Very sad Another great hero has fallen. Philosopher Robert Spaemann who spoke up against the errors being sown now has died https://www.gloria.tv/article/3sAG8iGaoj9XCgKfzQcWtHFaR
Carol, what the NCR article quoted was the Pope doing damage control in 2016 after he got so much flak for his promotion of all things lavender which began in 2013 when he promoted Battista Ricca to that job in the Vatican Bank. The infamous "who am I to judge" remark was a response to a question about Battista Ricca's appointment. NCR, with its own reputation for promoting all things lavender was quoting from an interview Pope Francis gave to "Vatican Insider" Andrea Tornielli. Tornielli certainly appears to be a Vatican "insider" these days. Battista Ricca wasn't some young lad discerning the priesthood. He had so many homosexual scandals on his CV that he was taken out of the Vatican's diplomatic service and given a job running the guest house. Apparently he made an impression on Pope Francis when then Cardinal Bergoglio stayed in the guest house. One of Battista Ricca's scandals was his affair with a former officer of the Swiss army whom he had met when Battista Ricca was posted to Bern and brought the man to Uruguay when he was posted there. (Perhaps Battista Ricca was familiar with St. Gallen from his time in Switzerland ). John Allen writing in Crux says, essentially, don't get your hopes up for the February Synod: https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2...expectations-for-february-child-abuse-summit/ I think that John Allen would be more what we Dubs might call "well got" with the likes of Cardinal Cupich than anyone writing for Catholic World Report. Phil Lawlor at Catholic Culture wasn't best pleased when he read Allen's report: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?id=1675 Also in Crux, John Allen writes about the Pope's overlooking Cardinal O'Malley in favour of Cardinal Cupich for the key position at the Synod: https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2...verlooking-omalley-to-plan-rome-abuse-summit/ That Catholic Culture website is a good source for Catholic news from a variety of sources https://www.catholicculture.org/news/ Their "Resources" section has a library of Church documents. For example, at this link you will find translations of writings of the Early Church Fathers with drop down menus sorted alphabetically or chronologically: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/
Carol, my intention is not to diminish the evil of sexual abuse of young girls, but I have long suspected that the media provide extra emphasis upon such cases when they do become public and that the motivation is to create a false narrative that the issue is one of generic abuse as opposed to the elephant in the room which is a gross predominance of male on male (of all ages) sexual predation. If the sodomitic faction are the ones 'running the show', this is to be expected. God bless your courageous witness. Anyone with a modicum of interest in the truth would know that if, and it is a big'if', any 'persecution' pertains to those masses on the Southern border it obviously is occurring at their point of origin.
D., Thank you for all of this information, I still have to go through most of it. I am certain that what we are experiencing is part of a chastisement. I try to be as cautious as possible when I am discerning these things but I was not familiar with what you have stated about the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) as opposed to the National Catholic Register (NCR) which I am more familiar with and I like very much along with LifeSiteNews and I am becoming more familiar with the CatholicNewsAgency. Normally, I try to stick with these news agencies that I have mentioned but I do read others, of course. I suppose that in regard to the February Synod I am still hoping for a miracle which would be quite helpful right about now, although I am familiar that most reports are saying that the likelihood that anything positive will come out of it is not at all good. I do realize that many of the problems that the Church is dealing with existed long before Pope Francis became pope and will probably continue if a miracle does not occur soon. I also understand that many expected Pope Francis to be a reformer and he has obviously not panned out that way. I don't know what the pope's involvement in the St. Gallen's group is exactly and I am not sure that anyone really does but I think that all that has been suggested is that he was the St. Gallen group's pick for pope and on what basis I am not sure. I also realize that the pope has created more confusion than we had in the prior papacy and he has removed some traditional/orthodox clergymen from their previous positions but I think that we are running out of high-ranking traditional/orthodox clergymen by the moment lately. I realize that The Spectator is a secular news source but here is an article from 5.5 years ago which I just came across on a search about Msgr. Battista Ricca. At a minimum, it is interesting to look back at this article given all that has occurred over the past 5.5 years. Romans always love a Vatican scandal. But what if this time they're right? Alexander Chancellor | July 27, 2013 | https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/07...ed-lurid-homosexual-past-to-the-vatican-bank/ The people of Rome have always liked to believe the worst of their bishop. When I was a correspondent in Rome more than 40 years ago, I was constantly assured by its citizens that the Pope not only had the evil eye but was known for a fact to be living secretly in the Vatican with a male ballet dancer. These were absurd rumours. Not only did Paul VI have rather dull eyes; he was also a cautious, unexciting fellow, a dry bureaucrat who had served for decades in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State before becoming archbishop of Milan and, after that, pope. I doubt if he had ever met a ballet dancer. Probably the juiciest scandal that occurred on his watch was the sudden death of the reputedly austere French Jesuit theologian, Cardinal Jean Daniélou, in the home of a Paris prostitute in 1974. But now the Vatican is engulfed by real scandal. Pope Francis, who was elected only last March, informed visitors himself recently that there was a ‘gay lobby’ inside the Vatican, thus lending credence to reports that had appeared