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[Catholic Caucus] Francis to Bishops of France in "Ad Limina" visit, regarding Traditionis Custodes: "They must accept Vatican II, and BASTA!"Basta! - Enough!That was the tone of Francis to the bishops of France -- the first group to proceed to the periodical Ad Limina Visit to Rome met with him earlier today (it was the group of the bishops of the South of France and Eastern Catholics).French Catholic weekly Famille Chrétienne has a summary of the visit, including this paragraph on Traditionis custodes:Motu proprio: "It is necessary to establish a limit, and basta."Regarding the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes, the...

What I Didn’t Know about Bugnini and the LiturgyAs a Millennial who was weaned on the Novus Ordo Missae, I have been inescapably molded by its main architect, Abp. Annibale Bugnini. Yet there is so much that I didn’t know about Bugnini and his revolution of the liturgy.I didn’t know, growing up, that a man infamously alleged to have been a Freemason or “something far worse” was behind the freewheeling liturgy of my youth. I didn’t know that the Roman Canon was supposed to be shrouded in the silence of the Cross — or that my pastor’s altar theatrics were...

The top five lies about Islam you probably learned in churchIn the Catholic Church, clergy and educators have for decades promoted a dangerously misleading view of Islam which leaves Christians unprepared for the realities of Islam. (The Stream) – Amidst the blur of violent, tragic events in Afghanistan, The Stream decided to ask for some perspective from an expert on the Islamic faith and its links to political conflict and violence, author William Kilpatrick.John Zmirak: You’re an expert on Islam. You have a new book which I’ve been enjoying, What Catholics Need to Know About Islam. Surely all the information...

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...

Just After the Council, Lefebvre Responds to OttavianiThe Council had been over for less than a year. Catholics were excited and confused. Different moves towards implementation, sometimes contradictory, were rumored. Already Catholic liberals were hard at work to lead the Church in their direction. What was Rome to do? After fifty-five years, we know what Cardinal Ottaviani, one of Cardinal Ratzinger’s predecessors as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, decided to do: on July 24, 1966, he wrote to the Ordinaries of the world to sound the alarm. He had been receiving daily indications of a...

Cancelling Pope Benedict: Reflections on a recent article and the “hermeneutic of rupture” Rorate has received this excellent essay by “A Concerned Priest” and is pleased to share it with our readers. It is one of the best analyses to date of the impossible theological premises on which Pope Francis has enacted his campaign against the survival of the traditional rites of the Church.Professor Martin Madar has written in La Croix (August 9, 2021) a revealing article concerning the larger project represented by Traditionis Custodes. It bears the title “Pope Francis should correct his predecessor on another point.”[0] The...

[Catholic Caucus] Church to Beatify Pope John Paul I Next YearCV NEWS FEED // An Italian newspaper reported that the Catholic Church is on track in 2022 to beatify John Paul I, the “smiling pope” who reigned 33 days in 1978 before dying under mysterious circumstances. On Aug. 26, the 43rd anniversary of his election as pope, veteran Rome correspondent Gerald O’Connell reported for America on the article that confirmed the beatification in that day’s edition of Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Catholic bishops. Although the move awaits Vatican approval, it appearance in the official news organ of...

A dusty cardboard boxSometimes, when we are clearing out the attic, we come across a dusty cardboard box full, apparently, of junk.Out of curiosity, we go through the long forgotten items and suddenly, near the end of our search, we find a long lost treasure.This is treasure, not in the financial sense, but something that meant a lot to our personal story, something that we mislaid on the way and had in fact forgotten about.As we sift through the collection of faith experiences of a life time, we can get the same sense of surprise and wonderment.Different experiences are treasures...

Priest Refuses Communion For Dog - Is Reported To Sexual Abuse HotlineOne reason Father James Goins, pastor of St Thomas More University Parish in Norman, Oklahoma, prefers saying Mass towards God is not to be distracted by the bad behaviour of adults during Mass, he wrote on Twitter.com (August 23).Goins as seen many things during Mass: a man vaping, women in beach dresses, men with hats who “almost always push back when asked to remove it.”His highlight was a woman who wanted to share Communion with one of her dogs. When Goins rebuked her, she became so angry that she...

'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...