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| Requiescat in pace: John |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-07-2023, 05:55 AM - Forum: Appeals for Prayer
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![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginal...f=1&nofb=1]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F46%2F9f%2F0b%2F469f0b2ab708a4ad977fe5fae0ef4092.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.
In your charity, please pray for the soul of John (aged 90), who passed away on this morning, July 6th. He was faithfully and devotedly cared for by his daughter, a long time fightress for the Faith!
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
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The De Profundis - Psalm 129
Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark our iniquities: O Lord, who can abide it?
For with Thee there is mercy: and by reason of Thy law I have waited on Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath waited on His word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even unto night: let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him is plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord And let perpetual light shine upon him. |
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| Pope Francis receives Bill Clinton and George Soros’ son in private Vatican visit |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-06-2023, 02:50 PM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis receives Bill Clinton and George Soros’ son in private Vatican visit
Pope Francis' private meeting with Clinton was unannounced by the Holy See Press Office, and was reportedly about 'peace.'
![[Image: clinton-pope-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/clinton-pope-810x500.jpg)
Bill Clinton greets Pope Francis, July 2023.
Clinton Twitter screenshot
Jul 6, 2023
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– In an entirely unannounced visit, Pope Francis hosted former U.S. President Bill Clinton along with George Soros’ son and successor Alexander Soros in a cordial visit at the Vatican.
Late evening July 5, the Vatican News social media accounts posted a short video clip of Pope Francis receiving former President Clinton and his party at the Casa Santa Martha hotel.
According to a subsequent report by Vatican News – which appears to be the only official information released about the meeting – Clinton and Francis spoke about “peace.”
“At the end of the meeting, Francis looked out for a brief greeting to the security men and other friends accompanying the former president on his trip to Rome and Europe, who had meanwhile been taken on a tour of some of the Vatican sites.”
The 75-year-old Clinton is famous for his adulterous sexual affair with a young White House intern and subsequent impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice, as well as his adamant support of abortion and same-sex “marriage.”
Greeting the former president warmly, Francis presented him with a statue made at the Vatican which “symbolizes the work for peace,” according to the Pontiff.
Though unacknowledged in the Vatican’s brief report, accompanying Clinton was 37-year-old Alexander Soros – son and successor to the notorious abortion and population control advocate George Soros.
READ: Dr. Robert Malone: The influence of George Soros on American politics ‘cannot be overestimated’
Alexander has been accompanying Clinton on recent travels, with the party having come straight from Albania the day before, where Clinton had been awarded the Great Star of Gratitude for Public Achievements.
Alexander was recently announced to have taken over the reigns of his father’s Open Society Foundations group, after he was elected chairman of the $25 billion empire. As LifeSiteNews has reported, Alexander Soros has promised to be more political than his father, a statement which he has appeared to fulfill.
His Instagram account has pictures of him alongside U.S. President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among others. Alexander has reportedly visited the White House more than 17 times in the last several years, according to Breitbart.
With Soros widely noted as linked to, and having funded, a wide variety of anti-family, anti-life and anti-Catholic endeavors, Alexander looks set to now continue his father’s works. “We think alike,” Alexander told the Wall Street Journal while speaking about his father’s political views.
His social media accounts provide evidence of Alexander’s political activism, with regular international travels and meetings with leading politicians documented, along with his support for campaigns such as Black Lives Matter and attempts to have the U.K. rejoin the European Union.
READ: George Soros is funding the destruction of Catholic Ireland: here’s how
Speaking to the Journal, Alexander revealed that he would be investing more finances into promoting abortion.
The Soros family campaigns have thus not only caused concern for pro-family and Christian advocates, but have also drawn the ire of Twitter owner and billionaire Elon Musk, who has said that the elder Soros “hates humanity” and “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization.”
“You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. [George] Soros hates humanity,” wrote Musk in May.
The meeting at the Vatican was not announced to journalists, nor was it included on the Pope’s calendar. Francis’ private and public meetings have ostensibly been cancelled for the month of July as part of the regular summer recess the Vatican traditionally observes, although Francis is known for not observing as much of a break as his predecessors did.
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| The U.N. Is Planning To Seize Global ‘Emergency’ Powers With Biden’s Support |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-05-2023, 06:57 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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The U.N. Is Planning To Seize Global ‘Emergency’ Powers With Biden’s Support
![[Image: 5013024600_f8af4a804f_o-scaled-e16882268...00x675.jpg]](https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/5013024600_f8af4a804f_o-scaled-e1688226826975-1200x675.jpg)
The Federalist | July 4, 2023
The proposal might be the biggest attempted power grab in the history of the United Nations. If approved, the United States as we know it could cease to exist.
In September 2024, less than two months before the next U.S. presidential election, the United Nations will host a landmark “Summit of the Future,” where member nations will adopt a Pact for the Future. The agreement will solidify numerous policy reforms offered by the U.N. over the past two years as part of its sweeping Our Common Agenda platform.