in the Italian press about Vatican officials holding ‘bunga bunga’ parties with under-age male prostitutes and exposing themselves to blackmail from outside the Vatican’s walls. And as I arrive in Tuscany for a summer holiday, I pick up a copy of the weekly news magazine L’Espresso to find it has a cover story adding to the Pope’s woes. Written by a Vatican expert, Sandro Magister, this claims that the man the Pope has appointed to be his personal representative at the Vatican Bank, an institution now being investigated for money-laundering, corruption and fraud, is a prelate with a lurid homosexual past. Monsignor Battista Ricca, 57, is, among other things, the director of the Domus Santa Marta, a hotel inside the Vatican for visiting prelates in which Pope Francis has decided to live, and he often eats with him in the dining hall there. The Pope, it seems, has come to like and trust Mgr Ricca, but has been deliberately kept in the dark about the allegations against him. These concern his time around the turn of the century when he was employed by the Vatican diplomatic service and posted at various missions abroad. In Berne he allegedly made such friends with a Swiss army captain called Patrick Haari that he took him with him to his next posting in Uruguay and managed, despite objections, to get him a job, a salary and a bed in the papal nunciature. Mgr Ricca also allegedly frequented a gay hang-out in Montevideo where he was once beaten up and taken home to the nunciature with a swollen face. Then, when the lift in the nunciature got stuck one night, Mgr Ricca was apparently found inside it with a young man known to the police authorities. The Pope has stood by Mgr Ricca, authorising his press spokesman to deny the allegations against him and to describe the L’Espresso report as ‘not trustworthy’. But according to Sandro Magister’s article, the allegations were known to dozens of people in Uruguay, including bishops, priests and nuns; and it is alarming that none of them saw fit to inform the Pope about them. It was thus in ignorance of these allegations that he decided to promote Mgr Ricca to an important and sensitive new position. It shows what the Pope is up against as he embarks on his ambitious programme of Vatican reform and promises to do so with the utmost transparency. The more one thinks about the sorry state of affairs in Rome, the less likely it seems that Pope Benedict XVI’s abdication was motivated only by his age and frailty. He may well have felt sick to his stomach about the problems with which he had to deal. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the post he held before becoming pope, he had been in charge of investigating the child-abuse scandals in which thousands of Catholic priests around the world had been involved. Then he learnt to his horror that there existed a network of gay priests within the Vatican itself, and finally that his strongest supporter in opposing gay marriage and gay sex in general, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, had himself been having a long homosexual affair with one of his priests. Who could blame him for wanting to pack it in? As for Pope Francis, a visit to riot-torn Brazil amid huge security concerns may very well feel like an agreeable holiday.
Carol speaks above about being in the process of a chastisement. I was listening in my car this evening to some Bob Dylan gospel music, particularly a song called 'Blessed Is the Name of the Lord' (much more orthodox than so much that passes as hymns nowadays), when he sang that 'God didn't destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was safely out of town'. It reminded me immediately of this post which I had read earlier, but thought too sad to add a 'like' to and it struck me that so many good people, like Spaemann that seem to be dying like flies at the moment, might be receiving a similar mercy to Lot.
The 'Benedict Option' is really the 'Luther Option' A.K.A. Christopher Ferrara thumps Dreher: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/in...dreher-s-luther-option-a-book-review-of-sorts
Homosexual Scandals and the “Smoke of Satan”: Understanding the Depth of the Present Crisis September 21, 2018 | Luiz Sérgio Solimeo | http://www.tfp.org/homosexual-scand...nderstanding-the-depth-of-the-present-crisis/ When man is facing a crisis, his common tendency is to seek an easy, effective and complete solution. Easy solutions often come to mind without trying to understand in depth the real characteristics of the crisis and its possible causes. Thus, instead of solving crises, such solutions only aggravate them by adding new problems that are sometimes more difficult to solve than the previous ones. The “Smoke of Satan” If this is so with the political, economic and other crises that deal with merely natural events, it is all the more true when it comes to crises in Holy Mother Church, in which the supernatural—Revelation and Divine grace—adds to her purely natural and human elements. In these cases, the order of grace is clearly superior to the order of nature. Grace ultimately is the decisive element. Thus, human weakness and the action of the devil, the world and the flesh are felt more intensely when, for the punishment of sins, God withdraws His grace. Indeed, for unfathomable reasons, and to purify our faith, (see 1 Cor. 11:19). Our Lord Jesus Christ allows Holy Church to go through crises sometimes so intense that “unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.” (Matt. 24:22). Such is the moment we are living. The august face of the mystical Spouse of Christ has been obscured by the “smoke of Satan” that has penetrated the sacred temple.1 He Who Resists Will Be Crowned by God The homosexual scandals by members of the clergy with their ominous procession of seduction and abuse is reported with relentless insistence and an exuberance of lurid details by the media. Such a picture can lead many Catholics to revolt, despair, and even lose their faith. We must be careful that our righteous indignation with the evil perpetrated by churchmen unfaithful to their high calling does not lead us to revolt against God himself, who allows such trials. As the Apostle Saint James says, by resisting trials such as the present ones we will receive the crown of glory: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for, when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love