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Archbishop Gänswein has claimed that the late Pope Benedict XVI disapproved of Pope Francis' restrictions on the traditional Mass.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– Pope Benedict XVI’s longtime secretary has revealed that the late Pontiff only learned of Pope Francis’ attack on the traditional Mass by reading about it in the Vatican’s newspaper, and that Benedict thought the measures were a “mistake.” Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former aide and secretary of the late Benedict XVI, has made the claim in his upcoming book Nothing but the Truth: My Life with Benedict XVI. Due to be published January 12, LifeSiteNews has obtained a...

[Catholic Caucus] Gerhard Ludwig Müller: "Pope Francis' clampdown on the Latin Mass was an imprudence"The following article by Domenico Agasso appeared in La Stampa on January 7, 2023. (link)VATICAN CITY. "Pope Francis' clampdown on the Latin Mass was an imprudence. I suggest to the Pontiff that he be more attentive to all sensibilities within the Church, even those furthest from his own." And he warns of a possible schism on the left in Germany, sounding a sharp "no" to the blessing of gay couples: "It is against the word of God."German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, 75, was a student of...

Pope Francis could be ousted in 'secret plan' by Vatican hardlinersVatican conservatives are waging a “secret plan” to put Pope Francis under such stress that he resigns, it has been claimed. The campaign against the Argentinian pontiff began just days after the death of his predecessor, Benedict XVI.Despite previously stating he will resign if his health deteriorates, it was thought highly unlikely that Francis would decide to step down while Benedict was still alive to avoid there being three Popes living in the Vatican – a situation without precedent that would have embarrassed the Catholic Church.But with Benedict’s death on...

We had the opportunity to read some previews of Mgr Georg Gänswein's book 'Nothing but the truth. My life at the side of Benedict XVI" coming out now from PIEMME Press. Basically it reconfirms what was anticipated in the interviews that have come out in recent days. To be read in full!

[Catholic Caucus] Rumours from Rome - an Apostolic Constitution from Francis to all but ban the traditonal Latin MassWhile you think you may enjoy a peaceful Epiphantide glowing in the light of Christmas the Bishop of Rome has other ideas. If my sources are correct, this is imminent, and be prepared for a Lent of suffering and sorrow. Gloria TV is reporting "rumours" from the German blog, Summorum Pontificum (summorum-pontificum.de) that Pope Francis is preparing to unleash a frontal attack on the traditional Latin Mass through the use of an Apostolic Constitution. Whether or not he has waited for Benedict...

[Catholic Caucus] "Francis does to Georg Gänswein what the Jesuits did to him in Buenos Aires": Pack up and leave by February 1Translated from InfoVaticana.The German weekly Die Zeit has published the news that the Pope wants the former personal secretary of Benedict XVI far away from the Vatican.According to German media, Archbishop Georg Gänswein has to move out of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, Benedict XVI's retreat house, on February 1. According to Die Zeit, Father Georg was informed of the date of his expulsion from the Vatican residence on the same day as the funeral of the Pope Emeritus...

[Catholic Caucus] PopeWatch: The Pettiness and the Cruelty Are the Point

[Catholic Caucus] Gänswein After Visiting Synodality-Francis: “Now I Have To Be Quiet”Archbishop Georg Gänswein is "embittered" because of “malicious” interpretations of his book, taken out of the context, reports the propaganda outlet Corriere.it (January 10).Francis received Gänswein on January 9. After that, Gänswein told friends that he spoke with Francis about the book, adding that, “now I have to shut up.”

[Catholic Caucus] Benedict's Last Journey Was in Some Random VanBenedict XVI's mortal remains were transferred under cover of darkness in a van from his residence to St Peter's Basilica.His coffin was followed only by those who had cared for him. NO official representative of the Holy See was present.Roman bishops whispered that they had actually wanted a daylight procession. The remains were carried into St Peter's through a side entrance.AldoMariaValli.it comments that the dead Benedict XVI suffered the same fate as the Roman liturgy. He was admitted to the holy precinct, but without being given the honour he deserved.

George Cardinal Pell is dead. As a man, Cardinal Pell stood accused of grievous sins before several earthly tribunals. He was convicted of some of those crimes in secular courts and as a result, spent over a year in prison—much of it in solitary confinement. He was later acquitted and released when the High Court of Australia unanimously overturned his convictions saying that the jury likely made its decision based on faulty evidence, and that there was a significant possibility that an innocent person had been convicted. Was Cardinal Pell guilty of the crimes he was accused of? Or was...

Catholic church in Austria registers record number of resignationsThe number of faithful leaving the Catholic church in Austria reached a new record of 90,808 in 2022, according to statistics released Wednesday.The number shrank from 4.83 million in the previous year to 4.73 million.A single reason for the number of departures cannot be inferred from the numbers.The number of people leaving the church was already relatively high at 72,222 in 2021 and represented the second-highest figure behind 2010, when 85,960 people turned their backs on the church after abuse cases came to light, according to the daily Der Standard."For many...

