De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

I just have no words. This is not photo-shopped or something, this is real! Have I woken up in some alternate reality or something? Meanwhile, Voice of the Family have an essential in depth report on the United Nations’ Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) for which Pope Francis has expressed support. This UN document calls for 'universal access to sexual & reproductive health'. Read the full report here.

This is a must watch. "It is a disaster...it is casting aside the message of the Gospel"..."contradicts the entire teaching of the Church"...

It is striking to note who is supporting Amoris Laetitia . In the face of growing confusion about the document, it seems that only those with a reputation for contradicting established Church teaching are still suggesting there is no problem with the document. This is true on both a macro-cosmic and a microcosmic basis, as demonstrated by this anthology of "progressive" interpretation posted by a priest in my own Diocese. One of biggest supporters of the document is the incredibly worrying Cardinal Blase Cupich, head of Chicago arch-diocese in the USA. Cupich has a terrifying record of supporting the homosexual agenda, pushing a radical agenda at the synod , and, in August 2015, equating the evil of Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted babies' body parts with 'joblessness' and a 'broken immigration system.' You can watch some more about him here . ++Cupich came under fire by the faithful on the 14th Feb for publishing the above tweet, suggest...

Those who are divorced and civilly remarried cannot receive Holy Communion. The only exception is in cases where there are children involved and in those cases the couple must live as brother and sister. This is the settled teaching of the Church. Anything different to this is heterodoxy. Yet we are in a situation where various bishops and Cardinals are giving different interpretations that contradict this settled teaching. Now Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, has spoken out again, saying that local bishops cannot re-interpet Church teaching subjectively. In a new interview with the German magazine Rheinische Post , Cardinal Müller said it was “not his style” to criticise publications by bishops. However, he added, “I do not think it is particularly beneficial for each individual bishop to comment on papal documents to explain how he subjectively understands the document.” In the new interview, he said: “It cannot be that the universally binding doctrine of t...

On Tuesday, a strange thing happened at the Vatican. There was a presser, where a book was launched written by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on Amoris Laetitia . The Cardinal, however, was nowhere to be seen himself, claiming he "had a meeting at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints" The Pope sends a lackey to answer the dubia and he doesn't even turn up? Is it me or does this just look increasingly like a circus? Also the chap in the middle of the picture below is Orazio La Rocca, Vaticanista of La Repubblica ,  which you may recall is the Pope's favourite newspaper of Eugenio Scalfari fame! It would seem very telling that La Repubblica was there as a buffer. The presser was billed by some as "Francis surrogate to answer the dubia on Amoris Laetitia " . Of course, the Pope can't say these things himself because he would be directly contradicting the Magisterium and wo...

Reposted from Clare's Blog This year is the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. And today, February 13th is the anniversary of the death of the Carmelite nun, Sr. Lucia of Fatima. It seems fitting that today should be the day we begin praying for her intercession for a a sweet 4 year old girl named Christina Thomas. Last week, Christina was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The doctors have said there is nothing they can do. 4 year old Christina Thomas We need a miracle. Christina’s father – Kenny is a secular Carmelite, like myself, and we both have a great devotion to Fatima. We have informed Kenny’s Bishop that we will ONLY be asking for the intercession of Sr. Lucia, as this is very important in the beatification process. Please join us in begging for the intercession of Sr. Lucia for little Christina. We want a complete and total healing for Christina and a miracle for the beatification for Sr. Lucia. Please share this post as much as possibl...

A public declaration of confidence in the Pope? As Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith points out here , When the embattled politician hears that, he knows his days are numbered: No one accuses or could accuse the Pope of not caring about the welfare of children, but evidence is building that his handling of the child abuse crisis that continues to challenge the Church has been less than sure. First we had the setting up of a Commission for the Protection of Minors, whose success has been mixed to say the least. One member left the commission, saying it was  meaningless  unless Bishop Barros of Osorno, Chile was removed from his diocese. Bishop Barros faced  angry accusations  from Chilean Catholics of protecting an abuser, but he is  strongly supported   by the Pope . If this were not enough, we also have the case of the convicted abuser Don Mauro Inzoli, whose priestly faculties were first taken away and then returned, with  the approval o...

