NEW YORK, September 21, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The Archdiocese of New York's annual $3,000-per-plate Al Smith Dinner is generating controversy again this year over its election year practice of hosting the presidential candidates from both parties.
The Archdiocese will give a speaking platform at the October 20 event to both Donald Trump and strident abortion advocate Hillary Clinton, a representative of the event’s foundation confirmed for LifeSiteNews.
The annual affair benefits Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York and is held at the Waldorf Astoria. It is named for the late former New York governor and first Catholic presidential candidate. It features high-profile guests along with joint appearances by opposing presidential nominees who roast one another in humorous speeches.
About 3,000 residents of Moria camp are homeless on Lesbos - situation risks due to precarious conditions and raises the dire mood.
Athens (kath.net/KAP) After a fire in refugee camp Moria in Lesbos, which Pope Francis has visited in April, more than 3,000 residents have fled the hotspot on Monday night to other parts of the Aegean island. About 60 percent of the facilities were destroyed according to local information, by the fire, while nobody was injured.
The Greek police are convinced this is deliberate arson. 18 refugees and migrants were arrested, according to the Athens daily "Kathimerini" (Tuesday). They are expected to be responsible for the fires and for previous riots.
According to media reports, before the fire, refugees of different ethnicities had gotten into an argument. The mood was particularly fueled by rumors of an impending mass deportation of people back to Turkey. The precarious conditions in the overcrowded reception center played a role: On Lesbos, there are currently held around 5,650 refugees, while the accommodation there offers only room for 3,500.
Because of the fire camp residents were left homeless, and now according to estimates by the Mayor of Lesbos, Spyros Galinos, further escalation is threatened. He asked Athens for help; it must not ultimately be that only 15 municipalities throughout Greece should shoulder the entire refugee problem, Galinos criticized on Tuesday in a radio interview.
Moria reached the public's attention in the spring, as Pope Francis traveled to the camp and met refugees there. He spoke to them in solidarity with his visit, of courage and called on them to mutual affection and solidarity; surprisingly, he then took twelve Muslims from Syria on his return to Rome from Syria, including six children; in June he took nine other residents of Moria; two of them were Christians.
New Ways Ministry is proud to announce the presentation of our Bridge Building Award to Father James Martin, SJ, in recognition of his ministry of communication which has helped to expand the dialogue on LGBT issues in the Catholic Church.
The award will be presented at a ceremony on Sunday, October 30, 2016, 2:00-5:00 p.m., at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 1726 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, Maryland, 21208 (near Baltimore). Immediately following the presentation Fr. Martin will offer remarks. An hors d’oeuvre reception will conclude the event.
Fr. Martin serves as Editor At Large for America magazine, the national Jesuit opinion journal. In addition, he is one of the most widely recognized Catholic personalities on social media, with a Facebook following of close to half a million people. Fr. Martin has used his communication skills and channels to allow for an extensive discussion of LGBT issues among Catholics of varying ideologies.
(Madrid) The traditional form of the Roman Rite, which has been celebrated in a small suburban church of Caceres in the Spanish region of Extremadura, has experienced an appreciation. In future it will be celebrated every Sunday at 11 am in the Co-Cathedral of the Diocese of Coria-Caceres.
Coria-Caceres will be the second diocese after the Archdiocese of Pamplona, in which the traditional rite "blessing the Church for centuries", will be celebrated in the Diocesan Church. This was made possible by the decision of Bishop Francisco Cerro."Remarkably, both bishops, the Bishop of Coria-Caceres and the Archbishop of Pamplona y Tudela are called Francis," said the Spanish columnist Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña.
The Co-Cathedral of Santa Maria de Caceres is the most famous church in the city.It goes back to the 13th century.Its present appearance is in a Romanesque-Gothic transition style, which it received in the late 14th and in the 15th centuries.Since 1986 it is part of the world heritage sites.
Is Cardinal Warning of an Islamic Invasion of Europe?
(Vienna) "Schönborn warns of Islamic conquest of Europe" (ORF), "Schönborn: 'Many Muslims want a conquest of Europe.'" (OE24). The headlines reveal a suspicious departure from the current "Welcome Culture". But is that really true?
