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Antichrists and Practical Heresies: Saint Augustine’s Warning Both the signs of the end and the signs of recognizing the antichrist have been left to us in the inspired texts with the purpose of warning us about the imminence of crucial historical events. Their purpose, however, is never to satisfy our human curiosity, but to urge us to repentance, to penance, to prayer – to a life of more intense and deep sanctity. From the numerous difficult and enigmatic passages contained within the sacred texts of the Bible, the most read are the prophecies concerning the end of the world. No...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis' Fernández miscalculation?Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has had a difficult first four months as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).Taking over the role in September, the pope’s pick for the doctrinal department started by being effectively sidelined from half of the dicastery’s remit, after the pope excused him — some would say excluded him — from playing any part in its handling of clerical sexual abuse cases.Since then, Fernández has had to weather repeated questions about his suitability for the role in the light of his previous writings, and overseen the highly...

[Catholic Caucus] Synod Cardinal Speaks on LGBTQ+ Catholics and Those Who Love the Traditional Latin MassAmong the main provisions of Traditionis Custodes is that the bishop must be the one who authorizes the celebration of the Eucharist with the 1962 missal.The archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, responded to two questions about how the Church welcomes Catholics from the “LGBTQ+” community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, queer, and more) and about how it treats the faithful who love the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).At the Tuesday, Oct. 10, press conference on the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican, the cardinal...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-LGBT Cdls. McElroy, Tobin challenge formalization of US bishops’ decree against trans he USCCB had declared in a March directive that transgender procedures 'do not respect the fundamental order of the human person as an intrinsic unity of body and soul, with a body that is sexually differentiated.'Cardinals Joseph Tobin (L) and Robert McElroy (R)BALTIMORE (LifeSiteNews) — Two prominent pro-LGBT American cardinals are attempting to stall a formal revision to the U.S. bishop’s directives to Catholic hospitals and healthcare institutions that would ban “transgender” mutilation of the human body and chemical castration through puberty blockers and hormone infusions....

[Catholic Caucus] The Dirty 5 Dozen Ride Again!This should strike fear in all of the faithful Catholics in the United States: Cardinal Cupich and club just had an invitation-only event featuring the sixty bishops who voted against discussing Eucharistic Coherence, the liberals from Rome steering the “synodal process”, and the liberal Catholic media. They had to fess up because JD Flynn and The Pillar caught wind of it, but clearly, Cardinal “We should all get together as brother bishops and discuss” Cupich has now become Cardinal “It hasn’t been going too well so we need to spin the narrative” Cupich.https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/cardinals-theologians-gather-plan-how-us-church-can-support-pope-francisCHICAGO...

Cardinal (Nighty-nite, Baby) Tobin: Refusing to deal with complexity in the church is a form of heresy.Critics who dismiss an ongoing Vatican effort to consult Catholics around the world, part of the pope’s efforts to reinvigorate church life, fail to understand how Francis is trying to reshape the church, one of his cardinal advisors said in a speech on Tuesday.“Synodality is a way of being church, based on the idea, the ideal, that all the baptized are walking together with a shared attention to the Holy Spirit,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, said in a keynote address to...

Archdiocese of Newark could pay in ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sex abuse case: judge A New Jersey judge ruled Thursday that the Archdiocese of Newark be held financially responsible for abuse claims against a high-ranking Catholic leader, The Post has learned.The ruling involves accusations that disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick assaulted a boy in the 1980s — and it could pave the way for victims to get bigger civil court payouts.In the precedent-setting ruling, District Court Judge Madeline Arleo found that the wealthy institution is “vicariously liable” — responsible simply for employing McCarrick, without necessarily committing any wrongdoing.“This is huge,” said...

[Catholic Caucus] Newark archdiocese to investigate app use allegationsThe Archdiocese of Newark says it will investigate the possibility of clerical sexual misconduct, in response to questions from The Pillar about the use of location-based hookup apps at several parish rectories in the archdiocese. While a spokesperson told The Pillar it is “not acceptable” to use apps “inconsistent with Church teaching,” the archdiocese has also expressed concerns about the “morally suspect” collection of app signal data.Share The Pillar“The inappropriate use of any app or communication tool would pose a concern in any circumstance and for any community. Although the use of...

Denying communion to Catholic politicians is ‘toxic,’ N.J.’s Cardinal Tobin warns fellow bishopsSitting in his office in New Jersey, Cardinal Joseph Tobin looked into his computer’s camera and urged his fellow Catholic bishops to kill a proposal that could lead to denying Holy Communion to political leaders who support abortion rights.The move could “drive a wedge” between Americans and the Catholic Church, Tobin told the members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gathered online for the high-profile debate.“Any effort by this conference to move in support of the categorical exclusion of Catholic political leaders from the Eucharist based...

[Catholic Caucus] U.S. Bishops Continue Intense Debate Over Timing and Impact of Proposed Document on EucharistMost bishops voiced support for a teaching document on Holy Communion, but some pushed for the removal of the section that would address public officials who are at odds with the Church on abortion and other issues.WASHINGTON — The second day of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) spring general assembly featured a lengthy and passionate debate over the proposal to draft a document on the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist.The document, which would include a discussion of worthiness to receive Communion, remains a...

