Muller And Sarah Raining On Progressives' Parades

A few days ago I highlighted some articles regarding the escalating animosity towards Cardinal Sarah, starting with the pope.  Others were just released within the past few days - see here and here.  Those promoting the evil rot within the Vatican lash out in anger against those prelates - like Sarah - who stand firm for the teachings of Christ.  Their ire is even more inflamed because apparently Cardinal Sarah stands a decent chance of being the next pope.  In the midst of all the attempts to bring him down, he remains unflappable because he serves Jesus Christ, not some worldly fads.

As mentioned before, Cardinal Muller preceded Cardinal Sarah in being fodder for progressive vultures within the Church.  Now that Muller is outside the Vatican, he does seem to be speaking more freely in defense of the Church.  Yesterday he openly rebuked the secretary general of the Italian Episcopal Conference for stating that the protestant rebellion was a "work of the Holy Spirit".  Of course that statement by Bishop Galantino is bald-faced blasphemy, for in making that statement, he claimed that the Third Person of the Trinity committed mortal sin.  Recall that Cardinal Muller was basically ejected from his position by the pope.  The silver lining in that cloud is that the pope no longer has any threat to hold over Muller's head so the latter probably senses little reason to tip-toe on eggshells.  He has found his voice again.

Please pray for our prelates, especially that the faithful ones hold firm.

Long Knives Aimed At Cardinal Sarah's Back

First Cardinal Burke - then Cardinal Muller.  Then all the faithful members of the Pontifical Academy for Life are unceremoniously sacked. 

Most recently he has attracted papal ire as he merely asserted that authority for liturgical translations still resided in Rome.  We are One Church, are we not?  See here and here.  Pope Francis isn't bothering to disguise his tactics of isolating and then humiliating the few faithful prelates that remain in Rome.  Cardinal Sarah is just the latest.  Please pray your Rosaries, that these good prelates will hold firm.

Defending Human Life And The Family

Several years ago, Cardinal Caffarra (one of the four "dubia cardinals") revealed the contents of a conversation he had with Sister Lucia, one of the Fatima seers.  She told him that the final battle between Our Lord and Satan will revolve around marriage and the family.  In this centenary of our Lady of Fatima's appearances to the children, we do see that battle ratcheting before our very eyes.

At the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast two days ago, Cardinal Robert Sarah called "gender ideology", "same-sex marriage" etc what they are: demonic attacks on humanity.  Earlier this evening, I attended a talk given by Doug Mainwaring on this very topic (see Tuesday's post).  He said very much the same things; I'll be posting reports on this within the next few days.

Today the fourth Rome Life Forum convened in Rome, spearheaded by Voice of the Family.  I now link to VOF's site so that you can follow along this important conference and will also post some commentaries on the talks as they proceed.  Today one of the speakers was Father Linus Clovis of Family Life International.  I would urge careful study of his entire talk, in which he names Amoris Laetitia as both a trojan horse and a cast-down gauntlet.

He reminds us of the three requests of Our Lady of Fatima: reform of our lives, the First Saturday devotions and the consecration of Russia.  We are certainly capable of fulfilling the first two, as they pertain to our personal lives.  We must pray that the pope and bishops finally consecrate Russia to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart.

Disdaining Truth And Authentic Worship For The Sake Of Ecumenicide

As most have heard, Pope Francis will be going to Sweden to "celebrate" the 500th year anniversary of the birth of Lutheranism.  I put "celebrate" in quotes for Martin Luther committed mortal sin and was the cause for millions going astray these past 5 centuries.  Mortal sin is to be mourned, not celebrated.  Catholic Family News has an article detailing the real character of the apostate known as Martin Luther and why his doings are to be abhorred not celebrated.

Greg Burke, head of the Vatican Press Office, said Catholics and Lutherans are "no longer defining themselves in opposition to each other but in communion with one another".  Oh, really?  I haven't heard any news of the Lutherans recanting their errors, for that's the only way true communion will come about.  Any real unity must have its basis in truth - that is, the Teachings of Jesus as entrusted to the Roman Catholic Church.

A little "aside".  Who remembers all the excuses for the papal gaffes that involved "poor English translations" from the Italian?  Consider the name of this Vatican press office head - sounds like something originating from the British Isles, doesn't it?  Hmm..  But I digress!  On with the main topic of this post!

