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[Catholic Caucus] Statement From Suspended Kentucky TLM Priests As some readers may be aware, two Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist priests who celebrate (exclusively) the TLM at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Park Hills, Kentucky, had their faculties removed by the bishop of Covington.I met both of them a few years ago, impressed these former Fathers of Mercy were able to start a new religious community that -- unlike the Fathers of Mercy -- uses the traditional Latin books, while preserving the parish mission and homiletics apostolate their former community is known for within the conservative novus ordo...

"Vatican II and the new liturgy have invented a new magisterial mode: dogmatic regression": Interview with Claude BartheOn the occasion of the revised and expanded reissue of his book "Trouver-t-il encore la foi sur terre [Will He still find faith on earth?]," we interviewed Abbé Claude Barthe.Michel Janva: The title of your book is a quotation from the Gospel. In view of the current evolution of the Catholic religion (growth in Africa and Asia, decline in Europe...), is it possible that it could disappear in Western Europe, and therefore in Rome, just as it was practically eliminated from North Africa...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal says debate about blessings is normal part of Church lifeCardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the debate surrounding the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s declaration on the possibility of blessing gay couples shows that deeper reflection is still needed.At the same time, he said, the reaction is a normal and healthy part of the Catholic Church learning how to take Gospel values and apply them to new situations.Speaking to reporters who were attending his speech on the Holy See and peacemaking Jan. 12 at Rome’s Academy of the Lincei, the cardinal was asked...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Viganò: Cdl Fernández’s defense of Fiducia Supplicans shows his ‘manifest heresy’Speaking to LifeSiteNews, Archbishop Viganò roundly condemned Cdl. Fernández's defense of same-sex blessings as 'usurping the sacred authority of the Pastors of the Church of Christ in order to destroy Her.'Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has stated that Cardinal Fernández’s press release defending Fiducia Supplicans is part of an attempt to “cause a schism” and to “demolish it [the Church] from within,” accusing the cardinal of “manifest heresy.”“{A}ny document bearing Tucho’s signature can be considered devoid of any value, due to the manifest heresy of Tucho himself and...

[Catholic Caucus] "This document damages the communion of the Church, for such blessings directly and seriously contradict Divine Revelation": Strongest and clearest episcopal reaction yet from +Rafael Escudero López-BreaPastoral Message of the Bishop Prelate of Moyobamba on the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, Published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on December 18, 2023.Dear priests, consecrated religious, and lay faithful:Grace and Peace for the Nativity of the Lord!Faced with the unprecedented bewilderment provoked by the Declaration Fiducia supplicans in the clergy and many faithful of this Prelature and in so many places in the Catholic world, I have taken...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican Clarifies the Clarification of Blessing “Same-Sex Couples”Tucho locutus est (again)No. Yes. Maybe?The first time Tucho “Heal Me with Your Mouth” Fernández made the Roman Pontiff contradict himself, he added his own “Roma locuta est”:Thus, beyond the guidance provided above, no further responses should be expected about possible ways to regulate details or practicalities regarding blessings of this type.As if the definitive nature of that statement wasn’t enough, he thought it necessary to clarify the clarification (again).Yet again, a member Pope Francis’s inner circle, the late Cardinal Pell has been proved right:Commentators of every school, if for different...

Blessings: A pastoral development anchored in traditionItalian Professor Rocco Buttiglione, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, describes the Declaration Fiducia supplicans of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith as almost revolutionary and a return to the Church's origins and the missionary presence of Christ in human history.The Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” on the pastoral meaning of blessings of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith marks an authentic pastoral development solidly anchored in Church tradition and its moral theology. The Dicastery's Cardinal Prefect, Víctor Manuel Fernández, wisely prefaces the Declaration with a brief presentation in...

[Catholic Caucus] German church plans formal ‘ceremonies’ for blessing same-sex couplesGerman bishops will continue to work on a handout for 'blessing ceremonies' to give to priests while the vice president of the Central Committee of German Catholics expresses hope that a change in church doctrine on sexual morality follows.BERLIN (LifeSiteNews) — Birgit Mock, the vice president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK), announced that in light of Rome’s permission to grant blessings to “couples” in irregular unions and same-sex “couples” the German bishops will continue as planned to work on a handout for “blessing ceremonies” to give to...

[Catholic Caucus] The Heresy of Practice: Some Insights from Saint Bernard and Saint AlphonsusRecently used by Cardinal Müller,[i] the phrase “practical heresy” has been popularized in a couple of his latest articles by Timothy Flanders,[ii] the editor-in-chief of One Peter Five (1P5). Essentially, this concept refers to any religious practice that contradicts, through deeds and actions, a revealed doctrine. We will take the teaching on marriage as an example. Every well-formed Christian knows that in the Church founded by our Savior Jesus Christ, “the essential properties of Marriage are unity (monogamy) and indissolubility.”[iii] In practice, in the case of spouses...

[Catholic Caucus] US Apostolic Nuncio receives blowback for slamming the cassock, Traditional Latin MassAn anonymous priest of the Society of St. Pius X told LifeSite that Cardinal Christophe Pierre’s remarks exhibit an off-the-charts levels of cognitive dissonance as modern seminaries are floundering compared to their traditional counterparts.While confessing that young people today do enjoy attending the Latin Mass, Pierre condescendingly asked, “is the liturgy [only] something you like? Is it a refuge? Is the church a refuge? If you look at it as a refuge, you isolate yourselves.”“The church is missionary,” he said. “It’s not a reserve of people who...