him. (James 1:12). Avoid the Danger of Naturalism We must avoid the serious risk of revolting and also keep another risk at bay: naturalism. A naturalist perspective would lead us to consider the current crisis in the Church with purely human eyes without taking its supernatural aspect into account. This attitude leads to propose essentially human solutions of a sociological nature to solve a crisis caused primarily by an apostasy from the Faith and the consequent abandonment of a real life of piety and virtue. This attitude can lead to a state of connaturality with sin. Will Replacing Bishops With Laity Solve the Crisis? One of the more commonly presented proposals both by laity and churchmen is to give the task of investigating and punishing deviant clergy to bodies made up of laity, thus bypassing bishops. First, from a theological perspective, we should remember that it was to the Apostles and their successors that Christ entrusted the task of watching over the flock and the threefold mission to govern, teach, and sanctify the faithful. Second, such proposals would not solve anything, even if we ignored their problematic theological aspects. Indeed, how would the lay people be chosen to take up this overseeing function? Would they be appointed by the same bishops they do not trust? Or would they be chosen by complicated ballots similar to what happens in politics? What guarantee is there that reputable people will be elected? How to prevent lay people linked to suspect bishops and clerics or to movements with a revolutionary agenda from presenting themselves as candidates and being elected? Avoid Proposing Flawed Solutions Thus, many will ask, is there no practical and effective solution to this crisis? The first measure to find the right solution is to avoid offering rashly conceived proposals. Hasty proposals in such a complex matter often contain grossly misleading simplifications. They are likely to fall—as they often do—into the trap set by those seeking to establish the Church as a democracy when She is hierarchical by divine institution .2 It will also help to find a solution to understand that homosexuality is not the primary cause of this crisis, but that it is largely a consequence of Modernism, a heresy condemned by Saint Pius X. The pontiff denounced the modernist heretical movement as a secret society acting in the bosom of Holy Church. In the Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistum (September 1910), he wrote: “Modernists … recruit followers to the extent of forming a secret society.” They “are injecting the virus of their doctrine into the veins of Christian society.”3 In the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), the saint had already emphasized: “They [the modernists] seize upon professorships in the seminaries and universities, and gradually make of them chairs of pestilence.”4 This heresy reduces faith to a mere human feeling and Divine Revelation to a collective expression of that feeling. Consequently, dogma would continuously evolve with changing times. Although it has gone through many vicissitudes, this secret society continued its nefarious action within the Church, as the present dogmatic and moral errors attest. Today this network manifests itself more clearly through moral corruption, and particularly homosexuality. Conspiracy Theory? On interpreting history, we should avoid both the simplistic error of reducing everything to mere conspiracies, but also the opposite error, just as simplistic, of denying, a priori, the possibility of conspiracies. By his very nature, man tends to associate with those who think like him or share the same interests or goals; as the old Latin adage says, similis simili gaudet (like rejoices in like; an English equivalent idiom is “birds of a feather flock together”). This natural tendency often gives rise to groups, organizations or movements of people who gather not only to discuss their interests but to coordinate their efforts for victory. “Without Faith, It Is Impossible to Please God” “Without faith, it is impossible to please God,” teaches Saint Paul. Heresy corrupts the true Faith and, therefore, union with God. Thus, those who let themselves be carried away by heretical modernist theories become weak in the face of the world and its attractions, the action of the devil, and the revolt of the flesh. Hence, they can be easily lured and led away from the path of virtue. Since Modernism in its various forms has turned countless seminaries and Catholic universities into “chairs of pestilence,” the effects in the spiritual and moral fields are there for all to see. The way the current scandals are being reported produces the impression in people’s minds that no single priest or bishop remains faithful to his vows and adheres to sound doctrine. That is not true. Despite the extent of the crisis, it is evident that not all seminarians, priests and bishops have succumbed to the nefarious action of Modernism, be it theological or moral. On the contrary, many are faithful to their vows, sound doctrine, and the life of piety. What to Do? Which Concrete Solution to Present? While the only effective remedy for this crisis is a profound conversion as Our Lady asked in Fatima, there is no question that practical measures are also needed. In fact, both Canon Law and documents issued ultimately by the Holy See and by bishops’ conferences already provide means to combat homosexual scandals and abuse. The question is to use them properly, with zeal and wisdom. “To Thee Have I Lifted Up My Eyes, Who Dwells in Heaven” (Ps. 122:1-2) We must also fight the atmosphere of despair fostered by the secular media and lamentably aggravated by the cynicism of many ecclesiastics. We need to avoid a feverish state in reporting or commenting upon the present crisis. Above all, we must turn to God, imploring that through His mercy these days may be abbreviated. As Saint Paul recommends, we must also confide. We must be those “who against hope believed in hope” (Rom. 4:18). The Church remains just as holy and sanctifying as She was in the beginning and will forever be, because Her soul is the Holy Spirit, sanctifying grace. She alone has the truth, the way and the life, for She alone continues the work of the One Who immolated Himself for Her: “Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself up for it: That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27).
