And yet w/ Trump's exposure of the evil systems within that persecute Christians, attempting to stop the endless neocon type wars in the world, and make things better for the poor and the middle class, sending aid to those suffering in Venezuela....such "remaining neutral" did not happen in this Pope's open criticism of such as our President. And after all, P. Francis sent a representative to Maduro's "re-election" ceremony! Venezuelan Priests Protest Against Maduro Regime While Pope Remains Neutral Catholic priests in Venezuela took to the streets on Tuesday to demonstrate against Nicolás Maduro’s socialist dictatorship joining millions of Venezuelans rallying for Maduro to allow interim President Juan Guaidó to govern. Catholic leaders marched through the streets of Barquisimeto wearing their ecclesiastical garb to show their support for wider anti-Maduro activism taking across the country. Present at the protest was another opposition leader, María Corina Machado, leader of the center-right party Vente Venezuela, who expressed her gratitude to the priests for being in favor of the country. Machado was previously present at a Mass where Chavista gangs attacked Archbishop of Caracas Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino during Easter celebrations at the Santa Teresa Basilica Church. The Vatican has traditionally refrained from encouraging clergy to join political movements, so such activity serves as another indication of the serious breakdown in relations between the Church and the Maduro regime. Last month, senior Venezuelan bishops released a statement denouncing Maduro’s rule as “illegitimate” after he successfully rigged last year’s presidential elections through vote rigging and a ban on anti-socialist opposition candidates. “We are faced with arbitrary rule, without respect for the guarantees laid down in the Constitution or the highest principles of the dignity of the people,” they said. “[Maduro’s] claim to be initiating a new presidential term of office on 10 January 2019 is illegitimate in its origin and opens the door to the non-recognition of the government, since it lacks democratic support in justice and law.” Venezuela’s Catholic Church has clashed with the Maduro regime over its widespread violence and repression, having repeatedly condemned the imprisonment of political dissidents and demanded an end to the use of torture. Government-backed gangs have responded to the criticism by repeatedly targeting Catholic Churches and property that they believe are opposed to Maduro and his far-left “Bolivarian Revolution.” Last August, the headquarters of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), a Catholic organization that vocally opposed the socialist regime, were ransacked by Maduro supporters. In 2017, Chavista gangs stormed Caracas’ Carmen Church, holding hundreds of worshippers hostage for hours. The Vatican remains one of the few states who have yet to officially recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuelan president. The pope sent a representative to Maduro’s inauguration last month, lending the event legitimacy despite dozens of nations around the world not doing so. The Pope has long refused to take sides in the crisis, instead offering to mediate talks between the two sides and asking the Maduro regime to reduce its brutality. On Wednesday, the Pope reportedly wrote to Maduro to say he will no longer participate in “any kind of dialogue” or mediation of the crisis because of his failure to keep pledges he made during previous agreements. The last major talks took place in 2016 and 2017 amid a widespread demonstration movement, although they eventually broke down after the Maduro regime failed to provide any meaningful concessions. The pope reportedly said he now supports a dialogue where “the different parties in conflict put the common good above any other interest, and work for unity and peace.” According to Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, the letter was also addressed “Excelentisimo senor” (Very excellent Sir), not “Presidente.” https://www.breitbart.com/national-...nst-maduro-regime-while-pope-remains-neutral/
Pope Francis names Cardinal with close ties to McCarrick as key figure in next papal election Martin M. Barillas | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/p...th-close-ties-to-mccarrick-as-key-figure-in-n catholic, kevin farrell, papal camerlengo, pope francis, sex abuse crisis in catholic church, theodore mccarrick ROME, February 14, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has named Cardinal Kevin Farrell as papal camerlengo, a post by which Cardinal Farrell would administer the Vatican when the pontiff dies or resigns and before the election of a successor. The announcement comes despite lingering questions about Farrell and his role in controversies swirling around ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick is awaiting a decision from Pope Francis regarding his alleged sexual abuse of seminarians and an 11-year-old boy decades ago, which may result in his laicization. Farrell and McCarrick previously shared an apartment. Farrell, who is Irish, was the Bishop of Dallas before Pope Francis promoted him to lead the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. He is a vocal defender of Amoris Laetitia and has endorsed pro-homosexual Father James Martin’s book Building a Bridge. Farrell has also participated in several gatherings organized by the Pope, including the World Meeting of Families and the synod on youth in 2018, and last month’s World Youth Day in Panama. LGBT activist Deacon Ray Dever of Florida assisted Farrell at the closing Mass at the World Meeting of Families last year in Dublin. Dever is a frequent contributor to the blog of the gay-affirming New Ways Ministry, which has been sanctioned by the Vatican, and is the father of a son who now identifies as a woman named “Lexi.” Pope Francis named Farrell to the cardinalate in 2016. Farrell entered the priesthood via the Legionaries of Christ, which was founded by Father Marcial Maciel, who himself was later sanctioned for admitted sexual predation of seminarians and several women. Farrell’s designation to take