Well at least we have the advantage that we have had our eyes opened. It is better to see the evil than not to see it. I admit myself that the last year or two has really opened my eyes to the fact that it is as you say, 'systematic' , that the whole body of the Church is affected. This never came through to me before. It is all the difference between knowing, I suppose that my Mother is a little strange in her habits and suddenly getting my eyes open to the fact tat she is a heavy drug addict. Quite and eye opener. To amke matters worse to discover that the, 'police force' and 'Judges' (the Vatican) involved are also involved up to their necks was a huge blow. The very people we trust to fix things , including the Holy Father are worst of all. For if they won't or don;t want to fix things because they need things fixed most themselves then where does this leave us. Well the only human force left is the lay people themselves. But the hierarchical structure of the Church leaves it very difficult for lay folk to do this. Historically what has happened in the Church in the past when huge levels of corruption right up tot eh Popes has happened in the past is that the Holy Spirit , through the saints has renewed the Church through huge movements of reform. Of new springs of holiness. This time I suspect it will come through blood, through martyrs. I would recommend anyone looking to see how this might all turn out to tun to the Prophesies of Blessed Catherine Emmerich. She describes events so closely. But my own impression is that things turn loads and loads worse before they take a turn for the better. Loads and loads and loads worse. In other words , we ain't seen nothing yet. These wicked people are only getting started.
That’s exactly how I see it too....that is why we need to receive the sacraments daily. We are going to need every single grace that heaven offers us to withstand the coming onslaught of evil and to remain faithful in spite of it. I too am not hopeful that any solution with emanate from the Vatican. I think we ...the layfolk, have been tasked for a renewal of the faith. I pray we have the faith...and courage to withstand the forces that we will face. The rosary...the weapon...
It's not treally unlike what happened in the Protestant so called, 'Reformation', in England. The True Church went underground; the False Church of the Protestant Statehad all the wealth, all the Power al the great buildings and universities. It mimiced the true Church but was the false one. It is a real privledge to live in these days.
I too feel we will seek refuge in the underground church. Still trying to understand how we will discern what priest might be with us. I know there are out there, but identifying them is the trick. They will surface. And yes, the faithful will lose the church infrastructure....buildings, bank accounts, etc. the false church will eventually fail even with these assets. The real church will prosper....that’s how one will discern the faithful. I’m looking forward to the renewal. Attending mass now is hard when you know what’s behind the curtain.
It is also a real privilege to be in the company of Mother of God forum members, God bless you, Padraig to shelter us here.
Yes Booklady! This site is a refuge of its own! Our Lady via Padrig guided us all here. I just recommended it to a friend. It has provided us all with a community we might not otherwise have. I’m very grateful...I’ve learned so much from so many here. I’m so happy to be back after a rough two years.
I'm inclined to wait until all the news comes out before condemning Cardinal Dolan. He wasn't appointed Archbishop of New York until 2009, and the priest had already been cleared by the Archdiocese's review board a few years earlier. We don't know how much Cardinal Dolan knew about the priest. A diocese as big as NY would have committees dealing with various aspects of administration and there may well have been such a committee dealing with abuse allegations.
I think it should be quite clear by now that the only one who can and will make all things new again, is God. Pray like never before that we will be spared God's justice, as without His and our Lady's protection we have no chance from this point on. 2019, will be a year the Church leaders will fall like flies hit with bug spray. I cannot help but think of Father Ratzinger's 1969 prophecy every time I see what is happening to our beloved Church becoming "very small, but very holy". Only pockets of holiness left and we will all be challenged like we never thought possible. Mary is the key to our future. Without her daily protection via our rosaries said, with love and conviction, we don't stand a chance.
Did you watch the Dr Marshall interview with James Grein? It was a long interview, but I'm fairly certain that he said Cardinal Dolan was another prelate who received the white envelope from McCarrick (the white envelopes from McCarrick were handed out by him regularly - hush money). At any rate, Card Dolan regularly laughs it up with Hollywood people and the Clintons at social events. I'm sorry, but from everything we've learned about how these people network, Dolan would not be in that "friendly" position with those types of people without some serious moral compromise.
I still feel compunction about condemning I know what you mean, though We have just scratched the surface
I do as well, I do think like you HH and padraig that we are merely scratching the surface. The Illinois report was bad also but I suspect that what is coming will make all this talk pale in comparison.
I sense it will unveil a 'deep state' in the church hierarchy, just as the unveiling of the political deep state in the US is taking place. There is truly a deep state within the church hierarchy and God will make sure it is made visible and the Church will be made to suffer the infamous shame of it all. I am going back along way's, at least 30 years, but the likes of Archbishop Weakland of Milwaukee, Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago, Bishop Lucker of the New Ulm diocese and many more, to many to count, and many of these have already died. PREPARE, well your own journey, as the Church we have known will be brought low and will become very small. We are still in the initial unfolding of it all. Many years of suffering ahead.