Although there are numerous radical proposals included in the agenda, perhaps none are more important than the U.N. plan for a new “emergency platform,” a stunning proposal to give the U.N. significant powers in the event of future “global shocks,” such as another worldwide pandemic.
Many of the details of the U.N. emergency platform were laid out in a March 2023 policy paper titled “Strengthening the International Response to Complex Global Shocks — An Emergency Platform.” In the paper, the U.N. secretary-general writes, “I propose that the General Assembly provide the Secretary-General and the United Nations system with a standing authority to convene and operationalize automatically an Emergency Platform in the event of a future complex global shock of sufficient scale, severity and reach.”
Once triggered, the emergency platform would give the U.N. the ability to “actively promote and drive an international response that places the principles of equity and solidarity at the centre of its work.” The U.N. would bring together the “stakeholders” of the world, including academics, governments, private sector actors, and “international financial institutions” to ensure there is a unified, global response to the crisis.
The emergency platform would also give the United Nations the power to “Ensure that all participating actors make commitments that can contribute meaningfully to the response and that they are held to account for delivery on those commitments.”
In other words, the United Nations would be given unprecedented authority over the public and private sectors of huge swaths of the world, all in the name of battling a yet unknown crisis.
It Gets Worse
As difficult as it might be to believe, the story gets even worse from here. Although the duration of the emergency platform would initially be set for a “finite period,” at “the end of that period, the Secretary-General could extend the work of an Emergency Platform if required,” according to the United Nations’ own policy proposal.
That means the secretary-general would have the authority to keep the emergency platform in place indefinitely, all without reauthorization from member nations.
What kind of “global shock” would trigger the emergency platform? The U.N. provides several possible examples in its formal proposal, including a “major climatic event,” “future pandemic risks,” a “global digital connectivity disruption,” “major event in outer space,” and, my personal favorite, “unforeseen risks, (‘black swan’ events).”
This isn’t to say that these incredibly broad categories would be the only potential justifications allowed to trigger the emergency platform. The proposal makes clear that it “would allow the convening role of the United Nations to be maximized in the face of crises with global reach and should be ‘agnostic as to the type of crisis,’ as we do not know what type of global shock we may face in the future.”
Further, “The Secretary-General would decide when to convene an Emergency Platform in response to a complex global shock.”
Or, put in simpler terms, a “global shock” is whatever the U.N.’s leadership says it is, triggered whenever the U.N. desires.
Biden Admin Supports the Proposal
The emergency platform proposal might be the biggest attempted power grab in the history of the United Nations, but as shocking as it is, it pales in comparison to the Biden administration’s treatment of this extremist proposal.
Rather than assert America’s independence and sovereignty, the White House has expressed its support for the emergency platform. U.S. Ambassador Chris Lu noted in at least two March 2022 speeches that the Biden administration backs the emergency platform, along with numerous other proposals included in “Our Common Agenda.”
The emergency platform would centralize an immense amount of power and influence, giving the United Nations greater control over the lives of Americans than it has ever had before. ...
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| Mass Riots in France Spread to Two More European Countries |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-03-2023, 06:21 AM - Forum: Global News
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Mass Riots in France Spread to Two More European Countries
![[Image: 1111610328_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0...9.jpg.webp]](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/07/02/1111610328_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_f1d94661e89dc4343e69d56e44ad90b9.jpg.webp)
Charred cars are pictured in Nanterre, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 1, 2023.
Sputnik International | July 2, 2023
On Tuesday, 17-year-old Nahel M. was fatally shot in Nanterre, in the western suburb of Paris, after he had refused to comply with police orders during a traffic stop. The police shooting has sparked riots across France.
Mass riots that began in France on 27 June have spread to two other European countries - Switzerland and Belgium - local media reports said, citing eyewitnesses.
In Brussels, Belgium, the protests began on 30 June and were relatively peaceful - police checked and detained people whom they considered suspicious. Belgians took to the capital's streets after calls on social networks to "do as in France". According to media reports, the number of demonstrators arrested in Brussels has risen to 63.
Later, rallies also took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they were less peaceful. Swiss police have detained seven people, including six minors, during nightly riots in the city after more than 100 rioters attacked shops and police officers, the media reported on Sunday, citing police. The protesters threw stones and at least one Molotov cocktail at the law enforcement officers. Nobody was injured.
The six detainees, who are between the ages of 15 and 17, are of Portuguese, Bosnian, Somalian, Georgian and Serbian origin, a local newspaper reported. The only adult among the apprehended is a 24-year-old Swiss citizen, the report added.
On 27 June, 17-year-old Nahel M was shot dead in Nanterre after he refused to comply with police orders during a traffic stop. The officer who pulled the trigger on the teenager has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and is now in custody. The fatal police shooting has sparked riots across the country.
Violent protests have continued throughout the week, with injuries and detentions reported every day. More than 700 people have been detained in France overnight and more than 40 police officers and gendarmes were injured during the continuing unrest in the country, the French Interior Ministry said on Sunday. In addition, 1,350 cars and 234 buildings were set on fire, according to reports.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said that about 30 percent of the 2,400 rioters detained by the police were minors.