the reins during a papal interregnum has been taken to mean that he has the Pope’s confidence. As camerlengo or chamberlain, Farrell would have limited power during the Pope’s absence and no authority to make decisions reserved to the pontiff himself. His principal duty would be to arrange for the funeral rites of a previous Pope and organize matters leading to the conclave of cardinals who elect a successor. In an interview with Intercom magazine, Farrell said last year that Catholic priests are not competent to advise couples seeking to marry. “They have no credibility,” Farrell said, “they have never lived the experience; they may know moral theology, dogmatic theology in theory, but to go from there to putting it into practice every day.... they don’t have the experience.” *** In addition, Robert Royal recently wrote about some of these things in the following article which Padraig recently posted on another thread. The Mueller Manifesto Robert Royal Monday, February 11, 2019 https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2019/02/11/the-mueller-manifesto/
Catholics to rally Saturday in nation’s capital to request ‘worthy shepherd’ as next D.C. archbishop Doug Mainwaring | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/c...-nations-capital-to-request-worthy-shepherd-a archdiocese of washington, catholic, catholic laity for orthodox bishops and reform, donald wuerl, homosexuality, joseph tobin, papal nuncio, pope francis, theodore mccarrick WASHINGTON, D.C., February 14, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Concerned Catholics will rally in front of the Papal Ambassador’s residence in the nation’s capital on Saturday to deliver a strong message to the Holy See that the Church needs a “worthy shepherd” to oversee the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. While Pope Francis has accepted Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s resignation from that post, Wuerl continues to serve as the Archdiocese’s Apostolic Administrator until the Vatican appoints a successor. Washington’s last two archbishops – Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl and former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick – have sparked deep regret and suspicion among many in the Archdiocese of Washington and beyond. Cardinal Wuerl put on full public display his attempts to obfuscate the truth about what he knew about the homosexual predatory behavior of his predecessor, McCarrick, whose laicization is expected to be announced by the Holy See within the next 48 hours. As a result, the Vatican’s track record of recent appointments to the important Washington post has left lay Catholics and clergy wary of the Holy See’s next choice. Rumors out of the Vatican that Newark’s Cardinal Joseph W.Tobin had been a front-runner to succeed Wuerl exacerbated those fears. Tobin most likely owes his cardinalate to McCarrick’s patronage, and has proved himself supportive of those who seek to normalize homosexuality within the Catholic Church. Catholic Laity for Orthodox Bishops and Reform (Catholic Laity) will rally at the Papal Nunciature (Massachusetts Avenue and 34th St. N.W. in Washington) on Saturday, February 16, at 2 p.m. Additionally, the group has a longer term goal of establishing a permanent means of communicating effectively with the U.S. hierarchy and the Holy See about Catholic life in the United States. Catholic Laity seeks“to advance communication with the Holy See, which is in the process of selecting a new archbishop for Washington, Catholic Laity.” The group “has already written four times to the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, in October, November, December, and January to request a meeting to discuss the appointment of a new archbishop,” according to a press release. “No reply has been received, although Archbishop Pierre made a point in his address to all U.S. Bishops on November 12 that ‘there can be no question that the insights of experts, the contributions of time and professional skill of all the faithful, laity together with the clergy ... are critical to carrying out our mission as shepherds. Assistance is both welcomed and necessary, and surely collaboration with the laity is essential,” the statement continued. “At the rally, we will say, “HERE WE ARE. TALK TO US,” declared the organizers of the event. The group is led by Donna Bethell, a prominent Catholic laywoman who until recently served as chairman of Christendom College's Board of Directors and was an Under Secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy from 1988 to 1989. “I want to emphasize that this is not just about the appointment of the next Archbishop of Washington, although that is our immediate concern,” Bethell previously told LifeSiteNews. “We are building an effective means of communicating with one another and therefore, as a group, with the hierarchy. We don't have any way of doing this, so the laity need to get organized. We have a huge job to do. The recovery of holiness in the clergy will not happen without the insistence and example of the laity.” “Even (if) you are not a resident of the Archdiocese of Washington, even if you are not a resident of the United States, this matters to you,” wrote Bethell in an October letter. “The Cardinal Archbishop of Washington is necessarily a leading prelate in the nation and in the whole Church. His voice will be heard and it can make a difference in the issues of faith and morals that are facing our Church today. We need a strong advocate of the Faith in this crucial position.” Dr. Maike Hickson, a Vatican observer, author, and journalist, echoed Bethell’s concerns last fall: This appointment is important not only for the residents of the Archdiocese of Washington. The Cardinal Archbishop of Washington is necessarily a leading prelate in the nation and in the whole Church. His voice will be heard and it can make a difference in the issues of faith and morals that are facing our Church today. We need a strong advocate of the Faith in this crucial position. For more information about the rally, check out the website Catholic Laity for Orthodox Bishops and Reform, better known simply as Catholic Laity.
