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[Catholic Caucus] Francis' Obsession with Vestments ContinuesFashion style is a recurring obsession in Francis' "Magisterium", for example when he repeatedly tells priests and seminarians what to wear and what not to wear.This obsession has reached a new level. A year after the death of Benedict XVI, the supreme commander of Santa Marta ordered his master of ceremonies and the staff of the sacristy of St Peter's to remove the coat of arms of Benedict XVI from a set of chasubles in four of the five liturgical colours, writes SilereNonPossum.com (31 December).The coat of arms will be replaced by the tiara...

Italian general: US official bragged Benedict would be ‘forced’ to resign weeks after 2005 electionThe Italian general alleges that a US official of 'the highest ranks' had bragged in 2005 that Pope Benedict XVI would be forced to resign.On the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s burial, Piero Laporta, a retired Italian brigadier general, published a stunning piece on his own blog.This Catholic author, who previously lobbied to have Benedict participate (and influence) the controversial Synod on the Family some eight years ago, is now revealing that in the first weeks after the election of Joseph Ratzinger to the papal throne...

On the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s burial, Piero Laporta, a retired Italian brigadier general, published a stunning piece on his own blog.This Catholic author, who previously lobbied to have Benedict participate (and influence) the controversial Synod on the Family some eight years ago, is now revealing that in the first weeks after the election of Joseph Ratzinger to the papal throne in 2005, an official of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) “was bragging about the resignation to which H.H. Benedict XVI of revered memory would soon be forced.”If this story is true, however, “soon” would have to mean...

For several years there was German supremacy: Joseph Ratzinger, alias Pope Benedict XVI, had established an influential network in Rome. Now this system is collapsing - and the former Pope can hardly hope for support. The relationship with Pope Francis seems to have broken down. The downfall of the German supremacy in the Vatican is observed every morning by many. It is quiet at St Peter's this winter, unusually quiet. The pandemic has silenced St Peter's Square. The otherwise usual background noise of pilgrims streaming to St Peter's does not disturb the peace in the Vatican at the moment.

New book suggests St. Gallen Mafia agreement may have led to Pope Benedict XVI’s resignationAuthor Julia Meloni tells us that Martini's own confessor claimed that Benedict's resignation had been “scripted since his pontificate's beginning – because Martini had shifted his votes to Ratzinger at the 2005 Conclave."(LifeSiteNews) — The American scholar and columnist Julia Meloni has just published her long-awaited, excellent, and deeply researched history of the Sankt Gallen Mafia, a group of progressive bishops regularly meeting in Switzerland and plotting to further revolutionize the Catholic Church. The Sankt Gallen Mafia: Exposing the Secret Reformist Group Within the Church tells...

Anti-Christian terrorists have turned their rage on poor First Nation and Canadian communities, accused us all of blood debt, and decided they will burn our sacred buildings to the ground.St. Ann’s Catholic Church was a small church built to serve a small town, but that humble building was a mighty testament to the people who built and nourished it.The people of Chuchuwayha Indian Reserve Number Two traveled more than 40 miles, each way, by horse and wagon, to pick up the lumber they used to build their small church, by hand, outside the town of Hedley, British Columbia. That church...

While the United States was reeling last week from an utterly chaotic election, the Vatican decided it was the right moment to publish its long-awaited report into disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The mammoth document is a nauseating account of clerical coverup, cowardice, and complicity that prioritizes subtle finger-pointing and deflection over real accountability. Those expecting an explanation of how a serially accused predator was catapulted through the church hierarchy despite serious allegations and rumors of assault and indecent behavior will be left not merely disappointed but disillusioned.Equally unsatisfactory is its failure to disclose the extent to which this highly...

I wrote this article two years ago. Due to the recent news of Pope Francis supporting gay marriage and a place for practicing homosexuals in the RCC, I felt that it was a good time to bring this piece out once again. I have edited this down to a shortened version, but (as always) will publish the links, so that those readers who wish to read articles in their entirety may do so. A warning to readers: prepare to be shocked and sickened. I apologize here for some of the content from St. Sebastian’s Angels. Sometimes I think that God...

There is a lot of talk about the Pope resigning, being constrained to resign, or being deposed... Let’s consider the question, then, “Can a Pope be deposed?” by first defining our terms. Here, “pope” means the Bishop of Rome, who ex officio is the Vicar of Christ and the Successor of Saint Peter... The first determination we must make is to distinguish the auxiliary verb “can”. A thing can be done physically, morally and legally. An enemy of the Church could arrest the Pope, force him under pain of death to sign a decree of abdication. That is a physical...

Actor Anthony Hopkins said he avoids talking publicly about politics because he believes “actors are pretty stupid.”The Oscar-winning star of The Silence of the Lambs and the upcoming Netflix movie The Two Popes spoke in a conversation with fellow actor Brad Pitt for the latest issue of Interview magazine.“People ask me questions about present situations in life, ” Hopkins said.“I say, ‘I don’t know, I’m just an actor. I don’t have any opinions. Actors are pretty stupid. My opinion is not worth anything. There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it, because I’m not going to participate.'”Unlike many of his Hollywood peers, Hopkins has studiously...