Active Advocate of Unrestricted Border Opening
Vienna's Archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, was thought to be one of the most active advocates of an unrestricted opening of the border for mass immigration. It's a process which proceeds more under the heading "Refugee Aid", and has dominated the political debate since last year not just in Austria.
Church institutions are among the main service providers that organize the reception of refugees professionally on behalf of the state. However, a majority of them are economic migrants, as government politicians now admit. The proportion of genuine refugees under the international conventions is given, depending on the estimate at 20-33 percent. Each genuine refugee, therefore, is up to four economic migrants entering the country.
However, Cardinal Schönborn has refused to make, together with Caritas and much of the political elite, any differentiation. It's a refusal which corresponds to the attitude of the immigration party par excellence, the Greens, which was taken in 2015 from still unknown reasons from both Austrian government parties, the Social Democratic SPÖ and the Christian Democratic People's Party. The resulting bold slogan, Refugee Welcome, comes from the vocabulary of the extreme left.
Voting Advice for the Candidates of Immigration Party par excellence
Last May, Cardinal Schönborn, in the context of the subject of mass immigration and Islamization campaign, made a bizarre voting recommendation - which he did not want to be understood as such - for the federal presidential candidate of the Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen. The president of The Austrian Bishops' Conference made the statement:
"Nobody has the truth, and you yourself do not."
In Catholic circles in Vienna the statement, unusual for a Catholic bishop, was read as a benevolent signal to the lodge brothers. Van der Bellen had been a member in 1975 of the Masonic Lodge in Innsbruck. In contrast, his opponent Norbert Hofer, of the nationalist, conservative Freedom Party of Austria at (FPÖ), has the Order of St. George, by which the Cardinal seems but very little impressed.
Salzburg Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Laun previously responded to voters of Catholic organizations for Van der Bellen after which the diocesan bishops, including the Archbishop of Vienna, were enveloped in silence:
"That Christians are, either thoughtless or, even worse, are already so brainwashed that they are prepared to choose a declared God and therefore enemy of the Church - and that others also want to seduce - shows what condition circles in the Church are."
The election was subsquently annulled by the Constitutional Court because of irregularities and must be repeated in the autumn. Whether Schönborn will repeat his election manifesto, which not supposed to be one, will be repeated or not, should be the test of truth for statements made last Sunday and the credibility of the Church in Austria.
Consistently Incorrectly Analyzed Mass Immigration
In December 2015 Schönborn had, for the Slovak weekly magazine Týždeň, sharply criticized the "refugee policies" of the immigration policies of countries neighboring Austrian: Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. He accused the governments of these countries of being "blinded by a vicious propaganda". He was "ashamed" of the rejection of a mass immigration by these countries "in so-called Christian arguments" like the "fear of Islamisation". A "rational calculation" shows that Europe "needs millions of immigrants to maintain our lifestyle." What Schönborn honestly reveals, indicates that there are in reality very different motivations behind the "refugee crisis."
Yet on March 13, 2016, Schönborn reiterated on ORF television Press Hour of the Austrian Church Hierarchy "consistently incorrectly analyzed mass immigration" (see The Church "Refugee" - Craze Continues - Cardinal Schönborn's Dangerous Illusions and the Decline of the Church ). The attitude of the church hierarchy was marked by "clandestine agreements, self-censorship, confused talk" and "siding with the powerful," says the Catholic theologian and Pro-lifer Wolfram Schrems.
But what is Cardinal Schönborn saying now?
"Today 333 years ago, Vienna was saved. Will there now be a third attempt at an Islamic conquest of Europe? Many Muslims think and wish that and say: This is Europe at the its end. And I think that Europe today should ask as Moses today's reading and what God the Merciful does with his younger son: Lord, give us another chance! Do not forget that we are your people just as Moses reminds him: It's YOUR people, YOU have led them out, YOU have sanctified them, they are YOUR people."
Schönborn's Maria Name Day sermon and its "clarification"
The statement is less spectacular than some media have stressed. And yet, from the mouth of Vienna's archbishop it is something spectacular to hear that he is convinced that "many Muslims think and wish" that there will be a "third attempt of an Islamic conquest of Europe". As to being a real "warning", such as claimed by the ORF, it was not, however.
Where id it the cardinal said this?