Carol, my reply to you is too long to fit into a single post, so I'm going to split it into two. Sorry that I never learned the art of brevity. Yes, from what I have seen, the National Catholic Reporter is the US equivalent of The Tablet in Britain - in the same mould as the Jesuit-run America magazine. That the problems pre-date this papacy doesn't mean that this Pope didn't contribute to them during his time as priest, bishop and cardinal. I read a report a few years ago where one of the St. Gallen group said in an interview that they asked Cardinal Bergoglio would he be their candidate and he agreed. It seemed strange to me at the time that they chose someone who hadn't been part of their group until I read later that Cardinal Kasper and Cardinal Bergoglio had been well known to each other due to Cardinal Kasper having spent time (possibly giving lectures) in Buenos Aires. Cardinal Martini, of course, was a Jesuit. It seems strange now that so many self-styled "defenders of the Pope and the papacy" are outraged at the Vigano call for Pope Francis to apply the same zero tolerance to himself as he declares to be his policy for the entire episcopacy yet there wasn't a peep out of them when Cardinal Martini boasted about having told Pope Benedict to resign if he couldn't reform the Curia. (In my opinion, any real reform of the Curia then would have been to laicise and possibly excommunicate (Jesuit) Cardinal Martini. May the Lord have mercy on his soul.) When Pope Francis speaks in glowing terms of Cardinal Martini, I hear no mention of the "Great Accuser". When Sandro Magister wrote that piece which all the papers picked up on, he firmly believed and said that the people surrounding the Pope had deliberately kept him in the dark about Battista Ricca's reputation. It took a few years before Magister realised that nobody was pulling the wool over the Pope's eyes. At first, the Vatican came out all guns blazing against Magister's piece but backed off when Magister said that he stood over what he had written. Then (July 2013) the question about Battista Ricca was put to the Pope during one of his in-flight press conferences when he travelled to Brazil. Here's a link to the Vatican's website giving a transcript of the interview: https://w2.vatican.va/content/franc...francesco_20130728_gmg-conferenza-stampa.html Scroll down to near the bottom of the page - it's the last question put to the Pope on that flight. It's worth bearing in mind that questions put to the Pope are submitted prior to the beginning of the Press conferences. Note how Pope Francis responded by talking about sins of people's youth being dragged up and used against them. Battista Ricca's scandals weren't the errors of youth. The only youth involved was the young lad he was with when the lift broke down. Note also how the Pope says he followed Canon law by doing a preliminary investigation (for some strange reason the word "preliminary investigation" are printed in italics). As with McCarrick (other than the James Grein accusations), the scandals surrounding Battista Ricca weren't about abuse of minors which is covered by Canon Law. It's only since the McCarrick scandal blew up that we are finding out that Canon Law falls short where minors or coercion are not involved. God's law has plenty to say about "sins of the flesh" but in this case Pope Francis chose to hide behind the more convenient Canon law to justify the promotion. Clearly, it wasn't "in ignorance" that Pope Francis promoted Battista Ricca, any more than it was in ignorance that he ignored Vigano's warning and sent his friend McCarrick to China on Church business; "in ignorance" that he had the retired Belgian (St. Gallen mafia) Cardinal at the Synod on the family, "in ignorance" that he called St. Gallen Mafia's Cardinal Kasper "a great theologian"; or in ignorance that he ensured the election of his friend Fr. Sosa (Satan is not a real being and the apostles didn't have tape recorders) to the position of Superior General of the Jesuits.
Sandro Magister no longer publishes his paper but closed it down in 2016. A lot of his articles, dating back to 2002, are online including this very interesting piece he wrote in December 2016 about Pope Francis' soft spot for populist movements, especially in Latin America: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351428bdc4.html?eng=y Liberation theology has had a strong foothold in Latin America. I read recently an article (could have been on the Catholic Culture website but I'm not sure) about Leonardo Boff turning up for a, presumably disciplinary, meeting with then head of the CDF Cardinal Ratzinger, and bringing along two Bishops in support of him. Boff was a Franciscan and subsequently left the priesthood but continued to espouse liberation theology. Boff was no fan of Pope Benedict or John Paul 11 who saw through the smoke and mirrors because he knew Communism when he saw it. As you will see from this piece in the National Catholic Reporter, they see Boff as a big supporter of Pope Francis: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/leonardo-boff-major-pope-francis-supporter After his meeting with Pope Francis last year, Boff, a long time critic of the hierarchy and proponent of a married priesthood and women priests, announced the likelihood of Pope Francis permitting married priests in Brazil. Most of us expect that to come by way of the Church ordaining married men or relaxing the rules on celibacy, but Boff poses a different possibility: priests who left the priesthood for marriage being brought back into service. With Francis style humility, Boff had this to say: https://www.christiantoday.com/arti...tholic-priests-says-top-theologian/103558.htm As a former Franciscan, he says he does not personally need this change because he still exercises his priestly ministry: "I baptise, I bury, and when I go to a church without a priest, I celebrate the Mass together with the people." He says he has never been criticised or forbidden from doing this. "The bishops even rejoice and tell me: 'The people have a right to the Eucharist. So keep quiet!' My theological teacher, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, who died a few days ago, for example, was very open. He went so far as to bring married priests, whom he saw sitting in the bench during the Mass, to the front of the altar, and together with them celebrated the Eucharistic celebration. He often did that and said. 