From The "Et Tu Brute" Department - Cardinal Ouellet

Apparently he has pointed the long knives at Archbishop Vigano.  He issued an open letter to that effect.  Please see it on the Vox Cantoris site, along with Vox's excellent analysis of it.

Father Spadaro Points Long Knives At Raymond Arroyo - Call Him Out On It

It was almost exactly three years ago when Father Thomas Rosica, a highly-placed Vatican official, threatened to sue the blogger behind Vox Cantoris (see right side-bar).  The latter had commented on public comments made by Rosica that betrayed Rosica's dissident perspectives on matters of Catholic doctrine.  Other faithful Catholic bloggers shone the light on Rosica's despicable attempts and he was forced to stand down lest he make the Vatican appear to be a bunch of vindictive fools.

Well, maybe it isn't just a matter of appearances at the Vatican and perhaps they failed to learn their lessons.  It appears that Father Antonio Spadaro has drawn his long knives and is pointing them directly at Raymond Arroyo of EWTN.  LifeSiteNews shows where Spadaro retweeted a call for EWTN to be put under interdict if they don't fire Arroyo.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe an interdict can be placed on any group of Catholics because of some willy-nilly whim.  Certain conditions must be present, one of them being the commission of a gravely immoral act.  No one in their right minds can pretend that the discussions in which Arroyo is participating constitute gravely immoral acts.  Perhaps the dissident lay Catholic who originally tweeted that nonsense doesn't know that (and maybe doesn't care), but certainly Spadaro should know better than that.  Like Father Rosica did three years ago, Spadaro is making himself appear to be the vindictive fool, resenting the light that is being shone on his misdeeds - not to mention ignorance of canon law.  But perhaps we're not talking merely of "appearance", but "fact".

As we did for Vox Cantoris three years ago, so again must we do for Raymond Arroyo.

If Personnel Is Policy, We Have Glaring Indications Of Dangerous Vatican Policy

Sandro Magister has done the Catholic world immense service by exposing the progressive machinations within the Vatican, particularly with its conduct during last October's sin-nod.  Eponymous Flower has more detail on Magister's service to truth.  Most recently he published a leaked version of the Laudato Sii encyclical, which is scheduled to be released tomorrow.  Tancred also details how Magister's Vatican press credentials were immediately revoked.  Dare we opine that Father Lombardi's outrage is rather biased?

Regretably Lombardi's alleged zeal for ethics seems to be a thin pretense for sacking Magister on the flimsiest of excuses.  Such bias is evidence by the people who are allowed to remain at the Vatican.  Who can forget the book theft engineered by Cardinal Baldiserri at the sin-nod?  How about Father Rosica's spiteful conduct in filing suit against Vox Cantoris?  So here we have a Prince of the Church engaged in mortal sin against the Seventh Commandment and a Vatican official engaged in unethical intimidation (fortunately for him his higher-ups yanked his leash).  To the best of my knowledge, they still retain their high positions, despite their arguably serious sins.  So yes, we do have a purging of the faithful from the Vatican.

Concurrent with this purging of the faithful is the placement of those whose public opinions are openly hostile to the Teachings of Jesus Christ.  As mentioned before here, Hans Joachim (John) Schnellnhuber, population control afficiando, will be one of the four who will assist tomorrow in the roll-out of Laudato Sii.  Schnellnhuber is on record as saying that the world's population should be reduced to under one billion people - a reduction of about six billion.  So how, dare we ask, does Schnellnhuber propose to accomplish this massive reduction?  We wait with bated breath for the answer to that question.

Perhaps the Vatican should have awaited the answer to that crucial question before they named him to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.  Yes, you read that correctly.  A rabid population-control advocate, instead of receiving the boot on ass, is actually admitted to a Vatican position.  If we know his wishes to reduce the earth's population, surely the Vatican does too - and I mean the pope!

As the saying goes, personnel is policy.  I think we now have more than an inkling as to what Vatican policy is.  And yes, ladies and gentlemen, with all due honor and respect to the office of the papacy, we cannot kid ourselves and pretend that the current occupant of Peter's chair is blithely unaware of these events.  He is enabling them if not outright orchestrating them.  Please pray for him and for Holy Mother Church.

The Proclamation Of Truth Evokes Violent Reactions From Progressives

At a conference in Canada on June 5th, Cardinal Burke addressed the attendees on the crisis that western culture is facing.  LifeSiteNews has made the video available.  I post it now and have additional remarks below that.



The Cardinal gave very clear and succinct remarks about how the role of sexuality within marriage as God ordained it is crucial to the survival of civilization.   Perhaps it is that clarity that evoked quite the rage from Father Andre Samson, a priest from Ottawa who identifies himself as "gay".  See the LifeSiteNews piece and that of Vox Cantoris.  Samson called His Eminence a "clown" and "drag queen".