Pope Francis advisor 'Father Jim' says Catholics should celebrate Pride monthRev. James Martin, SJ—popularly known as Father Jim—was asked to serve as special advisor to Pope Francis to help communicate to the English-speaking world. Some Vatican insiders say Father Jim has been a conduit to help communicate what Pope Francis really wants to say outside of the constraints of the Catholic cardinals and archbishops who run the Vatican.Father Jim, a popular pro-LGBT author and editor of America magazine, has been disinvited by Catholic bishops and universities who oppose his preaching of tolerance and acceptance.In a June 2 social media video,...

VAICAN CITY — Cardinals Blase Cupich and Joseph Tobin met with the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican just days before the congregation’s prefect sent a letter urging the U.S. bishops to fulfill a set of conditions before implementing a plan regarding pro-abortion Catholic politicians receiving Holy Communion. The Register has confirmed through Vatican sources that the two cardinals, both of whom oppose stricter rules on the issue, visited the Vatican mid-morning on April 30, during which they met with CDF prefect Cardinal Luis Ladaria. Cardinal Cupich, of Chicago, and Cardinal Tobin, of...

Rhode Island Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin asked the Vatican on Monday to remind Catholic politicians that they must not advocate for the killing of unborn babies in abortions. The Providence Journal reports Tobin, who leads the Diocese of Providence, responded to a recent letter from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith to the U.S. bishops. The letter, written by Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria, S.J., weighed in on the controversy about whether pro-abortion Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden should be denied Communion. Tobin acknowledged that Ladaria’s letter offered guidance to the U.S. bishops, who plan to discuss the...

Cardinal Tobin: Synodality is Pope Francis' vehicle for changing the churchChurch leaders, including those in the United States, uncomfortable with Pope Francis' emphasis on mercy and an attentiveness to the voices of those on the peripheries should reexamine their skepticism, according to Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, who says such priorities are here to stay."The election of Pope Francis opened up the rest of the world to the rich theological foment of the church in Latin America, with its strong sense of mission, encounter, the peripheries and mercy," said Tobin. "Many, including church leaders in this country, have...

The silence of the sisterWhy haven't we ever heard from Cardinal Joseph Tobin's sister?March 8, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Now that Cardinal Joseph Tobin has been appointed by Pope Francis to the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, journalist Phil Lawler has reminded us all that this is the churchman who several years ago inadvertently made public via Twitter a message that was clearly intended to be private and destined for just one recipient. The Cardinal tweeted the words, “Nighty-night, baby. I love you.” And when the diffusion of this tweet on the internet provoked widespread concern and indignation among Catholics, His Eminence...

Could Cardinal Joseph Tobin be the first Irish-American pope?The choice of Cardinal Joseph Tobin of New Jersey to the key Vatican Congregation of Bishops committee which is responsible for selecting bishops all over the world is a clear sign that Pope Francis may have greater things in store for the Irish American cardinal.Indeed, like as there was with Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley during the last papal election, the notion of Tobin becoming a strong candidate to succeed Francis as pope is clearly seen as a possibility.The pope and Tobin are very close having first met at a 2005 Synod on...

How the Vatican tried to suppress criticism of the new presidentCardinal Blase Cupich, the ambitious left-wing archbishop of Chicago, must have imagined that Joe Biden's inauguration last week would be a moment to savour. He and a small number of his liberal colleagues, known as 'the Biden bishops', have been working tremendously hard to make sure that, once their candidate was elected, any mention of his radical support for abortion would be sotto voce and preferably inaudible. They thought they'd succeeded. But then things went spectacularly wrong. The president of the US bishops' conference, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles,...

Cardinal Tobin asked to mediate Indy high school standoffCardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark has been working to mediate a settlement between the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in a dispute over an instruction to dismiss a teacher in a same-sex civil marriage, The Pillar has learned.The archdiocese and the school have been locked in a disagreement over a 2019 decree by Archbishop Charles Thompson, which said the school could no longer call itself Catholic. The archbishop’s decision came after controversy over the employment of a teacher in a same-sex civil marriage.Brebeuf Jesuit Prepatory School. The Pillar file...

Leading Cardinal Supports Biden Tobin lets the cat out of the bag. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, is considered one of the most powerful prelates in the United States. His power derives from his status as a member of the inner circle of Pope Francis. Where he stands on the presidential election, consequently, is a large window on FrancisChurch, and last week he gave the public a glimpse into it. “I think that a person in good conscience could vote for Mr. Biden,” said Tobin. “I, frankly, in my own way of thinking have a more difficult time...

[Barf Alert] Pro-LGBT US cardinal: Catholics in ‘good conscience’ can vote for radical pro-abortion Biden Cardinal Tobin’s de facto endorsement of Biden contradicts the country’s top pro-life priests who have warned that 'no Catholic can vote for Joe Biden' BOSTON, Massachusetts, September 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who supports homosexuality, stated that Catholics in “good conscience” could vote for pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Tobin’s de facto endorsement, where he mentioned Biden by name, contradicts the country’s top pro-life priests who have warned that “no Catholic can vote for Joe Biden” because of his radical abortion advocasy. ...