First of all, we have to remind ourselves of the Act of Contrition where we tell God that we detest our own sins above every other evil. And we have to mean it, therefore, we must detest our sins above those of even the paedophiles. That shouldn't prevent us from insisting that the seminaries, religious orders and the episcopacy be cleaned up. Cardinal McCarrick will be laicised. That would be a just punishment and it will be the reason given. They all knew about Cardinal McCarrick. The dogs in the street were barking about him and the homosexual bullying in the seminaries but what has been done about it thus far? His proteges have been promoted, the Pope says "who am I to judge", Bishops are lauding the good in homosexual unions, priests are "coming out" at Mass, European priests are conducting "we won't call it marriage" ceremonies, and Fr. Martin is badmouthing disgusted and disillusioned Catholics, calling them homophobic. The real reason will be to assure the faithful in the US that the Church has listened and responded to their anger - just another sticky plaster on an open, festering wound.
Who cares what they called themselves. Nobody is disputing that perverts come in all shapes and sizes and say whatever it takes to hide their evil intentions. Your Dean is an example of what turned our seminaries into cesspools. Unfortunately his type and worse were all too common. The difference between then and now is that being active is "ok" provided it can be passed off as consensual. It doesn't take this thread to "make everyone look bad". Our shepherds have already done that. It's clear now that you would have to have lived on another planet not to have heard about Cardinal McCarrick. Despite that, he was treated almost like a reincarnation of St. Paul and invited here there and yon by people who can't but have known about what he got up to in his spare time. Here's an example: https://gloria.tv/article/YPSTCKi3Hy1r4Huxp4jMi1GAj Maybe there is one person who was unaware of Cardinal McCarrick's reputation: his flatmate Cardinal Farrell. Cardinal Farrell also says he didn't know about the antics of the very conservative Bishop Maciel and says he only met him once or twice. Scroll down towards the end of the attached to read what people who knew him said about that: http://www.pagadiandiocese.org/2018...ick-forced-to-step-down-from-public-ministry/ Cardinal Farrell heads the Vatican's Dicastry on the family yet he doesn't believe that celibate priests are competent to give advice on marriage. (That would rule out Jesus and St. Paul to name just two who wouldn't qualify). I wonder whether Villanova University will remove their video of him addressing their students after the election of Pope Francis where he was salivating at the prospect of Francis transforming the Church within five years. The Cardinal was something of a favourite with the Jesuits. Hardly surprising that he was rather popular with the secular media too. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish the difference between the agenda of the secular press and the agenda of the Jesuits. Incidentally, that seminary in Frankfurt that Elizabeth Yore spoke about - the one where the seminarian was bullied by his teacher for rejecting sexual advances - is run by the Jesuits - an organisation whose Superior General said that Satan is not a real being but an early Christian construct. This all happens when you believe that Satan doesn't exist and if you do believe in God he's the kind of God who loves us all too much to let any of us go to Hell.
Those of you who think we are making a mountain out of a molehill might want to look at how the homosexual agenda in the secular world progressed from merely seeking to live an let live to putting cake makers and photographers out of business. Do you honestly believe that the likes of James Martin wouldn't import that type of practice into the Church? The equivalent in Catholicism would be excommunication of anyone not accepting that same sex unions are sacramental marriages. The stepping stone to "marriage equality" was legal recognition of same sex unions. The Catholic equivalent to that stepping stone is "we don't call it marriage" ceremonies which are already being pushed by some members of the hierarchy. The Blessed Eucharist which Pope Francis tells us is not a prize for the perfect is being used as a prize for the perverted.
Thank God CM has finally come forward and is fighting. The Vatican bank needs a thorough audit and disclosure.
I know I sound like a broken record, but I suspect it began when the communists/ freemasons decided to infiltrate the Catholic church. Refer to Bella Dodd's testimony and the Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita. They carried out a diabolical plan. 2 popes asked that the Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendetta be published - to expose this terrible plan and enable the Church to be prepared to fight it. But sadly, since Vatican II times, Russia/ communism/ freemasonry has ceased to be condemned.
Of course, Mother Mary gave us a simple remedy - consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. But I firmly believe it was never done the way she specified. So...Russia has spread her errors. We are clearly seeing the devastating effects.
This is so true. We are in a totally unprecedented crisis. Or rather many different types of crisis all at once. I think most people who say "the Church has been through tougher things before" really do not understand the crisis because they have been infected with Modernism. It's partly not their fault. We all have grown up immersed in it without any clear catechesis from the Church. What bothers me most is when I hear this refrain from Catholic radio show hosts and people like that. You will also often hear it from people who don't know/believe in a Chastisement coming. Do not know the many warnings the world was given at places like Fatima and Akita. They think this is just a passing crisis like any other.