LifeSiteNews put up a piece today regarding the impending ecumenicide debacle (fitting that it's occurring on Halloween, for it sure will be filled with horrors - but again I digress!)  It mentions the "hopes for intercommunion" by both Catholic bishops and Lutheran officials.  Both Cardinals Burke and Sarah denounced the very idea of non-Catholics receiving Holy Communion for it would constitute sacrilege.  They are correct.  Keep these two cardinals in mind for there is other news regarding them.

So on Halloween there is a "service" (one that we pray doesn't involve the mortal sin of sacrilege on the part of the pope).  The following day the pope will celebrate Mass for the local Catholic community. Crud ran an article on that, and the first few lines purport to be the pope's real sentiments about that Mass.  I'll quote now. "At first, Pope Francis did not want to celebrate a Catholic Mass in Sweden in order to preserve Monday’s ecumenical witness at the joint Catholic-Lutheran commemoration of the Reformation in Lund, he revealed in an interview released today. He later changed his mind after reflecting on his role as pastor of the Catholic community, and in response to a request from the local Church. But he put the Mass on the following day, Tuesday, in order to 'avoid confusing' the ecumenical event with the Catholic one."  If this quote is accurate (and it probably is), this means that the pope didn't want an icky old pelagian Mass to poop the ecumenicide party.  Now faithful Catholics know that Holy Mass is the highest form of worship that we can offer to Almighty God.  During the Consecration, the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus Christ Himself, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.  It takes precedence over all other acts of Catholic worship.  It certainly is far, far superior to any other prayer service and we beg the pope and his entourage to remember that.

Earlier in this post I said there was news regarding Cardinals Burke and Sarah.  It is quite troubling.  Today it was announced that the pope has completely revamped the membership of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship.  Only Cardinal Sarah remains as prefect.  Quite a few of the faithful members were ejected including Cardinal Burke.  Others include Cardinals Pell, Ouellett, Ranjith.  They were replaced by those of a liberal bent, virtually isolating Cardinal Sarah as he attempts to maintain tradition and reverence in Catholic liturgy.  Call me suspicious, but I do think some of the motivation for this may have been punishment for Cardinals Burke and Sarah for daring to remind Catholics, including the pope, that non-Catholics cannot be given Holy Communion on pain of sacrilege.

Ecumenicide is getting to be quite the idol these days.  Not only do good prelates get marginalized, but Holy Mass itself is shunted to the side.  When will it end?

Skullduggery In The College Of Cardinals - Sarah Sidelined, Three New Progressives In

Cardinal Robert Sarah is a faithful prelate who did much to oppose the wreckage of the Magisterium that was the purpose of the two sin-nods on the family.  This blog and others have been shining the light on theses sin-nods and their resultant mess that is named Amoris Laetitia.  I have renamed it Amoralis Lamentia.

It seems that His Eminence is beginning to share some of the fate of Cardinal Burke, another faithful prelate.  Cardinal Sarah is currently Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.  He had been scheduled to open the academic year for the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family on October 27 in Rome, but the pope basically expelled him from that role, saying he'd do it himself.  This comes after the pope apppointed two progressive prelates to head that institute.  That institute had also opposed the progressive juggernaut at the two sin-nods.

In August, I wrote about one of those progressive prelates, Archbishop Paglia.  His appointment is solid evidence that the pope does indeed intend - as stated in Amoralis Lamentia - to allow divorced Catholics who are living in adultery to commit the mortal sin of sacrilege by receiving Holy Communion without the requisite repentance from mortal sin.  In that post, I wrote about another progressive prelate who has done damage to the faith - Bishop Farrell.  I will be addressing him in the next paragraph.

The pope just announced that he named 17 new cardinals, to be elevated on November 19th.  Three of them are US prelates and one of them is Bishop Farrell.  Another is - Archbishop Blaise Cupich of Chicago.  Yes, this Cupich!  As you can see, he has occasioned a whole series of blog posts with his dissidence and insults to the Faith.  Read that anthology and consider the progression of events.

The third US prelate is Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis.  In January 2015, we learned that a Knight of Columbus council in his diocese rented their hall to lesbians so they could celebrate their sinful relationship.  We contacted him to have this debacle stopped; we heard crickets from him.  He is not to be confused with Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence RI, who is a faithful prelate.

I just touched upon the three US cardinal-designates.  I'd be willing to bet that the fourteen from other countries are just as problematic.

There can be no doubt that the pope is deliberately stacking the College of Cardinals with progressive cronies while marginalizing truly faithful Princes of the Church.