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| St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Fifth Week after Pentecost |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-02-2023, 07:14 AM - Forum: Pentecost
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One thing is necessary (Luke x 42). It is not necessary we should be rich, or honoured, or in the enjoyment of good health, but it is necessary we should be saved. For this end alone has God placed us in this world, and woe to us if we do not attain it!
I.
Of all our affairs there is non more important than that of our eternal salvation, on which depends our happiness or misery for eternity.
One thing is necessary. It is not necessary that we should be rich, honoured, or in the emjoyment of good health, but it is necessary that we should be saved. For this end alone has God placed us in the world; and woe to us if we do not attain it!
St. Francis Xavier said that the only good to be obtained in this world is salvation; and the only evil to be dreaded, damnation. What matter if we are poor, or despised, or infirm? If we are saved we shall be happy forever. On the contrary, what does it avail to be great, or to be monarchs? If we are lost, we shall be miserable for all eternity.
O god, what will become of me? I may be saved, and I may also be lost! And if I may be lost, why do I not resolve to adhere more closely to Thee?
My Jesus, have pity on me. I will amend my life. Give me Thy assistance. Thou hast died to save me, and shall I, notwithstanding, forfeit my salvation?
II.
Have we already done enough to secure salvation? Are we already secure of not falling into hell?
What exchange shall a man give for his soul? (Matt. xvi. 26). If he lose his soul, what will compensate him for his loss?
What have not the Saints done to secure their salvation? How many kings and queens have renounced their kingdoms and shut themselves up in cloisters! How many young men have left their country, and have gone to live in deserts! How many young virgins have renounced marriage with the great ones of the world, to go and give their lives for Jesus Christ! And what are we doing?
O my God, how much has Jesus Christ done for our salvation! He spent thirty-three years in toil and labour; He have His Blood and His Life; and shall we, through our own fault, be lost?
O Lord, I give Thee thanks for not having called me out of the world when I had forfeited Thy grace. Had I died then, what would have become of me for all eternity?
God desires that all should be saved: He will have all men to be saved (1 Tim. ii. 4). If we are lost, it will be entirely our own fault. And this will be our greatest torment in hell.
St. Teresa says that even the loss of a trifle, of an ornament, of a ring, when it has happened through our own carelessness, occasions, us the greatest uneasiness. What a torment, then, will it be to the damned to have willfully lost all – their souls, Heaven, and God!
Alas! death approaches; and what have I done for life eternal?
O my God, for how many years have I deserved to dwell in hell, where I could not repent, nor love Thee! Now that I can repent and love Thee, I will repent and I will love Thee.
Spiritual Reading
I.—THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
I have received your last letter in which you tell me you are sill undecided as to the state of life you should choose, and that having communicated to your Pastor the advice I gave you – namely, to go for that purpose to perform the Spiritual Exercises in the house you father owns in the country – the said Pastor answered you it was not necessary to go there to torture your brains for eight days in solitude, but that it was enough for you to attend the Retreat he would soon have for the people in his own church. Now, as on this point of making the Exercises you again ask my advice, it is necessary I should answer you more at length, and show you how much greater the fruit of the Spiritual Exercises is when they are performed in silence, in some retired place, than in public, when one is obliged during the time to live in one’s own house and converse with relatives and friends: and the more so in your case, for, as you write to me, you have in your own home no quiet room to which you can retire.
Besides, I am very much in favour of a Retreat performed in solitude, closed away from the world, as I know it is to such a Retreat I owe my own conversion and my resolution to give up the world. I will later suggest to you the means and precautions to be taken during the Spiritual Exercises in order to reap from them the fruit you desire. I beg of you, when you have read this letter yourself, to give it to your Rev. Parish Priest that he may read it also.
Let us, then, speak first of the great benefit of the Spiritual Exercises when performed in solitude, where one converses with God alone, and let us see the reason for this.
The truths of eternal life, such as the great affair of our salvation, the value of the time God gives us that we may amass merits for a happy Eternity, the obligations under which we are to love God for His infinite goodness and the immense love He has for us,– these and similar things are not seen with the eyes of the flesh, but only with the eyes of the mind. It is, on the contrary, certain that, unless our understanding represents to the will the value of a good or the greatness of an evil, we shall never embrace that good nor reject that evil. And this is the ruin of those who are attached to this world. They live in darkness, and not seeing the greatness of eternal good and eternal evil, and allured by the senses, they give themselves up to forbidden pleasure and thus miserably perish.
