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| Benedict XVI Praised the Cosmic Liturgy of Teilhard de Chardin |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2022, 04:10 PM - Forum: The Architects of Vatican II
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Benedict XVI Praises the Cosmic Liturgy of Teilhard de Chardin
TIA | August 1, 2009
On July 24, 2009, during his vacation in northern Italy, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a homily in the Cathedral of Aosta before Vespers. He commented on a passage of a Epistle of St. Paul (Rom 8:1-2). At the end of his commentary, he praised the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as a model for priests, attributing to him the idea of a cosmic liturgy, which he said was something they should aim to achieve.
Teilhard is quoted by the Pope in his homily as if his doctrine were a spring of pure waters that the faithful could approach and drink without any vigilance. The opposite instead is true, since the theological work of the controversial Jesuit - such as his teaching on evolution - was condemned by the Holy See in the past.
[Below], a picture of the L'Osservatore Romano English edition online (July 29, 2009), where the full text of the homily is reproduced. For the original text, click here and scroll to the second title. [Here] we transcribe the last paragraphs for the convenience of our readers.
Quote:So our address to God becomes an address to ourselves: God invites us to join with him, to leave behind the ocean of evil, hatred, violence and selfishness and to make ourselves known, to enter into the river of his love.
This is precisely the content of the first part of the prayer that follows: "Let Your Church offer herself to You as a living and holy sacrifice." This request, addressed to God, is made also to ourselves. It is a reference to two passages from the Letter to the Romans. We ourselves, with our whole being, must be adoration and sacrifice and, by transforming our world, give it back to God.
The role of the priesthood is to consecrate the world so that it may become a living host, a liturgy: so that the liturgy may not be something alongside the reality of the world, but that the world itself shall become a living host, a liturgy. This is also the great vision of Teilhard de Chardin: in the end we shall achieve a true cosmic liturgy, where the cosmos becomes a living host.
And let us pray the Lord to help us become priests in this sense, to aid in the transformation of the world, in adoration of God, beginning with ourselves. That our lives may speak of God, that our lives may be a true liturgy, an announcement of God, a door through which the distant God may become the present God, and a true giving of ourselves to God.
![[Image: 120_RatzTeilhard03.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/Images%20101-200/120_RatzTeilhard03.jpg)
![[Image: 120_RatzTeilhard04.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/Images%20101-200/120_RatzTeilhard04.jpg)
(Benedict XVI, Homily at the Vespers July 24, 2009, in the Cathedral of Aosta, L'Osservatore Romano, English online edition, July 29, 2009) |
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| Cornelius à Lapide: The New Jerusalem |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2022, 04:04 PM - Forum: Articles by Catholic authors
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Today the onslaught of Progressivism against Heaven as a place is reaching its apex with the implicit denial of it by Benedict XVI in his book Jesus of Nazareth. In view of this assault, TIA decided to offer our readers documents that confirm this dogma as always taught by Holy Mother Church and professed by Catholics in the Creed: that Heaven exists and is a place where the souls of Catholics go to contemplate God for all eternity, when they have merited it in this life. In this material place, Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Lady abide in body and soul, and the blessed will also enjoy its material marvels after the resurrection of their bodies. We start with comments of Fr. Cornelius à Lapide on Heaven.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was passed away, and the sea is now no more. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Apocalypse 21: 1-2).
… The sea will be another new sea, as will be the sky and the earth. When the sea will be renewed, along with the sky and earth, it will become subtle, pure, translucent, tranquil, and serene, so refulgent that it will appear not as a sea, but as a crystal in its shining brilliance and splendor.
The new Jerusalem should be understood in two ways: First, as the Church herself, that is, the ensemble of the blessed. … Thus she is properly called spouse in verse 9, uxor Christi [spouse of Christ].
Second, the new Jerusalem is understood as the actual city and place of the blessed, i.e., the empyreal heaven, since it is in the first place both the city and tabernacle of God. … St. John speaks here of these two cities, interchanging them, at times speaking of one, at times of the other. …
It is said here figuratively that the celestial Jerusalem descends from heaven to take up the elect. It represents, therefore, the empyreal heaven and the Church, i.e., the ensemble of the blessed, which comes down to take up the elect - principally those who with such great effort and agony will fight against the Antichrist and the tyrants - to receive them as citizens of heaven. …
So that Christians are not tempted to say: “How can I, an earthly and carnal man, ascend to the celestial Jerusalem?” St John depicts it here as coming down to men in order to receive them and take them up. …
Therefore, this Jerusalem is and remains in heaven. Nonetheless, it comes down to earth through its communication with it. It happens as with the sun, which is at the same time in the sky and on earth: It is in the sky by its substance; it is on earth through the rays it sends to it. It is like a spring that is simultaneously at its highest source and in its lowest point: It is at its greatest height at its source at the top of the mountain; it is at its lowest point through the river that comes from the mountain and flows through the valleys. This is how the heavenly Jerusalem is described here.
It is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband
It is adorned, filled with all the glory, beauty, happiness and majesty appropriate to one espoused by the celestial Lamb. It is adorned like the spouse of a King who dresses herself in her most beautiful and precious garments, adorns herself with precious stones and other ornaments, preparing herself to be brought before her King and spouse. …
Note that this refers to both Jerusalems of which I spoke, that is, on one hand, it refers to the Church and the blessed ones; on the other hand, it refers to the empyreal heaven [as a place].
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| Anne Catherine Emmerich: Various Visions concerning the Immaculate Conception |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-08-2022, 09:17 AM - Forum: Our Lady
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Anne Catherine Emmerich: Various Visions concerning the Immaculate Conception
Taken from here
![[Image: ?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.traditioninaction.or...ipo=images]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.traditioninaction.org%2Freligious%2Freligiousimages%2FH047_Concepcion.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=57354b1819039c82ed5020a3b7ab3b002656e751649aec52a11f96305cafaec5&ipo=images)
1. JOACHIM AND ST. ANNE MEET BENEATH THE GOLDEN GATE.
It was a warning from on high that had led Joachim into the Holy Place, and it was by a similar inspiration that he was brought into a subterranean passage which belonged to the consecrated part of the Temple and ran under it and under the Golden Gate. I have been told what was the meaning and origin of this passage when the Temple was built, and also what it was used for, but I have no clear recollection of this. Some religious observance relating to the blessing and reconciliation of the unfruitful was, I think, connected with this passage. In certain circumstances people were brought into it for rites of purification, expiation, absolution, and the like. Joachim was led by priests near the slaughtering-place through a little door into this passage. The priests turned back, but Joachim continued along the passage, which gradually sloped downwards. Anna had also come to the Temple with her maidservant, who was carrying the doves for sacrifice in wicker baskets. She had handed over her offering and had revealed to a priest that she had been bidden by an angel to meet her husband under the Golden Gate. I now saw that she was led by priests, accompanied by some venerable women (among whom I think was the prophetess Anna), through an entrance on the other side into the consecrated passage, where her companions left her.
I had a very wonderful view of what this passage was like. Joachim went through a little door; the passage sloped downwards, and was at first narrow but became broader afterwards. The walls were of glistening gold and green, and a reddish light shone in from above. I saw beautiful pillars like twisted trees and vines. After passing through about a third of the passage Joachim came to a place in the midst of which stood a pillar in the form of a palm tree with hanging leaves and fruits. Here he was met by Anna, radiant with happiness. They embraced each other with holy joy, and each told the other their good tidings. They were in a state of ecstasy and enveloped in a cloud of light. I saw this light issuing from a great host of angels, who were carrying the appearance of a high shining tower and hovering above the heads of Anna and Joachim. The form of this tower was the same as I see in pictures, from the litany of the Blessed Virgin, of the Tower of David, the Tower of Ivory, and so forth. I saw that this tower seemed to disappear between Anna and Joachim, who were enveloped in a glory of brightness. I understood that, as a result of the grace here given, the conception of Mary was as pure as all conceptions would have been but for the Fall. I had at the same time an indescribable vision. The heavens opened above them, and I saw the joy of the Holy Trinity and of the angels, and their participation in the mysterious blessing here bestowed on Mary's parents. Anna and Joachim returned, praising God, to the exit under the Golden Gate: towards the end the passage sloped upwards. They came into a kind of chapel under a beautiful and high arch, where many lights were burning. Here they were received by priests who led them away. The part of the Temple above which was the hall of the Sanhedrin lay over the middle of the subterranean passage; above this end of it were, I think, dwellings of priests whose duty it was to look after the vestments. Joachim and Anna now came to a kind of bay at the outermost edge of the Temple hill, overlooking the valley of Josaphat, where the path could no longer go straight on but branched to right and left. After they had visited another priest's house, I saw Joachim and Anna and their servants starting on their journey home. On their arrival at Nazareth, Joachim, after a joyful meal, gave food to many poor people and distributed generous alms. I saw how full he and Anna were of joy and fervor and gratitude to God when they thought of His compassion towards them; I often saw them praying together with tears.
