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| Cardinal Angelo Sodano, one of the most powerful men in the Vatican, has died |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-28-2022, 12:15 PM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Power Broker, Has Died
![[Image: sodano-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/sodano-810x500.jpg)
gloria.tv | May 28, 2022
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 94, has died in Rome on May 27. Born in November 1927 in Isola d'Asti, Italy, he has been in poor health from various ailments and suffered a recent Covid19 infection.
He was appointed as Vatican Secretary of State by John Paul II in 1991. Benedict XVI accepted his resignation in 2006.
A skilled diplomat and mediator, he brought the papal diplomacy to an unsound importance. One of the key figures of John Paul II’s pontificate, he accompanied him on 54 international trips.
Sodano faced criticism for his handling of sex abuse cases. Twice he oppose Cardinal Ratzinger who wanted to punish Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, for homosexual crimes. Vienna Cardinal Schönborn accused Sodano of covering up the investigation against Vienna Cardinal Groër (+2003) who was never put on trial although a dozen (mostly former) priests witnessed against him.
See also: Cardinal Sodano, Vatican ‘Godfather’ alleged to have covered up clerical abuse, dies aged 94
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| Viganò Claims: Ratzinger's Secretary For Two Decades Was A Practicing Homosexual |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-28-2022, 07:04 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Recall that it was Archbishop Viganò who said that " “these three elements – heresy, sodomy, and corruption – are so recurrent that they are almost a trademark of the deep state and of the deep church.”...
Viganò Claims: Ratzinger's Secretary For Two Decades Was A Practicing Homosexual
![[Image: 1ee6vvsuqdhy9ek1tmg55y6rlcmpbjjfiya459x....ormat=webp]](https://assistant.gloria.tv/FxK6pqhk7ZiS1AZwTDoBU6KMY/1ee6vvsuqdhy9ek1tmg55y6rlcmpbjjfiya459x.webp?format=webp)
Picture: Msgr. Josef Clemens
gloria.tv | May 25, 2022
Archbishop Carlo Viganò accuses the German born retired Curia Bishop Josef Clemens, 74, of being an active homosexual (LifeSiteNews.com, May 25).
Between 1984-2003, Clemens was Cardinal Ratzinger's personal secretary who then appointed him Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and consecrated him a bishop in 2004.
Before the consecration, Viganò - then the delegate for Pontifical Representations - asked Berlin Nuncio Giovanni Lajolo routinely for information about Clemens. Lajolo replied that there were strong suspicions that Clemens was an active homosexual and it was advised against making him a bishop.
Viganò says that Ratzinger wanted the promotion despite knowing about this. When Ratzinger exchanged Clemens with Gänswein in 2003, there was “quite a fight" between the two, Viganò recalls.
LifeSiteNews.com refers to "anonymous sources" stating that Ratzinger turned to Cologne Cardinal Meisner (+2017) asking him to take Clemens into his diocese but Meisner allegedly answered, "No, because of homo[sexuality]." Supposedly, Meisner wanted to offer Clemens a therapy who declined.
Other anonymous sources told LifeSiteNews.com that the fact that Clemens "was and is an active homosexual is well known among us here in Rome,” and that he is “well known for his tendencies among German-speaking colleagues in Rome who at times make jokes about his earlier profession as a hairdresser.”
Clemens denied to LifeSiteNews.com saying that this claim “is an untruth.” Questioned about the immorality of homosexual acts of a priest he explained that “this is known to a moral theologian who wrote his doctoral thesis in moral theology.”
The context of LifeSiteNews.com’s accusation is Clemens' visitation at the very wealthy Augustinian Abbey Klosterneuburg near Vienna (2020-2022) where he was sent as Papal Delegate to investigate allegations of homosex abuse.
LifeSiteNews articles here: Vatican sent bishop suspected of homosexuality to investigate abuse-ridden monastery and here: Abp. Viganò confirms Cdl. Ratzinger’s former secretary for 19 years was homosexual
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| Vatican official at Davos says the Church is implementing the WEF agenda |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-27-2022, 08:28 AM - Forum: Great Reset
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Vatican official at Davos says the Church is implementing the World Economic Forum agenda
The Catholic Church intends to 'implement policies and programs to put into practice the issues considered by the forum,'
said Father Leonir Chiarello, the Superior General of the Scalabrinian order.
Thu May 26, 2022
DAVOS, Switzerland (LifeSiteNews) – A Vatican cleric attending the 2022 Davos Summit, a conference hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) which advances a punishing “green” agenda, open borders, and “future pandemic” management, has said that the Catholic Church is “committed to the various issues considered at the forum.”
Speaking with Vatican News, Father Leonir Chiarello, Superior General of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Saint Charles (Scalabrinians), said that the Church leads the way in implementing many of the WEF’s globalist ideals.
Chiarello, whom Pope Francis appointed as a member of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, explained that there are eight “fundamental themes” which the Davos forum is considering at its annual meeting, including “climate and nature, fairer economics … health and healthcare, global cooperation, and society and equity.”
The superior general commended the forum on its commitment to “working together” under the umbrella of “co-responsibility and international co-operation … to proceed in the achievement of outcomes of these main topics we discuss in the forum.”
Many “challenges” that the forum wishes to address, according to the cleric, include the coronavirus crisis and wars around the world. Principally, Chiarello said the Church must work with secular organizations to “build consensus and a common agenda to address the issues of caring for nature, the economy, labor, technology, business, healthcare, social equity, and the other issues considered by the forum.”
Additionally, Chiarello said the Church is committed to “implement policies and programs to put into practice the issues considered by the forum” and “to establish mechanisms for international co-operation and co-responsibility aimed at achieving concrete results” from the goals set at the Swiss resort.
“The Catholic Church is already committed to the various issues considered at the forum, both globally and locally,” he confirmed.
The priest referenced “the perspective proposed by Pope Francis on the care of nature and the promotion of a more inclusive economy in Laudato Sí and Fratelli Tutti” as examples of the Church putting the WEF agenda into practice, but suggested that the “Catholic Church can do more by engaging with other initiatives already in place and involving other social and political actors’ initiatives developing on the local and global level.”
Grave concerns have already been raised by groups within the Catholic Church regarding the Pope’s support of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), part of the wider WEF-endorsed Agenda 2030 which calls for “universal access” to “sexual and reproductive health” and “reproductive rights.”
The UN defined these terms at its 1994 Cairo conference to denote providing women with “modern contraception” for “family planning” and with “safe abortion” anywhere the procedure is legal.
The perception that the Vatican has been aligning itself with the UN and WEF goals was strengthened after Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the passage of the SDGs at a 2016 pontifical conference attended by notorious abortion and population control advocate Jeffrey Sachs.
Sachs, one of the world’s most prominent supporters of the SDGs and a frequent visitor to the Vatican, also said the pope’s encyclical Laudato Sí – lauded by Chiarello as implementing the Davos agenda – “made possible” the passage of the SDGs.
![[Image: nuova-direzione-generale-scalabriniani-e...691239.jpg]](https://www.scalabriniani.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/nuova-direzione-generale-scalabriniani-e1541156691239.jpg)
Administrators of the Scalabriani order (elected til 2024) - from left: father Mariano Cisco (second councilor), father Mario Geremia (third councilor), father Leonir Chiarello (superior general), father Gianni Borin (vicar general and treasurer), father Graziano Battistella (fourth councilor), father Luigi Sabbarese (procurator general) Taken from here. |
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| Canada ordered thousands of smallpox vaccines weeks before monkeypox ‘outbreak’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-26-2022, 10:49 AM - Forum: Health
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Canada ordered thousands of smallpox vaccines weeks before monkeypox ‘outbreak’
Public Health Agency of Canada 'is procuring a stockpile of the vaccine' should 'a risk ever arise where smallpox is intentionally or unintentionally released,' the tender reads.
Wed May 25, 2022
(LifeSiteNews) — Public Services and Procurement Canada put out a tender for 500,000 smallpox vaccines doses that can be used against monkeypox weeks before the first cases were reported.
A report from Public Services and Procurement Canada shows that 500,000 doses of “a third generation” smallpox vaccine called Imvamune were ordered “on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)” on April 21, weeks before the first cases of monkeypox were reported to the World Health Organization on May 13.