Honestly, I was referring to Casti Cannubii, not Humanae Vitae. Lay Catholics started embracing contraception in the 1940s and 1950s. By the time of Humanae Vitae the horse had already left the stable.
Wow! At least one Bishop agrees with the good psychiatrist, Dr. Fitzgibbons, who demanded same: Texas bishop: hold McCarrick and his enablers accountable Fort Worth, Texas, Jul 28, 2018 / 03:33 pm (CNA).- Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s alleged crimes might merit removing him from the clergy entirely—and they require accountability for all Church leaders who knew of his alleged misconduct and did nothing, Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth, Texas has said in a letter to the faithful of his diocese. "The Church needs to do more than have a serious conversation about these issues, it needs to discern in light of the Truth and to act intentionally,” Olson told CNA July 28. “If conversation does not lead to decision, it quickly devolves into chatter.” “An important ministry for us as bishops is to ‘see, judge, and act.’ It’s not enough to see. Yet, seeing clearly leads to sound judgment that requires fortitude for us to act,” he added. “If we don't do that as pastors we sell our vocation as shepherds in exchange for a career as hirelings.” The Pope accepted Cardinal McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals on Friday. The Pope directed McCarrick, the 88-year-old former Archbishop of Washington, to observe “a life of prayer and penance in seclusion” until the end of the canonical process against him. A substantial and credible allegation of child sexual abuse against McCarrick was made public in June. In recent weeks, McCarrick has faced several additional allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct. These include charges that he pressured seminarians and priests into sexual relationships, and another reported allegation that he had a serially sexually abusive relationship with a child. Bishop Olson’s July 28 letter said the former cardinal’s alleged crimes have caused “such further damage to the integrity of the hierarchy and mission of the Church” that his prompt laicization should be “strongly deliberated.” Such a move would serve “reconciliation and healing in the light of the justice and merciful redemption as won by Christ and promised to all who are alienated by the corruption of sin.” “Justice also requires that all of those in Church leadership who knew of the former cardinal’s alleged crimes and sexual misconduct and did nothing be held accountable for their refusal to act thereby enabling others to be hurt,” the bishop continued. Olson’s letter said McCarrick’s alleged crimes were “scandalous” and resulted in violation of trust and “grave damage” to the lives and health of his reputed victims. “This scandal and pain are compounded by the horrific fact that reportedly one of his victims was his first baptism after his priestly ordination,” he continued, noting that the claims also include crimes against his subordinates including priests, seminarians and lay Catholics. “The evil effects of these actions were multiplied by the fact that financial settlements were arranged with victims without transparency or restrictions on the former cardinal’s ministry,” Bishop Olson said. “Please continue to pray for the reported victims and the families who have been hurt by the alleged crimes and sins of former Cardinal McCarrick and others. Pray also that we can work together to respond not only in word but in action to prevent further crimes and transgressions.” Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, on Saturday morning thanked Pope Francis for “his leadership in taking this important step” of accepting the cardinal’s resignation and ordering him to prayer and penitence. “It reflects the priority the Holy Father places on the need for protection and care for all our people and the way failures in this area affect the life of the Church in the United States,” Cardinal DiNardo said. A letter sent this week to priests of the Archdiocese of Washington claims that its current archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, did not know until recently about settlements made by two New Jersey dioceses in response to allegations misconduct on the part of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The letter was sent by by archdiocese’s vicar general Monsignor Charles Antonicelli. Sources close to the Archdiocese of Washington have told CNA that Wuerl was not informed of settlements until June. The two New Jersey legal settlements involving McCarrick were reached in 2005 and 2007 by the Diocese of Metuchen, the Archdiocese of Newark, and two men who claim they were sexually assaulted by McCarrick while they were seminarians and young priests. McCarrick was Bishop of Metuchen from 1981-1986, Archbishop of Newark from 1986-2000, and Archbishop of Washington from 2000-2006. In his letter, Bishop Olson stressed the Fort Worth diocese’s “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse against minors and vulnerable adults perpetrated by clergy, staff and volunteers, “including me, as bishop.” He said he has taken prompt action in response to credible allegations and added that the diocese has sought transparency in calling for victims to come forward, showing respect for protecting victims’ identities. “Our seminarians, priests, deacons, and religious and lay staff are taught to recognize and to report boundary violations without fear of retribution, no matter the status of the perpetrator,” the bishop said. Pope Francis named Olson to head the Fort Worth diocese in November 2013. He was ordained and installed as bishop in January 2014. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...-mccarrick-and-his-enablers-accountable-73681
Just an interesting note....... Today at Mass, the Prayers of the Faithful included one about the annual Bishops appeal, that they meet their goal. Our parish has usually met its goal by this time each year. Usually late Spring they meet the goal. Could be a coincidence as the news has just broke about this scandal. But maybe the laity is fed up in general too.