It was explained to me here that the Blessed Virgin was begotten by her parents in holy obedience and complete purity of heart, and that thereafter they lived together in continence in the greatest devoutness and fear of God. I was at the same time clearly instructed how immeasurably the holiness of children was encouraged by the purity, chastity, and continence of their parents and by their resistance to all unclean temptations; and how continence after conception preserves the fruit of the womb from many sinful impulses. In general, I was given an overflowing abundance of knowledge about the roots of deformity and sin.
2. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
[Here follow various visions which Catherine Emmerich communicated at different times in the course of her yearly meditations during the octave of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Though they do not directly continue the story of the Blessed Virgin's life, yet they throw a remarkable light on the mystery of her election, preparation, and veneration as the vessel of grace. As these visions were related by Catherine Emmerich in the midst of much suffering and many interruptions, it is not surprising if they are somewhat fragmentary in character.]
2.1 THE ANGELS ARE SHOWN THE RESTORATION OF MANKIND.
I saw in a wonderful picture that God showed the angels how it was His will to restore mankind after the Fall. At first sight I did not understand this picture, but soon it became quite clear to me. I saw the Throne of God and the Holy Trinity, and at the same time a movement within that Trinity. I saw the nine choirs of angels, and how God announced to them in what manner it was His will to restore the fallen human race. I saw an inexpressible joy among the angels over this. I was now shown in a number of symbolic pictures the unfolding of God's designs for the salvation of mankind. I saw these pictures appearing among the nine choirs of angels and following each other in a kind of historical sequence. I saw the angels helping to make these pictures, protecting and defending them. I cannot now remember for certain the order in which they appeared, but will tell in God's name what I can still recollect. I saw a mountain as of precious stones appear before the Throne of God; it grew and spread. It was in terraces, like a throne; then it changed into the shape of a tower—a tower which enshrined every treasure of the spirit and every gift of grace and was surrounded by the nine choirs of angels. At one side of this tower vine tendrils and ears of corn, intertwined like the fingers of folded hands, seemed to be streaming down from the edge of a golden cloud. I cannot remember at what exact moment in the whole picture I saw this. I saw in the sky a figure like a virgin which passed into the tower and as it were melted into it. The tower was very broad and was flat at the top; it seemed to have an opening at the back through which the virgin passed into it. This was not the Blessed Virgin as she is in time, but as she is in eternity, in God. I saw the appearance of her being formed before the face of the Holy Trinity, just as when one breathes, a little cloud is formed before one's mouth. I also saw something going forth from the Holy Trinity towards the tower. At this moment of the picture I saw a vessel like a ciborium being formed among the choirs of angels. The angels all joined in giving this vessel the form of a tower surrounded by many pictures full of significance. Beside it stood two figures joining hands behind it. This spiritual vessel went on increasing in size, beauty, and richness. Then I saw something proceed from God and pass through all nine choirs of angels; it seemed to me like a little shining holy cloud which became more and more distinct as it approached the sacramental vessel which it finally entered. But in order that I should recognize this to be a real and essential blessing of God, conferring the grace of a pure and sinless line from generation to generation (like the cultivation of some plant in all its purity), I finally saw this blessing in the shape of a shining bean, enter the ciborium, which then passed into the tower. I saw the angels actively taking part in the showing forth of these visions. There rose, however, from the depths below a series of what seemed to be false visions, for I saw the angels combating these and thrusting them aside. Many of these false visions I have forgotten, but here is what I still remember about them.
I saw a church rise up from below, almost in the same form in which the holy universal Church always appears to me when I see it not as a particular building but as the Holy Catholic Church in general. There was, however, this difference, that the latter has a tower over the entrance and the church rising from the depths had not. It was a very large church but a false one. The angels thrust it aside so that it stood all crooked. I also saw a great bowl, with a lip on one side; which tried to enter the false church but was also thrust aside. I then saw the angels preparing a chalice, of the shape of the Chalice of the Last Supper, which passed into the tower entered by the virgin. I also saw a lower tower or building appear, with many doors, through which I saw crowds of people passing, among them figures like Abraham and the Children of Israel. I think this had reference to the slavery in Egypt. I saw a round terraced tower arise, which also had reference to Egypt. This was thrust back and made to stand crooked. I also saw an Egyptian temple arise, like the one on the ceiling of which I had seen the Egyptian priests, idolaters, fastening the image of a winged virgin after receiving from Elijah' messenger communications of a prophetic vision of the Blessed Virgin. I will speak of his vision later; it was seen by the prophet on Mount Carmel. This temple, too, was thrust back and made to stand crooked.
I then saw between the choirs of angels, to the right of the holy tower, a branch which put forth buds, making a whole ancestral tree of little male and female figures holding each other's hands. This family tree ended with the appearance of a little crib with a little child in it. The crib was of the same shape as the one I had seen exposed in the temple of the Three Kings. Then I saw a beautiful great church appear.
The way in which all these pictures were united with each other and yet melted one into the other was very wonderful. The whole vision was indescribably rich and full of significance. Even the hateful, evil, false appearances of towers, chalices, and churches, which were thrust aside, were made to assist in the unfolding of the scheme of salvation.
[When recounting these scattered visions, she came back again and again to the unspeakable joy of the angels. There was no real conclusion to these fragmentary visions, which seem to have been a series of symbolic pictures of the history of our salvation. She added: First of all I saw the emblems of the work of redemption among the choirs of angels, and then a series of pictures from Adam down to the Babylonian captivity.']
2.2 AN EGYPTIAN REPRESENTATION OF MARY PRIOR TO ELIJAH.
I saw something happening in Egypt very long ago which had a symbolic application to the Blessed Virgin. It must have been long before the days of Elijah. I also saw something in Egypt, in his lifetime, which I will tell later.
I saw a place in Egypt, much farther away from the Promised Land than On or Heliopolis, where on an island in the river an idol stood. This idol had a head which was something between that of a man and of an ox, with three horns, one in the middle of the forehead. The figure was hollow, and had openings in its body in which sacrifices were burnt as in an oven. Its feet were like claws, and in one hand it held a plant like a lily which grows out of the water and opens and shuts with the sun. In the other hand the idol held a plant like ears of corn with quite thick grains; I think it grows out of the water too, but am not quite sure of this. After a great victory a temple had been built in honor of this idol, which was now to be consecrated, and all preparations had been made for the sacrifice. But as the people were on their way to the island I saw something wonderful happen.
Near the idol I saw a dark and dreadful apparition, and then I saw a great angel descending upon it from heaven like the one who appeared to St. John the Evangelist in the Apocalypse. This angel struck the dark figure in the back with his staff. The demon, writhing, was forced to speak out of the mouth of the idol, warning the people to consecrate the temple, not in honor of it but of a virgin who was to appear upon earth and to whom thanks for their victory were due. I cannot remember the exact circumstances, but I saw that the people set up in the new temple the image of a winged virgin, which was fixed to the wall. The virgin as she flew was bending down over a little ship in which lay a child in swaddling clothes. The ship stood on a little pillar, with a leafy top like a tree. One of her outstretched hands had a balance hanging from it, and I saw two figures beside her on the wall who were putting something into each scale of the balance. The little ship in which the child lay was like that in which Moses lay on the Nile, but it was uncovered, whereas Moses' one was entirely closed in except for a small opening at the top.