“Although smallpox disease is currently considered to be eradicated, PHAC is procuring a stockpile of the vaccine to immunize Canadians against smallpox disease should a risk ever arise where smallpox is intentionally or unintentionally released,” the April 21 tender reads.
In the “Evaluation Criteria,” the contract states that “prior to contract award, the vaccine must have Health Canada regulatory approval for active immunization against smallpox, monkeypox and related orthopoxvirus infection and disease in adults 18 years of age and older determined to be at high risk for exposure.”
The “Term of Contract” is listed for April 1, 2023 to March 21, 2028.
The order for the shots comes despite Canada stopping the routine administration of smallpox vaccines in 1972 after the disease was considered “eradicated,” but just in time for the sudden onset of monkeypox, a disease from the same family in which the April tender indicates can be treated with the same Imvamune vaccine.
After five cases of monkeypox were “confirmed” in the province of Quebec last Friday, Canadian public health chief Dr. Theresa Tam said that the nation is looking at using smallpox vaccine doses as a means of preventing the spread of the rare disease.
While admitting that the disease only transmits through “prolonged close contact,” is much milder than smallpox, and with the WHO saying the disease has been “mainly but not exclusively” found in “men who have sex with men,” Tam and her deputy, Dr. Howard Njoo, warn that because Canadians have not been widely vaccinated against smallpox for the past 50 years, “the entire population is susceptible to monkeypox.”
Since the so-called outbreak of monkeypox in mid-May, many have begun to question the mainstream narrative surrounding the virus drawing parallels between the origin of monkeypox and the origin of COVID-19.
In an article for the Brownstone Institute, U.S. attorney Michael Senger pointed out that the “world’s first-ever global outbreak of Monkeypox” is occurring “just one year after an international biosecurity conference in Munich held a simulation of a ‘global pandemic involving an unusual strain of Monkeypox’ beginning in mid-May 2022.”
“The global Monkeypox outbreak — occurring on the exact timeline predicted by a biosecurity simulation of a global Monkeypox outbreak a year prior — bears a striking resemblance to the outbreak of COVID-19 just months after Event 201, a simulation of a coronavirus pandemic almost exactly like COVID-19,” Senger wrote in the piece.
“Event 201 was hosted in October 2019 — just two months before the coronavirus was first revealed in Wuhan — by the Gates Foundation, the World Economic Forum, Bloomberg, and Johns Hopkins. As with the Event 201, the participants at the Monkeypox simulation have thus far been stone silent as to their having participated in a pandemic simulation the facts of which happened to come true in real life just months later,” the lawyer added.
Like Canada, the United States recently placed a large $ 119 million order for 13 million “freeze-dried” smallpox vaccines that will be converted to monkeypox shots amid the outbreak.
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| The NHS Just Edited Their Monkeypox Page... To Make It Scarier |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-26-2022, 06:42 AM - Forum: Health
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The NHS Just Edited Their Monkeypox Page... To Make It Scarier
ZH | May 26, 2022 - 03:30 AM
Via Off-Guardian.org,
A few days ago the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) edited their Monkeypox page to alter the narrative in a few key ways.
Firstly, they removed a paragraph from the “How do you get Monkeypox?” section.
Up until a few days ago, according to archived links, the Monkeypox page said this, regarding person-to-person tranmission [emphasis added]:
Quote:It’s very uncommon to get monkeypox from a person with the infection because it does not spread easily between people.
…this has now been totally removed.
Secondly, they’ve removed this paragraph, which was present up until at least November of 2021 (and maybe much more recently, there are no archives between November and May) [emphasis added]:
Quote:[Monkeypox] is usually a mild illness that will get better on its own without treatment. Some people can develop more serious symptoms, so patients with monkeypox in the UK are cared for in specialist hospitals.
The new “treatment” paragraph reads [again, emphasis added]…
Quote:Treatment for monkeypox aims to relieve symptoms. The illness is usually mild and most people recover in 2 to 4 weeks […] You may need to stay in a specialist hospital, so your symptoms can be treated and to prevent the infection spreading to other people.
So, they remove that it will “get better on its own”, and again reinforce the idea of spreading the disease despite this being described as “very uncommon” as recently as last week.
They even add a line about self-isolating, which was never mentioned before:
Quote:as monkeypox can spread if there is close contact, you will need to be isolated if you’re diagnosed with it.
Finally, they now include a warning you can get Monkeypox by eating undercooked meat, which will doubtless feed into the anti-meat narrative too (oh, wait, it already is).
To sum up, history is being re-written a little here.
Before, monkeypox “did not spread easily between people”. Now it does.
Before, monkeypox would “get better on its own without treatment”. Now it won’t.
It’s early days to say that Monkeypox is going to be the “new Covid”, and maybe this rollout will stall and be forgotten in a couple of weeks, but there’s no doubt they are taking some tips from the Covid playbook so far.
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| Pope calls for gun control in US after Texas mass shooting |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-26-2022, 05:52 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope calls for gun control in US after Texas mass shooting, Chicago Cardinal agrees:
The Second Amendment did not come down from Sinai'
Blaze | May 25, 2022
The Pope called for more gun control in the United States after the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, and a Cardinal in Chicago agreed.
Pope Francis spoke about the shooting from St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during his weekly general audience.
"I am praying for the children and adults who were killed, and for their families. It is time to say enough to the indiscriminate trafficking of arms," Francis said Wednesday.
"Let us all make a commitment, so that tragedies like this cannot happen again," he added.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, agreed in a long statement via Twitter.
"The size of the crisis, and its sheer horror, make it all too easy to toss up one’s hands and declare: Nothing can be done. But that is the counsel of despair, and we are a people of hope. What do we hope for our children?" he tweeted.
"The Second Amendment did not come down from Sinai," Cupich added.
"The right to bear arms will never be more important than human life," he added. "Our children have rights too. And our elected officials have a moral duty to protect them."
The two Catholic leaders joined a throng of voices calling for increased restrictions on gun ownership rights. Among those was Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr who excoriated politicians for not passing more gun control.
On Wednesday, law enforcement authorities in Texas said all of the victims of the mass shooting had been identified. There were 19 student murder victims, two teacher murder victims, and the shooter was killed as well. Another 17 were injured.
One 10-year-old girl remained in serious condition on Wednesday, while another 9-year-old and a 10-year-old were in good condition.
Here's more about the Pope's gun statement:
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| The Poisoned Fruits of a Poisonous Deal |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-25-2022, 06:44 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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The Poisoned Fruits of a Poisonous Deal*
Written by Elizabeth Yore | May 24, 2022
“Silence is a true friend who never betrays.” ~ Confucius
There is no better friend to Communist China than the Bergoglio Vatican.
During the nine years of this interminable regime, the Holy See marched in quiet lockstep with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his brutal CCP enforcers while Xi launched a strategic campaign of terror against Chinese Catholics and Christians. The destruction and persecution of Catholics continues unabated in mainland China, and now, the once free Hong Kong is now firmly in the CCP’s crosshairs.
Predictably, symbols of religious freedom and truth are the first casualties of Communism. Accordingly, Xi’s henchmen rampaged and destroyed thousands of Christian houses of worship, churches, schools and orphanages. President Xi, like Mao Tse-tung is the self-appointed heavenly messenger whose photo replaces crucifixes and holy statutes in churches throughout China.
Yet, more threatening than religious structures to the Communists are the actual leaders and voices of religious freedom.
With a weak US President Biden and an ailing Bergoglio, Xi took advantage of the opportunity to make his move on Cardinal Zen, the leader of the religious freedom movement.
No voice of freedom is more beloved or respected than the 90 year old emeritus Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen and no one more feared by the CCP. On May 11, 2022, Beijing focused its furious crackdown on the frail, but mighty Prince of the Catholic Church and arrested Zen on trumped up charges of “colluding with foreign forces.”
Zen and the Hong Kong Catholics are on their own without the protection of the Vatican as they endure the growing persecution at the hands of the CCP. Bergoglio is either ignorant or uninterested in the stark historical lessons from Mao’s brutal crackdown on the Chinese Catholic Church and its hierarchy in the 1950s, which left thousands of clerical arrests, detentions, deportations, disappearances and deaths. Bergoglio’s callous disregard of the ongoing destruction and persecution of the Hong Kong Catholic Church demands global condemnation.