The statement came on September 11, at the end of his homily for this year's Mary Name Day Ceremony in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. The festival is an annual meeting, which was founded by the Franciscan Petrus Pavlicek at the 1947 prayer a0ction, "Expiatory Rosary Crusade."
Cardinal Schönborn is reputed to have the adaptability to accommodate his respective audience. Is this true for his homily last Sunday? Was it a rush of realization from a process of reflection that led the Cardinal to the conclusion that "Europe is at the end" that Europe "is well on the way of forfeiting its Christian heritage"? Or is the Cardinal only addressing a pious and "conservative" target audience?
The Relativization
When his unusual statements appeared on the Internet and spread fast. they were interpreted as a departure from the previous "Welcome Course" in matters of immigration and asylum, the Cardinal quickly addressed a corrective. On Twitter, he was eager to dispel this false impression:
"Do not get my message as a call to arms against the refugees".
He also referred to the website of the Archdiocese of Vienna, where "the intention of the sermon was again clarified" than as ORF reported. The archdiocese had published the sermon in the text and to be safe, included commentary to prevent any misunderstanding from arising.
The blame does not fall upon Islam, not even the Islamists, insisted the cardinal. "We put the Christian heritage of Europe in danger."
The commentary explains: "Islamism could indeed may be the beneficiary [...]. But hope lies in the mercy of God." Then the comment is even clearer: "From the context it is also clear that the Cardinal does not care to enter into a defensive struggle to defend Christian values against Islam ".
In the Sonntag, weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese, Cardinal Schönborn issued the "following clarification":
"Europe's Christian heritage is at risk because we Europeans have squandered it. It has nothing to do with Islam or even the refugees. It is clear that many Islamists would like to take advantage of our weakness, but they are not responsible for our weakness. We are, the Europeans ourselves."
So there is nothing new in Vienna? "Nothing new," confirms a Viennese informant.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: OE24 (Screeenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com Link to Katholisches...
AMDG
What Remains of the Franciscans of the Immaculate?
(Rome) How far has the destruction of the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate progressed? This is the updating of a chapter that is like a dark shadow on the pontificate of Pope Francis.
In 1969 two Fathers Minor, Stefano Maria Manelli and Gabriele Maria Pellettieri, asked the Father General of the Order, after a thorough study of Fontes Franciscani, to be allowed to start a "new experience of Franciscan life" back to its original rigor. In 1970 an abandoned monastery of the Order was made available to them where they gathered more men over time, and with the establishment of a female branch, women also joined. In 1990, the Community was canonically recognized as a separate order.
The Peculiarity of the Young Order
The Order represented an anomaly of Catholic orders until July 2013. While the old religious orders steeped in tradition suffer decline and waste away, the young Franciscan Order saw a veritable blooming of vocations.
[Vancouver Sun] This is how retired radical Vancouver Island Bishop Remi De Roo, 92, is being described by St. Mark’s College on the UBC campus, which is hosting his talk Thursday evening:
“Bishop Remi J. De Roo is the last surviving bishop to have participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, which spanned 1962 to 1965.”
“A self-described “pilgrim” of the Council in the years since its closing, he has kept alive its goal of aggiornamento – the renewal of the Church as it relates with the world.”
Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn made the warning on Sunday during the church festival "Holy Name of Mary", which was first introduced 333 years ago in gratitude for the victory over the Ottomans in the Battle of Vienna.
According to the Archdiocese of Vienna, the cardinal said: "Will there be an Islamic conquest of Europe? Many Muslims want that and say: Europe is at the end."
He asked God to have mercy on Europe and to show mercy to its people, which he said "are in danger of forfeiting our Christian heritage".
Schönborn explained that people could already feel this loss, "not only economically, but above all, in human and religious matters".
The cardinal's statement came as many places across Austria commemorated the 333rd anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. During the battle on 11-12th September 1683, combined Christian forces defeated over 100,000 soldiers from the Ottoman Empire.
The New Interview Book of Benedict XVI: The case of Williamson
was "alone the fault of the Ecclesia Dei Commission
(Rome) Over the recent week book by Peter Seewald with Benedict XVI., which went on sale on September 8, already reported, by many of the leading newspapers. One issue that stands out here is the Williamson case and the Holocaust.
