculate and St. Francis (established in the Diocese of Portsmouth, England). Father discusses the failure of...

[Catholic Caucus] Kalb on Vatican II: Exactly so. Why has the Second Vatican Council been such a radically disruptive event in the life of the Church, such that Archbishop Viganò proposes that we simply forget it, leave it behind, and bring an end to the otherwise endless debates over what the Council meant to teach between 1962 and 1965 and how exactly that teaching can be reconciled with what the Church has always taught?The always insightful James Kalb, the lawyer and scholar whose book The Tyranny of Liberalism is a must read for the thoughtful, provides what I believe to...

Second Intervention of Prominent Italian Professor on Vatican II On July 29, Catholic Family News published a report by Dr. Maike Hickson about an important intervention of Professor Enrico Maria Radaelli that was in reply to the recent criticisms of the Second Vatican Council by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. In that report Dr. Hickson noted that in addition to the intervention published at the end of it Dr. Radaelli had written a longer essay on the topic. We are pleased to publish here an English translation of this second article. In this lengthier discussion, Professor Radaelli examines in greater detail...

[Catholic Caucus] TURN TO TRADITION -- a response to George Weigel Fr. Richard G. CipollaRecently George Weigel offered an Op-Ed titled  “A Paradox for the Next Pope” as part of the Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship series.  He quite rightly calls attention to several issues that will confront the successor of Pope Francis:  confronting and ending the terrible scandal of sexual abuse by clergy; reform of the financial structure and administration of the Church; and the challenge of supporting the vitality of the Catholic faith in those disparate places in which it found and at the same time...

Prominent Italian theologian defends Archbishop Viganò’s Vatican II critique: ‘Take off the Dogma and you will unleash the Antichrist” Prominent Italian professor lauds Archbishop Viganò and discusses doctrinal confusion since Vatican II Professor Enrica Maria Radaelli, a prominent Italian theologian, has now joined the Vatican II debate and strongly endorses Archbishop Viganò’s critique of the Council and its ambiguities and manipulations. Quoting Father Schillebeeckx and Cardinal Suenens, the professor shows how key figures intentionally inserted ambiguous formulations and used the term “pastoral Council” in order to relax the Church’s doctrinal teachings. But he warns us: “Take off the Dogma and...

Bishop Schneider lists problems in Vatican II documents that lead to ‘relativism’ ‘For me the deepest problem of Vatican II is the relativization of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.’ ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 28, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― The auxiliary bishop of Astana has called for the correction of texts promulgated by the Second Vatican Council that have led to “relativism.”  “I think that one day the Church should formally correct (expressions in) Lumen Gentium 16, in Nostra Aetate and also (one) in the Ecumenical Decree on Non-Christians that (says)  the Holy Ghost is using them as instruments,” Bishop Athanasius Schneider told...

Could roots of Vatican II council result in a church that leaves God behind? German priest and theology professor Hubert Windisch comments on recent ‘justified criticism’ of Vatican II Closing shot of Pope Francis' January 2016 prayer video showing baby Jesus, Buddha, a menorah, and Muslim prayer beads (misbaha). July 27, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Professor Hubert Windisch, a German priest and retired professor of pastoral theology (he taught at the University of Freiburg), has written a commentary for LifeSite on the current discussion of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and its aftermath.  Referencing Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and Bishop Athanasius...

[Catholic Caucus] Magister vs. Viganò. Who Is Right? (Hint: His name begins with “V”.) Sandro Magister, a prominent critic of the current pontificate—with good reason aplenty— seems to have abandoned his critical faculty when it comes to the suggestion by Archbishop Carlo Viganò that, for all the trouble it has caused, the best approach to the Second Vatican Council is not the endless pursuit of Benedict XVI’s “hermeneutic of continuity,” whose meaning remains elusive, but rather simply “to to drop it ‘in toto‘ and forget it.” My co-author Tom Woods and I made the same argument back in 2002 in...