2.3 ELIJAH'S VISION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
I saw the whole Promised Land withered and parched with drought, and I saw Elijah ascending Mount Carmel with two servants to beseech God to give rain. First they climbed over a high ridge, then up steps of rock to a terrace, then up many more rock steps, and so reached a great open space with a hill of rocks in its midst in which was a cave. Elijah climbed up steps to the top of this rocky hill. He left the servants at the edge of the open space and bade one of them look towards the Sea of Galilee, which had, however, a terrible aspect, for it was quite dried up and was full of hollows and caverns with rotting bodies of animals in the swampy ground. Elijah crouched down on the ground with his head sunk between his knees, and covering himself in his mantle prayed fervently to God and cried seven times to his servant to know whether he did not see a cloud rising out of the lake. At his seventh call I saw the cloud rise up, and saw the servant announce it to Elijah, who sent him to King Ahab. I saw a white eddy form itself in the middle of the lake; out of this eddy rose a little black cloud like a fist, which opened and spread itself out. In this little cloud I saw from the first a little shining figure like a virgin. I saw, too, that Elijah perceived this figure in the spreading cloud. The head of this virgin was encircled with rays; she stretched her arms out in the form of a cross, and had a triumphal wreath hanging from one hand. Her long robe seemed to be tied beneath her feet. She appeared as if hovering above the whole Promised Land in the cloud as it spread ever farther. I saw how this cloud divided into different parts and fell in eddying showers of crystal dew on certain holy and consecrated places inhabited by devout men and those who were praying for salvation. I saw these showers edged with the colors of the rainbow and the blessing taking shape in their midst like a pearl in its shell. It was explained to me that this was a symbolic picture, and that the favored places watered by the showers from the cloud were in fact those which had had their share in contributing to the coming of the Blessed Virgin.
I saw as well a prophetic vision of how Elijah, while the cloud was rising, discerned four mysteries relating to the Blessed Virgin. Unfortunately I have forgotten the details, and much else, as a result of disturbances and interruptions. Elijah discerned in the cloud, among other things, that Mary would be born in the seventh age of the world; hence his sevenfold call to his servant. He saw, too, from what family she was to come. On one side of the country he saw a low but very broad family tree, and on the other a very high one, broad at the base but tapering towards its top, which bent down into the first tree. He understood all this, and discerned in this way four mysteries relating to the future mother of the Savior. Hereupon I had a vision of how Elijah enlarged the cave above which he had prayed and how he made the Sons of the Prophets into a more regular organization. Some of these were always praying in this cave for the coming of the Blessed Virgin and paying her honor in anticipation of her future birth. I saw that this devotion to the Blessed Virgin continued here uninterrupted, that the Essenes carried it on during Mary's earthly life, and that subsequently it was perpetuated up to our time by hermits and the Carmelite Order which eventually succeeded them.
2.4 AN EXPOUNDING ON ELIJAH'S VISION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
[When Catherine Emmerich communicated later her visions of the time of John the Baptist, she saw the same vision of Elijah with reference to the state of the country and of mankind which prevailed in St. John's time. We therefore reproduce from this what follows as explanatory of what she has said above.]
I saw a great commotion in the Temple at Jerusalem, much consultation, much writing with reed pens, and messengers being sent about the country. Rain was besought from God with cries and supplications, and search was made everywhere for Elijah. I saw Elijah receiving food and drink in the wilderness from the angel, who held a vessel like a little shining barrel with white and red diagonal stripes. I saw all Elijah' dealings with Ahab, the sacrifice on Mount Carmel, the slaughter of the priests of Baal, Elijah' prayer for rain and the gathering of the clouds. I saw as well as the dryness of the earth, a great dryness and failing of good fruit amongst men. I saw that by his prayer Elijah called forth the blessing of which the cloud was the form, and that he guided and distributed its showers in accordance with inner visions; otherwise it might perhaps have become a destroying deluge. He asked his servant seven times for news of the cloud; this signifies the seven generations or ages of the world which must go by before the real blessing (of which this cloud of blessing was but a symbol) took root in Israel. Elijah himself saw in the ascending cloud an image of the Blessed Virgin, and discerned several mysteries relating to her birth and descent.
I saw that Elijah' prayer called down the blessing at first in the form of dew. Layers of cloud sank down which formed themselves into eddies with rainbow edges; these finally dissolved into falling drops. I saw therein an association with the manna in the desert, but the manna lay thick and crisp on the ground in the morning like fleeces, and could be rolled up and taken away. I saw this whirling eddy of dew floating along the banks of the Jordan, but dropping down only at certain notable places, not everywhere. In particular at Ainon, opposite Salem, and at the places where baptisms took place later, I clearly saw these shining eddies floating downwards. I asked what the colored edges of these dew eddies portended, and was given as an explanation the example of the mother-of-pearl shells in the sea which also bore edges of shining color; they expose themselves to the sun, absorbing the light and cleansing it of color until the pure white pearls take form in their centers. It was shown to me, too, that this dew and the rain that followed it was something much more than the ordinary refreshing of the earth by moisture. I was given clearly to understand that, without this dew, the coming of the Blessed Virgin would have been delayed by more than a hundred years; whereas, after this softening and blessing of the earth, nourishment and refreshment were imparted to the human beings who lived on the fruits of the soil; the blessing communicated itself to their bodies and ennobled them. This fructifying dew was associated with the coming of the Messiah, for I saw its rays penetrating generation after generation until they reached the substance of the body of the Blessed Virgin. I cannot describe this. Sometimes, on the colored edge that I have mentioned I saw emerge one or more pearls having the likeness of a human figure which disappeared in a breath to unite itself with others of these pearls. The picture of the pearl shell was a symbol of Mary and Jesus.
I saw, too, that just as the earth and mankind were parched and panting for rain, so, at a later time, was the spirit of man thirsting for the baptism of John; so that the whole picture was not only a prophecy of the coming of the Blessed Virgin, but also of the state of the people at the time of the Baptist. In the first instance there was the alarm of the people, their longing for rain and their search for Elijah, followed, nevertheless, by their persecution of him; and later there was a like yearning of the people for baptism and penance, and again the lack of comprehension by the synagogue and its messages to John.
2.5 A REPRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN EGYPT.
In Egypt I saw the message of salvation being announced in the following manner. I saw that by God's command Elijah sent messages to summon devout families scattered about in three regions to the east, north, and south. For this purpose he sent forth three of the sons of the prophets, but only after asking a sign from God that he had decided rightly, for it was a difficult and dangerous mission, and he had to choose messengers whose prudence would lessen the danger of their being murdered. One traveled northwards, one eastwards, and the third southwards. This last one had to pass through a considerable part of Egyptian territory, where the Israelites were in particular danger of being killed. This messenger took the way followed by the Holy Family on their flight into Egypt. I think, too, that he passed near On, where the Child Jesus took refuge. I saw him come to an idolatrous temple on a great plain; in this temple, which was surrounded by a meadow and by many other buildings, they adored a living bull. They had an image of a bull and many other idols in their temple; their sacrifices were gruesome and they slaughtered deformed children. They seized the son of the prophet and brought him before the priests. Fortunately, the latter were very inquisitive; otherwise, they might easily have murdered him. They questioned him as to whence he came and what brought him there, and he answered without hesitation, telling them how a virgin would be born from whom the salvation of the world was to come, and that then all their idols would fall in pieces.
They were amazed at his announcement, seemed greatly moved thereby, and let him go unharmed. I saw them taking counsel together thereafter, and having the image of a virgin constructed and fixed in the middle of the temple roof. This image [See Figure 4], represented as floating downwards at full length, had a headdress like the idols, so many of which lie in rows there, half like a woman, half like a lion. On the top of the head was something like a little high vessel or bushel of fruit; the elbows were close to the body, while the forearms were held out in a gesture as it were of withdrawal and repulse. In her hands were ears of corn. She had three breasts; a large one in the middle, with two smaller ones on each side of it but lower down. The lower part of the body was clothed in a long dress, and from the feet, which were comparatively small and pointed, hung tassels or something of the sort. She had as it were wings on her arms both above and below the elbows; these wings seemed to be made of delicate feathers spreading out on each side like rays and intertwined with each other. Feathers ran crosswise down both thighs and over the middle of the body to the feet. The dress had no folds. They venerated this image and sacrificed to it, begging it not to destroy their God Apis and their other gods. At the same time they continued their gruesome idolatry as before, except that they always began by invoking this virgin. In making this image they had, I believe, followed the indications given them by the son of the prophet in his account of the vision which Elijah had seen.