Here is an excellent article on how we should handle any questions regarding Pope Benedict's resignation: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/d...ign-gaenswein-burke-and-brandmueller-weigh-in It quotes from Archbishop Ganswein, Cardnial Burke, and Cardinal Brandmuller. For anyone confused over the topic please read, whether you lean pro or against. It is informative. Essentially we cannot decide this on our own. We need to wait for the Church to decide. Not to do so is reckless. Deciding this is a juridical matter, not one of personal conscience. Even if we are convinced that Benedict's resignation was invalid, we cannot act as though he is Pope. Just as if we are convinced our marriage is not valid, we cannot go out and get married again until the Church has ruled. These are both juridical decisions the Church must make.
Great article Thanks for posting, P I appreciate that some very holy people have commented in the article that Francis is Pope.
Pope Emeritus Benedict's own words: “But no one has tried to blackmail me. If that had been attempted I would not have gone since you are not permitted to leave because you're under pressure." -Excerpt from the book Last Testament: In His Own Words, Peter Seewald (London, Bloomsbury, p. 72)
During an audience with the Pope, Bishop Fellay found himself alone with the Pope for a moment. His Excellency seized the opportunity to remind the Pope that he is the Vicar of Christ, possessed of the authority to take immediate measures to end the crisis in the Church on all fronts. The Pope replied thus: “My authority ends at that door.” (Castel Gondolfo August, 2005) No wonder he resigned.
I heard this before. I could well believe it. I cn't help thinking if a Pope came to the Vatican with on one hand the zeal of the Apostles and on the other the Wrath of the Good God and kicked asses like crazy things could be got moving. If necessary clean the whole sheebang out and start all over.
Yes they can manage this with buisness systems. The Pope has aboslute authority. I don;t see why not. No one says he has to be nice about it. It would need someone totally,totally ruthless. Fire and brimstone.
I think--dare I say--a bit of lack of faith to not entirely believe in the power he had as Peter in the Line. If he were to have invoked that power,truly invoke it, Hell would tremble and mountains would fall. I may sound dramatic but I think the enemy knows the Pope has this power but I'm not sure the popes have known it.
I had begun to type out my thoughts on why I don't find the arguments in the Lifesite article very convincing, when it occurred to me to take a look at what Ann Barnhardt has to say. She says it all much better than I can, and then some An excerpt: "The first thing about the LifeSite piece that bears mentioning is the comment thread. The VAST majority of comments are favorable to at least the questioning of the validity of Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation, and are not buying what the quoted prelates and academics are selling. At all. What this does is absolutely prove that the whole “NOBODY except a few cranks question the validity of Pope Benedict’s resignation” Trad, Inc. trope is a flat-out lie. By now, I think a significant majority of Trad Catholic pew sitters know that “Bergoglio as Pope” and the Petrine Promise of Our Lord to Peter and his successors simply cannot be reconciled, and being told to essentially “shut up” by Ganswein and Cardinal Brandmuller, or to quit rocking the boat you’re only making things worse by Prof. de Mattei just doesn’t cut it. Not even close. Cardinal Burke’s words inspired the title of this post. Folks, look at this sentence. The last time I saw anything this heavily hedged, a feedlot full of cattle and several million bushels of corn were involved: “I believe it would be difficult to say it’s not valid.” Wow. That’s a double hypothetical conditional subjunctive burger with cheese, right there, folks. That’s not just leaving the door open, that’s propping it open with a cinder block. +Ganswein’s snooty, dismissive, gaslighty “how dare you ask me substantive questions about my own clearly documented, lengthy public remarks” speak for themselves. “Shut up,” the sketchy Curial climber who is playing both sides, explained…. Cardinal Brandmuller? “Enough!” Um, no, Eminence. Just getting warmed up, because of the Truth, there is never, ever enough. Speaking of Cardinal Brandmuller, the letter Pope Benedict wrote cited in the post immediately below this post was, in fact, to Cardinal Brandmuller. I have received a few emails from people who are confused about what an Apostolic Blessing is. There is a confusion between the terms Apostolic Blessing and Pontifical