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Franciscans of the Immaculate Win Important Legal Battle Franciscan of Immaculate marching for life. New points for victory, but without a rethinking in the Vatican there seem no end to the torments in sight. (Rome) The Franciscans of the Immaculate, oppressed by the Congregation of Religious with the approval of Pope Francis, have achieved another victory, at least a moral victory, which should more than ever be the occasion of a process of reflection in the Vatican. There aren’t any indications so far. Despite its young age, the Order, which was not established until the early nineties, stood out for...

The Congregation for Religious' struggle against the Franciscans of the Immaculata is going into a new round. On March 2nd, the legal representatives of the founder and General Superior dismissed by the Vatican, Father Stefano Manelli, has issued a complaint to the state prosecutor of Avellino. He founded the Order in the 1970s, it was recognized by the Holy See in 1990, returned to the original Franciscan Rule and also followed Pope Benedict liturgically. After the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum he implemented the traditional liturgy internally, while offering the Sacraments in both forms of the Roman Rite for pastoral reasons....

The man who was named by the Congregation for Religious to oversee what was effectively the destruction of the Franciscans Friars of the Immaculate, Capuchin Fr. Fidenzio Volpi, deeply ill for the past few months, had his death announced today by his province (the Lombardy Province of the Capuchins). May he rest in peace. When he was first hospitalized, there were rumors that his replacement would be a member of the Pope's own order, the Jesuits.

Sic transit gloria mundi. For the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the Institute founded by Father Stefano Maria Manelli, ( externally commissioned on 11th July 2013) the “era of Volpi” , which will certainly be remembered as one of the saddest in the history of this religious order, is over. Father Fidenzio Volpi, assigned by the Congregation for Religious as Apostolic Commissioner to liquidate Father Manelli’s order, is in fact in a Roman clinic, after suffering a cerebral ischemia, followed by a hemiparesis, which has seriously compromised his health, forcing him to renounce, irrevocably, his appointment as Commissioner. In February 2014,...

(Rome) Father Fidenzio Volpi, with the approval of Pope Francis in July 2013, has surprised again and again as Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, although rarely in a positive way. The Apostolic Commissioner has changed his mind and withdrew his signature on the agreement with the family of FFI Founder Father Stefano Maria Manelli. This past February 12 Commissioner Volpi and the family Manelli had agreed following a mediation in civil matters (mediazione civile). The blog Le pagine di Don Camillo, who first reported on the agreement, falsely wrote about a "patteggiamento", a specialized institution of...

BREAKING: Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Commissioner Volpi admits guilt of defamation and lies Must pay 20,000 euros, make public apology Will Pope Francis allow what's left of the FFI to survive? The chickens have come home to roost for Pope Francis' Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI), Fr. Fidenzio Volpi, and possibly just in the nick of time.

The following account from a former Franciscans of the Imnaculate (FI) seminarian shows just how purposely destructive the intervention of the FI has been -- at the hands of Commissioner Volpi and approved by Pope Francis: It was a win, win, win situation: 1) People could give the gift of Christ to family and friends by enrolling them in a Novena of Latin Masses celebrated according to the 1962 Missal; 2) Those enrolled received spiritual graces from the Masses, plus a Christmas novena card and a gift-wrapped CD of sacred music; and 3) The proceeds went to assist the contemplative...

If one wants a reason why Synod special secretary Abp. Bruno Forte, a man currently very close to the Pope and one of his closest advisers, suffered a major defeat in this week's assembly of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) in the election for Vice-President representing Central Italy (including the Latium...), one must only look at what was going on inside the assembly halls in Assisi, as Marco Tosatti reports below. Despite John Allen's spin to the contrary as not a big deal, the most ultra-liberal of Italian Vaticanists, Marco Politi, was right to identify it as a major message...

By the senior religious correspondent of Italian daily La Stampa, the startling news: those responsible for the intervention of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, after silencing their innocent victims inside the Church, now use the Police to intimidate journalists and bloggers -- and their family members ! -- in Italy. It is probably the most serious attempt by an ecclesial authority to make use of the police forces (and police that are members of the military forces) to limit the freedom of the press or public free speech by laymen in Italy in living memory -- the attempt is based...

Father Frederico Lombardi, the Vatican's official spokesman, revealed in an official statement regarding the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate on Wednesday that a house is being sought in Rome for members of the religious order studying at the Vatican's Pontifical colleges and universities. The news that community living quarters are desired for members of the order are a clear indication that relations between the Congregation and the FFI are warming significantly. Father Lombardi revealed that the seminarians of the order were received in private audience at the St. Martha Residence to meet with the Holy Father, Pope Francis, along with...

(Rome), a new blow by the Commission set upon the Franciscans of the Immaculate by the Congregation for Religious. The lay association Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix (MIM) was denied the Marian Sanctuary of Pompeii. Since the year 2004, MM brought believers together to take a pilgrimage from Naples and Campania to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, the most famous Marian shrine in this part of southern Italy. Yesterday, on Divine Mercy Sunday, however, the faithful were denied access to the holy image Prohibition of Commissar Volpi Led Prelate of Pompeii to Ban On 10...

Edit: now give us our Order back. (Rome) The Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap has published a correction. In it, he explains that the family of the religious founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Father Stefano Maria Manelli, has "absolutely nothing" to do with any possession or orders of transfer for the real estate of the Order. This had been maintained in recent months, according to which the the Order was placed under provisional commissioner, by the official Internet site of the Order www.immacolata.com. Father Alfonso Maria Bruno, who was appointed by Commissioner Volpi after the...

Rome) The joy of Christmas 2013 has brought another sad note for the Franciscans of the Immaculate. Shortly before the Solemnity, the Apostolic Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap has closed up three more branches of the Order. Many Traditional Mass locations in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite were connected to the closings. The faithful were faced with this fact just before the holidays, that they would be without priests and Mass locations for Christmas. Of the convents that were closed, one held two Marian shrines, that of Our Lady della Rovere in San Bartolomeo al Mare on...

Among the most faithful of all of the new Catholic religious orders, especially in regard to their pro-life commitment, was an order known as the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI). They were made a pontifical institute of religious life by His Holiness John Paul II in January 1, 1998. The order has thrived and been considered stellar in its evangelization efforts. However, recent actions by the Vatican against the order have generated a firestorm of controversy and confusion about what priority the Church is now giving to the fidelity of religious orders to all Church teachings. Many pro-life Catholic...