Wherefore the Holy Ghost admonishes us that in order to avoid sin we must keep before our eyes the Last Things which are to come upon us; that is, Death, with which all the goods of this earth will come to an end for us, and the Divine Judgment, in which we shall have to give to God an account of our whole life. Remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin (Ecclus. vii. 40). And in another place God says: Oh that they would be wise and would understand and would provide for their last end (Deut. xxxii. 29). By which words He wishes us to understand that if men would consider the things of the next life, they would all certainly take care to sanctify themselves, and would not expose themselves to the danger of an unhappy life in Eternity. But they shut their eyes to the light and thus, remaining blind, precipitate themselves into an abyss of evil. This is why the Saints always prayed the Lord to give them light. Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death (Ps. xii. 4). May God cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us (Ps. lxvi. 2). Make the way known to me wherein I should walk (Ps. cxlii. 8). Give me understanding and I will learn thy commandments (Ps. cxviii. 78).
Now in order to obtain this Divine light we must come close to God. Come ye to him and be enlightened (Ps. xxxiii. 6). For, as St. Augustine tells us, that as we cannot see the sun without the light of the sun itself, so we cannot see the light of God but by the light of God Himself. This light is obtained in the Spiritual Exercises; by them we come close to God, and God enlightens us with His light. The Spiritual Exercises mean nothing else than that we retire for a time from intercourse with the world, and go to converse with God alone, where God speaks to us by His inspirations, and we speak to God in our meditations by acts of love, by repenting of the sins by which we have displeased Him, by offering ourselves to serve Him for the future with all our heart, and by beseeching Him to make known to us His will, and give us strength to accomplish it.
Holy Job says: Now I should have rest in my sleep with kings and consuls of the earth who build themselves solitudes (Job iii. 18). Who are these kings that build themselves solitudes? They are, as St. Gregory says, those who rise above this world, and withdraw from its tumults to render themselves fit to talk alone with God. “they build solitudes, that is, they separate themselves far as possible from the tumult of the world, in order to be alone and to become fit to speak with God.”
One day as St. Arsenius was reflecting on the means that he should take to become a saint, God caused him to hear these words: Fuge! Tace! Quiesce! “Fly! Be silent! And Rest!” Fly from the world, be silent, cease to talk with men, and speak only with Me, and thus rest in peace and solitude. In conformity with this, St. Anselm wrote to one worried by many worldy occupations, who complained that he had not a moment of peace, and gave the following advice: “Leave your occupations for a while; hide yourself for a time to contemplate God and rest in Him: Say to God: Now teach my heart where and how I may seek Thee; where and how I may find Thee.” Words that are applicable, each and all, to yourself. Fly, says he, for a short time from those earthly occupations which render you so unquiet, and rest in solitude with God. Say to Him: O Lord, show me where and how I may find Thee, that I may speak alone with Thee, and at the same time hear Thy words.
God speaks indeed to those who seek Him, but He does not speak in the midst of the tumult of the world. The Lord is not in the commotion of the earthquake, as was said to Elias when God called him to solitude. The voice of God, as it is said in the same place, is as the breath of a gentle air, which is scarcely heard, and then not by the ear of the body, but by that of the heart, without noise and in a sweet retreat. This is exactly what the Lord says through Osee: I will lead her into solitude; far from the embarrassment of the world and intercourse with men, and there speaks to it in words of fire. The word of God is said to it in words of fire, because it melts a soul, as the sacred Spouse says: My soul melted when he (my beloved) spoke (Cant. v. 6). It prepares the soul to submit readily to the direction of God, and to embrace the manner of life which God wishes. The word of God is so exceedingly efficacious that at the very time it is heard it operates in the soul all that God requires.
Evening Meditation
THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT.
I.
Father Balthazar Alvarez said that a Christian must not imagine himself to have made any progress in perfection until he has succeeded in penetrating his heart with a lasting sense of the sorrows, poverty, and ignominies of Jesus Christ, so as to be able to support with loving patience every sorrow, privation, and contempt, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
In the first place, let us speak of bodily infirmities, which, when borne with patience, merit for us a beautiful crown.
St. Vincent de Paul said: “Did we but know how precious a treasure is contained in infirmities, we would accept them with joy as the greatest of all possible blessings.” Hence the Saint himself, though constantly afflicted with ailments that often let him no rest day or night, bore them with so much peace and serenity of countenance that no one could guess that anything ailed him at all. Oh, how edifying to see a sick person bear his illness with a peaceful countenance, as did St. Francis de Sales! When he was ill, he simply made known his complaint to the physician, obeyed him exactly by taking the prescribed medicines, however nauseous; and for the rest, he remained at peace, never uttering a single complaint in all his sufferings. What a contrast to this is the conduct of those who do nothing but complain even for the most trifling indisposition, and who would like to have around them all their relatives and friends in order to have their sympathy! Far different was the instruction of St. Teresa to her nuns: “My sisters, learn to suffer something for the love of Jesus Christ, without letting all the world know of it.” One Good Friday Jesus Christ favoured the Venerable Father Louis da Ponte with so much bodily suffering that no part of him was exempt from its particular pain; he mentioned his severe sufferings to a friend, but he was afterwards so sorry at having done so that he made a vow never again to reveal to anybody whatever he might afterwards have to suffer. I say “he was favoured”; for, to the Saints, the illnesses and pains which God sends them are real favours.