'You are still priests, and you will remain priests!" It tells me all I need to know about the National Catholic Reporter when they rejoice at Leonardo Boff being on the same page as the Pope but show a completely different attitude towards the Dubia Cardinals and Archbishop Vigano. Of course, they were also very pleased when Pope Francis brought Cardinal McCarrick back into active service. The Catholic Culture website I referred to in my previous post has a link to an article about an Apostilic Visition to Chile - this time to look into the sexual abuse of nuns in convents. That nuns are coming forward might help in getting the Bishop to address the question of homosexual abuse of seminarians and the apparent widespread disregard for the call to chastity in the priesthood, but it is more likely to be used as an excuse to advance the push for the ordination of women and married men. One of the best pieces I have read about the significance of Cardinal Cupich being the Pope's go-to American Bishop was written by Jonathan Coe in Crisis Magazine. It's worth reading: https://www.crisismagazine.com/2018/what-the-cupich-moment-can-teach-ambitious-seminarians When a bird quacks often enough and waddles often enough, it's delusional to see it as anything other than a duck. What can we do about this train wreck of a papacy? Nothing but pray and watch as heresy takes hold in our parishes; when the people who promote activities destructive to families ensure a never ending supply of clients for their social justice ministries turn God into an instruent of their political ideologies; and when Pope Francis and his cohorts put the nail in the coffin of Catholicism in what once was Christendom. We need to trust in God now more than ever in our lifetime. Steve Bannon's solution, if it is as reported in the article you linked, is not the way forward.
Yesterday was "the Feast of the Translation of the Holy House of Mary, Mother of God" and I meant to post the following article from CNA about the history of this feast day. In addition, I have included a link to an older article about this feast day from the same news source that the above article is from along with some beautiful photos of the Holy House of Mary that were included in the articles. Did angels really carry the Holy House of Mary to Loreto, Italy? December 10, 2018 Science Confirms: Angels Took the House of Our Lady of Nazareth to Loreto August 7, 2016 DeGaulle, You reminded me of the following paragraph which was contained in this article from Mystics of the Church, http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2013/04/gods-warning-for-humanity-has-been.html . Of course, these things occur in God's timing. While on the other hand, in fervent prayer Abraham had asked God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if just ten good persons could be found in the city. God responded by promising "For the sake of the ten just persons I will not destroy it”. They were not found, and God then destroyed the two cities that were completely full of wicked persons, after having led Abraham's nephew Lot and his family out of the city. [Genesis 18: 16-33]. The lesson in Scripture is that God’s anger can be lessened or even mitigated by calling upon His infinite mercy through sincere repentance and prayer. So let us repent of our sins, make reparation, and pray that we might endeavor to be among the just people that the Lord is pleased to see upon the earth at this time! And also we should remember that God does everything out of love, because "God is love." [1 John 4:8] Whatever is to happen in the future, we can be sure that God will be arranging everything for the good of humanity and for the salvation of our souls.
How awesome is the path of the House of Mary to Loreto...I had no clue! I have to find out more. Thanks Carol.
I agree very much with your comment about Bannon. We must be very wary of men who appear to wish to defend Western Christian culture using the Church.
Just food for thought. I tend to stay away from dates, but the one period of time I do pay attention to is the "100 year" time limit we were warned about from Sister Lucy's visions in Rianjo Spain. In ruminating about the destruction that is now underway in the Church I was thinking this evening that perhaps the date went by and we didn't realize it because, as with many prophecies, it is only clear in hindsight. Many of us were looking at 2017 for some astounding event to occur. In retrospect, however, the Church started to slowly become unglued earlier than that. Or at least the seeds were planted earlier. I am thinking now that 2016 may have been the end of the 100 years. Perhaps the clock began ticking when the angel first appeared at Fatima in the spring of 1916. In the Spring of 2016 Amoris Laetitia was released. It was 100 years later. Perhaps to the day, because I don't think we know the exact date of the angel's first appearance. Only that it was in the Spring of 1916. And perhaps it is no accident we do not know the exact day when we have all of the other dates associated with Fatima. If we knew the exact date the angel appeared this correlation would probably have been made sooner. Even the exact number of the footnote in Amoris Laetitia that unleashed all of this (#351) is the opposite of 153 which is a number associated with the Rosary and Holy Scripture. Something is certainly different in the pace and severity of events that have occurred since AL came out as opposed to the time period before. A quickening of sorts.