He went on to say that the Cardinal's defense of Catholic morality was "violent" to homosexuals. As I listened to the Cardinal's mild-mannered, measured delivery of his message, "violent" was the last thing that came to mind.  But Samson admitted more than he realized.  Those steeped in sin, particularly unrepented mortal sin, will experience pangs of conscience when they hear the truth.  Either they will embrace it and repent, or they will recoil in horror from it and continue with hardened hearts.  If the latter, they will always react violently and irrationally towards the truth, for they would rather be self-deluded as they careen towards hell.  They consider those telling the truth to be "mean" and "violent" for we upset the bubbles with which they attempt to surround themselves.  I alluded to one instance that I myself experienced in yesterday's post.  As this culture continues to degrade, more and more people who embrace filth and perversion will resent mightily those who tell them the truth; witness what happening with Christian businesses who won't affirm the mortal sins of gays.

We must continue to pray and of course we must redouble our proclamation of truth.  If the progressives shriek and recoil in reaction, keep at it.

Just Who Is Silencing The Church's Voice?

Almost two weeks ago I noted the peculiar definition of "dissent" as coined by Cardinal Wuerl in a blog post that he wrote.  He hopes to warp the meaning of the word to convey "one who disagrees with the pope because he does not agree with them and therefore follow their position".  Yes, I agree the structure of that sentence is awkward but it isn't mine.  The structure is twisted because of the attempt to twist the meaning of the word "dissent".

Because almost everyone with a brain understood him to imply that Cardinal Burke is a "dissenter" (according to his odd definition of that word), he felt impelled to go into "damage control" mode.  Often, though, "damage control" winds up causing more damage.  America magazine interviewed him.  (Hint: For examples of "dissent" as the word is classically defined, just read an issue or two of that rag!  But I digress!)  As my friend at the Tenth Crusade noted, the Cardinal does a "Fred Astaire", or at least he attempts it.

Here's a rather telling statement from him, regarding the sin-nod (in response to the first question).  "In the closing hour of that daylong discussion, I noted in my brief intervention that obviously there is no challenge to the teaching of the church on the indissolubility of marriage. I also pointed out that many participants distinguish between the doctrine on marriage and the pastoral practice of reception of Communion for those divorced and remarried."  (Italics mine)   May I assume from this that in addition to Cardinal Burke being a "dissenter", that Cardinal Gerhard Muller also fits Wuerl's definition of that word?  Cardinal Muller did state, "Each division between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ of the faith would be a reflection of a subtle Christological ‘heresy."  What Cardinal Muller said is very true.  Those "many participants that Cardinal Wuerl mentioned are dabbling in heresy.  Enough of that for now.

Three days ago, Cardinal Wuerl posted another piece on his blog.  This one is entitled, "Silencing The Church's Voice".  In it he voices this complaint: "But today there is a new challenge. Some who reject the Church’s teaching – who choose to live by another set of values – not only find the voice of Christian values annoying, they would like to see it silenced or at least muted. Thus we have a whole new upside down version of words like 'discrimination,' 'freedom' and 'human rights,' and laws to enforce the new meaning."  While these words are true enough, they ring ironic and I daresay hypocritical in light of his treatment of Father Marcel Guarnizo three years ago.  I now present an anthology of posts I did as that incident and its fallout were unfolding at the time.  To reiterate: Father Guarnizo withheld Holy Communion to a flagrantly practicing lesbian.  This woman and her cohort raised a ruckus, whereupon the Archdiocese of Washington immediately surrendered to the gay community and threw Father Guarnizo under the bus.  In this scenario it was Cardinal Wuerl who played the part of the one "silencing and muting the voice of Christian values".  If he truly is serious about what he wrote three days ago, he might want to revisit his conduct (along with Bishop Knestout) of three years ago for his actions against Father Guarnizo can only have emboldened those who seek to stifle Christian morality in our culture today.

Another cleric who tried to silence the "voice of Christian values" is Father Thomas Rosica.  You might recall that he threatened to sue David Domet, the blogger behind Vox Cantoris because he had been shining the light on Father Rosica's misconduct.  After other faithful Catholics (and bloggers) got wind of it, we caused that light to be glaring.  Father Rosica caught a glimmer of that light (or he was instructed by higher-ups to stand down) and backpedaled on his legal threat.

Along with prayer, we'll have to continue to speak out.  If we shine the light on these folks relentlessly, we can at least mitigate the damage if not eliminate it altogether.

From The #Rosicagate Department - The Underlying Madness

Note before we begin.  Yes, we have both a new "department" and hashtag here.  I will be using them and invite others to do the same as new developments will undoubtedly unfold.

The Lepanto post linked to an address given by, and an article by Fr. Rosica.  They are fascinating for they reveal the true dissident mindset of this Vatican official.

