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'The Council and The Eclipse of God' by Don Pietro Leone - Part XIV: The Church and The State n Chapter 4, Don Pietro turns to consider the Council’s teaching on the Church and State. He explains how the Church has a duty not only to Her members, but also to the entire world. Her role in regard to the State is to guide Kings and governors to promote the best interests of their citizens, i.e. in the final analysis the attainment of eternal life in Heaven, such as has been the constant teaching of Holy Mother Church. Readers...

[Catholic Caucus] The "Roman Rite" of the Costa Rica Bishops (Video)The Costa Rica bishops were among the first to “forbid” the Roman Mass after Traditionis Custodes. The video down below shows what they “allow” in their churches.The liturgical clown in the video is Father Sergio Valverde Espinoza of Cristo Rey del Universo Parish in San José. He is an example of what the Costa Rica bishops consider a legitimate expression of their “Roman Rite.”(Click on article link to view video)

Is Pope Francis warning the Roman Curia?How the pope can effectively reform the Church's central bureaucracy in the image and likeness of Vatican Council II.Pope Francis made it clear recently that unless one accepts the magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), one is not "with the Church".He was speaking to the catechists of Italy, but that part of his message was clearly addressed to a wider audience. The media understood this and gave it widespread coverage. The pope said there could be "no concessions" or "selectivity" and that "we must be demanding and strict on this point".His uncharacteristically...

[Catholic Caucus] Andrea Grillo: The Mind Behind the Motu Proprio Andrea Grillo: The Mind Behind the Motu ProprioAndrea Grillo (born 1961) is a professor of Sacramental Theology and Philosophy of Religion at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome (Sant’Anselmo) and of Liturgy in Padua at the Abbey of Santa Giustina. With the promulgation of Pope Francis’s motu proprio of July 16th, 2021, Traditionis Custodes, he has become a more important figure in Catholic thought. Many indications point to Professor Grillo as an author or at least inspirer of the document, serving as the Pontiff’s “house” liturgist and...

Francis Triggers Syro-Malabar Rite RevoltProgressive clergy reject pope's compromise formula for ancient liturgyKERALA, India (ChurchMilitant.com) - India's Syro-Malabar rite priests are rebelling against Pope Francis' recent letter that imposes liturgical uniformity by approving a compromise between facing the altar and facing the congregation while offering the Holy Qurbana (Eucharist). Pope Francis meets scandal-plagued Cdl. Alencherry All 456 priests of the Syro-Malabar archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly wrote to Francis Tuesday insisting they would celebrate Mass ad populum (facing the people), breaking with the ancient Chaldean tradition of offering the Holy Qurbana ad orientem (facing East).The revolt has intensified the ongoing liturgical crisis...

DAVOS in the CATACOMBS: Klaus Schwab’s Secret Vatican ConnectionWhat if I were to tell you that a key Council Father at Vatican II was also an honored guest speaker early on at the World Economic Forum in Davos? What if I were to also tell you that, in addition to being close to Klaus Schwab 40 years ago, this archbishop also held a secret meeting in the middle of the night under the streets of Rome to plot the downfall of the traditional Catholic Church at the close of Vatican II? Wild conspiracy theory? A plot from a Malachi Martin...

PAX FRANCESCO: The Implications of Traditionis CustodesPrognostication is notoriously difficult. However, it can be said unequivocally that within human relations natural and Divine law prevail, and certain predictions can, therefore, be made with a high degree of certainty. In that regard, it is beyond cavil that the recent Moto Proprio of Pope Francis, Traditionis Custodes, will have significant and chilling ramifications both inside and outside of the Church. Traditionis Custodes is a document in which Pope Francis singles out the Latin Mass Rite of the Church as being something which must be extinguished in the name of “unity”. The Pope’s...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican II Was Worst Spasm of Iconoclasm in HistoryFrancis is tearing the Church apart, Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer at National Review and Roman Mass goer since 2001, writes on NYTimes.com (August 12).He says Traditionis Custodes will push the Roman Rite communities into the radicalism of their origine confirming their belief that the NO Eucharist “represents a new religion.”To stamp out the Mass, Francis is using the papacy in a way which progressives usually claim to deplore, Dougherty explains: centralism, usurpation of episcopal prerogatives, and micromanagement motivated by paranoia of disloyalty and heresy.Francis’ wish that Old Believers attend...

Does It Really Matter if Bugnini Was a You-Know-What?I once wrote an article for Rorate Caeli entitled “Conservative Fragility.” I have noticed in recent weeks the extent to which conservative Catholics are sounding jittery, short-tempered, dismissive, and intolerant towards traditionally-minded Catholics who refuse to embrace the papally-bestowed role of scapegoat for the abrogation of Summorum Pontificum.One such person in particular—no need for a name, since my point is not about a name but a phenomenon—heatedly makes fun of anyone who mentions that Bugnini probably or certainly was a Freemason, mockingly referring to “Viganò’s flying monkeys” and other such sarcastic turns...

Triumph of the Will: The Novus Ordo, RIPGERMAN FILMMAKER LENI Riefenstahl’s 1936 cinematic encomium to the Berlin Olympics, Festival of Nations, opens with a montage of marble statues of Greek gods and goddesses in the ruins of ancient temples. One statue, of a discus thrower, comes to life, after which the action is of human beings engaging in the ancient Greek sports of javelin hurling, shotput, and long-distance running. Apollonian men strive in dramatic lighting, bodies glistening with sweat, taut with exertion. Aphroditic female nudes cavort with rings and dance in the glory of the human form. This prelude soon...