2.6 MARY PROCLAIMED TO PIOUS PAGANS.
I saw also that by the great mercy of God it was announced to certain God-fearing heathens that the Messiah was to be born from a virgin in Judea. The ancestors of the three holy kings, the star-worshippers of Chaldea, received this message by the appearance of a picture in a star or in the sky, by which they made prophecies. I saw traces of these prophetic images of the Blessed Virgin in the pictures in their temple, which I have described in my account of Jesus' visit to them after the raising of Lazarus in the last quarter of the third year of His ministry.
2.7 THE LIFE STORY OF TOBIAS. AN ALLEGORY OF THE COMING OF SALVATION.
[On the feast of the Archangel Michael in September 1821, Catherine Emmerich recounted, amongst other fragments of a vision of the holy angels, the following fragment of the story of Tobias, whom she had seen with the Archangel Raphael as his guide.]
I saw many things from the life of Tobias, which is an allegory of the history of the coming of salvation in Israel; not an imaginative allegory, but one which actually happened and was lived. It was shown to me that Sarah, the wife of the young Tobias, was a prototype of St. Anne. I will relate as much as I can remember of the many things that happened, but shall not be able to reproduce them in their right order. The elder Tobias was an emblem of the God-fearing branch of the Jewish race, those who were hoping for the Messiah. The swallow, the messenger of spring, indicated the near approach of salvation. The blindness of old Tobias signified that he was to beget no more children, and was to devote himself entirely to prayer and meditation; it signified also the faithful, though dim, longing and waiting for the light of salvation and the uncertainty as to whence it was to come. Tobias' quarrelsome wife represented the empty and harassing forms into which the Pharisees had converted the Law. The kid which she had brought home in lieu of wages had, as Tobias warned her, really been stolen, and had for that reason been handed on to her in return for very little. Tobias knew the people concerned and all about it, but his wife only mocked him. This mockery also indicated the contempt of the Pharisees and formalists for the devout Jews and Essenes and the relationship between the two groups, but I cannot now remember how this was.
The Archangel Raphael was not telling an untruth when he said that he was Azarias, the son of Ananias, for the general meaning of these words is: The help of the Lord out of the cloud of the Lord'. This angel, the companion of young Tobias, represented God's watchfulness over the Blessed Virgin's descent through her ancestors and His preservation and guidance of the Blessing through the generations which preceded her conception. In the prayer of the Elder Tobias, and of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel (I saw both these prayers being brought by the angels at one and the same time before the Throne of God and there granted), I recognized the supplications of the God-fearing Israelites and of the Daughters of Sion for the coming of salvation, as well as the simultaneous prayers of Joachim and Anna, separated from each other, for the promised offspring. The blindness of the elder Tobias and his wife's mockery of him also symbolized Joachim's childlessness and the rejection of his sacrifice at the Temple. The seven husbands of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, who were destroyed by Satan, came to their end through sensuality; for Sarah had made a vow to give herself only to a chaste and God-fearing man. These seven men symbolized those whose entry into Jesus' ancestry according to the flesh would have hindered the coming of the Blessed Virgin, and thus the advent of salvation.
There was also a reference to certain unblessed periods in the history of salvation and to the suitors whom Anna had to reject that she might be united to Joachim, the father of Mary. The maidservant's reviling of Sarah ( Tob.3.7) symbolized the reviling by the heathen and by the godless and unbelieving among the Jews against the expectation of the Messiah, for whose coming all God-fearing Jews were, like Sarah, inspired to pray with ever-increasing fervor. It was also an image of the reviling of Anna by her maidservant, whereafter that holy mother prayed with such fervor that her prayer was granted. The fish which was about to swallow young Tobias symbolized the powers of darkness, heathendom, and sin striving against the coming of salvation, and also Anna's long barrenness. The killing of the fish, the removal of its heart, liver, and gall, and the burning of this by Tobias and Sarah to make smoke—all these symbolized the victory over the demon of fleshly lusts who had strangled Sarah's seven husbands, as well as the good works and continence of Joachim and Anna, by which they had obtained the blessing of holy fruitfulness. I also saw therein a deep significance relating to the Blessed Sacrament, but can no longer explain this. The gall of the fish, which restored the sight of Tobias' father, symbolized the bitterness of the suffering through which the chosen ones among the Jews came to know and share in salvation; it indicated also the entry of the light into the darkness brought about by Jesus' bitter sufferings from His birth onwards.
I received many explanations of this kind, and saw many details of the history of Tobias. I think the descendants of young Tobias were among the ancestors of Joachim and Anna. The elder Tobias had other children who were not godly. Sarah had three daughters and four sons. Her first child was a daughter. The elder Tobias lived to see his grandchildren.
2.8 THE GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE MESSIAH.
I saw the line of the descent of the Messiah proceeding from David and dividing into two branches. The right-hand one went through Solomon down to Jacob, the father of St. Joseph. I saw the figures of all St. Joseph's ancestors named in the Gospel on this right-hand branch of the descent from David through Solomon. This branch has the greater significance of the two; I saw the line of descent issuing from the mouths of the separate figures in streams of white colorless light. The figures were taller and looked more spiritual than those of the left-hand line. Each one held a long flower stem with hanging leaves like those of palms: this stem was crowned with a great bell-shaped flower shaped like a lily and having five stamens, yellow at the top, from which a fine yellow dust was scattered. These flowers differed in size, vigor, and beauty. The flower borne by Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, was the most beautiful and purest of all, with fresh and abundant petals. Halfway down this ancestral tree were three rejected shoots, blackened and withered. In this line through Solomon there were several gaps separating its fruits more widely from each other. The right-hand and left-hand branches met several times, and they crossed each other at a point a few generations before the end. I was given an explanation about the higher significance of the line of descent through Solomon. It had in it more of the spirit and less of the flesh, and had some of the significance belonging to Solomon himself. I cannot express this.
The left-hand line of descent went from David through Nathan down to Heli, which is the real name of Joachim, Mary's father, for he did not receive the name of Joachim till later, just as Abram was not called Abraham until later. I forget the reason, but it will perhaps come back to me. In my visions I often hear Jesus called after the flesh a son of Heli.
I saw this whole line from David through Nathan flowing at a lower level: it generally issued from the navels of the separate figures. I saw it colored red, yellow, or white, but never blue. Here and there were stains; then the stream became clear again. The figures upon it were smaller than those of the line through Solomon. They carried smaller branches which hung down sideways and had little yellow-green leaves with serrated edges; their branches were crowned with reddish buds of the color of wild roses. These were always closed; they were not flower buds but the beginnings of fruits. A double row of little twigs hung down on the same side as the serrated leaves. At a point three or four generations above Heli or Joachim, the two lines crossed each other and rose up, ending with the Blessed Virgin. At the point of crossing I think I already saw the blood of the Blessed Virgin beginning to shine in the stream of descent.
St. Anne descended on her father's side from Levi, and on her mother's side, from Benjamin. I saw in a vision the Ark of the Covenant being borne by her ancestors with great piety and devotion; I saw them receiving rays of blessing from it which extended to their descendants, to Anna and to Mary. I always saw many priests in the house of Anna's parents, and also in Joachim's house; this was the result of the relationship with Zechariah and Elizabeth.
2.9 APPARITION OF SAINT ANNE.
[On the afternoon of July 26th, 1819, Sister Emmerich, after relating many things about Anna, the Blessed Virgin's holy mother, fell asleep as she was praying. After a while she sneezed three times and exclaimed impatiently, but still half asleep, O, why must I wake up?' Then she woke up completely and said with a smile: I was in a much better place, I was much better off than here. I was being much comforted, and then all of a sudden I was woken by my sneeze and someone said to me "You must wake up ", but I did not want to, I was so happy there and was annoyed at having to go away, then I had to sneeze, and I woke up.'