Vatican Radio - German section, the Argentine newspaper La Nacion, whose Vatican correspondent is very close to Pope Francis, and others highlighted, an excerpt of the book, which deals with the case of Bishop Richard Williamson. The Briton Williamson was consecrated a bishop in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre without permission of Pope John Paul II. for the Society of St. Pius X.
Pope Benedict XVI. in early 2009, declared the excommunication of the four consecrated Bishops void, but statements of Bishop Williamson even threatened to be a stumbling block for the Pope, who was severely attacked for his gesture. Williamson had made statements on the Holocaust and questioned the figure of six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and also the use of gas chambers.
The opinion-leading media generated a storm of indignation, the less directed against Williamson, but was utilized as an additional opportunity by them to attack the little beloved, Benedict XVI. and his understanding of the Church. Benedict XVI. speaks in new interview book of a "huge propaganda war" against the Church.
The Vatican defended the pope at that time by saying that he was unaware of the relevant statements by Williamson who gave an interview for Swedish Television STV. The STV interview had indeed been recorded a few months previously, but was only broadcast in connection with the lifting of the excommunications. Above all, have his decision was unrelated to historical views, but related strictly to spiritual and ecclesiastical matters.
Benedict XVI. said the same to Peter Seewald.
In the interview book Benedict XVI. speaks of the "stupid Williamson case". Seewald on the events of 2009 that the predecessor of Pope Francis defended against criticism that he had lifted the excommunication of the "Holocaust denier" Williamson, who lived at that time in Argentina. Ratzinger now has said that he is not to blame for the Williamson case.
The blame was alone that of the Pontifical Commission erected for communities in the traditional rite in 1988 in the wake of the illicit episcopal ordinations by Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia Dei. They did not inform him about the positions represented by Williamson on the Holocaust. "I see the blame only on this Commission."
Ecclesia Dei was headed at that time by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who Benedict replaced a few months later with Cardinal William Levada. Officially, Castrillon Hoyos had reached his 80th birthday, and was expecting the change.
In 2012 Williamson was excluded from the SSPX because of "continuing disobedience," after he had spoken out against reconciliation with the Holy See and the canonical recognition of the Fraternity by Rome.
Edit: from Hirsch Files, Okie Traditionalist. He is shutting down the Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, which has been operating in the diocese since it was established there in 2015 by the retired friend of Catholicism, Bishop Slattery.
[Hirsch Files] Remember how great and traditional everyone thought Bishop Slattery was? Well, he's retired now, and been replaced by one of Pope Francis' picks. A former college chaplain, Bishop Konderla is now the bishop of Tulsa.
Looking back upon my college experiences, I recall the university chaplains as having a superficial touch when it came to the depth of our Faith--which is to be expected, since on a university campus, you are surrounded by students blind to reality, living in an artificial world of unrealistic career hopes.
In any event, I've learned from some anonymous sources that this new bishop is likely going to be nothing like Bishop Slattery. Indeed, it seems that he is going to close up shop for the Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, an exorcist society that includes Fr. Ripperger.
Edit: some dates are sealed on the heart of every Christian. The Muslims certainly remembered. September 11th, 1683, is a day we must always remember and give thanks to God.
Emeritus in Seewald-book: he had great doubts about whether the Church-tax system as it is now, is correct - "The automatic excommunication of those who do not pay it, in my opinion, is untenable."
Rome (kath.net) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. has discussed in his interview book "Last Testament" about "the church-tax in Germany" in a Peter Seewald interview tape. He had great doubts about whether the church tax system in its current form is correct. Benedict XVI says: "But the automatic excommunication of those who do not pay it is, in my opinion, untenable." The book was published on Friday.
The Catholic Church in Germany is seen by Benedict XVI. generally in a critical light. "In Germany we have this established and highly paid Catholicism, often with employed Catholics who then confront the Church with a labor union mentality." The Church is just an employer for these officers, of which they are critical. For the Church in Germany is at a great risk that "a surplus of nonspiritual bureaucracy" arises through the many paid employees. "I am saddened at this situation, the excess of money, that is yet again too little, and the bitterness that comes of this, that malice, which is manifest in German intellectual circles." The readable introduction by Peter Seewald of his interview tape Pope Benedict XVI. is now available on kath.net in full length!
