More Details On What Is Being Called The Shadow Council

I wrote yesterday of the Shadow Council that happened in the Vatican a few days ago.  Edward Pentin wrote a follow-up piece that listed some of the key invitees to that meeting.  He pointed out that there was not a variety of perspectives represented at the meeing.

One Peter Five linked to a translation of an Italian news source that gave some details of the discussion proceeds.  I link to it here but must warn you that some of the ideas expressed at that meeting appeared to border on pornographic.  If the transcripts of the meeting are indeed made public, we may have to rate them "x" or "r" as we do some movies.

Pope Paul VI is said to have lamented the "smoke of satan entering in the Church."  It seems that a large component of that smoke may be carbon monoxide.  Pray.

Vatican Progressives' Two-Pronged Attack On The Faith

From within the Vatican - and it probably originates all the way from the pope - there seems to be a duo-faceted attack on the faith.  On the one hand, we see the pope shilling for population control vis-a-vis "sustainable developement.

Let's be clear.  That is what he is in fact doing.  Through various Vatican meetings (many of them quite recent) he has lobbied for the acceptance of the "Sustainable Development Goals" as promulgated by the United Nations.  I wrote last week about that meeting of mayors that he hosted as did my colleague at Les Femmes.  In that meeting he constantly harped on "sustainable development" while praising the pro-abortion mayors as "consciences of humanity".  I point out now that Laudato Si is chock full of references to "sustainable development".

Michael Hichborn at Lepanto Institute released a piece to ask "Why Is The Vatican Pushing Communist Goals".  Writing in advance of yet another meeting in November that is designed to explore ways to brainwash our children into being "sustainable development" lemmings, he shows the striking parallels between the UN's goals, Agenda 21 and the Communist Manifesto.  I shudder to think how they will work all this into the Ordinary Synod on the Family (that is, sin-nod 2) next October.  But for good measure, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Bishop Sanchez (that's right!  Him!) took a preemptive pot-shot at those of us who point out the evils of the United Nations (or, Useless Nicompoops).  For the record, I'm a big critic of the UN and yet I don't make my living from oil, as if that were a bad thing.  I mention it just to show the banality of Sanchez's "damage control".

So much for the "population control" and "sustainability" front.  Now let's look at the direct attack on the family and sexual morality.  We saw a major push to undermine Church tradition in last October's sin-nod.  You might recall that when that closed the pope gave a talk in which he said that we had a "year to mature" in anticipation for "sin-nod 2".  I wrote a bit on the "shadow council" that took place at the Vatican about six weeks ago.  Today ChurchMilitant.tv reported and commented on additional details of that meeting.  They are correct in that what came from the "shadow council" truly is heresy of darkness.  As you read that, it seems like a throwback to gobblygoop from the 1960s all over again.  Since none of these participants have been ousted from any positions, we must conclude that their heresies are tolerated by the Vatican, if not embraced.

I suspect we'll see these two facets of the progressive attack on the Church in the upcoming sin-nod.   Keep those prayers and Rosaries coming!

Heresy-Spouting Koch Is Archbishop Of Berlin

Last week I wrote about the "shadow council".  One of the more ridiculous statements coming out of that gab-fest is the notion that the Church should adapt its pastoral care practices to current "lived-out realities" particularly in matters relating with sexual ethics.  Of course that is precisely ass-backwards, as the timeless and immutable words of Jesus Christ are to be our sole guide - something that the Church has done for over two thousand years.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller called out this heretical foolishness for what it is, in no uncertain terms.  Edward Pentin quoted him in the National Catholic Register as saying that this attempt is "nothing more than the introduction of subjectivism and arbitrariness, wrapped up in sentimental and smug religious terminology."

With that in mind, many Catholics are puzzled as to why the Pope would have appointed Bishop Heiner Koch to be Archbishop of Berlin.  Koch was an attendee of the "shadow council" and has been known to defend the heresy of "gay marriages".  He said once that "to present homosexuality as sin is wounding".  No, it's God's truth.  That a bishop would regard God's teaching as "wounding" is cause for great alarm, not promotion to an important see.

While we pray that this appointment is not a harbinger of things to come in October, all indications are that such will be the case.