Another "Tale Of Two Cardinals": Cardinal Nichols Undermines Cardinal Sarah's Call For Reforms At Mass

When I wrote last Wednesday of Cardinal Sarah's call for "reform of the reform", I mentioned that there would most likely be push-back from more liberal prelates.  I didn't realize how quickly that would occur.

First, please read the text of Cardinal Sarah's talk given at the "Sacra Liturgia UK Conference 2016", given in London on July 5.  Almost immediately after that talk was given, Cardinal Nichols, Bishop of Westminster, acted in defiance of the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and instructed his priests to continue facing the congregation during Mass.  This isn't the first time that Cardinal Nichols threw fellow clergy under the bus.  He scolded 500 of his priests when the latter expressed concerns over last autumn's sin-nod.  He also has condoned "gay civil unions".  Therefore, for him to harp about "exercising personal preference or taste" is a tad disingenuous.  The Remnant has a video of some "liturgy guidelines" that the Cardinal seems to find acceptable.

Now what will Nichols do about kneeling for the Consecration?  About 25-30 years ago, I made several trips to England and attended Mass there.  At that time they did NOT kneel for the Consecration.  In fact, many churches lacked kneelers.  He did not mention that in his screed but I suspect there will be little kneeling during the Consecration.

I don't think my own diocese will fare any better.  But if Cardinal Sarah's words are implemented elsewhere, that will be at least some improvement.

Cardinal Sarah Calls For Ad Orientem And Other Reforms At Mass

Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, called upon bishops around the world to implement several reforms by Advent of this year, e.g., November 27th.  The First Sunday of Advent is the start of a new liturgical year.  See here and here.  The reforms are:

• The priest should face "ad orientem", meaning that he faces the tabernacle instead of the congregation.
• Communicants should kneel for Holy Communion.
• Kneeling at the Consecration.  In most U.S. dioceses, that already happens.  In some countries, like England, the congregation stands for the Canon.
• Curtailing usage of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

There are others.  The Cardinal states that he is initiating these measures at the request of the pope, for which the latter should be thanked.  If these changes are implemented I think that can only be beneficial to the Church at large.  Two years ago, Cardinal Burke explained that "there is a strict correlation between liturgical abuse and moral corruption".  The Mass is utterly crucial to the Catholic life; we need to worship God properly if we are to secure our own salvation and be effective in the culture wars in which we are now embroiled.

We know, of course, that there will be a concerted "push-back" from liberal and progressive parishes and dioceses.  We must prepare to engage them in battle.  If and how we'll do that remains to be seen.

Cardinal Sarah: Priests Do NOT Have To Wash Women's Feet On Holy Thursday

Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments made clear that priests are not obliged to wash the feet of women on Holy Thursday.  Please read the articles at the Wanderer and Aletia

As we all know, Pope Francis amended Canon Law to permit the washing of women's feet this past January.  Prior to that, the washing of women's feet on Holy Thursday was a direct violation of canon law.  However, some of the more progressively-inclined bishops, in the wake of the canon law change, have taken it upon themselves to require their priests to wash women's feet.  The latter is actually a misrepresentation of the canon law change, and most likely a deliberate misrepresentation.

Mindful of the moral and theological quandary in which faithful priests now find themselves (including some in my diocese who, for obvious reasons, must not be named), Cardinal Sarah stated that the individual priest "has to decide in accord with his own conscience, and according to the purpose for which the Lord instituted this feast".

So what is this purpose for which the Lord established this feast?  We all know from basic catechesis that the purpose was two-fold: the institution of the Eucharist AND the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  The Wanderer article picks up on an important point.  We read in John 13 of the washing of the feet of the Apostles.  After He is finished, Jesus exhorts them to wash one another's feet.  Notice that He doesn't say "wash the feet of any random person".  It would appear that the priests are to wash the feet only of men who are in Holy Orders or preparing for the same.  It is unseemly, therefore, to wash the feet of women and even more so of non-Catholics.

Regrettably the pope is preparing to depart once again from the focus on the priesthood.  He intends to wash the feet of some Islamic refugees.  It's supposed to be a "powerful symbolic gesture", you see.  At a time when many countries are waking up to the dangers to which they've exposed their citizens by unbridled immigration, when they are starting to take measures to protect their own people, the pope will try to lull their consciences back to sleep.  This "symbolic gesture" is really quite political in nature, one that if heeded, will contribute to the endangerment of Christians throughout Europe.

