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Bishop Barron’s “Vatican II FAQs” Word on Fire, Bishop Robert Barron’s production company, recently posted “Vatican II FAQs” on its website.Here, I will reproduce the twelve questions that are posed therein, along with portions of the answers given (in boldface), along with valuable information that Bishop Barron fails to provide.He and/or his staff members are, of course, most welcome to rebut any of the points that I will raise in this post, in which case, I will gladly publish their remarks. What is Vatican II? Vatican II, or the Second Vatican Council, was the twenty-first (and most recent) ecumenical council...

Barron and Voris Agree: Vatican II Is Not the Problem, “Rad Trads” Are Last week Monday (Aug. 3, 2020), the National Catholic Reporter informed the world that “Bishop Robert Barron hosted an invite-only meeting of Catholic media professionals last week to discuss ‘disturbing trends in the online Catholic world,’ including the rise of ‘radical Traditionalist’ movements that are often marked by personal attacks and vitriolic commentary.”“The private meeting,” reports NCR’s Christopher White, “took place July 29 via Zoom and was confirmed to NCR by Brandon Vogt, content director for Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.” According to White, “Vogt said the...

VIGANÒ: A SNEAKY AND COWARDLY BETRAYAL OF THE CHURCH IS TAKING PLACE. Dear Stilumcuriali, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has sent us this answer to an essay by Father Thomas Weinandy, which seems to us extremely interesting to evaluate the current situation of the Church, the roots of the crisis and the reality that emerged from Vatican Council II. Enjoy reading it. August 10, 2020Saint Laurence, Martyr Reverend Father Thomas, I read attentively your essay Vatican II and the Work of the Spirit which was published at Inside the Vatican on July 27, 2020 (here). It seems to me that...

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...

Bishop (Barron) Hosts Establishment Journalists To Bash Rising Catholic Media Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron hosted a July 29 invite-only meeting of party journalists to talk about “disturbing trends in the online Catholic world.”The meeting of those disturbed was about the rise of a “radical Traditionalist” movement, writes Christopher White on the dissenting NcrOnline.org (August 3).White previously worked for CruxNow.com which is flooded with Bishop Barron advertisement. Present on the call were America Media (Jesuits), Catholic News Agency (EWTN), Catholic News Service (US bishops), CruxNow.com (sponsored also by Barron), and Our Sunday Visitor (U.S. National Weekly Newspaper).The meeting also...

[Barf Alert] Bishop Barron hosts invite-only meeting to discuss 'rad trads,' online vitriol Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron hosted an invite-only meeting of Catholic media professionals last week to discuss "disturbing trends in the online Catholic world," including the rise of "radical Traditionalist" movements that are often marked by personal attacks and vitriolic commentary. The private meeting took place July 29 via Zoom and was confirmed to NCR by Brandon Vogt, content director for Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.  Vogt said that the meeting was initiated at his suggestion and had a threefold purpose, to discuss: A "culture of...

[Barf Alert] Pope Francis discusses climate crisis with well-known Italian journalist Pope Francis discussed the grave ecological crisis facing humanity with the well-known Italian journalist, Eugenio Scalfari, co-founder of the influential Italian daily, La Repubblica, in an hour-long conversation on July 30, at Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where Francis lives.The 96-year old Mr. Scalfari, an atheist, broke the news in an article on La Repubblica, Aug. 2, under the headline “Pope Francis and the modern society.” In it, he recalled that they have met many times over the years since Francis was elected pope on March 13, 2013 and...

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...

Vatican II: A Lawyer’s Perspective The Second Vatican Council continues to provoke concern, as shown by the recent open letter from priests, scholars, and journalists in support of calls from Bishop Schneider, who believes it contains errors and ambiguities needing correction, and Archbishop Viganò, who has suggested it might be best to forget the whole thing.I don’t have much to add to discussions of the authority and interpretation of the Council or its documents. I’m not a cleric, nor even an amateur theologian or historian. But I’m a lawyer, and that gives me a perspective on the issues which might...

[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...

Establishment Churchmen Rush to Defend Vatican II after Viganò’s Remarks The Empire Strikes Back (1980) is generally regarded as one of the better, if not the best, Star Wars films. If you haven’t seen it already, the plot involves Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine (the “bad guys”) throwing down the hammer against the “rebel alliance,” a ragtag group of freedom fighters trying to bring justice to the galaxy, against all odds.The various responses made by establishment Catholics in recent days to the blunt but undoubtedly true remarks made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò about Vatican II mirror what played out...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic layman reveals strategy he used to overcome priest’s Communion-on-tongue ban 'I want all Catholics to know that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is their right, and what they can do to regain that right, because it works!' July 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – “I want all Catholics to know that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is their right, and what they can do to regain that right, because it works!” A French reader told LifeSite of his personal experience of being refused Communion in his local parish because of COVID-19 guidelines, and of his successful fight,...

Man Cannot Live on Vatican II Alone It’s a Friday. A boy and his father head out in their boat to fish. The plan is to catch supper.“Dad, we’ve been out for two hours and haven’t caught anything,” remarks the boy sullenly. “The water is too dirty right now,” notices his father. “Let’s try something different.”“I was thinking we could change our lures. These crankbaits would get more attention,” offers the young lad. “No, son, listen to me,” begins the older man. “You notice that our boat is relatively clean, yet the water is awfully dirty. We need to open...

[Catholic Caucus] Popular priest accuses some Catholics of ‘self-righteousness’ who receive Communion on tongue kneeling 'Fr. Longenecker should publicly support Catholics who wish to honor their Lord and God with all their heart, soul, mind, and bodily strength' At St. Peter’s Basilica on November 3, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI distributes Holy Communion on the tongue to the kneeling faithful. July 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — On July 19, Fr. Longenecker tweeted the following: He begins by setting up an alternative: “Which is better?” It may turn out that neither option is good, as if one were to say: “Which is better?...