Oh dear.....this one has been difficult to figure.....there is that position over finances that could play into things.....who knows anymore?? I always consider the source of the reporting and what is cited as the bases for points made. Vatican No. 3 Cardinal George Pell Convicted on Charges He Sexually Abused Choir Boys The Vatican’s third most powerful official has been convicted in Australia on all charges he sexually abused two choir boys there in the late '90s, according to two sources with knowledge of the case. A unanimous jury returned its verdict for Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday (Australian time) after more than three days of deliberations, the sources said, in a trial conducted under a gag order by the judge that prevented any details of the trial being made public. Pell, the Vatican’s finance chief and the highest Vatican official to ever go on trial for sex abuse, left Rome in June 2017 to stand trial in Melbourne. As that trial was about to get underway in June, a judge placed a suppression order on all press coverage in Australia, according to the order reviewed by The Daily Beast. Prosecutors applied for the order and it was granted to “prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice.” That order remains in place in Australia. That trial, known as “the cathedral trial,” was declared a mistrial earlier this year after a hung jury, the sources say. A retrial began immediately and ended this week with the unanimous verdict. In a book published last year, journalist Louise Milligan reportedly wrote that Pell was accused by two former choir boys of sexual abuse while he was archbishop of Melbourne in the '90s. The boys sang in the choir at St. Patrick's cathedral and were allegedly abused by Pell in a room in the confines of the church. Pell’s office told The Guardian in 2017 he “repeats his vehement and consistent denials of any and all such accusations.” A second trial known as “the swimmers trial” is due to get underway early next year, according to sources familiar with the case. That trial is expected to hear evidence that Pell “sexually offended” two men when they were boys playing games in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria. At the time of the allegations, which date back to the '70s when Pell was a priest in the area, according to The Guardian. A court in Victoria heard in March that Pell, who has denied all of the allegations, would stay in the pool after swimming laps and play with children. While details from nearly all trials in the U.S. can be made public, Australia’s judicial system is more favorable to defendants where the use of “suppression orders” has increased in recent years, according to The Australian. The gag orders are used for a range of reasons to prevent reporting that could prejudice a case and to restrict details heard in open court being made public. Steven Spaner, Australia coordinator from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) told The Daily Beast he felt frustrated and left “in the dark” following the secrecy surrounding the trial. “It’s hard to know if there are any shenanigans going on—things the church did that are illegal themselves,” Spaner said. “There is always suspicion when you don’t know what is going on.” Pell rose through the ranks of the church in Australia after being ordained as a priest in 1966 and then as a bishop in 1987. In 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Melbourne. He was appointed archbishop of Sydney five years later and then tapped by Pope Francis in early 2014 to be Secretariat for the Economy at the Vatican. The Australian website Broken Rites, which has investigated allegations of sex abuse against the church, published details of a complaint against Pell from an incident alleged to have occurred in the early '60s. An investigator quoted the account of a boy at a Catholic youth camp who accused Pell, then a trainee priest, of touching his genitals. Cardinal Pell has always denied the allegations, which were made in 2002 and investigated by retired Victorian Supreme Court judge Alec Southwell. The result of Southwell’s investigation was that the allegations could not be established and they do not form part of the criminal trials. Pell, who denies all allegations of misconduct and pleaded not guilty in the cathedral trial, has retained an all-star legal defense team to fight the charges. Among his dream team of lawyers is Robert Richter, who reportedly charges upwards of $11,000 a day for his services. Richter has previously represented a high-profile underworld crime figure accused of murder and a senior Australian politician who was accused of rape. Richter is being joined by lawyers and clerks from the white-shoe firm Galbally & O’Bryan, plus a second aggressive criminal barrister, Ruth Shann. Mystery surrounds who is paying Pell’s legal tab, which is likely to run into the millions of dollars. “It’s highly unlikely his defense is being paid for entirely by supporters or parishioners,” a source with knowledge of the case said. “His legal bills will be astronomical when it’s all over. If it is the Church, the costs will be very well hidden.” Spaner told The Daily Beast, “The only person who would know for sure is George Pell, who is the treasurer.” The Vatican has remained defiantly silent since Pell was charged, having released just the one statement when asked if the Pope will take Pell back following the trials. “The Holy See has taken note of the decision issued by judicial authorities in Australia regarding His Eminence Cardinal George Pell. Last year, the Holy Father granted Cardinal Pell a leave of absence so he could defend himself from the accusations. The leave of absence is still in place.” A synod on Church abuse early next year attended by top bishops is likely to include discussions of Pell’s future. Vatican observers note that like all Cardinals in positions of power, Pell did offer his resignation from his official duties when he turned 75 in 2016 so the Pope has it in his possession but has not yet accepted it. The Vatican did not respond to a request for an official comment on the case. https://www.thedailybeast.com/vatic...ell-on-trial-for-historical-child-sex-charges