[Catholic Caucus] Synod, October 18: Cardinal Hollerich calls for ‘small but sensitive changes’ in Church governanceOctober 19, 2023On October 18, participants in the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops turned their attention to the Synod’s fourth topic: “Participation, governance and authority. What processes, structures and institutions are there in a missionary synodal Church?”The Synod’s first session has reached its halfway point: the session began on October 4 and will conclude on October 29. The Synod’s second session will take place in October 2024.Archbishop Grušas: The Gospel is ‘given on God’s terms, not man’s’On...

[Catholic Caucus] Exclusive: Bishop on synod drafting committee expresses openness to women deaconsExclusive: Bishop on synod drafting committee expresses openness to women deacons">Share on TwitterEmail to a friendPrintOne of the 13 members of the committee expected to draft the hotly anticipated final document from Pope Francis' ongoing Vatican summit on the future of the Catholic Church has expressed an openness to ordaining women as Catholic deacons.In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter, Australian Bishop Shane Mackinlay, elected to the committee role by his peers at the Oct. 4-29 Synod of Bishops, said of discussions about women's ordination: "I'm glad...

[Catholic Caucus] Rigged Synod Experts Will Proclaim “the Will of God”So it’s October 17th, and we are more than half way through this month of the #SchismaticWay, and what do we have so far? A particular generation of theologians have more or less declared this synod to be the dream of Cardinal Martini, where they can finally find that reform they always wanted: As such, the synod has become a circus of what this pontificate has alreadty brought forth: all the cheerleaders for the St. Gallen Mafia have lifted their heads above water and shouted their filth to the world....

[Catholic Caucus] Full interview: Cardinal attacks Dubia cardinals:refuses to confirm that they are of good willThe Prefect of the Cause of Saints reproaches his 'companions' for not understanding that 'Ecclesia Semper reformanda'Cardinal Semeraro on the Dubia cardinals: “The Pope is hurt, but serene”“The responses to the 'dubia' have been more than enough. Because they explain very well that we must understand that dogma also has to advance, that faith also has to progress.”"Why, then, are these five of our companions not bothered that the Church does not approve the death penalty or just war? The attitude of these cardinals is...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Confused and confusing’: Cardinal Zen talks to the Herald about his ongoing Synod concernsROME – Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the former bishop of Hong Kong, has become seen in recent years as something of a Confessor — one who has suffered but not (yet) died for the Faith.He has had well-documented difficulties with China’s Communist authorities, which have seen him in recent years charged under new security laws and held under house arrest, as well as his well-known struggles with the Vatican over their Ostpolitik approach to Beijing.Now he has felt forced to speak out in defence of...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: Pray and fast during the Synod as you would for LentOn this week's episode of The Bishop Strickland Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland calls for prayer and fasting during the Synod on Synodality and voices support for the recent dubia presented to Pope Francis.(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Bishop Strickland Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland voices support for the recent dubia by Cardinal Raymond Burke and company, comments on a quote by Archbishop Ven. Fulton Sheen, and calls for prayer and fasting during the Synod on Synodality.Beginning the show addressing the Synod, Strickland encourages us...

[Catholic Caucus] LGBTQ Catholics subject of emotional debate at synod, participants sayThe second week of Pope Francis' closely watched summit on the future of the Catholic Church included emotional debates among bishops and lay delegates over whether the church's ministries could be expanded to include LGBTQ persons.In interviews with multiple delegates from three different continents, NCR has confirmed that during the Synod of Bishop's Oct. 9-12 discussions on the theme of "communion," tensions began to emerge over how the church might extend its welcome to LGBTQ Catholics and whether use of the acronym "LGBTQ" was even appropriate. For at least...

[Catholic Caucus] Synod on Synodality: Italian nun claims St. Paul attended ‘non-ritual female liturgy’An Italian religious sister told the Synod on Synodality assembly Friday that St. Paul attended “a non-ritual female liturgy” ahead of synod discussions of women’s inclusion in the Church. Mother Maria Grazia Angelini gave an exegesis of the New Testament for synod delegates during the general congregation on Oct. 13 in which she claimed that St. Paul “inserted himself into a ‘non-ritual’ female liturgy” when he arrived in the city of Philippi in Macedonia. Speaking to hundreds of synod participants in Paul VI Hall, Angelini described how...

[Catholic Caucus] Priest accuses Cardinal Fernández of heresy, challenges him to public debateFather Jesusmary Missigbétó urges Cardinal Fernández to ‘abandon the path of heresies’ and invites him to ‘organize a public debate’ regarding Pope Francis’ errors in a new essay.Archbishop Victor Fernández in a file photo I pray to God to help me write to you in the truth, with all the charity I can muster, in the hope that soon you will be willing to abandon the path of heresies and resolutely take the path of truth. What great joy you would give to all the faithful children of...

Synod official refuses to answer whether members must follow Church teaching in discussionsWhen questioned by LifeSiteNews, Cardinal Lacroix was unable to give a succinct answer as to whether Synod on Synodality participants have to adhere to Catholic doctrine.Leading officials behind the Synod on Synodality have refused to confirm that participants must commit to upholding Catholic teaching during the event’s discussions. Speaking to journalists on October 11, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, and Quebec’s Cardinal Gérald Lacroix provided an update on the latest events of the Synod on Synodality, all while maintaining the Vatican’s peculiar policy...