In 1957, Mao created the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (now embraced by Bergoglio) to replace and control the faithful Roman Catholic Church. As a result, the Catholic Church in China underwent a violent and widespread religious persecution at the hands of the Maoists.
In response to the persecution, Pope Pius XII in his 1958 encyclical, On Communism and the Church in China, powerfully warned the Catholic Church about the CCP- created sham Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church. This is the same patriotic Church which Cardinal Zen and countless faithful Catholics refuse to join, despite Bergoglio’s urging in his secret deal with the Communists.
The CCP pays the Vatican $2 billion a year since 2014.
In 1958, Pope Pius XII threw down the papal gauntlet on the faux Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church, leaving no doubt as to its evil intent:
“For under an appearance of patriotism, which in reality is just a fraud, this association aims primarily at making Catholics gradually embrace the tenets of atheistic materialism, by which God Himself is denied and religious principles are rejected.”
Unlike Bergoglio’s groveling submission to the CCP and its pseudo Catholic Patriotic Association, Pope Pius XII starkly and unequivocally condemned the insidious persecution of faithful Catholics who refuse to join the CCP’s Patriotic Association:
“In these meetings, the unwilling are forced to take part by incitement, threats, and deceit. If any bold spirit strives to defend truth, his voice is easily smothered and overcome and he is branded with a mark of infamy as an enemy of his native land and of the new society.
“In addition to these, there are the methods by which minds are upset - by every device, in private and in public, by traps, deceits, grave fear, by so-called forced confessions, by custody in a place where citizens are forcibly "reeducated," and those "Peoples' Courts" to which even venerable bishops are ignominiously dragged for trial.”
Pius XII denounced the physical and psychological torture which thousands of Catholic clerics and laity underwent by the brutal communist security forces. Fears grow that this same ignominious fate awaits the elderly Cardinal Zen. Tragically, Zen will not be protected by Bergoglio.
In the words of Mao,‘communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.” Bergoglio chose to throw the faithful Chinese Catholics to the CCP wolves, with his hideous secret pact with the godless CCP. Faithful Chinese Catholics are now abandoned by the Vatican, while the CCP viciously targets them as the “enemy of the state.”
Throughout his 90 years, Joseph Zen, this devoted son of the Catholic Church of China, experienced and endured the brutal hammer and wrath of the communists against the China Catholic Church. Yet, Bergoglio, the Vicar of Dialogue, refused to meet and listen to Cardinal Zen. Zen begged Bergoglio not to trust the lying and deceptive CCP.
The poisonous fruits of the 2018 secret agreement and its subsequent renewal, are painfully evident. Zen correctly saw the deal as “a betrayal” and “a suicide pact.” Bergoglio cruelly dismissed and ignored Zen’s pleas and blithely executed his clandestine deal with the devil, the Chinese Communists.
The Chinese Communists abundantly reward their collaborators for complicit silence with the allegation that the CCP pays the Vatican $2 billion a year since 2014. Not surprisingly, the Vatican has remained mute and uncritical in the face of 9 years of a brutal CCP crackdown against Chinese Catholics. no exception.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano captured the essence of the illegal, undemocratic and tyrannical arrest of 90 year old retired Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen by the CCP Hong Kong National Security Forces:
“The poisoned fruits of the Sino-Vatican Agreement are now apparent. The Bergoglian church prefers to remain silent about the persecution of Catholics who belong to the clandestine Church after having handed them over to retaliations at the hands of the patriotic sect and the Chinese Communist Party.”
“In exchange, Beijing rewards the Holy See for its services with substantial annual funding: the mercenaries allow themselves to be bought with thirty pieces of silver that are dripping with the blood of the martyrs of the Church of silence.”
Oh the irony, that the verbose and dialogue obsessed Bergoglio morphs into Bergoglio’s Church of Silence as it muzzles any response in the face of CCP persecution.
~Silence over the CCP violent suppression of the 2019 Hong Kong Freedom Protests.
~Silence over the CCP 2020 illegal arrest and show trial of Catholic freedom leaders, Jimmy Lai and Agnes Chow.
~Silence over the illegal arrest, detention and disappearance of Chinese Bishops
~Silence over the CCP destruction of Christian and Catholicchurches, clergy detention which followed the signing of the secret CCP-Vatican deal.
~Silence over the terms of the secret CCP-Vatican deal on the appointment of bishops.]
~Silence over the ongoing human rights abuses by the CCP.
~Silence over the arrest, harassment, and detention of Catholic priests who refuse to join the CCP created Patriotic Church.
~Silence over the unrelenting persecution of Catholics in China by the CCP since the signing of the secret Vatican deal.
~Silence over the CCP Wuhan generated virus.(rather shockingly the Vatican praised China’s handling of the virus).
The Chinese Catholic Church has endured centuries of persecution, most notably in the 20th and 21st century. Yet, the inevitable persecution of Cardinal Zen at the hands of Bergoglio’s CCP collaborators will reverberate around the world.
Joseph Zen will take consolation in the words of another persecuted Chinese Cardinal Ignatius Kung of Shanghai, who was imprisoned, tortured, and presumed dead for 33 years. After his release from prison, Kung wrote these prophetic and consoling words in 1991:
“The Church in China has suffered severe persecution. We have been able to stand in the front line of the Church. This is our glory. We should be glad and rejoice. As the Shanghai Catholic youth said, “we are greatly honored to have been born and lived at the important time, able to bear witness to Christ.”
“We should not be frightened when persecution comes, because it is not by our own strength that we conquer the world but by the strength of the glorified Christ who has risen from the dead. He said, “Do not fear, for I have conquered the world.”
The fruits of persecution will endure and nourish the Church in China far longer than the poisonous deal between the evil CCP and its Vatican collaborator.
*Description by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò of the arrest of Cardinal Zen.
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| Pope Pius XII: Cupimus Imprimis - On the Catholic Church in China [Apostolic Letter] |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-25-2022, 06:33 AM - Forum: Papal Documents and Bulls
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CUPIMUS IMPRIMIS
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CHINA
Apostolic Letter - Pope Pius XII - January 18, 1952
[Computer translated from the Italian here.]
First of all, we wish to express to you Our ardent affection for the whole people of China, who from the earliest times have distinguished themselves among the other peoples of Asia for their exploits, their literature and the splendor of their civilization, and , after having been illuminated by the light of the Gospel, which immensely surpasses the wisdom of this world, he drew from it greater riches for his spirit, that is, the Christian virtues, which perfect and consolidate the very civil virtues. In fact, as you well know, the Catholic religion does not contradict any doctrine that is true, or any public or private institution that has justice, freedom and charity as its foundation, but rather everything is promoted, enhanced and perfected by it. Indeed, it is in no way opposed to the natural disposition of each people,
For this reason we have been extremely saddened to know that among you the Catholic Church is considered, presented and fought as the enemy of your people; that its bishops, other sacred ministers and men and women religious very often, unfortunately, are either removed from their seats, or are hindered in the free exercise of their duties, as if it were not at the service of heavenly things, did not endeavor to cultivate and strengthen virtue in souls, to enlighten the minds in schools, to finally alleviate human suffering in hospitals and console children, young children and old people in hospices, but instead obeyed human interests and the lust for earthly power.
Therefore, although already in the recent encyclical Evangelii praecones we have addressed the word to all the faithful of the extreme regions of the East, who have suffered and are suffering precisely because they were and are very attached to their religion, nevertheless Our hearts and We particularly wish to address this letter, to console you, exhort you paternally, knowing well your anguish, your anxieties and your adversities. And since it is no less known to Us how great your steadfastness in faith and ardent love for Christ and his church are, we thank God the Father through his only begotten Son and our divine Redeemer, who has bestowed upon you from on high and he bestows strength on you, in order to sustain the holy battles for his glory and the salvation of souls.
To you, from all parts of the world, Catholics address their minds and hearts with admiration: "Your faith is celebrated throughout the world" ( Rom 1: 8); and to you too can be applied what the apostle to the nations writes: «They were tempted. . . you beg, distressed, afflicted. . . of which the world was not worthy "( Heb 11: 37-38). Not to your dishonor, therefore, but to your glory it must be attributed, if "through Christ you have been given the gift not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him" ( Phil 1:29 ).