Will The Upcoming Sin-Nod Lead To Schism?

That is a very real concern being voiced by some faithful bishops and laypersons.  Before we watch a video dealing with these questions (ht: LifeSite News), let's digest a piece of news from Rome.  Within the city limits, a square will be dedicated to Martin Luther - with no opposition from the Vatican.  This is not "ecumenism" in any healthy sense of the word.  Martin Luther was a heretic who did much to undermine Christianity, leading to death and destruction - and not just in this life.  Now consider that lately the German Catholic Conference has been standing in open defiance of the Magisterium.  Who is the president of the German Catholic Conference?  Cardinal Reinhard Marx - the same who organized the "shadow council" (now occurring) and who is among the pope's closest advisers.  So now we have the Vatican sitting silently by, while a German heretic is being honored in Rome.  Might this be a nod to the current German heretics?  As you watch the video, notice the references to both Martin Luther and German bishops who are spreading heresy.

By the way - check out Cardinal Marx's crosier at 28:19.  What is that thing supposed to be??

Smoke And Wolves Inside The Church

In a post of mine three weeks ago, I touched upon several avenues by which the smoke of Satan is entering into the Catholic Church.  In this post, I'll deal with several of these avenues.  First we look at the various partnerships that the Vatican has struck with those opposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ (fifth bullet point).

Caritas is reputedly the main social organization inside the Vatican.  Yet as the Lepanto Institute and other organizations have pointed out, Caritas has been funding and even directing socialist organizations in their promotions of abortion, contraception, marxism etc.

Lepanto has discovered yet another squalid venture of Caritas.  An outfit called Cordaid is apparently a co-founder of Caritas, and remains as the representative of Caritas in the Netherlands.  As you read the link to the Lepanto expose, you'll see that Cordaid is directly involved in the distribution of contraception, sex education, condoms, etc to African countries.  They even gave money to Planned Parenthood of Siera Leone.  It appears that Cardinal Maradiaga stepped down as head of Caritas and was succeeded by Cardinal Tagle of the Philippines.  The Lepanto article ends with a suggestion that Cardinal Tagle be petitioned to separate Cordaid from Caritas.  That might be nice, but give what I've seen of Cardinal Tagle, one should not be surprised if these petitions are disregarded.

By the way - the Cordaid link contains a video report of the misdeeds of Caritas.  Accuracy in Media checked out the facts stated therein and found them to be accurate.  Caritas is promoting disobedience to the Church's teachings on life and sexuality, and also those regarding communism.

Now we'll address the second bullet point in my "smoke" post: advancement of the gay agenda.  First a shout-out to the Lepanto Institue for ferreting out all these snakes in the grass.  We'll now look at some mischief surrounding the Pope's visit to Philadelphia next September.  It's a big conference and as can be expected, there will be many exhibitors.  Someone has to decide what organizations will be allowed to exhibit at this conference.  Who might that someone be?  Lepanto found the answer and it is most disquieting to say the least.  Her name is Teresa Matozzo and she works for Talley Management Group.  She is also a gay activist in a lesbian relationship.  Do we see any potential for dissident bias in the decision-making process?  As critical as that question might be, that's not the most serious question here.  That would be, "what possessed the event organizers to allow a gay activist to have such a role in this papal conference?"

Today we learned from LifeSiteNews that in the wake of the Irish vote disaster and the "shadow council", that Cardinal Kasper wants the synod to consider "the question of same-sex couples".  Cardinal Kasper has written his own book called Pope Francis' Revolution Of Tenderness And Love.  (Since when is love a revolutionary concept in the Catholic Church?)  It's published by Paulist Press.  Father Janus, president of Paulist Press, gave to the pope a copy of that book along with a film about LGBT Catholics called "Owning Our Faith".  Watch the clip and you'll see immediately the heresies therein; (is the priest interviewed in that film still allowed to conduct himself as priest?)  If Father Janus is championing both the film and book, I can only surmise that the book is similarly oriented.

It sure seems we're being force-fed a raunchy diet of pro-sodomy propaganda.  I suspect it's part and parcel of the "maturation" that we're supposed to undergo before the next October sin-nod.  I might suggest a read of Lepanto's treatise on Fatima as it relates to sodomy.