Getting back to Cardinal Sarah's statement, priests are reassured that they can decline to wash the feet of women.  They cannot be coerced into doing so.  It is my understanding that the washing of feet itself is entirely optional.  I hope and pray that many priests will take heart and stand strong against progressive tyranny, even from their own chanceries.

Please spread this, as many priests may not be aware of Cardinal Sarah's pronouncement.

By Its Rotten Fruit You Shall Know It - God Of Surprises That Is

Events of the past three days, spawned in great part by the lead of Pope Francis as he invokes this "god of surprises", makes painfully obvious that this "god of surprises" that the pope invokes is nothing more than a filthy false idol.  As noted in a post two days ago, we saw how Lutherans received Holy Communion.  It is sacrilege for non-Catholics to receive Holy Communion; that priest knew full well what he was doing.  May God bring him to speedy repentance.  Even if the pope ordered him to offer Holy Communion to non-Catholics, he was bound by the sacrament that he received not to commit mortal sin.  On the heels of this sacrilege we have a new outrage.

The pope ordered Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, to issue a decree ordering that women be admitted to the washing of the feet during Holy Thursday liturgies.  Edward Pentin gives full details in the National Catholic Register, along with the full text of Cardinal Sarah's decree.  Note that in his decree, the Cardinal ascribes full responsibility for this foolishness to the pope; who can blame him?  Indeed, in his letter to Cardinal Sarah, the pope said he had "the intention of improving the way in which it is performed so that it might express more fully the meaning of Jesus' gesture in the Cenacle."  Yep!  For over two thousand years, the Church had no idea what it was doing when it restricted the rite to men.  In fact, Jesus Christ Himself had no idea what He was doing when He washed only the apostles' feet on Holy Thursday night.  It has always been the Church's teaching that this rite was reflective of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  Is the "god of surprises" once again trying to get women admitted to that Sacrament?

The demon(s) that masquerade(s) as this "god of surprises" seem(s) to have in mind the complete deconstruction of the Sacred Tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.  Let's be clear - when we say "Sacred Tradition" we are talking about the revealed will of Jesus Christ as He has communicated it to His Church.  God's teaching and will do not change for God Himself cannot change.

I will note that there is one tiny piece of silver lining to this dark cloud that the pope just released.  In issuing the order stating that "from now on the pastors of the church may choose" women to participate, he is acknowledging that prior to the order, that women were not allowed to participate.  In other words, he is acknowledging his own disobedience to Canon law, as well as thousands of other progressive clergymen.  What, if anything, will be done to repent of so many sins of disobedience to the Church on those occasions?  Do we hear crickets?

I believe the order does specify that those chosen must be Catholics, although heaven only knows what he means by "people of God".  Will he add insult to injury by continuing to select non-Catholics for the foot-washing?  I suppose we should breathe a sigh of relief that he did not order priests to select women, although progressive bishops can now use this order to coerce their faithful priests into doing so.

When I first heard of this order, this poem came to mind: "Disobey!  Have your way!  Then one day, they'll say ok!"  The poem would be a perfect fit except that this papal order is not a reluctant concession, but one given in all enthusiasm.  It is right up his ally, as is apparent from his previous patterns of action and speech.

Let us pray that these abominations end soon, for they are wreaking havoc with the eternal destinies of many thousands, if not millions of souls.

Time To End The SinNod Charade

At the sin-nod, some faithful prelates have been speaking forthrightly about the satanic manipulation of the sin-nod that seems to be the aim of Vatican authorities, including the pope.  Archbishop Tomash Peta of Astana likened the language of the Instrumentum Laboris to "the smoke of Satan".  He spoke particularly of attempts to liberalize Holy Communion for those in adultery and to normalize sodomite acts.  Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea also expressed concern at the obvious manipulation of the sin-nod.

LifeSiteNews interviewed Cardinal Burke recently.  Recall that he attended last year's sin-nod.  On account of the marginalization that he suffered at the hands of the pope, he is not part of this on-going sin-nod.  In that interview, Burke addressed the sin-nod proposal that local bishops decide for their own diocese whether or not they will allow sodomites and/or adulterers to receive Holy Communion.  He if that were to happen the Church would compromise her character of being universal.