Moreover, since it is a question of the cause of God and his holy church "do not be terrified of adversaries for anything" ( Phil 1:28 ); but be strong in that strength of soul which rests not on human strength, but on divine grace, obtained through prayer. Offer to God, as a sweet holocaust, your aches, your pains and your sufferings, so that he may, in his benevolence, finally grant tranquility and freedom to the church in China, and make everyone understand what the the rest is clearer than the light of the sun, that it does not seek earthly things, but celestial ones, and strives by its divine mandate to direct all its followers towards the heavenly homeland, with the practice of virtues and with good works.
As everyone knows and can easily see, there is certainly no shortage of those who strive to seize earthly power and seek every day more and more to extend and increase it; but the church does not aspire to this, nor does it seek it. Indeed, it strives to spread the truth of the Gospel, with which it adorns the hearts of men, improves them and makes them worthy of heaven, seeks to promote fraternal harmony among citizens, consoles and relieves the poor as much as possible, and consolidates and it strengthens the very foundations of the human consortium with the Christian virtues which are more powerful than any weapon. Those who adhere to none are inferior in the love of country; they obey the public authorities out of a duty of conscience and according to the norms established by God; they render to each one, and above all to God, what is due. It does not call to itself a single people, a single nation, but loves the people of any lineage with that supernatural love of Christ, which must unite all of them as brothers. Therefore no one can affirm that it is at the service of a particular power; likewise, it cannot be requested that, having broken the unity which its divine Founder wished to bestow on it, and constituting particular churches in each nation, these should be miserably separated from the Apostolic See, where Peter, Vicar of Jesus Christ, continues to live in his successors until the end of the centuries. If any Christian community wanted to do this, it would lose its vitality like a branch detached from the vine (cf. supernatural love of Christ, who must join all together as brothers. Therefore no one can affirm that it is at the service of a particular power; likewise, it cannot be requested that, having broken the unity which its divine Founder wished to bestow on it, and constituting particular churches in each nation, these should be miserably separated from the Apostolic See, where Peter, Vicar of Jesus Christ, continues to live in his successors until the end of the centuries. If any Christian community wanted to do this, it would lose its vitality like a branch detached from the vine (cf. supernatural love of Christ, who must join all together as brothers. Therefore no one can affirm that it is at the service of a particular power; likewise, it cannot be requested that, having broken the unity which its divine Founder wished to bestow on it, and constituting particular churches in each nation, these should be miserably separated from the Apostolic See, where Peter, Vicar of Jesus Christ, continues to live in his successors until the end of the centuries. If any Christian community wanted to do this, it would lose its vitality like a branch detached from the vine (cf. unity with which its divine Founder wanted to honor it, and particular churches in each nation are constituted, these are miserably separated from the Apostolic See, where Peter, vicar of Jesus Christ, continues to live in his successors until the end of the centuries. If any Christian community wanted to do this, it would lose its vitality like a branch detached from the vine (cf. unity with which its divine Founder wanted to honor it, and particular churches in each nation are constituted, these are miserably separated from the Apostolic See, where Peter, vicar of Jesus Christ, continues to live in his successors until the end of the centuries. If any Christian community wanted to do this, it would lose its vitality like a branch detached from the vine (cf.Jn 15: 6), nor could it produce wholesome fruit.
You, venerable brothers and beloved children, know all this well, and for this reason you oppose the firmness of your will to the pitfalls of all kinds, even if they are presented to you in a subtle way under false appearances of truth. Nor is it unknown to you that the missionaries of foreign nations are sent among you for this reason alone, to provide for the immense needs of your people in matters relating to the Christian religion, and to offer their help to the indigenous clergy, who are still numerically insufficient for the needs themselves. Therefore, as soon as this apostolic see had the opportunity to entrust your dioceses to bishops who were your fellow citizens, it did so willingly. In fact, twenty-five years have already passed since our predecessor Pius XI of happy memory, for his ardent love for the church of China; he himself consecrated the first six bishops, chosen from among your people, in the majesty of St. Peter's Basilica; and We ourselves, desirous of nothing more than to increase and make ever more lasting the progress of your church, a few years ago we constituted the sacred hierarchy in China and raised to the dignity of the Roman purple, first in the annals of history, a your fellow citizen.
If, therefore, all the missionaries who, having abandoned their beloved homeland, have fertilized the field of the Lord among you with their labors, are ordered to leave your places, as if they were harmful people, this, besides to be ungrateful to them, it returns very harmful to the very developments of your church. That if they are not citizens of a single foreign nation, but are chosen by many, indeed from all nations, where the Catholic religion is flourishing and the ardor of the apostolate is developed, the universal character of the Catholic Church is evident, and these heralds of the gospel ask for nothing else, want nothing else more than to choose your land as their second homeland, to illuminate it with the light of the evangelical doctrine, to introduce Christian customs,
Nor should it be less evident to all honest people that the religious, who also among you, as comforting angels, lend their work in schools, orphanages, hospitals, are driven to do so by that love. divine for which, renouncing the earthly marriage to be united with the celestial Spouse, they take your children as their own, especially the poor and the abandoned, and with a spirit of sweet and supernatural motherhood, as far as is in their power, they raise them, instruct them conveniently and educate them.
As you well know, the Catholic Church does all this by order and mandate of its divine Founder; this he does, let's say, nor does he ask for anything other than the legitimate freedom to be able to carry out his duties everywhere, for the good and salvation of the peoples themselves. And if she is attacked with false accusations, her pastors and her followers must not lose heart, but confidently lean on the promises of Jesus Christ expressed with these solemn words: "The gates of hell will not be able to prevail against her" ( Mt 16:18 ); "And behold, I will be with you always until the end of the ages" ( Mt28, 20). On the contrary, please raise ardent prayers to God for the persecutors themselves, so that in his goodness, with his light and with the motion of his grace, he illumines their minds, moves them and directs them towards the celestial truths. Continue to work in this way, venerable brothers and beloved children, without fear of dangers and difficulties, but mindful of that sublime sentence of the divine Redeemer: «Blessed are those who weep: for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice: for they will be satisfied. ... Blessed are you, when they curse you, and persecute you, and lying they will say every evil of you for my sake. Rejoice and rejoice: for great is your reward in heaven "( Mt5, 5-12). As in the early days of the Church, the Apostles "went away full of joy. . . since they had been deemed worthy to suffer contumelia for the name of Jesus "( Acts 5:41), so you too do not be frightened, but with your eyes, minds and souls turned towards heaven, be filled with that joy and those heavenly consolations, which derive from a good conscience and are nourished by the firm hope of the eternal reward.
Already other times along the course of the centuries your church has had to endure very fierce persecutions, your soil has already been purple with the sacred blood of the martyrs; however, you can rightly apply those famous words to yourselves: «We become more and more numerous every time we are reaped ...; the blood of Christians is seed ”. ( 2 ) As everyone can observe all human things, sad or happy, weak or very powerful, sooner or later they will have to disappear; but the society that Christ the Lord founded, under the guidance of the eternal God, through difficulties and contrasts, snares and triumphs, struggles and victories, will continue to carry out its mission of peace and salvation until the end of the centuries: it can in fact be fought, but it cannot be won. Firmly therefore trusting in the divine promises, in no way let yourselves be intimidated; as the sun shines again after storms, so after so much anguish, upheaval and suffering, peace, tranquility and freedom will finally shine on your church with God's help. In the meantime, together with your prayers, Our supplications and those of all the faithful come together in the most intense manner, and almost do sweet violence to the Father of mercies, to implore from him that as soon as possible and in the happiest way this happens.
Let us pray that those holy martyrs who already gave an example of heroism to your ancestors, and who now enjoy immortal glory in heaven, may obtain this for you; this is obtained mainly by the Virgin Mother of God Mary, Queen of China whom you love and venerate with such ardor of piety. May she bring in a particular way her very valid comfort to all those who find themselves in danger, in distress, in prison, in exile; and may she be especially present with her assistance to those who, having formed a peaceful association, have consecrated themselves to her service and boast in her name, and grant them strength, consolation, help.
As we raise Our suppliant hands to heaven, and implore for you divine grace, bearer of Christian strength, in the hope of this and as a sign of Our benevolence, to each of you, venerable brothers, and to all the faithful who have been entrusted to the your pastoral care, we cordially impart the apostolic blessing in the Lord.