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
(Rome) What is true in Spain, is also possible in Italy. A priest of the Archdiocese of Palermo, where Pope Francis recently installed a "Bergoglian" as archbishop, "blessed" a lesbian couple. "I hope that the church will one day bless gay unions," said the priest.
The Sicilian case is reminiscent of those in Castellón in Spain, where a priest "blessed" a lesbian couple in the Church. The priest then denied the blessing: He had "only" blessed the "love." The two lesbians had however sent "wedding invitations."
The former Jesuit church of Palermo, which is dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, has long been "committed" to the acceptance of aberrosexuality.
Don Cosimo Scordato, parish as a social center
Pastor Cosimo Scordato called two lesbians last Sunday before the start of the Mass on the altar, to announce their upcoming civil "marriage". The Italian parliament decided last February, referring to a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, for the legalization of a de facto legal institution for aberrosexual liaisons.
Don Scordato congratulated the lesbian couple explained his decision and blessed it in the church. He called upon the church to "impartially receive and to pray for the couple," the two lesbians.
The incident not only drew attention all over Italy in the leftist media but was also part of a documentary about and for "gay marriage" in Italy.
The two women, Elisabetta Cina (49) and Serenella Fiasconaro (46) are not practicing Catholics. But both are active in the gay scene and are committed sociopolitically for the recognition of homosexuality. Both have appeared already in T-shirts with provocative inscriptions in public.
Critics accuse the pair and Don Scordato of putting on a subversive act with the aim of overthrowing the doctrine of the Catholic Church on aberrosexuality.
"The two women one day came to me and asked me to bless their wedding rings. The Church does not allow the sacrament of marriage for homosexual couples. I have invited them to come to Mass to introduce themselves to the community, because the Church has to accept all," said Don Scordato last Sunday before calling the lesbian couple to meet him at the altar. Then he called on the faithful, "to greet the two and their love with a round of applause."
Palermo's former Jesuit and parish church of St. Franz Xaver
A prompt, docile acquiescence prevailed among those present in the majority. "Don Scordato was fantastic," said the two lesbians. "His naturalness surprised us."
"My hope is that the Church will accept one day to bless homosexual relationships," said Don Scordato. At the same time he announced other gay couples in the same way and his desire to bless them. "Things are changing - slowly, but" said the church rector.
In 2011 Don Scordato had criticized Benedict XVI. publicly as "homophobic" and thus harvested the applause of gay organizations, "The gays have the right to love," said the diocesan priest, because "what matters is love."
From his parish, which he took over in 1986, he made a (left) Social Centre. It is "politically independent", but "not apolitical" about being "non-denominational" but "open to all". Don Scordato says of himself that he is "in love with liberation theology."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: La Repubblica / Wikicommons (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com Link to Katholisches...
AMDG
[Suddeutsche] At 8 pm, the Swiss Guards closed the gates of the Pope's summer palace in Castel Gandolfo. Then they left their posts. So they demonstrated on 28 February 2013 that Benedict XVI was now Supreme Pontiff emeritus, a Pope retired. Benedict retired to a convent in the Vatican and vowed to continue to live like a monk and leave the field to the successor.
Benedict however cracks open the doors again this Friday. It is then a book of conversations that the journalist Peter Seewald has had with the Pope appears in Germany and many other countries. The result was a mixture of autobiography, last testament and written defence. Therein Joseph Ratzinger tries to explain himself and his pontificate to the world.
The fine balance awaits for each of his words
Now the resignation of a pope is a tricky thing, because the old pontiff could contradict the new one. The history is rich with antipopes and schisms. According Benedict has lived in a reserve style since that February evening. If he talks about the strengths and weaknesses of his pontificate, cliques, religious doubts and his successor Francis, it is a delicate matter. The fine balance awaits for each of his words.
Here, the book is easy in style and anecdotes. The reader learns that the young theology professor Ratzinger often played "Ludo”, was blackened as a heretic and like "carousing" during the Second Vatican Council in Trastevere. Other passages are significant. He tells how much his election as Pope burdened him. However, he did know precisely, as a former prefect of the CDF, the dark side of the Church. Paedophile priests, opaque finances and corruption were the "dirt" in the church which he wanted to eliminate. But they were persistent. "Of course I wanted to do more than I could." After all, he had sacked hundreds paedophile priests and smashed a homosexual old boy network in the Vatican. "Whether that has formed again, I do not know."