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Commentary of the day Pope Benedict XVI Address, Ad limina , 25 September 2009 The Church cannot be indifferent to the separation of spouses and to divorce, facing the break-up of homes and the consequences for the children that divorce causes. If they are to be instructed and educated, children need extremely precise and concrete reference points, in other words parents who are determined and reliable who contribute in quite another way to their upbringing. Nor, it is this principle that the practice of divorce is undermining and jeopardizing with the so-called "extended" family that multiplies "father" and "mother" figures and explains why today the majority of those who feel "orphans" are not children without parents but children who have too many. This situation, with the inevitable interference and the intersection of relationships, cannot but give rise to inner conflict and confusion, contributing to cre...

Detail from "The Sermon on the Mount" (1481-1482) by Cosimo Rosselli I'm really struck by the readings today: The first reading is Ecclesiasticus 15:16-21 If you wish, you can keep the commandments,   to behave faithfully is within your power. He has set fire and water before you;   put out your hand to whichever you prefer. Man has life and death before him;   whichever a man likes better will be given him. For vast is the wisdom of the Lord;   he is almighty and all-seeing. His eyes are on those who fear him,   he notes every action of man. He never commanded anyone to be godless,    he has given no one permission to sin . How will this be read in Malta one wonders? The Second reading is 1 Cor 2: 6-10 ...The hidden wisdom of God which we teach in our mysteries is the wisdom that God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. It is a wisdom that none of the masters of this a...

This Sunday 12th February sees the unveiling of the restored sanctuary At Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane.  After the Protestant Reformation, this 'hidden gem' in London's West End was the first Catholic Church in the country to be dedicated with the title Corpus Christi. It was built in reparation for all the sins committed against the Blessed Sacrament in the 16th century and since. Corpus Christi was opened by Cardinal Manning on the 20th October 1874 with the intention that it would stand as a statement of what the Catholic Church believes about the Mass, i.e. the confection of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord, and as “a sanctuary created specifically for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament” . (Words of Cardinal Manning, from his homily at the opening of the church). After a long period of neglect, exacerbated by considerable pollution in Central London, and clumsy attempts to clean the internal fabric by sandblasting, the interior walls and sto...

Given Bishop Philip Egan's tweet this morning, there can be no doubt that interpretations of Amoris Laetitia are making it really difficult for relations between bishops & priests. People are genuinely confused and that confusion is only being exacerbated by bishops giving differing interpretations, with Bishop Egan, for example, interpreting Amoris Laetitia in the context of Church teaching, s ee here , but Archbishop Scicluna stating publicly that "Whoever wishes to discover what Jesus wants from him, he must ask the Pope, this Pope, not the one who came before him, or the one who came before that. This present Pope." Which is not what the Church has ever taught! Now we are left wondering, does Cardinal Müller speak with an authoritative voice?  Some claim that his interview  presents an authoritative perspective on Amoris Laetitia , but if that is in fact the case, why a newspaper interview and not a CDF notification? Of course, the latter is t...

So in yesterday's post , I showed how a Catholic Group were interpreting Amoris Laetitia to break with Church teaching. In that discussion on Facebook, I found myself arguing vociferously for the fact that the Pope has not contradicted Church teaching, and indeed, he has not in any official way. The problem is that he has constantly appeared to push the Kasper proposal, as you can see from numerous posts of mine, such as this , where I have noted some action of the Holy Father which appears to do this and brought it to your attention, dear reader. This has led to a situation where the Bishops of Beunos Aires have suggested a very narrow route for divorced and remarried persons to be re-admitted to Holy Communion and Confession without the need of a firm resolve to avoid further sin or scandal and the Maltese Bishops to go much further, asserting the primacy of conscience, a direction firmly condemned in Magisterial teaching. If further evidence is required, one might cite, ...