Rome, at Saint Peter's, January 18, the feast of the Roman chair of Saint Peter, in the year 1952, the thirteenth of our pontificate.
PIO PP. XII
(1) PIUS PP. XII, Epist. apost. Cupimus imprimis de catholica Ecclesia in Sinis, [Ad venerabiles Fratres ac dilectos Filios Archiepiscopos, Episcopos aliosque locorum Ordinarios ceterumque Clerum ac populum Sinarum, pacem et communionem cum Apostolica Sede habentes], 18 ianuarii 1952: AAS 44 (1952). pp. 153-158.
Fears for the difficult situation of the church in China. I invite you to remain steadfast in the faith and united to the Roman See, if necessary even up to martyrdom.
(2) TERTULLIANUS, Apolog ., 50: PL 1, 534.
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| Pope Pius XII: Ad Apostolorum Principis - On Communism and the Church in China |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-25-2022, 06:24 AM - Forum: Encyclicals
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AD APOSTOLORUM PRINCIPIS
ON COMMUNISM AND THE CHURCH IN CHINA
POPE PIUS XII - June 29, 1958
TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN AND BELOVED CHILDREN, THE ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES AND CLERGY AND PEOPLE OF CHINA IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children,
Greetings and Apostolic Benediction.
At the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, in the majestic Vatican Basilica, Our immediate Predecessor of deathless memory, Pius XI, duly consecrated and raised to the fullness of the priesthood, as you well know, "the flowers and . . . latest buds of the Chinese episcopate."[1]
2. On that solemn occasion he added these words: "You have come, Venerable Brethren, to visit Peter, and you have received from him the shepherd's staff, with which to undertake your apostolic journeys and to gather together your sheep. It is Peter who with great love has embraced you who are in great part Our hope for the spread of the truth of the Gospel among your people."[2]
3. The memory of that allocution comes to Our mind today, Venerable Brethren and dear children, as the Catholic Church in your fatherland is experiencing great suffering and loss. But the hope of our great Predecessor was not in vain, nor did it prove without effect, for new bands of shepherds and heralds of the Gospel have been joined to the first group of bishops whom Peter, living in his Successor, sent to feed those chosen flocks of the Lord.
4. New works and religious undertakings prospered among you despite many obstacles. We too shared that hope when later We had the pleasure of establishing the hierarchy in China and saw yet wider paths opening up for the spread of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
5. But, alas, after a few years the sky was overcast by storm clouds. On your Christian communities, many of which had been flourishing from times long past, there fell sad and sorrowful times. Missionaries, among whom were many archbishops and bishops noted for their apostolic zeal, and Our own Internuncio were driven from China, while bishops, priests, and religious men and women, together with many of the faithful, were cast into prison or incurred every kind of restraint and suffering.
6. On that occasion We raised Our voice in sorrow, and, in Our Encyclical of January 18, 1952, Cupimus imprimis,[3] rebuked the unjust attack. In that letter, for the sake of truth and conscious of Our duty, We declared that the Catholic Church is a stranger to no people on earth, much less hostile to any. With a mother's anxiety, she embraces all peoples in impartial charity. She seeks no earthly advantage but employs what powers she possesses to attract the souls of all men to seek what is eternal. We also stated that missionaries promote the interest of no particular nation; they come from every quarter of the earth and are united by a single love, God, and thus they seek and hope for nothing else save the spread of God's kingdom. Thus, it is clear that their work is neither without purpose nor harmful, but beneficent and necessary since it aids Chinese priests in their Christian apostolate.
7. And some two years later, October 7, 1954, another Encyclical Letter was addressed to you, beginning Ad Sinarum gentem,[4] in which We refuted accusations made against Catholics in China. We openly declared that Catholics yielded to none (nor could they do so) in their true loyalty and love of their native country. Seeing also that there was being spread among you the doctrine of the so-called "three autonomies," We warned - by virtue of that universal teaching authority which We exercise by divine command - that this same doctrine as understood by its authors, whether in theory or in its consequences, cannot receive the approval of a Catholic, since it turns minds away from the essential unity of the Church.
8. In these days, however, We have to draw attention to the fact that the Church in your lands in recent years has been brought to still worse straits. In the midst of so many great sorrows it brings Us great comfort to note that in the daily attacks which you have met neither unflinching faith nor the most ardent love of the Divine Redeemer and of His Church has been wanting. You have borne witness to this faith and love in innumerable ways, of which only a small part is known to men, but for all of which you will someday receive an eternal reward from God.
9. Nevertheless We regard it as Our duty to declare openly, with a heart filled to its depths with sorrow and anxiety, that affairs in China are, by deceit and cunning endeavor, changing so much for the worse that the false doctrine already condemned by Us seems to be approaching its final stages and to be causing its most serious damage.
10. For by particularly subtle activity an association has been created among you to which has been attached the title of "patriotic," and Catholics are being forced by every means to take part in it. This association - as has often been proclaimed - was formed ostensibly to join the clergy and the faithful in love of their religion and their country, with these objectives in view: that they might foster patriotic sentiments; that they might advance the cause of international peace; that they might accept that species of socialism which has been introduced among you and, having accepted it, support and spread it; that, finally, they might actively cooperate with civil authorities in defending what they describe as political and religious freedom. And yet - despite these sweeping generalizations about defense of peace and the fatherland, which can certainly deceive the unsuspecting - it is perfectly clear that this association is simply an attempt to execute certain well defined and ruinous policies.
11. For under an appearance of patriotism, which in reality is just a fraud, this association aims primarily at making Catholics gradually embrace the tenets of atheistic materialism, by which God Himself is denied and religious principles are rejected.
12. Under the guise of defending peace the same association receives and spreads false rumors and accusations by which many of the clergy, including venerable bishops and even the Holy See itself, are claimed to admit to and promote schemes for earthly domination or to give ready and willing consent to exploitation of the people, as if they, with preconceived opinions, are acting with hostile intent against the Chinese nation.
13. While they declare that it is essential that every kind of freedom exist in religious matters and that this makes mutual relations between the ecclesiastical and civil powers easier, this association in reality aims at setting aside and neglecting the rights of the Church and effecting its complete subjection to civil authorities.
14. Hence all its members are forced to approve those unjust prescriptions by which missionaries are cast into exile, and by which bishops, priests, religious men, nuns, and the faithful in considerable numbers are thrust into prison; to consent to those measures by which the jurisdiction of many legitimate pastors is persistently obstructed; to defend wicked principles totally opposed to the unity, universality, and hierarchical constitution of the Church; to admit those first steps by which the clergy and faithful are undermined in the obedience due to legitimate bishops; and to separate Catholic communities from the Apostolic See.
15. In order to spread these wicked principles more efficiently and to fix them in everyone's mind, this association - which, as We have said, boasts of its patriotism - uses a variety of means including violence and oppression, numerous lengthy publications, and group meetings and congresses.
16. In these meetings, the unwilling are forced to take part by incitement, threats, and deceit. If any bold spirit strives to defend truth, his voice is easily smothered and overcome and he is branded with a mark of infamy as an enemy of his native land and of the new society.
17. There should also be noted those courses of instruction by which pupils are forced to imbibe and embrace this false doctrine. Priests, religious men and women, ecclesiastical students, and faithful of all ages are forced to attend these courses. An almost endless series of lectures and discussions, lasting for weeks and months, so weaken and benumb the strength of mind and will that by a kind of psychic coercion an assent is extracted which contains almost no human element, an assent which is not freely asked for as should be the case.
18. In addition to these there are the methods by which minds are upset - by every device, in private and in public, by traps, deceits, grave fear, by so-called forced confessions, by custody in a place where citizens are forcibly "reeducated," and those "Peoples' Courts" to which even venerable bishops are ignominiously dragged for trial.
19. Against methods of acting such as these, which violate the principal rights of the human person and trample on the sacred liberty of the sons of God, all Christians from every part of the world, indeed all men of good sense cannot refrain from raising their voices with Us in real horror and from uttering a protest deploring the deranged conscience of their fellow men.
20. And since these crimes are being committed under the guise of patriotism, We consider it Our duty to remind everyone once again of the Church's teaching on this subject.