Pope Francis: Blessing of a representation of Our Lady of Aparecida with a hint of political engagement
(Rome) Last Saturday the daily bulletin of the Vatican announced that Pope Francis in the Vatican Gardens has blessed a bronze statue of Our Lady of Aparecida. It's a religious act mingled in a "strange" way with a policy that is related to the dismissal of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
The previous day, the Cuban press agency Prensa Latina reported that Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president from 2003-2011, wrote the Pope a letter about the "serious" political situation "in Brazil and in the world". Rousseff and Lula belong to the same party, the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), the left "Workers' Party".
Cuba published Lula's letter upon the impeachment of Brazil's President
Prensa Latina is a press agency controlled by the communist regime in Cuba. The fact that they published the Lula-letter in full, recognizes the regular connections between the PT and the island state of the Castro brothers.
Lula letter to Pope Francis
Lula informed Pope Francis in the letter that "conservative" political forces at work are on the "edge of legality" - wanting to "prevent" a "continuity and progressive projects and social development and free inclusion" by the Workers Party (PT).
In another letter Lula praised the "achievements" of the Workers' Party and sharply condemns the attacks against Dilma Rousseff. In order to take steps to "criminalize" Rousseff and the "social movements", especially the PT.
Lula demands that can the people must be able choose its President "freely" by which he implied that free elections by the "conservative" forces are under threat. , The Lula wrote: the "conservative" forces "fear that the people will choose me in 2018," and would therefore make him president again. The Brazilian constitution allows only two consecutive terms of a head of state. Meanwhile, Lula could run again.
Same letter from Venezuelan President Maduro
On Saturday it was announced that Pope Francis had received the exact same letter from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In addition to the Cuban contacts, the common action of Lula and the "Bolivarian" President Maduro, reveals a political landscape that is situated with varying shades of social-democratic and communist, clearly left.
Observers doubt that it was an "accident". The letters and the cooperation of the Brazilian-Venezuelan-Cuban Left and the blessing of the statue of the Virgin of Aparecida, a Brazilian Marian shrine, "may be a coincidence, but it does not look like one," said Secretum meum mihi .
Pope Francis used the blessing to take a position on the situation in Brazil and did this by mixing religious and political aspects. The pontiff said that Brazil is experiencing "sad moments." That gesture and words as partisanship for Dilma Rousseff and the Workers' Party are to be understood, which the "Pope-Girlfriend" and Pope's biographer, Elisabetta Piqué assures with an article in the Argentine newspaper La Nacion.
"May the Blessed Mother sustain left governments and keep 'conservative' forces back?"
With the blessing of the statue of Mary, Francis announced differently than initially indicated, that he would not travel to Brazil in 2017 to take part in 300-year celebrations of the Marian shrine of Aparecida.
Piqué's articles in "La Nacion" on Pope Francis and his "Brazil-option" crisis
Francis asked Our Lady of Aparecida on Saturday, "to protect the Brazilian people in this sad moment and the poor, the marginalized, the abandoned elderly, to protect the street children; to save her people with social justice in the love of Jesus."
Piqué's article leaves no doubt that a certain political option is meant to be protected by the Mother of God. To say it in the sense of Lula and Maduro: "May the Mother of God sustain the left-wing government in power and keep the 'conservative' forces them away," said Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña.
Already in the course of the presidential campaign in Argentina, Pope Francis had chosen the left option and preferred the Peronist candidate, but the people elected the "conservative" opposition candidate, which has since led to a series of tensions in relations.
The same signaling by the Catholic Church leader took place on his Latin American visit in 2015. During the meetings with the leftist president of Ecuador and Bolivia were demonstratively friendly, Francis showed the "conservative" president of Paraguay the cold shoulder, to put it cautiously. In fact, he attacked him openly and completely without foundation.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Prensa Latina / La Nacion / Vatican.va / Wikicommons (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com Link to Katholisches...
AMDG
On the 100th year of death of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Schönbrunn Palace, also shows its religious side. A reading speaks of the downfall of the ancient world.