Blessing. The Apostolic Blessing or papal blessing is a blessing imparted by the Pope, either directly or by delegation through others. Bishops are empowered to grant it three times a year and any priest can do so for the dying. The Apostolic Blessing is not to be confused with an episcopal blessing, also known as a pontifical blessing, which bishops can impart at any time by their own authority. But really the huge giveaway and red flag is the fact that Pope Benedict in his letter to Cardinal Brandmuller says “MY Apostolic Blessing”, and then signs the letter “Benedict XVI”. MY. Possessive. Yes, because Pope Benedict, as the ever-growing mountain of objective evidence points to, including his own words, did NOT intend resign the Petrine Office, but only the aspect of the Petrine Ministry “for the governance of the Church”. “The ‘always’ is also a ‘for ever‘ – there can no longer be a return to the private sphere. My decision to resign the active exercise of the ministry does not revoke this. I do not return to private life, to a life of travel, meetings, receptions, conferences, and so on. I am not abandoning the cross, but remaining in a new way at the side of the crucified Lord. I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, in the enclosure of Saint Peter. Saint Benedict, whose name I bear as Pope, will be a great example for me in this. He showed us the way for a life which, whether active or passive, is completely given over to the work of God.” -Pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger 27 February, ARSH 2013 Papal Audience “My step was not one of taking flight but was precisely another way of remaining faithful to my ministry.” Pope Benedict XVI, ARSH 2017 “Last Testament”, Peter Seewald Finally, it bears repeating that OFFICE and MINISTRY are not synonyms. Not even casually, and CERTAINLY not in the precise realm of Canon Law. Consider the following: “When Pope John Paul II was in an induced coma after being shot, did he retain the Petrine Office?” “Yes.” “When Pope John Paul II was in an induced coma after being shot, was he able to exercise the Petrine Ministry?” “No, of course not. He was in a coma.” Therefore, how could the terms OFFICE and MINISTRY be synonymous if one answer above is “yes”, and one answer above is “no”? What SHOULD jump out at you is the fact that the OFFICE is an ontological state – a state of BEING. The MINISTRY is an ACTION, a DOING, an ACTUALIZATION of the power of the Office. The action (ministry) proceeds from the being (office). These are DIFFERENT CATEGORIES. Therefore, the two words CANNOT be synonymous." https://www.barnhardt.biz/2019/02/1...everal-million-bushels-of-corn-were-involved/
The point is not whether Francis or Benedict is the Pope. I have never said it was. The point is the laity have no authority at all to say which one is. Nada. Zip. Zero. That is where Ann gets it wrong. If someone gave her a red hat I missed it. It wouldn't matter if Ann had a private interview with Benedict and got him on video tape saying he was still the Pope. She would then have to hand that tape over to those with authority to make the final analysis and they would review the evidence and decide.
I didn't think you were attacking me SG. Sorry if my post came off as defensive. I am just exasperated at people missing the whole point that we have no authority to decide this on our own. This is dangerous stuff to reject a sitting Pope. Ann is smart, but she is not a canon lawyer or a theologian. She will be the first to tell you that. In any case she is not in a position of authority to decide any of this and she is likely leading people down a dark path. To warn people of errors is fine, but tell them to outright reject Peter, no. The fact that we have no right to decide this is for our benefit. Just imagine if each lay person had to decide if his priest, bishop and pope was validly ordained, adhered to all of the Teachings of the Church, etc. Then if we felt we had enough evidence we could declare him having lost or never attained his office. The Church would be a madhouse. That is why we have the rules we do.
Ann would make a good lawyer. She is good at digging up facts and presenting them. She can lay out a convincing argument. What she won't tell you is the very foundation upon which her thesis lays is quicksand. Without authority all of her assertions are useless. Notice she never points out anywhere in Canon Law or the Catechism of the Catholic Church where it allows the laity to decide whether a pope is valid or not. She won't mention it because it isn't there. In fact there are Church laws saying we are not allowed to do this. It is hard to believe she is ignorant of this with the amount of research she has done.