Vatican2ism’s Futile War Against CatholicismAs several astute Catholics have observed, Francis’s Traditionis Custodeshas abruptly ended the “hermeneutic of continuity” campaign of confusion aimed at convincing the world that, despite all appearances, the reforms of Vatican II were in continuity with the timeless Catholic religion. As the letter accompanying Traditions Custodes made clear, one must choose between the beliefs and practices that Catholics held for nearly two thousand years or those that flow from Vatican II. If they are the same, why must one choose between them? Whereas the attempt to bridge the gap between Catholicism and the religion animated by...

ANALYSIS: Pope restricts ‘divisive’ Traditional Latin Mass, says 52-yr-old Novus Ordo is ‘unique expression’ of Church’s liturgyPope Francis has made several sweeping changes to the permissions granted to the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.ANALYSISVATICAN CITY, July 16, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has today issued a new motu proprio restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, declaring that the liturgy of Paul VI, or the Novus Ordo, is the “unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”The document, entitled “Traditiones Custodes,” is written “in light of the experience” of the survey carried out by the Congregation...

[Catholic Caucus] Mythbusting: How Much of the 1962 Missal is Actually Used in the Post-Vatican II Missal?In a recent article in Notitiae, the new Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, made the following claim about the textual relationship between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Missals:While the Missal retains the basic structure of that of Saint Pius V, together with ninety percent of the texts of that Missal, it removes a number of repetitions and accretions and simplifies the language and the gestures of the liturgy. At the same time, it uses...

Has “Public Order” Enthroned Diabolical Disorientation?In his September 1965 intervention read during the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre began his criticism of the Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae, with a brief summary of the document’s principles:“Founded on the dignity of the human person, religious liberty demands equal rights in civil society for all forms of worship. Society must then be neutral and guarantee the protection of every religion, within the limits of public order.”f American readers view this as reasonable and consistent with principles we generally find in the United States, there is good reason. As Michael Davies...

The ‘Catholic’ Neo-Conservative Seamless GarmentOn Friday, June 18, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a motion, by a margin of 166-58, to prepare a document widely anticipated, correctly or not, to address the necessary disposition for the reception of Holy Communion, with commentary concerning public persons in particular. The following week, USCCB President, Archbishop Jose Gomez, issued a statement explaining exactly what this entails:The doctrine committee of the bishops’ conference will now begin drafting this document and, in the months ahead, the bishops will continue our prayer and discernment through a series of regional meetings and consultations. In...

Abp. Viganò Tells Abbé Barthe: Derailing of Vatican II, Creation of New Mass are Results of “Revolutionary Forces Infiltrating the Church”In a new and extensive interview with Abbé Claude Barthe (first published here), author of Le Messe de Vatican II (“The Mass of Vatican II” — see here for a review in English), Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò fields several questions related to the Second Vatican Council and the creation of what he calls “Montini’s Novus Ordo,” referring to the new rite of Mass created after the Council by the Consilium (liturgical committee) under the direction of then-Fr. Annibale Bugnini and...

Are Novus Ordo Catholics Being Exploited?In the years following Vatican II, it became evident to a relatively small number of Catholics that the architects and implementers of the Council were attempting to destroy the Church. Even Pope Paul VI identified the destruction, though he failed to identify the real cause:The Church finds herself in an hour of anxiety, a disturbed period of self-criticism, or what would even better be called self-demolition. It is an interior upheaval, acute and complicated, which nobody expected after the Council. It is almost as if the Church were attacking itself.Until the papacy of Pope Francis,...

Fr. Altman slams Vatican II, Bishop Barron for ambiguity on salvationAltman traced Bishop Barron’s declaration that Jesus is the ‘privileged way’ of salvation to ‘some sketchy stuff’ in Lumen Gentium.WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minnesota, June 28, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Father James Altman, known for his fearless admonitions to Catholic laity and clergy alike to live in accordance with their faith, has ripped the Second Vatican Council as a source of teaching error, including one proclaimed by Bishop Robert Barron.During a speaking engagement in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Altman confronted head-on what he sees as problems with Vatican II.“You can look at...

[Catholic Caucus] Biden, The Eucharist, and the Bishops: WHAT IS AT STAKE The possibility that President Biden will be refused Holy Communion as a result of the American bishops’ decision to go ahead with writing a document on “Eucharistic coherence” is making headlines in many newspapers, especially those considered “liberal” in today’s understanding of that term. The New York Times last Saturday featured a front-page article titled “Bishops on path to refuse Biden holy communion”. It is significant that the article is written using political terminology. The author frames the division among the bishops in terms of “conservative” and “liberal”....

After Outcry, Vatican Eases Restrictions on Individual Masses in St. Peter’s BasilicaIn a note issued today, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, clarified some of the controversial restrictions that were imposed in March.Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Clementine Chapel on March 22, 2021. (photo: Edward Pentin) Edward Pentin Vatican June 22, 2021 VATICAN CITY — The archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica has made concessions to widen opportunities for priests to celebrate individual daily morning Masses in the basilica, but also has stressed that concelebrated Masses must nevertheless remain the norm there.In a three-page note...