Vienna (kath.net/cz) 2016 brings the 100th anniversary of the most famous emperor of modern, Austrian history - Emperor Franz Joseph I. Historians speak of the Catholic Monarchs and mean the King of Spain. France is referred to as the eldest daughter of the Church - at least since the French Revolution, it is hardly still that. But the Emperor of Austria, the Habsburgs, are probably simply just the Catholic dynasty. And Emperor Franz Joseph was entirely in this tradition.
Influenced by his devout mother, Bavarian princess and afterwards, Archduchess Sophie, the emperor developed a very natural relationship with the Catholic faith. In Schönbrunn Palace one can see his worn pew and his personal rosary he prayed upon. An image showing the emperor in prayer for those who died in his time, often murdered, family members, his wife Elisabeth, his son Rudolf, his brother Maximilian of Mexico, his nephew Franz Ferdinand, etc.
The hymn written in 1854 in honor of his marriage to Elisabeth became imperial anthem. The official anthem of Imperial Austria says: God save, God defend our Emperor, our land - powerful because he supports the faith, he leads us with a wise hand ... the whole country was Catholic and focused on the faith and which it was above all, thanks to its former leadership, the imperial house. Therefore, his nephew, Otto von Habsburg once said that the de-Christianization of Europe was due mainly to the ruling classes, and therefore, it would also be their responsibility to rebuild the Christian West.
In many current discussions one seems to recognize the fact that the Christian West fallen with its faithful Emperor. Karl Kraus has made a monument of "The Last Days of Mankind." The Austrian actor Martin Ploderer, himself connected to the faith, will be reading on the 8th and 9th of September, at 7 o'clock, against the backdrop of the imperial hearse which led the emperor on his last journey, within the Schönbrunn Palace, from this epochal work. Ploderer is a highlight of the anniversary year of the Catholic Emperor, Franz Joseph I of Austria and his time.
Kretschmann described the pope as a "thoroughly impressive personality." Francis had a "watchful eye" and a "watchful heart".
Rome (kath.net/ KNA) Pope Francis appreciates German literature: Hermann Hesse's story "Beneath the Wheel" has been read several times by the head of the Catholic Church, according to Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann. Francis had met the Green politician and avowed Catholic Francis on Friday at a private audience and brought him a copy of this book. After the meeting, reported Kretschmann, Francis received the gift by saying, "I've already read this three times".
The Pope and Kretschmann had at the 30-minute conversation for which an interpreter was also present, discussing in particular the environment and the refugee problem.
The Catholic Church itself "could happily praise to have such an alert, attentive Pope who follows everything that happens in the contemporary world so closely, "Kretschmann praised Francis after the encounter. He described the pope as a "thoroughly impressive personality." Francis had a "watchful eye" and a "watchful heart".
Link...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
The result of state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a slap in the face for the policy of Chancellor Merkel. One year after the opening of borders in Germany and the "We can do it" mantra of Angela Merkel, the decision of the voters was clearly determined in the northeast for a federal policy issue: the asylum policy and the influx of illegal immigrants to Germany.
According to initial projections, the CDU is falling to third place with 19 percent of the vote and thus was one of its historically worst election results. The party was outclassed by the AfD, which will move from the state with 21 percent in the state legislature. Equipped with the incumbency of the popularly respected Prime Minister Erwin Selle, the SPD held 30 percent, but lost also about 5 percent.
Increase in turnout: citizens feel they have an alternative to vote on
Noteworthy is the increase in turnout by as much as ten percentage points from 51 to 61 percent. After years of steadily declining participation, there are significantly more citizens going to the polls. The reason: Obviously, the start of the AfD has contributed significantly to the idea that citizens again have the feeling they have real political alternatives to vote for.
The success of the AfD is a success for democracy. Whether euro crisis, asylum chaos, national sovereignty or direct participation of citizens - at last it is not only in back rooms or social networks but that political decisions and decision-making are taking place in the place of a republic, namely the Parliament, to fight again with real pros and cons, which has you nothing to do any longer with an absurd all-party coalition.
The government tuteledge of citizens comes to an end
With this election result the triumph of AfD continues. It's all the more remarkable, since the party had to contend with massive discrimination and violent attacks by left-wing extremists. Upon the elections for the Chamber of Deputies in Berlin in two weeks, the young party founded only three years ago is expected to move into the tenth state parliament.