While I applaud these prelates (and others speaking out), I fear their words fall on deaf, indifferent and even hostile ears within the Vatican.  They can speak all they want, but the sin-nod honchos are going to have their way, I suspect.  Many of us believe that if the good bishops cannot improve things at the sin-nod, it may well behoove them to walk out of the sin-nod rather than dignify the charade with their presence.  A walk-out would send the message that they will not allow "pastoral" slop to be issued in their name.  A group called Canon 212 Society has put together a petition asking the faithful prelates to consider a walkout should the sin-nod honchos prove to be absolutely incorrigible.   I have signed it and urge you to sign it as well, at this link.  After you sign, please share it far and wide.

Don't Let Papal Visit Distract You From Next Month's Synod

The preparations for the pope's imminent visit are developing into quite a "dog-and-pony" show, with all the tee shirts, caps, cardboard cut-outs, etc.  Lots of excitement is afoot - so much so that many are becoming oblivious to the storm that is about to erupt at the Ordinary Synod of the Family this coming October.

Some of us are raising the alarm.  Ladies and gentlemen, there is real possibility - if not probability - for schism to result from this synod.  This tocsin is also being sounded by Cardinals.  Cardinal Reinhard Marx is on record of favoring the distribution of Holy Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics who have not obtained proper annulments.  Bear in mind that this heretical position is being espoused by the president of the German Catholic Conference and member of Pope Francis' "gang of nine".

Thankfully Marx is being opposed directly by two faithful Cardinals.  Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, called Marx's words "heresy and dangerous schizophrenia".  He made his remarks as he released his book "God Or Nothing - A Conversation About Faith".  His book was presented by Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, who explicitly warned of a schism owing to the antics of German bishops.

There's also heresy from Belgium.  Bishop Johan Bonny (where have we heard that name before?), recently voiced opposition not only to Humanae Vitae, but to natural law itself.  Consider that this heretic will be a sin-nod "father", as well as Bishop Cupich.

As I said, too many well-meaning folks are waxing giddy over the pope's visit.  We need to remain sober and at prayer for the future of the Church and salvation of millions.  I now post a video that suggests this pitting of clerics against each other might well be a fulfillment of the prophesy of Our Lady of Akita.  It also voices many other warnings and alarms regarding the upcoming sin-nod.

Contraception - A Major Linchpin In The Culture Of Death

On June 25 as he spoke to men whom he ordained, Cardinal Robert Sarah warned them that priests who fail to oppose the breakdown of morality in society, particularly in regards to life, sexual ethics and family life, risk the condemnation of God.  The Lifesite News piece links to his entire homily.

It is worth a serious read by all, but especially by our clergy.  I think it is directly relevant to current events in Maryland.  I believe His Eminence would place abortion and the upcoming fight for marriage in the category of things requiring the most strident opposition by the clergy.  Conversely, I do not believe he would hold support of the DREAM Act in such regard.

Today, in addition to being the Feast Day of St James the Greater, is the 43rd anniversary of the publication of Humanae Vitae.  Yet if one were to read it today for the first time, it would seem that the document was written only five years ago, as so many social ills predicted by Pope Paul VI have been made manifest.  To illustrate the pivotal role that the acceptance of contraception (a thing of mortal sin) has had in the degradation of our culture, Real Catholic TV has produced another episode of its Catholic Investigative Agency.  It is below.  Please watch it - it's a long one, but well worth your time.  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

The Authentic Aim Of Catholic Charitable Institutions - Kick In The Pants For Catholic Charities

Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, reminded us all that Catholic charitable efforts must go beyond "social justice and proclaim the totality of the Gospel.

Now why might Catholic Charities need that reminder?  Might it be because Catholic Charities USA retained the Sheridan Group to "start a new national conversation on poverty and opportunity"?  Between April 2010 and April 2011, Catholic Charities paid Sheridan almost a half million dollars for lobbying and advocacy.

And what is wrong with that?  Well, the Sheridan Group is owned by Tom Sheridan, who is a gay rights activist and gay himself.  This we learn from the Washington Blade.  You won't see that in the Catholic Standard!  It's rather telling that the Blade is more forthcoming than the Standard, but I digress.  If Catholic Charities were truly interested in proclaiming the totality of the Gospel, they would not have in a prominent position one who openly defies Catholic moral teaching in such manner.

This situation is just the latest such mess of which I'm aware.  Recall that Sister Carol Keehan is on the board of directors of Catholic Charities.  And who can forget the fiasco with the Catholic Charities of Richmond, when one of their employees drove one of their clients to an abortion appointment - with prior knowledge of the bishop of Richmond?

Here we have yet another reason to scuttle Catholic Charities.