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July 4 2020 Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 9:11-15 Thus says the LORD: On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, That they may conquer what is left of Edom and all the nations that shall bear my name, say I, the LORD, who will do this. Yes, days are coming, says the LORD, When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; The...

[Catholic Caucus] Communion Order Shocks Argentine Faithful Bishop yields to government, compels reception in hand BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (ChurchMilitant.com) - Diocesan priests and laity are questioning the leadership of their bishop, who has ruled in accordance with the civil government's Wuhan virus guidelines that Holy Communion may be received only in the hand. Gov. Rodolfo Suárez After weeks of government prohibition of public celebration of the Mass throughout Argentina, the two bishops of Mendoza province asked Gov. Rodolfo Suárez for relief.  Suárez told Bp. Eduardo Taussig of San Rafael and Abp. Marcelo Debenedictis of Mendoza's capital that they could resume public celebration of the Mass but must limit the number of faithful to just 30 in each instance. They both complied with the government order. Local media quoted Abp. Debenedictis, who said: "When entering the churches, people...

It is among the oldest churches in India, with 5 million faithful, 34 dioceses, 8500 priests, 32 religious. Bishops and priests are suffering heavy attacks from inside and outside the Church. Dead who are reported as suicides; corruption charges against Card. Alencherry. The strength of this Church, its schools and hospitals, make it a target for criticism. The need for reform.Cochin (AsiaNews) - The Syro-Malabar Church, among the oldest churches in India, dating back to the apostle Thomas (according to tradition), is a vital and growing community, although for some years it has been targeted by serious criticism both from...

Group also asks to consecrate island to Jesus and MaryVALLETTA, Malta (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Maltese Catholic lay organization Pro Malta Christiana published a full-page, paid manifesto in the June 21 edition of the weekly Malta Independent on Sunday. The article denounced state and Church-imposed restrictions on the reception of the sacraments in Malta (that were in place for a three-month period, beginning March 12), which were lifted by the Maltese bishops recently, on June 14. Whilst rendering thanks to God, the Catholic lay group posed a number of questions concerning the necessity of depriving Catholics in the Maltese islands of...

A group of Catholic priests has anointed about 1,100 extremely ill or dying COVID-19 patients in eastern Massachusetts, and officials from the Archdioceses of Boston said none of these priests have contracted the virus. Nearly 30 priests in the archdiocese have visited hospitals and long-term healthcare facilities during the pandemic to anoint the sick, one of the church’s seven sacraments. “For Catholics, the Chaplin isn’t just a visitor, he’s a part of the critical care team,” said MC Sullivan, the chief health care ethicist for the archdiocese. “Having the priest at the bedside brings comfort to the patient and reassurance...

When receiving Communion in the hand can be sinful July 2, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Many bishops around the world are attempting to compel Catholics, who are in the right dispositions to approach the Holy Eucharist, to receive Our Lord in the hand, contrary to their well formed consciences about the risks involved in that method and contrary to their canonical rights to receive on the tongue. I have received many questions from worried Catholics asking if the bishops really have such authority and if it is ever right for the faithful to go along with such decrees. Here, I present...

An archbishop has hired a “diversity and inclusion” consultant who is unabashedly pro-LGBT; supports the Marxist, pro-abortion, anti-family Black Lives Matter movement; and sees Republicans as evil to help him “grapple with racial tension” in a city that has long been plagued with racial unrest and violence. Baltimore archbishop William E. Lori announced in a June 5 letter that he has hired Howard Ross, founder and president of the Udarta consulting firm in Washington, D.C., to help him “implement the recommendations outlined in his second pastoral reflection on racism, ‘The Journey to Racial Justice: Repentance, Healing and Action.’” According to...

[Catholic Caucus] (Barf Alert) ‘Gay Catholics’ are ‘cornerstone’ of Church, says video with NY Cdl Dolan’s support July 2, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — In a video produced by Fordham University after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to postpone its planned “Outreach 2020” conference for “LGBTQ Catholics,” perhaps the most alarming revelations come within the first 30 seconds. “We were all ready to go,” exclaims Fr. James Martin, S.J., “with the support of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York; Fr. John Cecero, the Jesuit Provincial of the USA, Northeast Province; and Fr.  Joe McShane, the president of Fordham University.” The...

July 3 2020 Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle Reading 1 Eph 2:19-22 Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Responsorial Psalm 117:1bc, 2 R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all...

SUDBURY -- There are currently a dozen statues at Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes property, and all are from the 1950s. Recently, half of the statues were beheaded by vandals. “We’re saddened,” said David Sirois, of Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. "There’s enough volunteers and people who have donated to try and keep this site nice … for the general public. Then when you see damages like that, you wonder who would do that kind of thing?" Officials found out about the damage a few weeks ago, and say the incident most likely happened in the middle of the...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's city attorney is coming down hard on Catholic Churches that he says are gathering illegally indoors, without face coverings. In a seven-page cease-and-desist letter, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the Archdiocese of San Francisco is "putting its parishioners and the larger community at risk of serious illness and death." The letter says despite calls between San Francisco Health Officer, Dr. Aragon, and Archbishop Cordileone, multiple churches have held indoor gatherings that "violate the health order" and fail to "follow common sense safety protocols." Indoor gatherings are not currently permitted in San Francisco. Outside religious...