II.
One day as St. Francis of Assisi lay on his bed in excruciating torments, a companion said to him: “Father, beg of God to ease your pains, and not to lay so heavy a hand upon you.” On hearing this the Saint instantly leaped from his bed, and going down on his knees, thanked God for his sufferings; then, turning to his companion he said: “Listen; did I not know that you so spoke from simplicity, I would refuse ever to see you again.”
Some one who is sick will say it is not so much the infirmity itself that afflicts me as that it prevents me from going to church to perform my devotions, to communicate, and to hear Holy Mass; I cannot go to choir to recite the Divine Office with my brethren; I cannot celebrate Mass; I cannot pray; for my head is aching with pain, and light almost to fainting. But tell me now, if you please, why do you wish to go to church or to choir? Why would you communicate and say or hear Holy Mass? Is it to please God? but it is not now the pleasure of God that you say Office; that you communicate, or hear Mass; but that you remain patiently on this bed, and support the pains of this infirmity. But you are not pleased with my speaking thus; then you are not seeking to do what is pleasing to God, but what is pleasing to yourself. The Blessed John of Avila wrote as follows to a priest who so complained to him: “My friend, busy not yourself with what you would do if you were well, but be content to remain ill as long as God thinks fit. If you seek the will of God, what matters it to you whether you be well or ill?”
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| Pope appoints long-time ally and ghostwriter of Amoris Laetitia as new Vatican doctrine chief |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-02-2023, 05:44 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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These words ring more true with each passing year:
“What could be clearer? We must henceforth obey and be faithful to the Conciliar Church, no longer to the Catholic Church. Right there is our whole problem: we are suspended a divinis by the Conciliar Church, the Conciliar Church, to which we have no wish to belong! That Conciliar Church is a schismatic church because it breaks with the Catholic Church that has always been. It has its new dogmas, its new priesthood, its new institutions, its new worship… The Church that affirms such errors is at once schismatic and heretical. This Conciliar Church is, therefore, not Catholic. To whatever extent Pope, Bishops, priests, or the faithful adhere to this new church, they separate themselves from the Catholic Church.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Reflections on his suspension a divinis, July 29, 1976)
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Pope appoints long-time ally and ghostwriter of Amoris Laetitia as new Vatican doctrine chief
Pope Francis' appointment of Argentinian Archbishop Fernández to the Vatican's top doctrinal position has raised concerns over his support for Communion for the divorced and 're-married,' promotion of erotic actions, and downplaying Church teaching opposing same-sex 'marriage.'
![[Image: fernandezz-e1688211986516-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/fernandezz-e1688211986516-810x500.jpg)
Abp. Victor Fernández, new prefect of the CDF
Twitter/Screenshot
Jul 1, 2023
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has appointed the highly controversial Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández of La Plata as new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (now Dicastery), with the new prefect known for his roles as the Pope’s long-time friend and theologian, and ghost writer of numerous papal texts including Amoris Laetitia.
Issuing the news July 1, the Holy See Press Office stated that Pope Francis had called Archbishop Fernández to succeed the outgoing Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., who has come to the “conclusion of his mandate,” having held the position since 2017.
The 60-year-old Fernández, like Francis, is a fellow native of Argentina and was raised to become archbishop on May 13, 2013, just two months into the new pontificate. Their close relationship dates back to Francis’ time as a prelate in Argentina, with then-Cardinal Bergoglio giving Fernandez advice on his clerical career choices.
This resulted in Bergoglio bringing Fernández to the 2007 Fifth General Conference of the Latin American Bishops as a peritus, or expert.
He was then nominated by Bergoglio to serve as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in 2009, but only acceded to the post in 2011 after completing questioning and answering objections from the CDF. The CDF’s treatment of Fernández reportedly angered Bergoglio at the time.
Much speculation emerged in December and January regarding the possible nomination of heterodox German Bishop Heiner Wilmer as the new CDF head. Pope Francis had in fact considered Wilmer’s nomination, but was blocked by several cardinals who intervened with the Vatican not to make the appointment.
Fernández will now assume his new role as head of the Church’s doctrinal office in mid-September. With Fernández now in position at the head of the CDF, his roster includes, as expanded upon in the article below:
- Ardent promotion and defense of Amoris Laetitia opening the door to Communion for the divorced and “re-married.”
- Public promotion of erotic kissing and actions.
- Downplaying of need to oppose same-sex marriage.
- Stating how he is more progressive than the Pope on certain issues.
Key papal ally and ghostwriter
Fernández’s career has been long been guided by Francis, both before and after Francis’ ascent to the papal throne. This intimate link has only grown since March 13, 2013, with Fernández now being widely acknowledged as Francis’ “primary ghostwriter” and “trusted theologian.”
This includes his ghost-writing of Evangelii Gaudium, Laudato Sí, and the highly controversial Amoris Laetitia.