[Next day she told me:] I had just fallen asleep last night after saying my prayers when someone whom I recognized as a young girl I had often seen before came to my bed. She said to me rather shortly: You have been speaking a great deal about me today, you shall now have a sight of me, so that you may make no mistakes.' So I asked her: Have I perhaps talked too much?' She answered abruptly No!' and disappeared. She was still a girl, slim and attractive, her head was covered with a white hood, drawn together at the back of her neck and ending there in a hanging knot as if her hair were inside it. Her long dress, which completely covered her, was of whitish wool; the sleeves of it seemed to be rather full at the elbows. Over this she wore a long cloak of brownish wool, like camel's hair.
Hardly had I had time to feel touched and pleased by this vision, when suddenly I saw by my bed an aged woman in similar dress with her head more bent and very hollow cheeks—a Jewess of some fifty years, thin but handsome. Why,' I thought, does this old Jewess come to me?' Then she said: You need not be afraid; I only want to show you how I was when I bore the mother of the Lord, so that you may make no mistakes.' I asked at once: O, where is the dear little child Mary?' and she replied: I have not got her with me now.' Then I asked again: How old is she now?' And she answered: Four years old.' I asked her once more: But have I spoken rightly?' and she said shortly, Yes.' I asked her: O, please do not let me say too much!' She did not answer and disappeared.
Then I woke up, and thought over everything that I had seen of Anna and of the childhood of the Blessed Virgin, and everything became clear to me and I felt blissfully happy. Next morning, when I was again asleep, I had a new and very beautiful vision. I thought I could not forget it, but the next day brought with it so many interruptions and sufferings that nothing of it remains in my mind.
2.10 VISION OF THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
During the whole night I saw a terrible, horrifying picture of the sins of the whole world; but towards morning I fell asleep again and was transported to the place in Jerusalem where the Temple had stood, and then on to the region of Nazareth, where the house of Joachim and Anna used to stand. I recognized the country round. Here I saw a slender column of light rising out of the earth like the stem of a flower. This column was crowned with the appearance of a shining octagonal church, which grew forth from the stem like the calyx of a flower or the seed vessel of a poppy. The column grew up within this church like a little tree, with symmetrical branches bearing the figures of those among the Blessed Virgin's family who were the objects of veneration on this feast. It was as if they were standing on the stamens of a flower. I saw the Blessed Virgin's holy mother St. Anne, standing between Joachim and another man, her father perhaps. Beneath St. Anne's breast I saw a space filled with light, somewhat in the shape of a chalice, and in this I saw the figure of a shining child growing and developing. Its little hands were crossed on its breast and its little head was bent, and countless rays of light issued from it towards one part of the world. (I thought it strange that they did not shine in all directions.) On others of the surrounding branches were many figures turned towards the center in veneration, and all round within the church I saw orders and choirs of saints, countless in number, all turning in prayer towards that holy mother. This celebration, in the sweetness of its harmony and devotion, can only be compared to a meadow of innumerable flowers, stirred by a gentle wind and lifting their heads to offer their scents and their colors to the sun from which they have received life itself and all they have to offer. Above this symbolical picture of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception the tree of light sent up another shoot, and in this second crown I saw a further moment of the feast being celebrated. Mary and Joseph were kneeling here, and a little lower St. Anne, all in adoration of the child Jesus, whom I saw above them in the top of the tree, holding in His hand the orb or globe and surrounded by an infinite glory of light. Around this scene, and bowing in adoration before it, were, nearest of all, the three holy kings, the shepherds, and the apostles and disciples; farther away other saints joined in the choirs of worshippers. In the light from above I saw indistinct figures of Powers and Principalities, and still higher I saw as it were a half-sun, its light streaming down through the dome of the church. This second picture seemed to indicate the approach of the Feast of the Nativity after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. When the picture first appeared, I seemed to be standing outside the church, looking outwards from under the pillar; later I saw into the inside of the church as I have described it. I saw, too, the little child Mary developing in the space of light under St. Anne's heart, and received, at the same moment, an inexpressible conviction of the Immaculate Conception. I read it as clearly as in a book, and understood it. It was shown to me, that a church to the glory of God had once stood here, but had been given over to destruction in consequence of unworthy disputes about this holy mystery; that the Church Triumphant, however, still celebrated this feast on this spot.
2.11 THE BLESSED VIRGIN REVEALS SECRETS ABOUT THEIR LIVES.
[During her visions of Jesus' ministry Catherine Emmerich related the following on December 16th, 1822.]
I often hear the Blessed Virgin telling the women who were her close intimates (for instance, Joanna Chuza and Susanna of Jerusalem) various secrets about herself and about Our Lord, which she knows partly from inner knowledge and partly from what her holy mother Anna told her. Thus today I heard her telling Susanna and Martha that during the time when she was bearing Our Lord within her she never felt the slightest discomfort, nothing but infinite inner joy and beatitude. She told them, too, that Joachim and Anna had met in the hall under the Golden Gate in a golden hour; and that God's grace had been granted to them here in such abundance as to make it possible for her alone, from her parents' holy obedience and pure love of God, to have been conceived in her mother's womb without any stain of sin. She also explained to them that but for the Fall the conception of all men would have been as pure. She spoke, too, of her beloved elder sister Mary Heli, that her parents had realized that she was not the promised fruit, and how, in their longing for that fruit, they had long practiced continence. It was a joy to me to hear now from the Blessed Virgin herself what I have always seen about her elder sister. I saw now the whole sequence of grace received by Mary's parents just as I have always described it, from the appearance of the angel to Anna and Joachim down to their meeting under the Golden Gate; that is to say, in the subterranean ball under the Golden Gate. I saw Joachim and Anna encompassed by a host of angels with heavenly light. They themselves shone and were as pure as spirits in a supernatural state, as no human couple had ever been before them. I think that the Golden Gate itself was the scene of the examination and absolution of women accused of adultery, and that other ceremonies of reconciliation took place here. There were five of these subterranean passages under the Temple, and one also under the part where the virgins lived. These were used for certain ceremonies of atonement. I do not know whether others before Joachim and Anna had gone there, but I think the place was very seldom visited. I cannot at present recall whether it was in general connected with sacrifices offered by the unfruitful, but the priests had been given some order about it.
2.12 CELEBRATION OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS.
[On December 8th, 1820, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the soul of Catherine Emmerich was transported in an active state of prayer and meditation over a great part of the earth. The whole of this visionary journey will be described in its proper place, but in the meantime we will reproduce the following extracts from it in order to give some idea of these journeyings of her soul.
[She came to Rome, was with the Holy Father, visited a much-loved and devout nun in Sardinia, reached Palestine after a short visit to Palermo, went to India, and thence to what she calls the mountain of the Prophet. Thence she journeyed to Abyssinia, where she came to a strange Jewish city on a high mountain rock and visited its ruler Judith, with whom she spoke of the Messiah, of that day's feast of the Conception of His Mother, of the holy Advent time, and of the approaching Feast of His Birth. During the whole of this journey she did all that a conscientious missionary would have done on a similar journey to carry out his task and make use of his opportunities; she prayed, taught, helped, comforted, and learnt. But in order to make plain to the reader, in her own words, what she perceived on this journey regarding the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we must refer him to the note on page 46, in which that part of Jesus' ministry to which she here alludes is described in detail.]
When in my great dream-journey I came into the Promised Land, I saw all those things which I have related about the Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Thereupon I entered into the daily visions of Our Lord's ministry and had today reached the 8h of December of the third year of His teaching. I found Jesus not in the Promised Land, but was brought by my guide eastwards over the Jordan to Arabia, where the Lord, accompanied by three young men, was in a tent city of the three holy kings in which they had settled after their return from Bethlehem.