21. For the Church exhorts and encourages Catholics to love their country with sincere and strong love, to give due obedience in accord with natural and positive divine law to those who hold public office, to give them active and ready assistance for the promotion of those undertakings by which their native land can in peace and order daily achieve greater prosperity and further true development.
22. The Church has always impressed on the minds of her children that declaration of the Divine Redeemer: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."[5] We call it a declaration because these words make certain and incontestable the principle that Christianity never opposes or obstructs what is truly useful or advantageous to a country.
23. However, if Christians are bound in conscience to render to Caesar (that is, to human authority) what belongs to Caesar, then Caesar likewise, or those who control the state, cannot exact obedience when they would be usurping God's rights or forcing Christians either to act at variance with their religious duties or to sever themselves from the unity of the Church and its lawful hierarchy.
24. Under such circumstances, every Christian should cast aside all doubt and calmly and firmly repeat the words with which Peter and the other Apostles answered the first persecutors of the Church: "We must obey God rather than men."[6]
25. With emphatic insistence, those who promote the interests of this association which claims a monopoly on patriotism, speak over and over again of peace and admonish Catholics earnestly to exert all their efforts to establish it. On the surface these words are excellent and righteous, for who deserves greater praise than the man who prepares the way to introduce and establish peace?
26. But peace - as you well know, Venerable Brethren and beloved sons - does not consist of words alone and does not rely on changing formulas which are suitable for the moment but contradict one's real plans and practices, which do not conform with the meaning and way of true peace but with hatred, discord, and deceit.
27. Peace worthy of the name must be founded on the principles of charity and justice which He taught who is the "Prince of Peace,"[7] and who adopted this title as a kind of royal standard for Himself. True peace is that which the Church desires to be established: one that is stable, just, fair, and founded on right order; one which binds all together - citizens, families, and peoples - by the firm ties of the rights of the Supreme Lawgiver, and by the bonds of mutual fraternal love and cooperation.
28. As she looks forward to and hopes for this peaceful dwelling together of nations, the Church expects each nation to preserve that degree of dignity which becomes it. For the Church, which has ever kept a friendly attitude toward the various events in your country, long ago spoke through Our late Predecessor of happy memory and expressed the desire that "full recognition be given to the legitimate aspirations and rights of the nation, which is more populous than any other, whose civilization and culture go back to the earliest times, which has, in past ages, with the development of its resources, had periods of great prosperity, and which - it may be reasonably conjectured - will become even greater in the future ages, provided it pursues justice and honor."[8]
29. On the other hand, as has been made known by radio and by the press, there are some - even among the ranks of the clergy - who do not shrink from casting suspicion on the Apostolic See and hint that it has evil designs toward your country.
30. Assuming false and unjust premises, they are not afraid to take a position which would confine within a narrow scope the supreme teaching authority of the Church, claiming that there are certain questions - such as those which concern social and economic matters - in which Catholics may ignore the teachings and the directives of this Apostolic See.
31. This opinion - it seems entirely unnecessary to demonstrate its existence - is utterly false and full of error because, as We declared a few years ago to a special meeting of Our Venerable Brethren in the episcopacy:
32. "The power of the Church is in no sense limited to so-called 'strictly religious matters"; but the whole matter of the natural law, its institution, interpretation and application, in so far as the moral aspect is concerned, are within its power.
33. "By God's appointment the observance of the natural law concerns the way by which man must strive toward his supernatural end. The Church shows the way and is the guide and guardian of men with respect to their supernatural end."[9]
34. This truth had already been wisely explained by Our Predecessor St. Pius X in his Encyclical Letter Singulari quadam of September 24, 1912, in which he made this statement: "All actions of a Christian man so far as they are morally either good or bad - that is, so far as they agree with or are contrary to the natural and divine law - fall under the judgment and jurisdiction of the Church."[10]
35. Moreover, even when those who arbitrarily set and defend these narrow limits profess a desire to obey the Roman Pontiff with regard to truths to be believed, and to observe what they call ecclesiastical directives, they proceed with such boldness that they refuse to obey the precise and definite prescriptions of the Holy See. They protest that these refer to political affairs because of a hidden meaning by the author, as if these prescriptions took their origin from some secret conspiracy against their own nation.
36. Here We must mention a symptom of this falling away from the Church. It is a very serious matter and fills Our heart - the heart of a Father and universal Pastor of the faithful - with a grief that defies description. For those who profess themselves most interested in the welfare of their country have for some considerable time been striving to disseminate among the people the position, devoid of all truth, that Catholics have the power of directly electing their bishops. To excuse this kind of election they allege a need to look after the good souls with all possible speed and to entrust the administration of dioceses to those pastors who, because they do not oppose the communist desires and political methods, are acceptable by the civil power.
37. We have heard that many such elections have been held contrary to all right and law and that, in addition, certain ecclesiastics have rashly dared to receive episcopal consecration, despite the public and severe warning which this Apostolic See gave those involved.
Since, therefore, such serious offenses against the discipline and unity of the Church are being committed, We must in conscience warn all that this is completely at variance with the teachings and principles on which rests the right order of the society divinely instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord.
38. For it has been clearly and expressly laid down in the canons that it pertains to the one Apostolic See to judge whether a person is fit for the dignity and burden of the episcopacy,[11] and that complete freedom in the nomination of bishops is the right of the Roman Pontiff.[12] But if, as happens at times, some persons or groups are permitted to participate in the selection of an episcopal candidate, this is lawful only if the Apostolic See has allowed it in express terms and in each particular case for clearly defined persons or groups, the conditions and circumstances being very plainly determined.
39. Granted this exception, it follows that bishops who have been neither named nor confirmed by the Apostolic See, but who, on the contrary, have been elected and consecrated in defiance of its express orders, enjoy no powers of teaching or of jurisdiction since jurisdiction passes to bishops only through the Roman Pontiff as We admonished in the Encyclical Letter Mystici Corporis in the following words: ". . . As far as his own diocese is concerned each (bishop) feeds the flock entrusted to him as a true shepherd and rules it in the name of Christ. Yet in exercising this office they are not altogether independent but are subordinate to the lawful authority of the Roman Pontiff, although enjoying ordinary power of jurisdiction which they receive directly from the same Supreme Pontiff."[13]
40. And when We later addressed to you the letter Ad Sinarum gentem, We again referred to this teaching in these words: "The power of jurisdiction which is conferred directly by divine right on the Supreme Pontiff comes to bishops by that same right, but only through the successor of Peter, to whom not only the faithful but also all bishops are bound to be constantly subject and to adhere both by the reverence of obedience and by the bond of unity."[14]
41. Acts requiring the power of Holy Orders which are performed by ecclesiastics of this kind, though they are valid as long as the consecration conferred on them was valid, are yet gravely illicit, that is, criminal and sacrilegious.
42. To such conduct the warning words of the Divine Teacher fittingly apply: "He who enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up another way, is a thief and a robber."[15] The sheep indeed know the true shepherd's voice. "But a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."[16]
43. We are aware that those who thus belittle obedience in order to justify themselves with regard to those functions which they have unrighteously assumed, defend their position by recalling a usage which prevailed in ages past. Yet everyone sees that all ecclesiastical discipline is overthrown if it is in any way lawful for one to restore arrangements which are no longer valid because the supreme authority of the Church long ago decreed otherwise. In no sense do they excuse their way of acting by appealing to another custom, and they indisputably prove that they follow this line deliberately in order to escape from the discipline which now prevails and which they ought to be obeying.
44. We mean that discipline which has been established not only for China and the regions recently enlightened by the light of the Gospel, but for the whole Church, a discipline which takes its sanction from that universal and supreme power of caring for, ruling, and governing which our Lord granted to the successors in the office of St. Peter the Apostle.
45. Well known are the terms of Vatican Council's solemn definition: "Relying on the open testimony of the Scriptures and abiding by the wise and clear decrees both of our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, and the general Councils, We renew the definition of the Ecumenical Council of Florence, by virtue of which all the faithful must believe that 'the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold primacy over the whole world, and the Roman Pontiff himself is the Successor of the blessed Peter and continues to be the true Vicar of Christ and head of the whole Church, the father and teacher of all Christians, and to him is the blessed Peter our Lord Jesus Christ committed the full power of caring for, ruling and governing the Universal Church....'