His role in writing Amoris Laetitia should not be unexpected: indeed, Pope Francis had given Fernández key roles in the running of the 2014 and 2015 Vatican synods which led to the controversial apostolic exhortation.
Amoris Laetitia’s now infamous Chapter 8 opened the door to allowing the divorced and “re-married” access to receive Holy Communion. Francis soon responded to questions by saying there is “no other interpretation” of Amoris Laetitia except the one provided by the bishops of Buenos Aires allowing Communion for the divorced and remarried.
Francis was subsequently also asked if Amoris Laetitia contained a “change in discipline that governs access to the sacraments” for Catholics who are divorced and “re-married.” He replied, “I can say yes, period.” Within months, a group of Catholic scholars issued a letter to all the cardinals and patriarchs, warning that Amoris Laetitia contained “dangers to the faith.”
It is Fernández who is believed to be chiefly responsible for the lines which have led to so much consternation amongst faithful Catholics. So much so, that veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister highlighted how the most controversial passages of text were in fact very closely mirroring Fernández’s own writings from years prior when in Argentina.
READ: The pope’s ghostwriter: controversial archbishop penned key passages of Exhortation ten years ago
In his personal defense of the apostolic exhortation, Fernández argued that:
Quote:It is also licit to ask if acts of living together more uxorio [i.e. having sexual relations] should always fall, in its integral meaning, within the negative precept of ‘fornication’… there can be a path of discernment open to the possibility of receiving the food of the Eucharist… I say, ‘in its integral meaning,’ because one cannot maintain those acts in each and every case are gravely dishonest in a subjective sense.
Francis’ “great innovation is to allow for a pastoral discernment in the realm of the internal forum to have practical consequences in the manner of applying the discipline,” wrote Fernández.
Papal welcome
Issuing a letter of welcome to the incoming CDF prefect, Pope Francis hailed him as “brother,” writing the CDF’s “central purpose is to guard the teaching that flows from the faith in order to ‘give a reason for our hope, but not as enemies who point out and condemn.’”
Francis condemned the CDF, saying that “in other times [it] came to use immoral methods. Those were times when, rather than promoting theological knowledge, possible doctrinal errors were pursued. What I expect from you is certainly something very different.”
Quoting from Evangelii Gaudium, Francis urged Fernández to recognize that the Church “needs to grow in her interpretation of the revealed Word and in her understanding of truth,” adding:
Quote:We need a way of thinking that can convincingly present a God who loves, who forgives, who saves, who liberates, who promotes people and calls them to fraternal service.
Only yesterday, Fernández had posted a picture online standing alongside the Pope, praising the pontiff for his work ethic after having spent “a week” with Francis.
![[Image: Fz8Yd4SX0AESJju.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Fz8Yd4SX0AESJju.jpg)
Abp. Victor Fernández with Pope Francis June 2023
Fernadez and Francis jointly pushing against doctrine
In 2015, Fernández praised Pope Francis’ pontificate, arguing that “No, there’s no turning back” from his course of actions. “For example, the Pope is convinced that the things he’s already written or said cannot be condemned as an error. Therefore, in the future anyone can repeat those things without fear of being sanctioned,” he stated.
Separately, Fernández said:
Quote:The Pope goes slow because he wants to be sure that the changes have a deep impact. The slow pace is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the changes… You have to realize that he is aiming at reform that is irreversible. If one day he should sense that he’s running out of time and doesn’t have enough time to do what the Spirit is asking him, you can be sure he will speed up.
Fernández has even openly stated how “in many issues I am far more progressive than the Pope.”
Indeed, Fernández’s role in drafting Amoris Laetitia is now more topical than ever before. Only days ago, the latest document set to guide the upcoming Synod of Bishops in October was released.
READ: Major Synod on Synodality document highlights need to ‘welcome’ polygamists, ‘LGBTQ+ people’
While promoting LGBT issues and ideology heavily, the document (Instrumentum Laboris IL) pushed the widely accepted, and papally approved, interpretation of Amoris Laetitiae allowing the divorced and “re-married” to Holy Communion as an already finalized issue. The document states:
Quote:Some of the questions that emerged from the consultation of the People of God concern issues on which there is already magisterial and theological teaching to be considered. To give just two examples, we can note the acceptance of remarried divorcees, dealt with in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, or the inculturation of the liturgy, the subject of the Instruction Varietates legitimae (1994) of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The fact that questions continue to emerge on issues like these should not be hastily dismissed, rather, it calls for discernment, and the Synodal Assembly is a privileged forum for so doing.
Over its many stages so far, the Synod on Synodality has been consistent in its push for a need to “welcome” the “remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people.” Now, its latest document promotes the anti-Catholic teaching of Amoris Laetitia in allowing the divorced and “re-married” to receive Communion, at the time when that document’s author will assume one of the highest offices in the Catholic Church, as head of the Church’s doctrinal office.