The established parties but also journalists in the mainstream media of the country must now accept that Germany has experienced the long overdue normalization of its political landscape. The governmental tutelage of citizens by a political class now comes to an end. We are experiencing a positive re-politicization of society, the emancipation from a far left liberal dominated public opinion. And that's good!
The Church is not split between traditionalists and progressives, but between Catholics and modernists.
Nicola Bux, a renowned liturgist of the Catholic Church, Consultor of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith and the Congregation of Saints. Under Pope Benedict XVI., he was also Consultor of the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Pope. Pope Francis has replaced all Consultors of this office.
(Madrid) The Bishop of Tenerife forbade Freemasons from entering a Catholic church. In November the annual congress of high level Freemasons of the 33rd degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in the Canary Islands will take place.
Bishop Bernardo Álvarez informed the Masonic Lodges of the Canary Islands, that it will not tolerate the presence of Masonic symbols in the church of Santa Cruz de La Palma. The Masons wanted to commemorate deceased lodge brothers.
The Bishop of Tenerife made his decision public, with which he forbid the presence of the Loge Abora No. 87 in a church of Santa Cruz de La Palma. The notification was issued to the master of the Masonic Lodges of the Canary Islands, which is celebrating the "Masonic Week" in these days.
The First Masonic march to Christ the Savior Church in Decades
According to the daily ABC, a meeting between Bishop Álvarez and the Socialist Jeronimo Saavedra (PSOE) took place. Saavedra was, from 1993-1996, Minister of the Socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez, from 1999-2003, Spanish Senator, from 2007-2011 Mayor of Las Palmas and has since been a Member of Parliament. Saavedra is also a leading Freemason in the Canary Islands. At the meeting, the bishop informed his former minister "No" for an official appearance of the lodges in a church.
Bishop Alvarez and former Minister Saavedra
Bishop Alvarez and former minister Saavedra
This week all of the big names in Spanish Freemasonry gathered on the island of La Palma, including Oscar de Alfonso Ortega, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Spain. This said, in the fall of 2015: "We are experiencing one of the best moments of Freemasonry".
The Masons are to hold a "Masonic march" around the Christ the Savior Church on Friday, 2 September. Such things have not been done in decades. "It is the first event of this kind since the return of democracy," said Saavedra.
Revival of Loge Abora No. 87
Iglesia del Salvador
Iglesia del Salvador site of"Masonic march"
Thus, the lodge brothers celebrate the revival of the Loge Abora No. 87 after 80 years of inactivity "for political reasons". Because of the national forces of the Popular Front in areas, Masonic lodges had to suspend their activities. On March 1, 1940 Generalissimo Franco issued the Ley para la represión de la Masoneria y el Comunismo, the Law on Suppression of Freemasonry and Communism. Spanish Freemasonry continued its work from the Mexican exile, where many Spanish masons found protection and asylum when President Lázaro Cárdenas of the dictatorial ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), himself a freemason.
Currently, in the Canary Islands there are 20 active lodges. The Loge Abora no. 87 adopted in 1875, took up its work. They are now part of the Grand Lodge of Spain, after the Grand Orient of Spain had become extinct at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
Tenerife was, before the Civil War, one of the most important Masonic centers in Spain. In 1900, the lodge Añaza was established that belonged to the Grand Orient of Spain, a large Masonic Temple. General Franco seized the tempt in 1936 and appropriated it for the Spanish Falange.
Congress of the high degree Freemason
Florentino Guzman showing his project for the renovation of the Masonic Temple
Florentino Guzman before the project for renovation of the Masonic Temple
The return to the lodge was not possible. The heavily Socialist city government (2011-2015) saw to it that the temple was declared a national monument and began renovations in 2015. According to the renovation plan, a third of the cost will be from the public sector and two-thirds are to be financed by the private sector. The driving force behind the renovation is the socialist Councilor Florentino Guzmán Plasencia.
This year's International Congress of High Degree Freemasons will be held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in November. It is organized by the Supreme Council of the 33rd and highest grade of the Old Accepted Scottish Rite (A.A.S.R.) and takes place every year at a different location.
The lodge brothers hope to keep at least the final event in the renovated Masonic Temple.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons / Diario de Avisos / ABC (screenshots)
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