2.13 THE HOLY KINGS CELEBRATE A FEAST HONORING MARY'S CONCEPTION.
I saw that the two holy kings who were still alive were celebrating with their tribe a three-day feast starting from today, December 8th. On this night, fifteen years before Christ's birth, they had seen for the first time the star promised by Balaam rise in the sky [ Num.24.17: A star shall rise out of Jacob']—the star for which they and their forefathers had waited so long, scanning the heavens in patient watchfulness. They discerned in it the picture of a virgin, bearing in one hand a scepter and in the other a balance. The scales were held even by a perfect ear of wheat in the one and by a cluster of grapes in the other. Therefore every year since their return from Bethlehem they kept a three-day feast beginning with this day.
2.14 ELIMINATION OF HUMAN SACRIFICE BY THE STAR-WORSHIPPERS.
I saw, too, that as a result of this vision on the day of the conception of Mary, fifteen years before the birth of Christ, these star-worshippers did away with a terrible religious custom of theirs—a cruel sacrifice of children, long practiced among them as the result of revelations which had been misunderstood by them and confused by evil influences. They had carried out at different times and in different manners sacrifices of both children and grown people. I saw that before Mary's conception they had the following custom. They took a child of one of the purest and most devout mothers amongst the followers of their religion, and she esteemed herself very fortunate to offer up her child in this way. The child was flayed and strewn with flour to absorb the blood. They ate this blood-soaked flour as a holy repast, and continued strewing the flour and eating until there was no blood left in the child's body. Finally the child's flesh was cut up into small pieces, which were distributed among them and eaten. [48] I saw them performing this gruesome ceremony with the greatest simplicity and devoutness, and I was told that they had adopted this dreadful practice as a result of misunderstanding and distorting certain prophetic and symbolical indications which they had received regarding the Holy Eucharist. I saw that this terrible sacrifice was carried on in Chaldea, in the country of Mensor, one of the three holy kings, until he put an end to its horrors on receiving enlightenment in a vision from heaven on the day of Mary's conception. I saw him on a high wooden pyramidal edifice, engaged in studying the stars, as his people had done for centuries in accordance with their ancient traditions. I saw King Mensor lying in an ecstasy as he contemplated the stars; his limbs were rigid and he had lost consciousness. His companions came to him and brought him back to himself, but at first he seemed not to know them at all. He had seen the picture in the star with the Virgin, the scales, the ear of corn, and the cluster of grapes, and had received an inner admonition, after which that cruel ceremony was abolished.
2.15 A PARALLEL VISION OF CHILD SACRIFICE.
After seeing at night in my sleep the fearful picture of the murdered child on my right hand, I turned over in horror in my bed, but saw it again on my left hand. I begged God most earnestly to free me from this dreadful sight. I woke up and heard the clock strike. My heavenly Bridegroom said to me, pointing round Him as He spoke: See far more evil that befalls Me every day at the hands of many throughout the whole world.' And as I looked about me into the distance, many things came before my soul which were indeed still more dreadful than that sacrifice of children; for I saw Jesus Himself cruelly sacrificed on the Altar by unworthy and sinful celebrations of the Holy Mysteries. I saw how the blessed Host lay on the altar before unworthy degenerate priests like a living Child Jesus, whom they cut and terribly mutilated with the paten. Their sacrifice, though an efficacious celebration of the Holy Mysteries, appeared like a cruel murder.
The same cruelty was shown to me in the heartless treatment of the members of Christ, His followers, and God's adopted children. I saw at the present time countless good, unhappy men being everywhere oppressed, tormented, and persecuted; and I always saw that it was Jesus who suffered this ill-treatment. The times are terrible; a refuge is no longer anywhere to be found; a dense cloud of sin lies over the whole world, and I see men giving way to the worst crimes with complete indifference and unconcern. I saw all this in many visions while my soul was being led through many lands over the whole earth. At last I came back to the visions of the Feast of Mary's Conception.
2.16 HISTORY OF THE CELEBRATIONS OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY.
I am quite unable to tell in what a wonderful way I journeyed last night in dream. I was in the most different parts of the world and in the most different ages, and very often saw the Feast of Mary's Conception being celebrated in the most different places. I was in Ephesus, and saw this feast being celebrated in the house of the Mother of God, which was still standing there as a church. It must have been at a very early time, for I saw the Way of the Cross set up by Mary herself still in perfect preservation. [The second Way of the Cross was set up in Jerusalem and the third in Rome.]
The Greeks kept this feast long before the schism. I still remember something of this, but am not quite sure what led up to it. I saw how a saint, Sabbas, I think, had a vision relating to the Immaculate Conception. He saw the picture of the Blessed Virgin …
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| New Zealand court takes guardianship of baby after parents refuse vaccinated blood for heart surgery |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-07-2022, 08:17 AM - Forum: Socialism & Communism
- No Replies
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New Zealand court takes guardianship of baby after parents refuse vaccinated blood for heart surgery
![[Image: 221206232541-new-zealand-auckland-high-c...280,c_fill]](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/221206232541-new-zealand-auckland-high-court-file.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
New Zealand's High Court will take temporary guardianship of the baby until he has recovered from the surgery.
CNN | December 7, 2022
A critically-ill six-month-old baby will be placed under the temporary guardianship of New Zealand’s High Court after his parents refused to allow him to undergo lifesaving heart surgery using blood from people vaccinated against Covid-19.
Handing down the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Ian Gault ruled that the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, would remain under the court’s guardianship until he had recovered from the surgery.
The court also appointed two doctors as its agents to oversee issues around the operation and the administration of blood, according to court documents.
The baby has a congenital heart defect and needs urgent open-heart surgery to survive – but the operation has been delayed by his parents’ insistence that only blood from donors not vaccinated against Covid-19 be used.
The case has drawn attention to the ramifications of vaccine misinformation two years into global inoculation drives.
The baby’s parents believed there were “spike proteins in the blood of people who have been vaccinated and that these proteins were causing unexpected deaths relating to transfusions,” according to the judgment.
The parents had previously demanded the New Zealand Blood Service take a donation from a person chosen by the family, but the agency refused and said it does not make a distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated donors.
The court heard that Dr Kirsten Finucane, the chief pediatric cardiac surgeon at Auckland’s Starship Hospital, had told the parents it was “simply impractical to have a directed donor.”
Finucane had consulted with other experts and found that a cardiac bypass without using blood or blood products would not be an option for the baby’s surgery, the court heard.
With the parents and doctors unable to agree on the infant’s treatment and blood transfusion, the New Zealand Health Service made an application under the Care of Children Act in November, requesting the court to appoint a doctor to take temporary guardianship of the baby for his medical care only.
Following the court’s ruling, Dr. Mike Shepherd, Auckland’s interim director of the New Zealand Health Service, said its decisions were “always made with the best interests of the child in mind.”
“We acknowledge the decision made by the court, following our application in relation to the baby’s surgery and recognize this is a difficult situation for all involved,” Shepherd said in a statement.
CNN has reached out to the lawyer representing the baby’s parents but has not received a response.
New Zealand has relatively high vaccination rates for Covid-19, with about 90% of people aged 12 or above having had two shots and over 70% of eligible adults having received a first booster shot, according to its ministry of health.
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| Dominion Energy reportedly cutting off electricity to homes that refused ‘smart’ meters |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-07-2022, 06:53 AM - Forum: Socialism & Communism
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Dominion Energy reportedly cutting off electricity to homes that refused ‘smart’ meters
August Free Press | November 17, 2022 |
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Dominion Energy Virginia disconnected electricity to, threatened to or forced a “smart” meter on more than half a dozen households across Virginia.
According to Virginians for Safe Technology, based in Fredericksburg, households are in Petersburg, Fauquier, Prince William, Fluvanna, Albemarle, Henrico and Spotsylvania counties. Customers swapped out their “smart” meters for analog meters, and now are left without electricity.
“Dominion has crossed a line,” Jenny DeMarco, Communications Director of Virginians for Safe Technology, said in a press release. “When families taking reasonable steps to protect themselves and their children have their power cut-off in the middle of November, local police and sheriff’s departments are escorting the corporation doing so, and the government and regulatory agencies stand idly by, that’s a pretty strong signal that our system is broken.”