READ: Vatican preparing document for couples living in ‘new unions’ after ‘marriage failure’
Furthermore, a key Vatican cardinal revealed some weeks ago that the Vatican is in the stages of drafting a document on the divorced and “re-married” in line with the wishes of Pope Francis. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, stated in April how “the dicastery is working on the preparation of a text specifically regarding – as you wished, Holiness – men and women who, having marriage failure behind them, live in new unions.”
Farrell has also been a consistent and ardent promoter of Amoris Laetitia, stating how “I firmly believe [Amoris Laetitia] is the teaching of the Church. This is a pastoral document telling us how we should proceed. I believe we should take it as it is.”
In contrast, Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio championed the Catholic Church’s longstanding teaching that the divorced and remarried whose previous unions the Church has not declared null may not receive Holy Communion. John Paul II wrote:
Quote:[The] Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.
[More here on Archbishop Fernández's scandalous writings here.]
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| Israeli Reporter Goes Undercover as Priest – and Gets Spat At |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-01-2023, 07:08 AM - Forum: Anti-Catholic Violence
- Replies (4)
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Israeli Reporter Goes Undercover as Priest – and Gets Spat At
The report in Jerusalem's old city by Israel's Channel 13 comes amid a spike in anti-Christian hate crimes in the country
![[Image: priest.jpg?height=744&width=1280]](https://img.haarets.co.il/bs/00000188-f760-df6a-ade8-f7e6abf80001/ca/17/555d5f8a40249f40c5cdf6a962c8/priest.jpg?height=744&width=1280)
Channel 13 journalist Yossi Eli dressed as a priest in his investigative report on violence against Christians in Jerusalem.Credit: Screenshot
Haaretz.com | June 26, 2023
An Israeli journalist was derided and spat at, including by a child and a soldier, as he spent a day dressed as a priest in Jerusalem to investigate spiraling hate crimes against Christians in the city.
Donning a brown priest's robe, Channel 13’s Yossi Eli was spat at just five minutes after setting out with a Franciscan clergyman, Father Alberto.
A bit later a man mocked them in Hebrew, saying, “Forgive me father for I have sinned.” Then an 8-year-old spat at them, as did a soldier when a group of troops passed by later.
This is not the first time that soldiers have been caught committing hate crimes against Christians in Jerusalem. In November, troops from the Givati infantry brigade spat at the Armenian archbishop during a procession. They were later disciplined by the army.
Anti-Christian hate crimes in Jerusalem soaring this year
Jerusalem Churches Protest 'Systematic Attempt to Drive Christians Out'
How Israeli Jews' Fear of Christianity Turned Into Hatred
Channel 13's report comes as attacks against Christians in Jerusalem – spanning from vandalism of grave sites to physical assaults – have been spiking, with the police reluctant to track down perpetrators.
In his first interview with Israeli TV, the Vatican's custodian of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, blamed Israel’s politicians, arguing that the wave of attacks began "when the political language became more violent."
He mentioned the desecration of a Lutheran cemetery, the vandalizing of a Maronite prayer room and the spraying of “death to Christians” on Armenian property, all in the space of weeks. He also noted "the responsibility of the leaders, of those who have power.”
Channel 13 drew on several recent incidents, including the desecration of 33 graves in the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion. Two teenagers have been indicted.
Channel 13 also spoke to Armenian clergyman Father Gurion, who was assaulted by a group of Jews in the Old City – and was then detained by the police. First arriving in Israel in 1996, Gurion said there have always hate crimes, but the situation has deteriorated.
Without punishment, he said, “They feel that anything is permissible,” adding that people have urinated on holy sites and even filmed themselves doing so.
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| Florida Issues Statewide Emergency Malaria Alert |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-01-2023, 06:21 AM - Forum: Health
- Replies (1)
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Florida Issues Statewide Emergency Malaria Alert
![[Image: id5364752-malaria-plasmodium-vivax-cdc.j...k=vpTSzB_V]](https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/id5364752-malaria-plasmodium-vivax-cdc.jpg?itok=vpTSzB_V)
This thin film blood smear photomicrograph reveals the presence of two Plasmodium malariae schizonts, which cause malaria.
(CDC/Dr. Mae Melvin)
ZH | JUN 30, 2023
Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times
The Florida Department of Health issued a statewide alert after four people in Sarasota contracted malaria in locally transmitted cases, coming a day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a similar notice for Florida and Texas.
“All individuals have been treated and have recovered. Malaria is transmitted through infected mosquitoes,” Florida’s Department of Health stated in a release issued June 27.
The agency stated that ground and airborne spraying that targets mosquitos will be carried out around Sarasota, which is near Tampa, to mitigate transmission.
“Effective treatment is readily available through hospitals and other health care providers,” the department stated. “Individuals in this area with symptoms of fever, chills, sweats, nausea/vomiting, and headache should seek immediate medical attention.”
It also advised the public to control the breeding of mosquitoes by eliminating any standing water, which is where mosquitoes lay their eggs.
“Drain water from garbage cans, house gutters, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flowerpots, or any other containers where sprinkler or rainwater has collected,” the alert said.