Dolours, Where did Steve Bannon come in? I don't believe that he is mentioned in the articles that I posted. Maybe you are referring to the article that earthtoangels posted? Your explanation for the connection between Pope Francis and the St. Gallen's group is interesting. You have stated, "Cardinal Kasper and Cardinal Bergoglio had been well known to each other due to Cardinal Kasper having spent time (possibly giving lectures) in Buenos Aires." I found another NCReporter article which states something very similar to what you have stated https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/cardinal-kasper-popes-theologian . I want to clear something up. I stated, "that many of the problems that the Church is dealing with existed long before Pope Francis became pope". I never claimed that Pope Francis never contributed to some of these problems himself prior to his papacy but I do believe that there are many things that only God has the answer for. I agree with your following statement, "We need to trust in God now more than ever in our lifetime" but let us not forget the following scripture, Peter 4:8 (DRA) But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins. I am referring to your comment about being delusional, whether this was a pointed statement or a general one it lacks charity. *** Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and here is a very fitting story, 'Have to kill me first': Florida woman refuses to remove Guadalupe from mobile home
I see Cardinal Pell has been found guilty of Child Abuse. Pope Francis's right hand man and the one chosen to , 'Clean up' , the Church. Sigh it's so awful I don;t even know how to write about it. Apparently he is facing even more charges. To make matters worse the Church seems to have spent millions on his legal defense. I cn't even bear to comment on this it is so awful. But, yes I do believe Cardinal Pell, the Pope's right hand man was guilty...and what does this tell us about the Pontiff himself? https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefr...l-cardinal-pell-is-found-guilty-of-sex-abuse/ Prominent Vatican official, Cardinal Pell, is found guilty of sex abuse December 12, 2018 by Barry Duke 1 Comment Cardinal George Pell. Image via YouTube. At the end of a trial believed to have cost millions, the Vatican’s third most powerful official – George Pell – was convicted yesterday (Tuesday) in Australia of all charges relating to the abuse of two choir boys in the late 1990s. A unanimous jury returned its verdict after more than three days of deliberations His trial was trial conducted under a gag order by the judge that prevented any details of the case being made public. Pell, the Vatican’s finance chief and the highest Vatican official to ever go on trial for sex abuse, left Rome in June 2017 to stand trial in Melbourne. As that trial was about to get underway in June, a judge placed a suppression order on all press coverage in Australia. Prosecutors applied for the order and it was granted to: Prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice. That trial, known as “the cathedral trial”, was declared a mistrial earlier this year after a hung jury. A retrial began immediately and ended this week with the unanimous verdict. Mystery surrounds who is paying Pell’s legal tab, which is likely to run into the millions of dollars. A source with knowledge of the case said: It’s highly unlikely his defense is being paid for entirely by supporters or parishioners. His legal bills will be astronomical when it’s all over. If it is the Church, the costs will be very well hidden. Steven Spaner, Australia coordinator from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said: The only person who would know for sure is George Pell, who is the treasurer. Spaner also said he felt frustrated and left “in the dark” following the secrecy surrounding the trial. It’s hard to know if there are any shenanigans going on – things the church did that are illegal themselves. There is always suspicion when you don’t know what is going on. Pell now faces a second trial – known as “the swimmers trial” – which is due to get underway early next year. This relates to allegations that Pell “sexually offended” two two boys in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria in the 1970s. In a book published last year, journalist Louise Milligan wrote that Pell was accused by two former choir boys of sexual abuse while he was archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. The boys sang in the choir at St Patrick’s cathedral and were allegedly abused by Pell in a room in the confines of the church. Pell rose through the ranks of the church in Australia after being ordained as a priest in 1966 and then as a bishop in 1987. In 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Melbourne. He was appointed archbishop of Sydney five years later and then tapped by Pope Francis in early 2014 to be Secretariat for the Economy at the Vatican. The Australian website Broken Rites, which has investigated allegations of sex abuse against the church, published details of a complaint against Pell from an incident alleged to have occurred in the early 1960s. An investigator quoted the account of a boy at a Catholic youth camp who accused Pell, then a trainee priest, of touching his genitals. Cardinal Pell has always denied the allegations, which were made in 2002 and investigated by retired Victorian Supreme Court judge Alec Southwell. The result of Southwell’s investigation was that the allegations could not be established and they do not form part of the criminal trials. Meanwhile, Bill Donohue, above, of the Catholic League, has blasted two US newspapers for failing to report that another senior Australian Catholic, Archbishop Philip Wilson, was cleared earlier this month of covering up sexual abuse. The newspapers he attacked were the New York Times and the Washington Post. On July 31, 2018, the New York Times ran a 717-word story in the “A” section of the paper on the conviction of Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson; he was found guilty of covering up for sexual abuse by a priest. On July 31, 2018, the Washington Post ran a 735-word story in the “A” section of the paper on the same subject. On December 6, 2018, Wilson, the most senior cleric in the world ever to have been found guilty of covering up for sexual abuse, was exonerated. Judge Roy Ellis said that prosecutors failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Why didn’t the New York Times and the Washington Post tell their readers that Archbishop Wilson’s conviction was overturned? As a result, many still think he is guilty. Perhaps you can ask the editors to explain themselves. I’m now waiting to see what Dononhue has to say about Pell’s conviction.
