Where Have All the Young, Serious Catholics Gone?

Gone to tradition every one. (Well, maybe not every one.) Some aren't fully there yet, but the trend is definitely away from Kumbaya and guitars and toward Gregorian Chant and sacred polyphony. God speaks in silence not in constant noise and "dialogue", and many young people are beginning to realize it. When the world is as crazy as ours is today, the only real rebellion is orthodoxy. 

Anchored in Charity: Monday Morning Musing

Thoughts for the day:

I often check LifeSiteNews in the morning. Today I read John Henry Weston's commentary. I love the phrase he used, "anchored in charity." Imagine a world where all of us anchor our little boats with charity! Check out the article. It's short but pithy.:

Toward a more excellent way: speaking the truth in charity 

Can a Catholic Vote for the "Lesser of Two Evils"?: Roberto de Mattei Weighs In on U.S. Election

Catholics and the U.S. Presidential Elections: Donald Trump clearly is the choice from a Catholic perspective - by Roberto de Mattei

There is a Catholic doctrine of the lesser evil that can be summarized in these terms: 

1. One can never positively and directly commit even the slightest evil; 

 

2. to avoid a greater evil, one may tolerate a lesser evil committed by others, provided one does not approve of it as such and remembers the existence of a greater good to strive for. 

This doctrine is fundamental for orientation in a confused age in which the notion of the principle has been lost: “Bonum ex integra causa, malum ex quocumque defectu”(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-IIae, q. 18, a. 4 ad 3).

LifeSiteNews Reports on Likely Date of TLM "Final Solution"

Reports: Vatican planning to enforce a ‘final’ ban of Traditional Latin Mass, likely on July 16

Here's a bit from the article:

Is the Vatican about to Drop an Atomic Bomb on the TLM?

Rorate Caeli is reporting some alarming news about the likely next step at the Vatican to eliminate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) once and for all. OnePeter5 is sounding the warning trumpet by passing on the information. Let all those who love Holy Mother Church and her traditions passed on from the earliest days after the first Pentecost, join in this spiritual war. It isn't just about the TLM, but about all the sacraments gutted and diluted after Vatican II. If you haven't read Dan Graham's book, Lex Orandi, now's the time to do it. See how all seven sacraments received the ax striking at their roots. Dan compares the sacramental rites side by side, a striking contrast illustrating how much we've been robbed. May God help us all to be faithful warriors of the Church Militant fighting for the authentic Catholic faith.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider - The interpretation of Vatican II and its connection with the current crisis of the Church

Rorate Caeli blog not only allows but encourages all media and blogs to reprint their Guest Op-Ed by Bishop Athanasius Schneider - The interpretation of Vatican II and its connection with the current crisis in the Church

By Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Special to Rorate Caeli

July 21, 2017

The interpretation of Vatican II and its connection with the current crisis of the Church

The current situation of the unprecedented crisis of the Church is comparable with the general crisis in the 4th century, when the Arianism had contaminated the overwhelming majority of the episcopacy, taking a dominant position in the life of the Church. We must seek to address this current situation on the one hand with realism and, on the other hand, with a supernatural spirit – with a profound love for the Church, our mother, who is suffering the Passion of Christ because of this tremendous and general doctrinal, liturgical and pastoral confusion.

"I am the bishop dressed in white." - Pope Francis

"I am the bishop dressed in white." - Pope Francis
Page 9, Missal of the visit to Fatima, May 12-13, 2017

Seriously? He's "the bishop dressed in white"? He's the center of the message of Fatima? 

After 4 years of reinterpreting the Catholic faith for us, Francis, never one to leave any teaching unmolested, now helpfully corrects our Blessed Mother, setting her and the 3 children straight on just who is the "bishop dressed in white." It's him. It's he! It's Francis.

Did the Pope Really Say That the Divorced and Remarried will be Admitted to Communion?

That's what his friend, journalist Eugenio Scalfari, is claiming. The Vatican, on the other hand, says Scalfari is not reliable.

Here's the translation from Rorate Caeli of what the pope supposedly said to Scalfari:

“The diverse opinion of the bishops is part of this modernity of the Church and of the diverse societies in which she operated, but the goal is the same, and for that which regards the admission of the divorced to the Sacraments, [it] confirms that this principle has been accepted by the synod.
He added: “This is bottom line result, the de facto appraisals are entrusted to the confessors, but at the end of faster or slower paths, all the divorced who ask will be admitted.” (source)

Rorate Caeli Exposes What?

Update 2/28/2015: Well, there is more to the story than this video which apparently has been misrepresented by bloggers since it was not, in fact, shot the day the seminary closed. I'm linking to a post by Fr.Angelo Geiger that disputes much of what's been circulating on the internet about the papal investigation of the Friars. He doesn't discuss the reasons for the initial investigation or the suppression of the TLM withn the order by the Vatican. 

Frankly, I don't know what to make of a lot of it, but Father is himself a friar so presumably he knows what's what, and he appears to be just seeking truth and justice in the matter. Catholic World Report ran an article in 2013 and even it doesn't get the story completely straight as the comment section shows. Fairness in reporting is important to me and I don't like the thought that other bloggers are posting dishonest material as fact which I may be inadvertently promoting. So read Fr. Geiger's blog post, the CWR article, and pray for the Friars. We live in confusing times. It is sad when Catholic bloggers either deliberately or inadvertently spread false information adding to the confusion.

Original Post --

"On December 8, 2013, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Theological Seminary of the Immaculate Mediatrix (STIM) of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FI) was closed by their Apostolic Commissioner, Fr. Fidenzio Volpi. On the same day, one of the friars filmed the entire day, which presents, along with additional footage, the way of life in that same seminary."



"A great number of the friars seen in this film

Wow! Do We Really Have Two Popes?

One who kept the responsibility of praying and suffering for the universal Church and one responsible to exercise Church governance? Can the papacy be schizophrenic?

One is tempted to say that some men in red hats are morally challenged!

From an interview in an Argentinian newspaper reported in Rorate Caeli:

If Jesus were alive today, would he be in favor of gay marriage?

I don't know, I formulate no hypothesis on this. Who must answer this is the Church in its entirety. We must take care not to raise issues individually, because this ends up creating more difficulties for us to reach a valid conclusion. I think we must get together, listen to people, those who have an interest, the bishops. It is the Church that must indicate the ways, and there must be a way for all.

The answers to some questions just aren't all that difficult! Somebody needs to talk to the clueless Cardinal Hummes. I wonder what he would say about people putting other things where they don't belong. "If Jesus were alive today would he be in favor of murdering someone with an ice pick up the backside? Perhaps a brain transplant is in order.