I don't recall the part about Cardinal Dolan getting a white envelope, but even if he did it doesn't automatically make it hush money. Something strikes me as peculiar about this accusation against Cardinal Dolan. I suspect that there's a lot of dirty dealing happening behind the scenes. The deviants infiltrated almost every part of the Church and became very powerful. They won't relinquish that power without a fight. They gained their power through underhand methods and will use the same methods to retain it. That someone leaked it to the NYT also rings a few bells with me. I don't trust the NYT. It was the Archdiocese of New York which determined that there was a credible claim against McCarrick. For all we know, this could be payback. As to Cardinal Dolan laughing it up with celebrities at social events, I think it would be hard for the Archbishop of New York to avoid celebrities at social events. He's the Archbishop of a city run by very wealthy secular Jews and hypocrites calling themselves Catholic. Many of those so-called Catholics are probably graduates of exclusive Jesuit schools and colleges, and the Jesuit network extends far beyond the NY Archdiocese. If what Michael Voris says is true (and he has been right so far), there are plenty of well placed lavender lobbyists in the NY clergy. Isn't that where Fr. James Martin's favourite parish is located? Don't forget that Fr. Martin has been empowered by the (Jesuit) Pope. How long do you think Cardinal Dolan would last if he were to start a public row with those who are backing Fr. Martin? I reckon he would be Bishop of Timbuktu within days and his NY replacement would be another McCarrick. What hope then for faithful Catholics, especially faithful priests, in NY? At least Cardinal Dolan isn't holding rainbow Masses in St. Patrick's Cathedral, probably much to the chagrin of the lavender lobby. I wouldn't put Dolan in the same category as Cupich who apparently hasn't met a heresy he doesn't like. I also suspect that there may have been instances where payments were made to alleged victims whose claims might not have been genuine. After the abuse scandals became public knowledge, I believe it possible that some dioceses weighed up the chances of getting a fair trial and decided to pay the accuser rather than go to court. Enabling predators and the cover-ups were evil although I think that in some cases evil wasn't the motivation. I'm not sure that going to the other extreme isn't evil too. If we go down the road of believing every accusation against every priest and bishop, we will end up with no priests. What man would risk being a priest if he knew that he would be judged guilty in the court of public opinion no matter how unfounded the allegation against him. Wrongly accused priests never fully recover their reputation. Cardinal Dolan might be guilty and he might not. I think we should wait at least until there is more information available than what the NYT chose to print.
My se My sentiments as well...what’s coming will probably shake the faith of many. Remaining will be those who know this is coming and prepare sacramentally for the strength to undergo the scourging . I hope we all make it through the spiritual drought that may accompany it. Developing our own prayer life might be the best way to guard against the battle that’s coming....daily.
A sad thing happened me at Church just a few days ago. I turned up for morning mass. It turned out it was a funeral mass for a lady recently deceased but the majority of people there would have been daily mass goers. Anyway the mass went on for half an hour and had not really gotten started the priest telling stories from the ladies life. I got just so sad and fed up, I left. I was worried I was being a sad old, nasty crank so I decided to think about exactly why I left early. What i was was this. Nothing about any of this had to do with Christ or our Catholic religion.. It was really a purely secular remembrance service and could just as easily been delivered by a Secular Social Worker. All the stories and references to the dead woman's life has nothing to do with her Faith. If it had been about , say , her love for the rosary, or her enduring suffering for love of the Cross I would have loved this. But it was just secular tittle tattle. ..and the priests voice droning on and on and on bored me to stone. Half a solid hour of none too interesting tales. I have had many deaths in my own family and would hav been mortified if this kind of self indulgence had went on in their funeral services. But yes it does occur to me in the future is may be much harder to find Churches to go to.
I agree that we do need more information about everything he and his diocese is doing. There is much scandal that is starting to hit the radar. Allegations of embezzlement by homosexual priest that went ignored after it was called to Dolan’s attention.....and more. And maybe it’s just me, but Dolan can rationalize this event where Our dear Blessed Mother is sexualized...and pose with those who routinely mock our faith....well, I can’t be ok with that. Other celebrity costumes at the Met Gala included a sexualized Blessed Virgin Mary, Rihanna dressed as a pope, and “flesh-flashing” outfits adorned with Christian symbols, as Piers Morgan put it. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/c...et-gala-was-not-offensive-or-blasphemous-at-a In addition to that, this comment from Dolan has to make one wonder...is he Catholic? Do we tell our children who “come out” as homosexual “Bravo!” From LIFENEWS: During an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" focusing on the "Francis effect" in the Church, host David Gregory asked the cardinal about the decision of Michael Sam, a 24-year-old senior at the University of Missouri and defensive end, to announce that he is a homosexual. “Good for him,” Cardinal Dolan replied. “I would have no sense of judgment on him. God bless ya.” He added that “the same Bible that tells us, that teaches us about the virtues of chastity and the virtue of fidelity and marriage also tells us not to judge people. So, I would say, ‘Bravo.'” The cardinal's reaction was more exuberant than that of Michael Sam Sr., the player's father, who told the New York Times about his son's coming out, “I don’t want my grandkids raised in that kind of environment.” So, if he is the Cardinal...what kind of message did he telegraph to the flock? Tell them BRAVO when they come out? Is that what you tell your child who has ‘come out”...bravo? Is this the opposite of fraternal correction? Whose immortal soul is he leading here...and where is he leading it to? No Cardinal, we are not judging the soul of any homosexual.....but we do judge the act. But Dolan would never want to offend the celebrity/ world....but he risk misleading souls? Sorry, that’s not sitting well in my opinion.
