There is a saying, He would cause a row in an empty house. I always thought this was as good a description of Satan as ttou could possibly get.
Sartre had a point in a way, even though he probably didn't intend it (at least not until he reverted), when he said that 'Hell is other people'. Imagine a place full of absolutely horrible, vicious people with no redeeming features and with all hope gone. It would be Hell.
Hi Dolours, Very interesting that you mention getting a certificate from the "Gregorian", I presume you mean the Jesuit run university, which is one of the universities of Rome? I was unaware that it is from this specific university, that allowed the declaration "that Scripture is unreliable because the Apostles lacked tape recorders"or that "infant baptism is a human rights abuse! because the Church doesn't embrace the homosexual lifestyle". I find it interesting because it is this very university that issued a certain priest permission to disseminate/publish his Doctoral Dissertation without the requirement of obtaining an nihil obstat, imprimi potest and imprimatur, which contravenes Cannon 832. Thank you for this information.
Dolours, my brain must have failed to engage completely when I first read this earlier today. I've reread it and got a completely different sense out of it. A great post and please accept my apology for my previous dimness. Perhaps my earlier missing of your point is a symptom of this soul-destroying barrage of scandal that you yourself identify.
Agreed! Also, tonight at Bible study one topic stood out remarkably. St Peter's brethren prayed intently while he was in prison. His guardian angel opened his chains and urged him out of jail. We must not stop praying for Pope Francis or PE. Benedict VI, simply for God's will. The Lord knows BEST and only He truly knows the heart of both. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death! Amen
No, DeGaulle, it's I who should apologise because I tend to let my frustrations with Pope Francis get the better of me. When that happens, charity is the last thing on my mind. We need to pray for Pope Francis and all our Bishops. Taylor Marshall has a great interview with Dan Burke, the outgoing COO of EWTN News which owns National Catholic Register. He seems to be a good man and has been helping with priestly formation in some US seminaries. The main topic of the interview is a book he wrote about Discerning Spirits. Looks like the book would be worth reading but they cover other topics in the interview. I think that what he says about the state of priestly education in the US could be said about quite a few other countries. A convert during the Benedict papacy, Burke comes across as a moderate traditionalist. I hope I'm not reading too much between the lines of what he actually said, but I get the impression that Pope Francis wouldn't be his favourite Pope of all time although he is very loyal to the Pope. He is very much in the laity should confine themselves to praying for the Pope and Bishops camp. It's a long interview but worth watching especially for the part about discerning the spirits:
I did mean the Jesuit run Gregorian in Rome but it could have been any Jesuit College although if I were to single one out it would Georgetown in the US - the home of the Catholic Spring and, as far as I know, the base of Fr. James Martin. When I read about people close to Pope Francis, a lot of them seem to have direct or indirect links to Georgetown. If the papacy of Pope Francis is a coup, my guess is that Jesuit participation pulled it off. It was our former President who was quoted as linking infant baptism to human rights abuse. She studied in the Gregorian. I don't know whether she finished or passed the course but I'd be surprised if she didn't. We get the Apostles lacking tape recorders quote from Fr. Sosa, the Superior General of the Jesuits who tried on occasions to smooth over some of his more anti-Catholic statements but, like Pope Francis, the more he tries to appear orthodox the more he fails. Padraig is right about the Church being more political than religious these days, and I reckon that much of it is down to Fr. Sosa who is very, very political. His father was a government minister in Venezuela. Fr. Sosa was a Chavez supporter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Sosa Incidentally, in that Taylor Marshall video I linked to in my previous post, Dan Burke said that the publisher of a Catholic book is a better indicator of its orthodoxy than a nihil obstat. (They're my words. He says it far more diplomatically in the video). I'm editing this to clarify that neither the baptism/human rights abuse nor the Apostles without tape recorders statements were made in a document authorised by the Gregorian. Sorry, Josephite, if I confused you.
Punishment for letting Benedict escape, then. No more dancing boys for him. 'Fraid I'm getting very cynical. I hope I'm completely wrong about him and he comes out with a statement to clear his name.