In a conversation with fellow actor Brad Pitt for a lengthy chat for Interview magazine, Anthony Hopkins explained why he seldom -- actually: never -- talks about politics... and why he's not a big fan of other actors talking about politics either. In short: "Actors are pretty stupid." "People ask me questions about present situations in life, and I say, ‘I don’t know, I’m just an actor,'" Hopkins told Pitt. " I don’t have any opinions. Actors are pretty stupid. My opinion is not worth anything. There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it, because I’m not...

Dear Priests, Deacons, Religious and all Holy Faithful of the Diocese of Tyler, A letter (see below) by Archbishop Vigano, former Nuncio to the United States, raises grave allegations and calls for the resignation of numerous high ranking prelates including Pope Francis. Let us be clear that they are still allegations but as your shepherd I find them to be credible. Using this standard the response must be a thorough investigation similar to those conducted any time allegations are deemed to be credible. I do not have the authority to launch such an investigation but I will lend my voice...

Pope Francis stands accused this morning of covering up the crimes of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, one of the most senior and sinister sex abusers in the history of the Catholic Church.The allegation comes from the Vatican’s former apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 77, who has called on the Pope to resign.In a devastating 11-page written testament, Viganò says Francis lifted severe sanctions imposed on McCarrick for sexual wrongdoing by Pope Benedict XVI, the existence of which has not been made public until now.Viganò writes that he told Francis in person in 2013 that McCarrick ‘had...

Pope Benedict XVI has contributed to a book marking the Ecumenical Patriarch's 25th anniversary The Pope Emeritus has praised worship ad orientem in a book which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the election of Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew of Constantinople. In his book extract, the retired Benedict XVI writes: “A shepherd of the flock of Jesus Christ is never oriented only to the circle of his own faithful. The community of the Church is universal, also in the sense that it includes all of reality.” He continues: “This is evident, for example, in the liturgy, which does not indicate only the commemoration...

During his recent presentation of the book Beyond the Crisis in the Church: The Pontificate of Benedict XVI, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, who serves as personal secretary to “Pope Emeritus” Benedict XVI, inexplicably and quite mysteriously provided new depth, and thus new impetus, to the novel idea that Benedict’s renunciation of the papacy was qualified by a “changed understanding” of the papacy, according to which Benedict retained a “passive” aspect of the Petrine office while turning over its active exercise to Francis. In the course of the book presentation Ganswein made remarks that surely reflect Benedict’s own understanding of his situation,...

Rome, Italy, Jun 25, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- What is Benedict XVI's own view of his historical resignation? What has the fall-out been from his secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein's controversial remark on an “expanded petrine office”? What about the “Prophesy of Malachy,” which allegedly sees Francis as the last pontiff? In a recent and candid conversation, veteran journalist and EWTN Rome correspondent Paul Badde sat down with Archbishop Gänswein, who gave his take on these and a number of other questions. The German archbishop currently serves Pope Francis as Prefect of the Papal Household, and has also maintained...

Today, on the Feast of Pentecost, I called Fr. Ingo Dollinger, a German priest and former professor of theology in Brasil, who is now quite elderly and physically weak. He has been a personal friend of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for many years. Father Dollinger unexpectedly confirmed over the phone the following facts: Not long after the June 2000 publication of the Third Secret of Fatima by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told Fr. Dollinger during an in-person conversation that there is still a part of the Third Secret that they have not published!...

Robert Spaemann said Communion was a 'yes or no' question and that the Pope's document could lead to a schismRobert Spaemann, one of the foremost living Catholic philosophers, has said Amoris Laetitia contradicts the traditional teaching of the Church. In an interview with the German Catholic News Agency, Spaemann says that most of Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation is in line with the Church’s teaching – although some sections are capable of being read otherwise. However, Spaemann says that paragraph 305, when read with its accompanying footnote 351, “directly contradicts [widerspricht direkt] paragraph 84 of John Paul II’s letter Familiaris Consortio.”...

From the article: But what’s most odd is that the two popes are these two popes, and that the one who spent a third of a century erecting a Catholic edifice of firm doctrine and strict prohibition now must look on at close range as the other cheerfully dismantles it in the service of a more open, flexible Church.

One thing that that has puzzled a lot of people since the selection of Pope Francis two years ago is how a left-leaning Pope could succeed two very serious conservative Popes—John Paul II and Benedict XVI—who you would have thought had stacked the ranks of the Cardinals with clergy that would perpetuate their theological and philosophical outlook. Was Benedict hounded out of office by some kind of internal Vatican scandal perhaps? Was there some ecclesiastical version of a coup?There’s no evidence that I’m aware of—until now. Three days ago the National Catholic Register ran a very curious article about...