Milton Williams posted a video on YouTube on Nov. 8, 2022 about letters from Dominion threatening to shut off electricity of he did not install the “smart” meter in his home. Electricity was shut off November 10, and remains off.
According to the press release, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved the statewide installation of “smart” meters in January 2022, as part of the Grid Transformation Plan.
“Dominion ‘upgraded’ my new house to a ‘smart’ meter without my knowledge or consent,” Aeron Mack of Fauquier said in the press release. “I have Lyme disease and cannot function with a smart meter on my home, but Dominion wouldn’t remove it so I had it replaced with an analog by a trained professional. I had just gotten home and was recovering from minor cancer surgery when Dominion showed up to cut off my power. I called the police to help me and instead of checking on my welfare, they stood laughing with the Dominion technicians while I cried and was forced to choose between a smart meter and no power.”
The press release stated that Dominion Energy’s “smart” meters can emit radiation bursts up to 190,000 times per day. The meters have not been fully tested to determine the public’s safety. Health effects including ringing in the ears, leg cramps, balance problems, heart and eye issues, fatigue, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and disorientation.
Children are the most vulnerable to the radiation exposure, because their bodies are still developing and growing. Symptoms include headaches, persistent nosebleeds, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, sleep disruption, ADHD symptoms, weakened immune system and abnormal brain development.
“Parents must be free to protect their children from this invisible toxin and an analog meter is a safer solution,” Kathy Blum, President of the Virginia Chapter of Children’s Health Defense, said in the press release. “If children can’t be safe in their own home, where can they be?”
Virginians for Safe Technology Radio Frequency Engineer Mary Bauer said in the press release that “the SCC and other state government officials need to better protect the public by authorizing an “opt-in” to retain our analog meters without cost, and support the inevitable transition to a wired ethernet electric utility meter, such as an intelligent energy meters.”
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| German bishop accused of covering up abuse announces laywomen will administer baptism |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-06-2022, 06:45 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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German bishop accused of covering up abuse announces laywomen will administer baptism
Bishop Franz-Josef Bode also advocated for the ordination of married men to the priesthood, including those who hold professions as laymen.
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Bishop Franz-Josef Bode speaks to the media on the opening day of a congress of the "Synodal Way" on February 3, 2022, in Frankfurt, Germany
Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images
Dec 5, 2022
OSTERCLAPPELN, Germany (LifeSiteNews) — German bishop Franz-Josef Bode announced on Sunday that female “lay ministers” will be trained to perform baptisms.
The prelate also advocated for opening “the priesthood to married men, including those with a civil profession.”
Bode made the comments in a parish meeting in Osterclappeln, a village in his diocese of Osnabrück, according to a report by Katholische Nachrichtenagentur (KNA).
In September, Bode was accused in an extensive report, published in September, of covering up sexual abuse and promoting abusive priests but he refused to resign.
Bode, who is the vice president of the German bishops’ conference (DBK) and of the heterodox “Synodal Way,” defended his decision to remain in office during the assembly on Sunday.
The German prelate acknowledged that the trust between himself and many of his employees was broken, and it would “not be easy to heal this.” However, he stressed that he “could be accused of moral, but not legal misconduct.”
Instead of resigning, Bode used the occasion to promote the Synodal Way, a long-term project of the DBK which has backed the ordination of women to the priesthood and admittance of divorced and “remarried” Catholics to Holy Communion, among other anti-Catholic positions. He defended the Synodal Way by claiming that it would help to clarify the systematic background behind abuses of power.
For this reason, the 71-year-old bishop said he wants to strengthen the role of women not only in church administration but also in pastoral ministry and to entrust them with the administration of baptism.
The project of training laypeople, “especially full-time and voluntary women in the parishes,” to perform baptisms is set to start on Easter next year. These so-called lay ministers could start to administer baptisms by 2025, according to Bode.
At the same time, he called for the priesthood to be opened to married men, including those with a civil profession.
This is not the first time that a German bishop assigned laypeople, especially women, to administer baptism. Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of the diocese of Essen authorized 17 women to confer baptism in his diocese in March 2022, and 13 more in October of this year.
While Overbeck justified his decision by citing an alleged “lack of priests,” Bode said he “wants to strengthen the role of women.”
The parish meeting initially convened as a response and, indeed, protest in the village after the name of a priest accused of sexual abuse, who had been working there for many years, became known, despite the interim report on sexual abuse in the diocese not explicitly naming the alleged abuser.
Full-time and volunteer staff members criticized the diocesan leadership for not informing them that the cleric had been accused of abuse. Bode defended the diocese’s secrecy, stating that there had been a dilemma between the protection of the accused’s privacy and the public’s interest in transparency.
The priest in question, who has been accused of “having a relationship” with a female minor in the 1980s, was banned from celebrating public masses or assuming other ecclesiastical duties in September of this year.
Bode has been in high-level positions in the Catholic Church in Germany for many years. He became Bishop of Osnabrück in 1995 and the following year took on important tasks in the DBK. From 1996–2010 he was chairman of the DBK Youth Commission, colloquially known as the “youth bishop.” He then became chairman of the DBK Pastoral Commission and its sub-commission “Women in Church and Society.”
From 2017 until today he has been vice president of the DBK. On top of that, he was one of the DBK delegates to the 2015 General Assembly of the World Synod of Bishops in Rome. In 2019, the DBK appointed Bode as the responsible leader of the preparatory forum for questions of sexual morality within the framework of the German Synodal Way. In dialogue with the Central Committee of German Catholics, Bode was also responsible for the issue of sexuality and sexual morality. He is now one of the two vice presidents of the Synodal Way.
Bode has made numerous heterodox statements in past. He claimed that the Catholic Church could start giving Communion to non-Catholics in mixed marriages and publicly supported blessings for same-sex couples, as well as female ordinations. In February of 2020, the German prelate made a scandalous statement, saying “For us, Christ became a human being, not a man.” This led to a public correction by his fellow Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, who described the statement as “ridiculous & heretical.”
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| Francis blows the Jewish shofar |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-05-2022, 07:49 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Francis blows the Jewish shofar
![[Image: B015-Sho-1.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/Images(B-001-100)/B015-Sho-1.jpg)
TIA | December 4, 2022
On December 2, 2022, Pope Bergoglio received a delegation of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary of Buenos Aires, below first and second rows. The group delivered a "Proposal for Social Change" to Francis.
This project aims to renew the religious formation in Latin America. The goal is to transform religious leaders into agents of social change and to renew the training of clergy from a common spiritual perspective.
On the occasion rabbi Ariel Stofenmacher, rector of the Rabbinical Seminary, gave the pope a shofar and Francis could not find anything better to do than to blow that religious horn, above.
Now then, the shofar constitutes a part of the Jewish liturgy that is habitually blown by rabbis to call the Jews to prayer, see last row below. This action of Francis can, therefore, be considered a call for Jews to prepare themselves for Hanukkah, which starts on December 18.
We do not know for sure whether we should interpret this act as another clownish gesture of the Buffoon Pope or consider that he is assuming the role of a high priest of Judaism – like Paul VI (here and here) and John Paul II (here).
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| St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for the Second Week of Advent |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-05-2022, 07:04 AM - Forum: Advent
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St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for the Second Week of Advent
Morning Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE
Consider that salvation is assured to souls who enter the Religious state.
God has placed us in the world and keeps us here in life, not to acquire the perishable goods of earth, but the eternal goods of Heaven. The end is life everlasting (Rom. vi. 22). But the misfortune is that in the world men think very little indeed, if at all, of eternal life, and only dream of acquiring honours and pleasures, and this is the reason why so many souls perish.