Holy See Spends $2 Million on Medical Masks for China Vatican still largely silent on Communist persecution of Catholics News: World Newsby William Mahoney, Ph.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 5, 2020 BEIJING (ChurchMilitant.com) - As the underground Church in China faces increased danger from a worsening government crackdown on religion, the Vatican has sent masks to the country to impede the coronavirus from spreading. New rules designed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to assume complete control over religious groups went into effect Saturday. Revised two years ago, the CCP's Regulations on Religious Affairs (RRA) will have a debilitating effect on Chinese Christians, especially underground Catholics. The rules include immense fines for believers belonging to non-CCP-sanctioned communities such as the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, closure and seizure of sites deemed illegal and school expulsion for any attempts at proselytism. Read the rest at https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/vatican-masquerade +
Yes, indeed, we must pray for the Pope and all our clergy but that should never excuse us from defending the truth of our Catholic faith even if that means defending it against the Pope himself. St. Paul warned us to beware of wolves in sheeps clothing and that nobody, not even the Apostles or an angel from Heaven, has the right to distort the Faith handed down to us. Members of this forum don't have the kind of qualifications to spot and rebut heresies and attacks on the faith hidden in documents which have been constructed in confusing language to camouflage the heresies, thereby opening the way for those documents to be "developed" later into a more open attack on the faith. Cardinal Burke and the other signatories to the dubia sounded a warning bell about the first of such documents issued by Pope Francis. Other qualified Catholics have also raised the alarm. Here's another one: Eduardo Echeverria is Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He earned his doctorate in philosophy from the Free University in Amsterdam and his S.T.L. from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. Professor Echeverria has published a two part essay in the Catholic World Report which throws more light on the problem posed by a Pope whose teaching appears to be a departure from what has been passed down to him and us. The essay is more in-depth than what we normally read in on-line Catholic media but it is really worth taking the time to read it. I recomment it especially to those who believe that the criticism of Pope Francis is unfair, unChristian and hysterical. Part 1 of the essay: https://www.catholicworldreport.com...is-on-faith-evangelization-and-proselytizing/ Part 2: https://www.catholicworldreport.com...ith-evangelization-and-proselytizing-part-ii/
Recently Ann Barnhardt mentioned that Chris Ferrara of the Fatima Center, in 2016, said to her face that "We all think you’re probably right” (that Benedict is still the Pope). However, Chris Ferrara responded with a denial. In return, Ann posted the following: Explaining Why Chris Ferrara Might Be Torn On the Pope Benedict Question Ann Barnhardt February 3, ARSH 2020 https://www.barnhardt.biz/2020/02/0...-might-be-torn-on-the-pope-benedict-question/ People are wondering why Chris Ferrara of the Fatima Center and long-time columnist for the Remnant Newspaper would admit to privately suspecting that Pope Benedict’s resignation was invalid, and yet at the same time be so publicly strident that “Francis” is Pope. And, yes, I stand ONE THOUSAND PERCENT behind what I said on Episode #101 of the Barnhardt Podcast at about the 23:00 mark. On the evening of 28 June, ARSH 2016, Chris Ferrara said TO MY FACE with Mike Matt of the Remnant standing there, “We all think you’re probably right.” That was a pretty amazing thing for Chris to have said, and I will never forget it. Also, contrary to Chris’ words HERE I had met, spoken, and eaten meals with Chris several times previous to that in ARSH 2013 and ARSH 2014, most notably at the restaurant “da Roberto” on the Borgo Pio in Rome immediately after Bergoglio’s “faux-election” on the evening of 13 March, ARSH 2013. I had a piece of lasagna. So, his memory is a little spotty, it seems. Here’s the context that explains why Chris might be caught between the two positions: Chris Ferrara’s spiritual father, Fr. Nicholas Gruner, the founder of the Fatima Center, was TOTALLY BiP (BiP stands for “Benedict is Pope”) very early on in the Bergoglian Antipapacy. Fr. Nicholas Gruner was a canonist who honed in on Canon 332.2 and the MUNUS-MINISTERIUM distinction. Sadly, Fr. Gruner died suddenly of a heart attack in ARSH 2015, over a year before +Georg Gänswein gave his watershed speech at the Gregorian in Rome which was the main impetus for my “BiPping” in June of ARSH 2016. And, yes, Fr. Nicholas Gruner commemorated Pope Benedict at the Te Igitur when he offered the Holy Sacrifice. Do I have proof of this? Yes, I absolutely do. Here is a video that was originally posted on the Fatima Center’s YouTube channel, but was PULLED by the Fatima Center leadership. Somehow, Louie Verrecchio managed to get his hands on a version of it and posted this excerpt to his Vimeo Channel for posterity. This is Fr. Gruner on 14 November, ARSH 2014. Fr. Gruner explicitly discusses the canonical invalidity of Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation at the 5:00 mark. He mis-speaks at one point when he says “2012” instead of “2013” as the date of Pope Benedict’s attempted resignation. I find this video of Fr Gruner very interesting. For your discernment: +
Ann Barnhardt can be a very astute woman, but I'd question her discretion here. If Ferrara might have verbally revealed his private, innermost thoughts in taking Barnhardt into his confidence, ought she have gone public about it? I wouldn't think so. Ferrara might have his private suspicions, but would be aware he has not the authority, no more than any of us laity, to assert it in public. I would side with him against Barnhardt. This kind of thing will ensure a lot of genuine people will avoid confiding with Barnhardt in the future.
Well, read what she has to say to Chris Ferrara: How is this not a boldfaced lie, Mr. Ferrara? https://www.barnhardt.biz/2020/02/04/how-is-this-not-a-boldfaced-lie-mr-ferrara/ I'm on her side. +