46. "We teach, . . . We declare that the Roman Church by the Providence of God holds the primacy of ordinary power over all others, and that this power of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, which is truly episcopal, is immediate. Toward it, the pastors and the faithful of whatever rite and dignity, both individually and collectively, are bound by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, not only in matters which pertain to faith and morals, but also in those which concern the discipline and government of the Church spread throughout the whole world, in such a way that once the unity of communion and the profession of the same Faith has been preserved with the Roman Pontiff, there is one flock of the Church of Christ under one supreme shepherd. This is the teaching of the Catholic truth from which no one can depart without loss of faith and salvation."[17]
47. From what We have said, it follows that no authority whatsoever, save that which is proper to the Supreme Pastor, can render void the canonical appointment granted to any bishop; that no person or group, whether of priests or of laymen, can claim the right of nominating bishops; that no one can lawfully confer episcopal consecration unless he has received the mandate of the Apostolic See.[18]
48. Consequently, if consecration of this kind is being done contrary to all right and law, and by this crime the unity of the Church is being seriously attacked, an excommunication reserved specialissimo modo to the Apostolic See has been established which is automatically incurred by the consecrator and by anyone who has received consecration irresponsibly conferred.[19]
49. What then is to be the opinion concerning the excuse added by members of the association promoting false patriotism, that they had to act as they alleged because of the need to tend to the souls in those dioceses which were then without a bishop?
50. It is obvious that no thought is being taken of the spiritual good of the faithful if the Church's laws are being violated, and further, there is no question of vacant sees, as they wish to argue in defense, but of episcopal sees whose legitimate rulers have been driven out or now languish in prison or are being obstructed in various ways from the free exercise of their power of jurisdiction. It must likewise be added that those clerics have been cast into prison, exiled, or removed by other means, whom the lawful ecclesiastical superiors had designated in accordance with canon law and the special powers received from the Apostolic See to act in their place in the government of the dioceses.
51. It is surely a matter for grief that while holy bishops noted for their zeal for souls are enduring so many trials, advantage is taken of their difficulties to establish false shepherds in their place so that the hierarchical order of the Church is overthrown and the authority of the Roman Pontiff is treacherously resisted.
52. And some have even become so arrogant that they blame the Apostolic See for these terrible and tragic events (which have certainly been deliberate accomplishments of the Church's persecutors) even though everyone knows that the Church has been unable, in the past and at present, when such information has been needed, to obtain requisite data about qualified candidates for the episcopacy simply because she was prevented from communicating freely and safely with the dioceses of China.
53. Venerable brethren and dear children, thus far We have told you of the anxiety with which we are moved by the errors which certain men are trying to sow among you, and by the dissensions which are being aroused. Our intention is that, enlightened and strengthened by the encouragement of your common father, you may remain steadfast and without blemish in that faith by which We are united and by which alone We shall obtain salvation.
54. But now, following the ardent dictates of Our heart, We must tell you of the close and particular feelings of intimacy which draw Us near to you. To Our mind come those torments which rend asunder your bodies or your minds, particularly those which the most valiant witnesses of Christ are enduring, among whose number are several of Our Venerable Brethren in the episcopate. Daily at the altar We offer to the Divine Redeemer the trials of all of them, together with the prayers and sufferings of the whole Church.
55. Be constant then and put your trust in Him according to the words: "Cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you."[20]
56. He sees clearly your anguish and your torments. He particularly finds acceptable the grief of soul and the tears which many of you, bishops and priests, religious and laymen, pour forth in secret when they behold the efforts of those who are striving to subvert the Christians among you. These tears, these bodily pains and tortures, the blood of the martyrs of past and present - all will bring it about that, through the powerful intervention of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, Queen of China, the Church in your native land will at long last regain its strength and in a calmer age, happier days will shine upon it.
57. Relying on this hope, to you and to the flocks committed to your care We most lovingly grant in the Lord, as a token of divine gifts and a sign of Our special good will, Our Apostolic Benediction.
Given at St. Peter's, in Rome, June 29th, the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in the year 1958, the 20th of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
1. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 18 (1926) 432.
2. Ibid.
3. AAS 44 (1952) 153 and ff.
4. AAS 47 (1955) 5 ff.
5. Luke 20:25.
6. Acts 5:29.
7. Isaias 9:6.
8. Cfr. message of Pius XI to the Apostolic Delegate to China, Aug. 1, 1928: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 20 (1928) 245.
9. Address to Cardinals and Bishops, Nov. 2, 1954: AAS 46 (1954) 671-672. [Eng. tr.: TPS v. 1, no. 4, pp. 375 ff. - Ed.]
10. AAS 4(1912) 658.
11. Canon 331, sect. 3.
12. Canon 329, sect. 2.
13. Encyclical letter Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943: AAS 35 (1943) 211-212.
14. Encyclical epistle Ad Sinarum gentem, Oct. 7, 1954: AAS 47 (1955) 9.
15. John 10:1.
16. John 10:4-5.
17. Vatican Council, session IV, chap. 3; Coll. Lac., Vll, p.484.
18. Canon 953.
19. Decree of Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, April 9, 1951: AAS 43 (1951) pp. 217-18.
20. I Peter 5:7.
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| Florida bishop cracks down on Latin Mass and sacraments in full conformity to Pope’s directive |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-25-2022, 05:29 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
- No Replies
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Florida bishop cracks down on Latin Mass and sacraments in full conformity to Pope’s directive
Latin Mass in Jacksonville’s gem of a basilica is being abolished, and so are most traditional sacraments in the diocese,
as a result of a decree implementing Traditionis Custodes.
![[Image: estevez-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/estevez-810x500.jpg)
Bishop Felipe Estévez
Tue May 24, 2022
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (LifeSiteNews [emphasis mine) ) — A Florida bishop last week decreed that Traditionis Custodes be fully implemented in his diocese, thus ending the traditional Latin Mass in Jacksonville’s basilica and effectively banning most traditional rite sacraments.
Under the sweeping restrictions on the traditional liturgy and sacraments announced by Bishop Felipe J. Estevez of the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida on May 18, the traditional Latin Mass at Jacksonville’s Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, locally renowned for its beauty, will be axed when Traditionis Custodes takes full effect in the diocese on June 29.
The basilica’s pastor, Father Blair, announced the expiration of the Traditional Latin Mass at his parish in the May 22 church bulletin, explaining that it was “due to the official denial of permission for the continuation of the Traditional Latin Mass at the Basilica … ”
In his decree, Estevez has relegated the traditional Latin Mass in the diocese to two churches where it is already celebrated: St. Joseph’s Parish in Jacksonville and St. Edward’s Parish in Starke, where it is only celebrated on the third Sunday of the month.*
As per the instructions of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and its accompanying Responsa Ad Dubia, Estevez decreed that “there should be no increase” of Traditional Latin Masses (said according to the Missale Romanum of 1962) beyond those approved; that the readings for Latin Masses “are not to be proclaimed in Latin;” and that “There should be no celebration of other sacraments and/or rites according to the Rituale Romanum,” which includes baptism, penance, Holy Communion, matrimony, and extreme unction, excluding only Holy Orders and Confirmation.
Estevez added that those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass should receive “appropriate catechesis” [aka re-education - The Catacombs] regarding “the celebration of the liturgy according to the liturgical norms of the Second Vatican Council.”
The bishop’s instruction immediately following this point states that “It is never proper for elements of the Missale Romanum of 1962 to be brought into reformed liturgy promulgated by the Holy See following Vatican II.”
Eric Sammons, editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine, slammed the entire decree but singled out the last instruction as the “biggest howler,” suggesting it is absurd and impossible to completely exclude “elements” of the Traditional Latin Mass from the Novus Ordo Missae.
“So no more readings? Or signs of the cross? Or consecrations?” Sammons questioned.
It is unclear whether Estevez is advising adherence to norms that exist only in practice or to actual directives of the Vatican II document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. The document itself prescribed that “the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites,” and that Gregorian chant “should be given pride of place in liturgical services.”
Along with the announcement that the basilica’s Latin Masses would be canceled beginning at the end of June, Fr. Blair included in his Sunday bulletin an instruction from the Diocese of St. Augustine advising Catholics not to attend Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) Masses, and not to “avail themselves in” the sacraments or rites of the Rituale Romanum, because Pope Benedict XVI stated in 2009 that “the Society has no canonical status in the Church.”