I do not remember where I read this, but there was reluctance to consecrate Russia so as not to upset the Russians politically. So as I remember, JPII consecrated the world instead. Correct me if I am wrong.
https://www.rcda.org/news-events/me...on-much-more-crisis-policies-and-proceduresit BISHOP SCHARFENBERGER’S LETTER TO CLERGY STATING LATEST ABUSE REVELATIONS SHOW THE SITUATION IS "MUCH MORE THAN A CRISIS OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES...IT IS A PROFOUNDLY SPIRITUAL CRISIS" July 29, 2018 Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger sent the following letter to members of the clergy (vicars, priests, deacons, seminarians) on Friday afternoon. It was also copied to Parish Life Directors and Department Heads at the diocesan Pastoral Center: My dear brothers in Christ, A psalm-prayer this morning from the Office of the Hours reads: “Lord Jesus, you were rejected by your people, betrayed by the kiss of a friend, and deserted by your disciples. Give us the confidence that you had in the Father, and our salvation will be assured.” Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, many of our faithful are now feeling betrayed and abandoned by their spiritual fathers, especially the bishops. Perhaps you share this feeling, too. No doubt you have been and will be hearing from your people about how shaken and discouraged they are over public revelations of despicable behavior on the part of a very popular and charismatic Cardinal with priests and seminarians in his care. One holy and faithful Catholic gentleman – a medical professional and a dear friend – texted me just this morning about his family’s utter despondency over this and that the USCCB should disband itself: “[t]heir credibility is shot, probably for decades.” More words are not going to repair, let alone restore, the damage that has been done. Lawyering, pledges and changes in the bureaucratic structures and policy – however well intentioned – cannot do it either. I do not see how we can avoid what is really at the root of this crisis: sin and a retreat from holiness, specifically the holiness of an integral, truly human sexuality. In negative terms, and as clearly and directly as I can repeat our Church teaching, it is a grave sin to be “sexually active” outside of a real marriage covenant. A cardinal is not excused from what a layperson or another member of the clergy is not. A member of the clergy who pledges to live a celibate life must remain as chaste in his relationship with all whom he serves as spouses within a marriage. This is what our faith teaches and what we are held to in practice. There is no “third way.” “Sexual activity” includes grooming and seduction – the kind of experience that one of our brothers tells of in a recent interview in America magazine that you may have seen. The psychological and spiritual destructiveness of such predatory behavior, really incestuous by a man who is held up as a spiritual father to a son in his care – even if not a minor – cannot be minimized or rationalized in any way. On that, it seems to me, we are experiencing an unusual unity amidst the many political and ecclesial tensions in our communities. Abuse of authority – in this case, with strong sexual overtones – with vulnerable persons is hardly less reprehensible than the sexual abuse of minors, which the USCCB attempted to address in 2002. Unfortunately, at that time – something I never understood – the Charter did not go far enough so as to hold cardinals, archbishops and bishops equally, if not more, accountable than priests and deacons. It is my belief that the vast majority of clergy – priests, deacons and bishops alike – live or, at least, are striving to live holy and admirable lifestyles. I am ashamed of those of my brothers, such as the Cardinal, who do not and have not. As your Bishop, you can be sure of my support for you and all the faithful during this very difficult time. As the Holy Spirit impels me, I will use every power my office holds on all levels at which I serve, local and national, to further this charge. We should be grateful for all of those who have come forward to expose these patterns of sin in the lives of some – as well the institutional sins of denial and suppression of those brave witnesses whose warnings went unheard or unheeded, so that some of the harm might have been prevented. I hope and pray that others who may have suffered such traumatic experiences at the hands of their spiritual fathers will find the courage to say so. To you, if you are among them, and to them I offer my support and assistance in any way the resources I have can muster. Let me be clear, however, in stating my firm conviction that this is, at heart, much more than a crisis of policies and procedures. We can – and I am confident that we will – strengthen the rules and regulations and sanctions against any trying to fly under the radar or to “get away with” such evil and destructive behaviors. But, at its heart, this is much more than a challenge of law enforcement; it is a profoundly spiritual crisis. Blessed Pope Paul VI prophetically warned us in Humanae Vitae of the long-range consequences of the separation of sexuality and sexual behavior from the conjugal relationship. Contemporary culture in our part of the world now holds it normative that sex and sexual gratification between any consenting persons for any reason that their free wills allow is perfectly acceptable. This is not a sexuality befitting of human beings that responds to the need and true desire of every human person to be respected and loved fully and unconditionally. All of us who are ordained to preach what the Church teaches must practice what we preach and teach. We also need to uphold what our faith proclaims about the gift and beauty of human sexuality, fully lived in its essential conjugal meaning. A culture of virtue and chastity – in short, personal holiness – rooted in a trusting and committed relationship with Jesus Christ is the path toward healing and wholeness, even as we seek to drive the evil behaviors among us from the womb of the Church. Our preparation for the upcoming Eucharistic Congress on September 22nd in the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs will be a time of spiritual renewal for all of us seeking to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Master who was himself betrayed by his closest friends, but died for us to save us from ourselves and to offer us a way to living our humanity fully in this life and in the heaven to come. I invoke upon you and all of those whom you lovingly serve, the Lord’s blessing, through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, to whom our Diocese is consecrated. In the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding, Your brother and servant in Christ, +Edward B. Scharfenberger Bishop of Albany
There's no doubt as Raymond Arroyo says this is scary. We just don' have any idea how deep this all is.