President Donald Trump should appoint a special envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region to “focus like a laser beam” on the attacks by Boko Haram and other Islamic militants, according to one of the main architects of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Former Congressman Frank Wolf said such a move was necessary to stop a genocide of Christians in the region. Wolf was speaking to journalists during a press call on the situation in Nigeria sponsored by In Defense of Christians, a Washington D.C. human rights group. Nigeria has had over 50,000 people killed since 2009...

[Barf Alert] Vatican Council II: A seed that continues to grow A great grace, a true prophecy for the life of the Church, a new Pentecost: these are some of the expressions used by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to describe the most recent Council – a small seed that has become a tree and continues to bear fruit through the working of the Holy Spirit. By Sergio CentofantiThis year 8 December will mark the 55th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council. It is an important moment in this period since a new debate...

[Barf Alert] Priest in NY church: ‘Christ is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer’ Fr. Rick Walsh July 2, 2020 (Sons of St. Joseph) — On June 28, 2020, Paulist priest Rick Walsh offered “a reflection” entitled “We All Belong to Each Other” at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in New York City; the parish is the motherhouse of the Paulist order. On June 25, 2020, Walsh also was the “celebrant” for the parish’s Pride Mass sponsored by the Paulist’s LGBT ministry “Out at St. Paul. (OSP)” During his “reflection” Walsh said: Are they not aware…Christ is a woman… …Christ is Black In Christ, I...

[Barf Alert] Amazon Conference to Aid ‘Mother Earth’ Marxist cardinal heads new ecclesial body VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Amazonian bishops have created a transnational ecclesial conference in the first, significant phase of implementing the proposals of the 2019 Amazon Synod and Pope Francis' post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia ("Beloved Amazon"). The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (ECA) will promote synodality, foster integral ecology, affirm Amazonian identity and respond to "the cries of the poor and of Mother Earth," announced a June 29 statement signed by CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council) president Abp. Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte and REPAM (Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network) president Cdl. Cláudio Hummes.   Pope Francis with indigenous peoples at the Amazon Synod...

[Catholic Caucus] Father Master. The Founder of the Apostolic Movement of Schönstatt Abused His Nuns Today’s bombshell news is that the German priest Josef Kentenich, founder of the apostolic movement of Schönstatt, who died at the age of 83 in 1968 and whose cause for beatification is underway, in the 1950’s was found guilty by the Holy See of the sexual abuse of nuns belonging to his movement.The news comes to us along with its details, in the letter below, from the scholar who discovered it, Alexandra von Teuffenbach, former professor of theology and Church history at the Pontifical Lateran...

[Catholic Caucus] De Mattei: The Unknowns at the End of a Pontificate The demission of Benedict XVI will be remembered as one of the most catastrophic events of our century, as it opened the door, not only to a destructive pontificate, but above all to a situation of increasing chaos in the Church.  After seven years since that disastrous February 11, 2013, the life of Benedict XVI and the pontificate of Pope Francis are drawing inexorably to a close. We don’t know which of the two events will precede the other, but in both cases, the “smoke of Satan”” risks...

July 2 2020 Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1Am 7:10-17 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot endure all his words. For this is what Amos says: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.”To Amos, Amaziah said: “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered...

Abp. Gomez Retreats Caves to iconoclasts LOS ANGELES (ChurchMilitant.com) - A California prelate is giving in to violent protesters who are demanding that statues of St. Junípero Serra be removed from public areas. In an open letter published just before the July 1 commemoration of the "Apostle of California," Abp. José Gomez of Los Angeles revealed his plan to protect Serra's statues from desecration by race-baiting iconoclasts. St. Junípero Serra statue vandalized in Golden Gate Park "Faced with the possibility of vandalism, we are taking increased security precautions at the historic missions located in the archdiocese of Los Angeles," wrote Gomez. "Unfortunately, we will probably have to relocate some statues to our...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop McElroy re-closes Imperial County churches San Diego Catholic Bishop Robert W. McElroy issued the following statement today after Gov. Gavin Newsom recommended that Imperial County re-institute stay-at-home orders because of the high rate of infection of COVID-19 there:“We are pausing our plans to re-open our parishes for public Masses in Imperial County starting today given the current health conditions.“I thank our priests, church personnel and volunteers who had prepared for weeks to welcome our brothers and sisters back to Mass, but the community’s and our parishioners’ safety comes first.“We will keep our faithful informed about when we...