However, Pope Francis later gave the SSPX faculties to hear confessions and celebrate marriages, prompting Bishop Athanasius Schneider to comment, “It’s difficult to say that these priests are outside the church or are schismatic when they possess the ordinary faculties of Confession given by the Pope himself. And then the pope authorized the bishops … to grant the priests of SSPX the faculties to assist canonically at marriages.”
Schneider believes that “actually the SSPX does no other thing [than what] the Church believed, as the Church worshiped, as the Church lived, until the Council, all these centuries.”
Kennedy Hall has noted that being “in communion” with the Catholic Church is a binary concept that “does not permit of degrees,” and so one cannot be in “partial communion” any more than someone is “partially pregnant or partially married to someone.”
He goes on to point out that “Neither schismatic Orthodox nor Protestants are allowed to receive Holy Communion or any other Sacraments until they convert,” but the faithful of the SSPX may receive Holy Communion in any Catholic parish “because all are baptized members of the Holy Catholic Church and none are excommunicated or schismatic,” adding, “With this simple understanding it is clear that the SSPX is in communion” with the Church.
A number of faithful clerics and laymen have decried Traditionis Custodes as “illegitimate” and have urged priests to ignore it entirely. Esteemed liturgist Dr. Peter Kwasniewski maintains that true obedience to God requires that we disobey Traditionis Custodes, and that we are “obliged to resist” it.
During a speech at the 2021 Catholic Identity Conference, Kwasniewski highlighted St. Pius V’s bull Quo Primum, which declared of the Tridentine Mass,
Quote:“In virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that … this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty … ” and that no priest is “obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us.”
“We likewise declare and ordain … that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remains always valid and retains its full force … Would anyone, however, presume to commit such an act [i.e., altering Quo Primum], he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.”
Kwasniewski has asserted that Traditionis Custodes’ “fundamental message” is: “What earlier generations held as sacred does not remain sacred and great for us too, and it can be all of a sudden entirely forbidden and considered harmful. It does not behoove all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, or to give them a place at all.”
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has gone so far as to state that
Quote:“Those who limit themselves to expressing reservations or criticisms of Traditionis Custodes and of the Responsa fall into the trap of the adversary, because by doing so they recognize the legitimacy of an illegitimate and invalid law … ”
“Traditionis Custodesand the Responsa must simply be ignored, returned to the sender. They must be ignored because it is clear that their intention is to punish Catholics who remain faithful, to disperse them, and to make them disappear,” Viganò continued.
He noted that such “traditionalists” “oppose heterodox doctrines condemned up until Vatican II, which it made its own.”
It was announced Monday that Bishop Estevez’s retirement has been accepted by Pope Francis, and that Arkansas priest, Father Erik Pohlmeier will succeed him as the next bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine.
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| Pope Francis would allegedly rather resign than undergo surgery again |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-25-2022, 05:13 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
- No Replies
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Gloria.tv reports [May 24, 2022]:
Francis: “Rather Than Have Surgery I Resign”
During a May 23 meeting with the Italian bishops, Francis allegedly said, that he doesn't want to undergo surgery for his gonarthrosis and arthrosis of the hip.
He explained that the last time - when he underwent surgery to solve his colon problem - the anaesthesia caused him unpleasant consequences. According to Sandro Magister he added, “Rather than have surgery I resign.”
The pain in his knee and hip he hopes to solve with massive infiltrations [which will not suffice] and by using the wheelchair as much as possible.
For IlSismografo it is more plausible that the unpleasant effects (Francis: “trouble in the head”) were caused by powerful painkillers used during the first 48 hours after surgery.
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| Francis appoints cardinal praised by top Freemason as president of Italian bishops’ conference |
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Posted by: Stone - 05-25-2022, 05:10 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis appoints pro-LGBT cardinal praised by top Freemason as president of Italian bishops’ conference
Cardinal Zuppi ‘would be a very good pope’ said Masonic Grand Master Gioele Magaldi in 2020.
![[Image: zuppi-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/zuppi-810x500.jpg)
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Pope Francis
Tue May 24, 2022
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [adapted]) – Pope Francis has appointed a pro-LGBT cardinal to be the new president of the Italian Bishops Conference, two years after a Masonic Grand Master praised him as a potential Pope.
On the second day of the 76th General Assembly of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), Pope Francis chose Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the 66-year-old Archbishop of Bologna, to lead the CEI for the next five years.
Cardinal Zuppi had received the most votes from the assembled bishops, followed by the assembly’s second and third choices – Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice and Bishop Antonino Raspanti.
Due to the intimate link between the CEI and the Roman Pontiff, the assembly of bishops vote for three candidates as president, and the Pope then selects the president from these three.
Zuppi was made cardinal on October 2019 by Pope Francis. He had previously been an auxiliary bishop of Rome from 2012 – 2015, before being appointed Archbishop of Bologna in December 2015.
Pope Francis, prior to the General Assembly, declared that he wanted “an authoritative cardinal” as leader of the CEI. Zuppi is considered by Vatican observers as a possible future Pope, or papabile, and is a familiar figure on Italian television networks.
History of pro-LGBT activism
Zuppi is widely regarded as a liberal in ecclesiastical circles, being a public proponent of LGBT ideology. In 2018 Zuppi penned an essay for the Italian translation of Father James Martin’s widely condemned pro-LGBT book, saying that the work was “useful for encouraging dialogue, as well as reciprocal knowledge and understanding, in view of a new pastoral attitude that we must seek together with our L.G.B.T. brothers and sisters.”
He also quoted Cardinal Kevin Farrell’s commendation of the book, noting “it will also help L.G.B.T. Catholics feel more at home in what is, after all, their church.”
Zuppi also praised another pro-LGBT work, written by an employee of the CEI in 2020, which called for a change in the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. Writing a preface for the work: “When in our communities we really begin to look at people as God looks at them, then homosexual people, and everyone else, will also begin to feel, of course, part of the ecclesial community, on the way.”
“Sexual orientation, which no one ‘chooses,’ is not separable from the identity of the person; in welcoming the person we cannot prescind from his or her orientation,” wrote Zuppi.
But even in the case where a person leads a lifestyle contrary to God’s law, should we not welcome him or her? What does it mean to welcome? Does it mean to justify? If Jesus had this criterion, before entering Zacchaeus’ house he would have demanded his conversion.
News of his appointment as CEI president was subsequently welcomed by notorious pro-LGBT priest Father James Martin SJ and the pro-LGBT site “gay.it.”
Gay.it wrote how Zuppi has “often made statements in support of the LGBT community, frontally attacking homophobia and misogyny.”
Praised by Masonic Grand Master as papabile
Zuppi has also received praise from a surprising quarter, when in 2020 a Masonic Grand Master spoke in support of Zuppi as a future Pope, or papabile.
Speaking in an interview in October 2020 Gioele Magaldi – a former Venerable Master of the prestigious Roman Masonic lodge “Monte Sion” and later the grand master of the Democratic Grande Oriente – revealed that Zuppi had performed Magaldi’s marriage and also backed the cardinal for the Papacy.
“However, I know the Vatican world and among the cardinals the one I respect most is Matteo Zuppi, who by the way married me. He would be a very good pope,” said Magaldi.
Sant’Egidio community chaplain
Reporting in 2019 on Zuppi’s rise to the cardinalate, Diane Montagna noted that Italian traditionalist blog “Messa in Latina” noted in then-archbishop Zuppi’s defense that he “has always, when asked, celebrated the Tridentine Mass.”
However, Zuppi has long been intimately linked the charismatic and pro-Muslim Sant’Egidio Community, having served as a parish priest at Rome’s Santa Maria in Trastevere parish from 1981-2010, and then as ecclesiastical general to the community.
The Community has been involved in organizing prominent ecumenical meetings in Rome, styled after the inter-religious 1986 meeting in Assisi.
The 2021 meeting organized by the group was described by the Lepanto Institute’s Michael Hichborn as “another form of idolatry in the form of a human brotherhood without Christ.”
Sant’Egidio is also noted to have a favorable position in Pope Francis’ Vatican, as signified recently by appointing Zuppi as cardinal as well as Matteo Bruni – a long-time member of the Community – as the Holy See Press Office director.
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