https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/cardinal-pell-found-guilty-on-all-counts-of-sex-abuse Cardinal Pell Found Guilty on All Counts of Sex Abuse News: World News by Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • December 11, 2018 194 Comments Jury returns guilty verdict after three days of deliberation You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! SYDNEY, Australia (ChurchMilitant.com) - A jury has found Cdl. George Pell guilty on all counts related to sexually abusing two altar boys. According to sources who spoke to The Daily Beast, a jury returned a unanimous verdict Tuesday against the Australian cardinal after three days of deliberation. Church Militant confirmed the news with its own inside sources in Australia. Further details are unavailable, as the court has issued a suppression order to Australian media to "prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice." A previous trial resulted in a hung jury. Pell had been accused of molesting two altar boys during a swimming trip in the 1990s, when he was bishop in Ballarat, a town northwest of Melbourne. Pell has vigorously denied the allegations, and his attorney, Robert Richter, said in 2017 that there is "voluminous" evidence to show that "what was alleged is impossible." Pell has vigorously denied the allegations.Tweet Although multiple accusations were levelled at the cardinal initially, the court threw out most of them. Pell was named the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the third highest-ranking cleric in Rome. He was brought in ostensibly to clean up Vatican finances, exercising oversight over Vatican properties and personnel. His proposed reforms, however, which included demands for greater transparency, met with resistance. According to Vatican expert Edward Pentin, the "Old Guard" resisted reform out of fears it would reveal their corruption. Pope Francis restricted Pell's powers without notice in a motu proprio he issued in 2016. And a financial audit by the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was cut short by the Secretary of State after only four months. One source who spoke with Pentin complained that the reforms were "dead, over, finished, they've been blocked." "The corruption continues; it's just better concealed," the inside source added, saying Vatican finances had returned to being as bad as they were before Pell's reforms, and possibly worse. Libero Milone, the Vatican's auditor general, initially put in place to implement reforms, was fired in 2017, the Vatican accusing him of "spying" on officials. Milone, however, claims it was the other way around: The Vatican was spying on him, and he was fired because he had discovered financial irregularities that threatened Vatican officials. One week later, Pell also left the Vatican, granted permission by Pope Francis to stand trial in Australian court over charges of "historical sexual offenses." "All along I have been completely consistent and clear in my total rejection of these allegations," Pell said at the time. "News of these charges strengthens my resolve and court proceedings now offer me an opportunity to clear my name and then return here back to Rome to work." Some have called out the pope for an apparent double standard: In September he had refused to allow Cdl. Luis Ladaria Ferrer, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to stand trial for allegations of sex abuse cover-up, citing sovereign immunity
You know I go to mass every day and confession every week. I pray constantly without ceasing. Like St Teresa of Avila who said , 'I am daughter of the Church', I can say , 'I am a son of the Church'. Yet current events in the Church are so terrible, so truly, truly terrible that I feel the very ground of Faith shaking beneath my feet. But if I who have my heart and mind set so strongly on God and the things of God feel my Fiath rocked what of Catholis right around the world? How many will keep the Precious Faith passed on by the Apostles? What a huge, huge trial this is.
I don't post too often as I feel I don't have as much to offer as everyone else, so I just try to learn from everyone's vast knowledge on the forum. I agree Praetorian, I don't like to get into dates myself. But I feel inspired put this out there because I have suffered from date fatigue myself over the years and have wondered how has God not acted yet. I don't want anyone losing hope if 1, 2, 5 years from now if things are further spiraling out of control with no sign of improving. I know the debate well as to whether Russia was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart or not, but in my own heart I feel it has not been done properly. Yes, JPII consecrated the world and I think that bought us some time, but I don't feel it was done in the way Our Lady asked as the church and the world seem to be plummeting into an abyss more each day. I do you think you are right that in passing the 100 year benchmark things will only get worse until Russia is consecrated properly. But I don't think 2017 was the 100 year deadline. Let us not forget that in 1917, Mary told the children she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia. Here is a snippet from the July 13 apparition: ‘To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc. Do not tell this to anybody. Our Lady spoke to Sister Lucia on June 13, 1929. ‘The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. So numerous are the souls which the justice of God condemns for sins committed against Me, that I come to ask for reparation. Sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray.’ The precedent for such a request was set with France. On June 17, 1689, Our Lord revealed to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque that He wanted the King of France, Louis XIV, to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 100 years later to the day after ignoring the request, on June 17, 1789, King Louis XVI was stripped of his authority, and 3.5 years later the king was beheaded. In an apparition to Lucia in August 1931, “Make it known to My ministers, given that they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My requests, (consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary), they will follow him into misfortune. It is never too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary.” I read that as the world will suffer a similar fate as France if Mary's request is not granted, but on a much bigger scale. In my humble opinion, I feel the official request was in 1929, starting the 100 year time period. Will we suffer the same fate as France and miss the deadline? We must all pray that it is made sooner than later. The Rosary and First Saturday devotion are a good place to start. *And as a side note, I feel God has not acted yet because Jesus is offered up daily in sacrifice in masses world wide in the Eucharist. That is what has truly held His arm of justice back. If the mass or true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is ever taken away from us, that is the sign we are in big trouble . St Leonard who lived from 1676-1751 wrote in the book, 'Hidden Treasure, the Holy Mass': "I believe that were it not for holy Mass, at this moment the world would be in the abyss, unable to bear up under the mighty load of its iniquities. Mass is the potent prop that holds the world upon its base….Thus without that thrice-holy Victim, Jesus, first of all bloodily sacrificed for us upon the Cross, and daily since unbloodily upon our altars, it would be all at an end with us."