This is what is really going on at grass roots. This is some reaction to Amoris Laetitia from a discussion on a Catholic Goup page I belong to. Are these men "carefully discerning very rare circumstances" in which the words of Christ in the Gospel can be ignored and Marriage becomes dissoluble? Or are they interpreting Amoris Laetitia as an abolition of divorce? Whatever the careful wording that seeks to find a middle ground between pastoral care and rigid legalist interpretation, we have to recognise the essential contribution of objective truth, as emphasised in Veritatis Splendor . If we fail to do this, we end up with what you see here. Why? Well the truth is that popular piety seldom follows the mainstream of theology and for many Catholics, there are fundamental contradictions in their lives that have never been addressed. The greatest of these for gentlemen of a certain age is their children. There seems to be a social situation prevalent at the moment where we...

Overnight, Rome has been covered in fly posters like this one: The legend reads: <<Oi Frankie, you have emasculated Congregations, suspended priests, decapitated the Order of Malta and the Franciscans of the Immaculate, ignored Cardinals...But where is your mercy?>> Christians faced with the ravages of Bergoglio...Roma e' tappezzata - Rome is carpeted! A source told me that the posters near the Vatican have already been covered up; but they ARE ALL OVER ROME!! Newman, Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, Diff., II, 279-280  Here I am led to interpose a remark;—it is plain, then, that there are those near, or with access, to the Holy Father, who would, if they could, go much further in the way of assertion and command, than the divine Assistentia, which overshadows him, wills or permits; so {280} that his acts and his words on doctrinal subjects must be carefully scrutinised and weighed, before we can be sure what really he has...

The crisis in the Church has drawn William Oddie out of retirement. He has written an excellent appraisal of the crisis in the Church presided over by Pope Francis and makes this very pertinent observation among many: "The issue was secularisation. The Maltese Church was tooth and nail opposed to it. Now, its two bishops have not only surrendered to it, but have declared themselves its willing collaborators. Divorced-and-remarried Catholics who are living as if they were married – who in other words are engaging in what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls “public and permanent adultery” (CCC 2384) – “cannot”, the Maltese bishops declare, “be precluded from participating in … the Eucharist”. This simply contradicts the unbroken and unanimous teaching barring such Catholics from reception of Holy Communion. The bishops have in effect declared that the Church has all along been wrong and the secular culture right." Read the whole thing here . One of the most obvi...

I thought this was a great story in the National Catholic Register today. Ciudad Juárez, a city in northern Mexico, was listed as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, due to drug and gang related violence. Now in a dramatic turnaround, the city is considered safer than several American cities, including Baltimore and New Orleans! Fr. Patrico Hileman believes the change is due to Eucharistic Adoration. “When a parish adores God day and night, the city is transformed,” Fr. Hileman said. Missionaries opened the first Perpetual Adoration Chapel in Juarez in 2013. At that time “40 people a day were dying because two drug gangs were fighting over the city to move drugs into the United States.” "The Church and the world have a great need of eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and cr...

The wonderful Confraternity of Catholic Clergy have issued a really good statement on Amoris Laetiti a here . The Confraternity, who represent around 1,000 priests in Britain, Ireland, Australia and the United States, said a clarification is “gravely needed to correct the misuse of the Apostolic Exhortation to undermine sacred Tradition”, ain't that the truth! This is the full statement: As members of the International Confraternities of Catholic Clergy we believe there would be great value in an authoritative interpretation of the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia in line with the constant teaching and practice of the Church. This statement comes in light of continuing widespread divergence of understanding and growing divisions in practice. A clarification is clearly needed to correct the misuse of the Apostolic Exhortation to undermine sacred Tradition. We therefore thank the four eminent Cardinals who have recently submitted their dubia to the Holy See, request...

As a dear priest said to me very recently, it's always the way in the Church- or so it seems- that it is those who espouse a liberal attitude who are the most virulent and need their Storm Troopers to enforce their will on the faithful, while so called "Trads" like Benedict XVI just quietly get on with the work of deepening & explaining the faith by example. I often think how hurtful it must have been to have Bugnini's dreadful modernisms foisted on the post concilliar Church - the stories I have heard are just dreadful. But while those who have never been particularly concerned with following the teachings of Christ praise Pope Francis for his daring attempt to engage with the world, the true casualty of this dreadful papacy will be the credibility of Catholic teaching. For what authority has any organisation which teaches hard truths about human realities like marriage, for a thousand years or so, if it can then dispose of them in a single, verbose and del...