First, let's look at an address that Rosica gave at Loyola University in Baltimore.  The Catholic Review published a transcript of that.  Please read it on their site.  I'll highlight some rather revealing snippets from that.  I'll do that "bullet style".

• Speaking of Pope Francis' election to the papacy he asks "How can we describe the sense of springtime that has come upon the church?"  What??!!?  This is rather revealing of his attitude towards Pope Benedict XVI and perhaps toward Pope St John Paul II.  Further talk of "revolution of tenderness" underscores this point.
• He writes "He has declared that the church’s main mission would no longer be as a lead combatant in the culture wars."  Let's clarify terms, shall we?  By "culture wars" we are talking about the core spirituality and morality that define western civilization.  Western civilization is being threatened with the acceptance of abortion, homosexual lifestyles, contraception, euthanasia.  Additionally, western civilization is unraveling because of an abandonment, if not outright rejection, of its Christian heritage and history.  Part and parcel of the Church's primary mission - to save souls - is to combat the moral rot that will lead to the damnation of souls.  As the Church established by Jesus Christ Himself, it is only fitting that the Church retains and even expands its leadership role in the "culture wars".
• He asked and answered a question: "What is the most important achievement of Pope Francis?  He has rebranded Catholicism and the papacy."  Well, he certainly has done that to the latter; but why should that be considered an "accomplishment"?  The papacy is 2000 years old, established by Jesus Christ Himself.  What?  Did Our Lord not do a good enough job of "branding the papacy"?
• In short, Rosica has shown his disdain for the history and traditions of the Church by portraying the Pope as some avant-garde person who will attempt to set the Church on a new course.  While his portrayal of the pope's intents may well be correct, his enthusiasm over the de facto mutation of the papacy is nonetheless regrettable.

This next article he wrote on the occasion of Ted Kennedy's very public funeral.  In it he excoriates those of us who protested the laudatory accolades afforded to someone who used his position to foment the murders of millions of tiny children in their mothers' wombs.  I won't pick apart his numerous logical fallacies regarding the funeral per se, nor even of his disparagement of concerned pro-life blogs.  I do want to point out some odd contrasts between what he wrote in this article and his actions against Vox Cantoris.  

• He says the writings of pro-life bloggers reveal "a new form of self-righteousness, condemnation and gnosticism reveals authors who behave as little children bullying one another around in schoolyards- casting stones, calling names, and wreaking havoc in the Church today!"  Speaking of "bullying" and "wreaking havoc", how may we characterize his legal threats against a Catholic blogger?
• He writes "What such people fail to realize is that their messages are ultimately screamed into a vacuum. No one but their own loud crowd is really listening."  Well, that's not true and he knows it.  Else, why is he attempting to sue Vox Cantoris into silence - and to intimidate the rest of us?

I refer you to the Lepanto post for more ironies and contradictions evident between Rosica's lofty words and his despicable actions towards Vox Cantoris.  I publicly call upon the Vatican to rein in Father Rosica as his actions are besmirching their appearance before the eyes of the world.

Vatican Spokesman Suing Faithful Catholic Blogger

My blogging colleague Vox Cantoris has been targeted by Father Thomas Rosica, Vatican spokesman.  Within the linked post you can see another link that is a pdf of the letter he received from Rosica's attorneys.  Take a look at it and you can see that Rosica doesn't like it when his public statements draw comments that aren't favorable to him.  The whole list of grievances reads like a big temper tantrum.

Here's a post from Vox that probably knotted his knickers.  Notice the picture of a tweet that Rosica sent.  A reasonable person might conclude that Rosica agreed with the depiction of Cardinal Burke as a "dissenter" (the word "dissenter" being redefined by Cardinal Wuerl).   Yoo, hoo!  Father Rosica!  Here's a fact that you'll do well to learn: when you make a public statement, you invite public comment!  If those comments are going to hurt your poor widdle feel-bads, you'd do best not to put them out there until you grow up a bit!

I'm also a bit bemused by what appears to be a double-standard being exercised by Rosica.  His lawyers are carrying on about "defamatory statements" and "damage to reputation".  Father Rosica (and lawyers), what about these statements that Rosica lodged against LifeSiteNews several years ago, voicing publicly his opinions that LifeSiteNews is:

• "not ethical"
• "not honest"
• "bombastic"
• "not credible"
• "doing the work of Satan"

So Rosica can voice his opinions against a faithful Catholic outlet, but let another Catholic outlet voice their opinions about his public conduct - and he tries to break out the long knives?  I fail to see how this is proper conduct for a person involved in the media, let alone a Catholic priest.

In that incident with LifeSiteNews, Rosica trash-talked LSN in the same breath that he used to call for "civility, charity, kindness and humanity".  I now believe that was a tactic to try to stifle LSN.  That didn't work so now he's going the legal route.  That won't work, either.  We will speak the truth.

Today's Vortex deals with this matter.  Here it is.