Locals should also take precautions while outdoors by using bug spray, avoiding infested areas, and wearing long sleeves and pants if possible.
Malaria is caused by a parasite, Plasmodium vivax, that spreads via mosquito bites, with the largest number of deaths occurring in tropical places such as sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria can be transmitted only by infected mosquitoes, not other people.
Symptoms include chills, fever, tiredness, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea, and anemia and jaundice may also occur. If left untreated, infected individuals could develop more serious complications and die.
According to the World Malaria Report, released by the U.N. World Health Organization, there were about 247 million cases of malaria in 2021, while the estimated death toll for that year was 619,000. The WHO African Region had the highest share, accounting for about 95 percent of cases and 96 percent of deaths, it said.
Malaria was mostly eliminated in the United States in 1951 after officials sprayed the pesticide DDT and drained swamps in rural areas. DDT was ultimately banned in 1972 in the United States but is still used in African countries.
CDC Issues Notice for 2 States
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the cases in Florida and one in Texas mark the first local spread of malaria in the United States in about 20 years.
Read more here...
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| Archbishop Viganò creates initiative to protect faithful priests from Bergoglian tyranny |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-01-2023, 06:14 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò creates initiative to protect faithful priests from Bergoglian tyranny
The book of the prophet Daniel 11:32 tells us that the man of perdition with flattery causes those who violate the Covenant of God to apostatize, but the People of God will show themselves strong and act.
The “Exsurge Domine” Association is born to help priests and religious Victims of the Bergoglian purges.
Initiative of the Archbishop Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
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| 'France Has Fallen': Dramatic Footage Shows Social Unrest Spreading In Third Night |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-30-2023, 09:56 AM - Forum: Global News
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The headline is a little dramatic but... things are not well in France now:
'France Has Fallen': Dramatic Footage Shows Social Unrest Spreading In Third Night
ZH | JUN 30, 2023
The police killing of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop on Tuesday has unleashed three consecutive days of social unrest across France.
Bloomberg reports more than 600 people were arrested Thursday night into Friday, with a majority of them between the ages of 14 and 18.
Rioters targeted municipal buildings, town halls, and libraries in various major cities, stores were looted, and all hell broke out nationwide as the government deployed 40,000 police officers yesterday afternoon to quell the violence. About 200 officers were injured overnight in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the teen was killed.
The unrest is so bad that President Emmanuel Macron left an EU summit in Brussels, where he will hold another emergency security meeting Friday, AFP reported, citing his office.
Video and pictures on social media of the rioting are absolutely shocking.
If Macron wants to get a grip on the violence, he might have to declare an emergency. Fox News said the president has been close to announcing one but has stopped short.
"Nothing justifies the violence that's occurred," said Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne.
Borne is correct. Looting stores and burning buildings isn't a typical response for those grieving over the death of a young man killed by police. France is supposedly a first-world country with a law and judicial system that will ensure justice will be served.
We must ask critical questions, perhaps some that will trigger mainstream journos, of who exactly is sparking these riots. If it's organized crime gangs, migrants, or just teenagers.
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| NY (and Germany): Woman carries Monstrance in Processions |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-30-2023, 08:07 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Again: Lady on the Road with A Monstrance
![[Image: r641tsoqsre9uyb27uc1flepqv6gcxrbe8xc3eg....53&webp=on]](https://assistant.gloria.tv/1z94gyaCTBei3D8MsGrYwjE6j/r641tsoqsre9uyb27uc1flepqv6gcxrbe8xc3eg.webp?secure=QkW-3wTr1-Cwt95Z9mZkCA&expires=1688537953&webp=on)
gloria.tv | June 29, 2023
At Our Saviour Parish in New York City, a woman carried the monstrance for Corpus Christi (as in Germany) while Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, the parish priest, trotted behind her. On social media locals noted that priests in Cardinal Dolan’s archdiocese get away with “a lot” because Dolan "doesn't care.”
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The Fake Resistance has downplayed the following (and many other similar) statements from Bishop Williamson. But as is illustrated in the new article above - and there are any number of equally disturbing stories coming from the Novus Ordo Conciliar Religion since the 1970's - one SHOULD avoid the Novus Ordo at all costs and NOT make allowances for it! It is a GREAT danger to souls.
A few words from Bishop Williamson, contrary to the sensus fidei:
· The new religion can build your Faith.
· Attending the New Mass can build your Faith.
· Attending the Novus Ordo may do more good than harm spiritually.
· Not every priest needs to leave the Conciliar church or stop saying the Novus Ordo Mass.
· There’s still something Catholic in the Conciliar church, so it’s wrong for us to reject it completely.
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![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi5.walmartimages.com%2F...ipo=images]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi5.walmartimages.com%2Fasr%2Fd98a14cd-f3bb-48cd-a234-31b4b841a0d9_1.75d8ef763f616cd86c0ea97d3f6bd943.jpeg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=2c30d5554e8d1852d97e2c52180af0ef1303e71d5491c156d1d6eaeb89977d2f&ipo=images)