Sandra Magister reveals that George Cardinal Pell was "Demos"There are no coincidences. Vox.The last writings of Cardinal Pell. And those diaries of imprisonment so dear to Benedict – Settimo Cielo - Blog - L'Espresso (repubblica.it)A memorandum is circulating among the cardinals about the upcoming conclave. Here it is – Settimo Cielo - Blog - L'Espresso (repubblica.it)THE VATICAN TODAYCommentators at every school, though for different reasons, with the possible exception of Father Spadaro SJ, agree that this pontificate is a disaster in many or more respects, a catastrophe.1. The Successor of St Peter is the rock on which the Church...

The Catholic Church must free itself from this ‘toxic nightmare’Shortly before he died on Tuesday, Cardinal George Pell wrote the following article for The Spectator in which he denounced the Vatican’s plans for its forthcoming ‘Synod on Synodality’ as a ‘toxic nightmare’. The booklet produced by the Synod, to be held in two sessions this year and next year, is ‘one of the most incoherent documents ever sent out from Rome’, says Pell. Not only is it ‘couched in neo-Marxist jargon’, but it is ‘hostile to the apostolic tradition’ and ignores such fundamental Christian tenets as belief in divine judgment,...

Francis Couldn't Behave Properly - Not Even at Benedict's FuneralSilereNonPossum.it (January 5) leaked information on embarrassing moments surrounding Benedict's funeral. Highlights.• Francis' Master of Ceremonies, Father Diego Ravelli, struggled to convince Francis not to leave St Peter's Square before Benedict’s coffin was carried into the basilica.• However, Francis categorically refused to be present at the burial in the grottoes of Saint Peter's.• Originally, Francis wanted the funeral to be “like that of a cardinal, nothing more.”• While Italy, Spain and Britain put their flags at half-mast after Benedict's death, Francis wanted "no mourning" at the Vatican.• Francis pushed the information...

Pope Francis botches the job delivering Pope Benedict's funeral eulogyMost Americans probably missed Pope Benedict's funeral service, given that it was held in the wee hours of the American morning.But writer Rod Dreher, who has interest in Catholic things, was there, and as someone with affection for Pope Benedict XIV, didn't want to miss his funeral. The pomp and ceremony of it was lovely, as was the mass itself. But there was one element that Dreher thought a little substandard -- Pope Francis's presiding over the mass itself, in his reading of the eulogy for his immediate predecessor. He kind...

As we reported, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died on Dec. 31.Normally, for the death of such a world leader, you would have the President in attendance at the funeral. So reporters asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if Joe Biden would be going. The answer was more than a little embarrassing for the White House.Joe Biden will not attend Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral, per request of the Vatican. pic.twitter.com/Q7VcYEhnei— Kevin McMahon (@Kevin__McMahon) January 3, 2023Jean-Pierre mispronounced “Emeritus,” making it sound like an infection. Someone has to help her with how to pronounce what it is she’s trying to say,...

Pope Emeritus Benedict VXI (sic), who died last Saturday at 95, and the Vatican requested that President Joe Biden not attend Benedict's funeral, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. Benedict made the request prior to his death. The U.S. will send Joe Donnelly, ambassador of the Holy See, "in line with the wishes of the late Pope and the Vatican. This is what their requests were. This is what their wishes were," Jean-Pierre said when asked if Biden would attend the funeral, which is being held Thursday in St. Peter's Square. 'Well why do you think? You tell...

Upon hearing the news of Pope Benedict XVI’s death on Saturday morning, I immediately thought of a long road trip I took with my wife 10 years ago, from Alaska to Texas, and a lonely stretch of highway in central Wyoming where, trapped in a car with nothing else to do, I listened to hours and hours of interviews conducted in the ’90s with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the man destined to become Pope Benedict XVI.I didn’t know it at the time, but those interviews planted seeds that would take years to bear fruit, which they did in 2018 when my...

[Catholic Caucus] Why the First Jesuit Pope Should Be the Last OnePope Francis saves the bacon of yet another corrupt fellow Jesuit. I graduated in 1994 from the Jesuit University of San Francisco (USF), a school drenched in the heresy and scandal that have come to define the modern Jesuit order. I can still remember my first day at the school. It was “condom day,” an absurd campus-wide distribution of condoms that the Jesuit president and Jesuit professors blithely accepted. I had gone to USF not because of the modern Jesuits but in spite of them. In spite of its...

Pope Francis: 'If I look at the Gospel purely sociologically, I'm a communist' In an interview with the Jesuit magazine 'America', Francis rejected polarizations as 'not Catholic'.Rome (kath.net/jg)"If I look at the gospel in a purely sociological way, then yes, then I am a communist, and Jesus is one too." With these words, Pope Francis answered a question about the background to his criticism of capitalism in an interview with the US Jesuit magazine America .The Pope gave an extensive interview to the magazine on November 22. Outgoing editor-in-chief Matt Malone SJ confronted him with criticism from the US. The...