Yes. There has been a push for years to turn the Church into a democracy, with the laity electing their bishops. Whoever controls the mainstream media would end up choosing our bishops, resulting in Dogma and Doctrine being subjected to treatment similar to a party manifesto. We are getting a taste of that now via the German Bishops who are so desperate to keep the Church tax there is no Church teaching they aren't willing to jettison, and their money buys so much clout they are getting whatever they want under the cover of disciplinary changes in pastoral practice. Catholics who simply want to defend the Deposit of Faith need to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Calling for the resignation of all Bishops is dangerous. We are told that only a tiny minority of clergy, including Bishops, are culpable. If that be the case, why was it necessary for all Chilean Bishops to offer their resignation? If you knew that you hadn't committed a crime, would you resign? I wouldn't, and neither should any innocent cleric tender his resignation to please the mob or the media. The clergy is made up of men just as liable to sin as the rest of us. They make mistakes. It's easy to be wise in hindsight. Only relatively recently have psychiatrists and psychologists reached the conclusion that paedophilia cannot be cured. If professionals were advising a course of treatment to cure a behavioral problem, it's hard to blame someone for accepting that advice. The problem from a Catholic perspective, which should matter most to us, is that the rule of avoiding occasions of sin was ignored. If that peculiarly Catholic rule had been observed, offending priests would have been denied contact with any children. The secularists refuse to acknowledge that the vast majority of abuses were committed by homosexual priests. The priesthood is no place for homosexuals, not least because of that Catholic rule about occasions of sin because priests live in all male communities. There are other reasons but that single reason should be sufficient to, at the very least, rule out homosexual men from being accepted into religious orders. Some Bishops who knew about McCarrick and didn't speak out publicly may well have being doing the best they could in their own diocese while keeping their distance as best they could from him and his influence. The ones who should go are those who curried favour with him to advance their own careers. Looking at recent promotions by Pope Francis, if all US Bishops tender their resignations, it's very possible if not very likely that McCarrick's closest friends will remain in office while other, better albeit imperfect, bishops will be removed. We have a problem with homosexuality in the priesthood. They used the same tactics inside the Church as the lavender lobby used in wider society. As each one got into a position of power or influence, he advanced the career of his friends. Those friends weren't always homosexuals but were men who had issues with a broad range of Church teaching, ranging from the Immaculate Conception though sexual morality to the existence of Hell. Calling sodomy a sin would be offensive to some and no big deal to others. Prior to the election of Pope Francis, every Catholic on the planet would have laughed at the possibility that a priest personally chosen by the Pope for a role in communications would be denouncing as a hateful homophobic any Catholic who regarded homosexuality as disordered. Prior to the election of Pope Francis, who would have thought it possible that the Superior General of the Jesuits would proclaim that the Apostles invented Satan? Prior to the election of Pope Francis, who would have thought it possible that the Vatican would provide a platform for a woman who calls infant baptism a violation of human rights? We only have to look at secular society to see where we're headed if this isn't stopped now. Given our fallen nature, we will always have sinful priests. What needs to be stopped is the advancement of priests who reject Church teaching and demand that evil be portrayed as good. Money talks in the Church just as it does outside the Church. Only the Americans can match the Germans for financial clout and the outcome of this crisis in the US could have influence throughout the universal Church.
HH, I have also heard that. In the Holy Father's consecration of the world, some believe he attempted to include Russia when he said, "In a special way, we entrust and consecrate to you those individuals and nations which particularly need to be thus entrusted and consecrated."
Yes. It was Father Amorth, the exorcist supreme!, who organized this particular Consecration and was a witness to how it occurred. He stated that Pope JPII realized that Russia must be mentioned by name but when he looked to his "politicians" (Fr. Amorth's label) advisors there and asked them 3 times if he could use the name, Russia, he was told no.