I.To understand the importance of our eternal salvation it is enough to have Faith and to consider we have only one soul, and if that is lost, all is lost were a man even master of the whole world. What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul? (Matt. xvi. 26). This great maxim of the Gospel has induced many youths to shut themselves up in cloisters, others to live in deserts, and others to give up their lives for Jesus Christ. For, said they, what does it profit us to possess the whole world, and all the goods of this world, in this present life, which must soon finish, and then be damned and be miserable in the life to come, which will never end? All those rich men, all those princes and emperors, who are now in hell -- what have they now of all they enjoyed in this life but greater torment and a greater despair? Miserable beings! They lament now and say: All those things are passed away like a shadow (Wis. v. 9). For them all is passed like a shadow, like a dream, and that lamentation which is their lot has lasted already many years, and will last throughout all eternity. The fashion of this world passeth away (1 Cor. vii. 51). This world is a scene which lasts but a short time; happy he who plays in this scene that part which will afterwards make him happy in the life which will never end. When he shall then be contented, honoured, and a prince in Paradise, so long as God shall be God, little will he care for having been in this world -- poor, despised and in tribulation. For this end alone God has placed us on this earth, and keeps us here in life, not to acquire transitory but eternal goods: The end is life everlasting.
O my God! How have I ever deserved this great mercy, that, having left so many others to live in the midst of the world, Thou hast willed to call me, who have offended Thee more than others, and deserved, more than they, to be deprived of Thy divine light, to enjoy the honour of living as a friend in Thy own house! O Lord, grant that I may understand this exceeding grace, which Thou hast bestowed on me, that I may always thank Thee for it, as I purpose and hope to do always during my life and throughout eternity, and do not permit me to be ungrateful for it. Since Thou hast been so liberal towards me, and hast in Thy love preferred me to others, it is but just that more than others I should serve and love Thee.
II.With desolation is all the land made desolate, because there is none that considereth in the heart (Jer. xii. 11). How few are they who reflect on death, by which for us the scene is closed; on the eternity which awaits us; on what God has done for our sake! And hence it comes that these miserable beings live in blindness and carelessly, far from God, having their eyes, like the beasts, intent only on earthly things, without remembering God, without desiring His love, and without a thought of eternity. Therefore, they die afterwards an unhappy death, which will be the beginning of eternal death and endless misery. Then it is they will open their eyes; but it will be only to lament over their own foolishness.
This is the great means of salvation which is found in Religion, namely, continual meditation on the eternal truths. Remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin (Eccles. vii. 40). In well-regulated Religious houses this is done every day, and even several times a day. And therefore in the light of divine things, which there shines continually, it is morally impossible to live, at least for a long time, far from God, and without keeping one's account ready for eternity.
O my Jesus! Thou wouldst have me to be wholly Thine, and to Thee I give myself entirely. Accept me, and henceforward keep me as Thy own, since I am no longer mine. Finish Thou the work which Thou hast begun. Thou hast called me to Thy house, because Thou wilt have me become a Saint. Make me then what Thou wilt have me. Do it, O Eternal Father! for the love of Jesus Christ, in Whom is all my confidence. I love Thee, my sovereign Good, I love Thee. O infinite Goodness! I love Thee alone, and will love Thee forever. O Mary, my hope, succour me, and obtain for me to be always faithful and thankful to my Lord.
Spiritual Reading
COUNSELS CONCERNING A RELIGIOUS VOCATION
I. HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO FOLLOW A VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS LIFE
It is evident our Eternal Salvation depends principally upon the choice of a state of life. Father Louis of Granada calls the choice of a state the main-spring of the whole life. Just as in a clock when the main-spring is out of order the whole clock goes wrong, so in the order of our salvation, if we fail to enter the state to which we are called, the whole life, as St. Gregory Nazianzen says, is in disorder.
If, then, we wish to make our eternal salvation secure we must, in our choice of a state, embrace the Divine Vocation in which God has prepared for us the efficacious means of salvation. For, as St. Cyprian says: "the grace of the Holy Ghost is given according to the order of Divine Providence and not according to our own caprice." And in this sense St. Paul writes: Everyone has his proper gift from God (l Cor. vii. 7). That is, God gives to each one his Vocation, chooses the state in which He wills him to be saved. And this is the order of predestination described by the same Apostle: Whom he predestinated, them he also called: and whom he called them he also justified ... and them he also glorified (Rom. viii. 30).
And here we must remark that in the world there are some who pay little attention to this question of Vocation. They think it to be all the same, whether they live in the state to which God calls them, or in that which they themselves choose, following their own inclinations, and this is why so many lead a bad life and lose their souls. It is certain that this is the principal point with regard to the acquisition of eternal life. Vocation is followed by justification, and justification by glorification, that is, eternal life. He who disturbs this order and breaks this chain of salvation shall not save his soul. With all his labours and with all the good he may do, the words of St. Augustine apply to him: "Thou runnest well, but off the road," that is, out of the way in which God called you to walk for attaining salvation. The Lord does not accept sacrifices, which are purely of our own making: But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect (Gen. iv. 5). Rather He threatens with great chastisement those who, when He calls them, turn their backs on Him in order to follow the counsels of their own caprice. Woe to you apostate children, He says through Isaias, that you would take counsel and not from me, and would begin a web and not by my spirit (Is. xxx. 1).
A divine call to a more perfect life is undoubtedly a special and a very great grace which God does not give to all; hence He has much reason to be displeased with those who despise it. How greatly would not a prince think himself offended, if he should call one of his vassals to serve near his person, and he should refuse to obey! And should God not resent like conduct? Ah! He resents it very much indeed, and threatens, saying: Woe to him that gainsayeth his Maker (Ib. xiv. 9). The word "Woe" in Scripture signifies eternal damnation. The chastisement of the disobedient will begin even in this life, in which he will always be unquiet, for, says Job, Who hath resisted him and hath had peace? (Job ix. 4). He will be deprived of those abundant and efficacious helps necessary to lead a good life. For which reason the Theologian, Habert, writes "He will with great difficulty be able to work out his salvation." He will with great difficulty save himself; for, being like a member out of its proper place, he will with great difficulty be able to live well. "In the body of the Church," adds the learned author, "he will be like a limb of the human body out of its place, which may be able to perform its functions, but only with difficulty and in an awkward manner." Hence, he concludes: "And although, absolutely speaking, he may be saved, he will with difficulty enter upon and advance in the road, and use the means of salvation." The same thing is taught by St. Bernard and St. Leo. St. Gregory, writing to the Emperor Maurice, who by an Edict had forbidden soldiers to become Religious, says that this was an unjust law, which shut the gates of Paradise to many, because many would save themselves in Religion who would otherwise perish in the world.
Father Lancicius tells us there was in the Roman College a youth of great talents. While he was making the Religious Exercises, he asked his confessor whether it was a sin not to correspond to a Vocation to the Religious life. The confessor replied that in itself it was not a grievous sin, because a call to perfection is a counsel and not a precept, but he would expose his salvation to great danger as had happened to many who, not following their Vocation, were in the end, lost. He did not obey the call. He went to study in Macerata, where he soon began to omit prayer and Holy Communion, and finally gave himself up to a bad life. Soon after, coming one night from the house of a wicked woman, he was mortally wounded by a rival. Some priests ran to his assistance, but he had expired before they arrived, just in front of the college. By this circumstance God wished to show that this chastisement came upon him for having neglected his Vocation.
Father Pinamonti relates in his treatise, Victorious Vocation, that a Novice who had resolved to leave the Novitiate had a vision. He saw Christ on a throne in wrath, ordering his name to be blotted out of the Book of Life. He was so terrified that he persevered in his Vocation.
How many similar examples are there not to be found in books! And how many unhappy youths shall we not see damned on the Day of Judgment for not having followed their Vocation! Such are rebels against the divine light, as the Holy Ghost says: They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways (Job xxiv. 13), and they will be justly punished by losing the light; and because they would not walk in the way shown them by the Lord, they shall walk without light in that chosen by their own caprice, and perish. Behold I will declare my spirit to you (Prov. i. 23). Behold the Call of God -- but because they fail to follow it, God adds: Because I called you and you refused ... you have despised all my counsel ... I also will laugh in your destruction, and I will mock when that shall come upon you which you feared. Then shall you call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me. Because they have hated instruction and received not the fear of the Lord, nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof (Ib. i. 24, 26, 28, 80). And this signifies that God will not hear the prayers of him who has neglected to obey His voice. St. Augustine says: "They who have despised the will of God which invited them, shall feel the will of God when it becomes its own avenger."
Evening Meditation
THE LOVE THAT THE SON OF GOD HAS SHOWN US IN THE REDEMPTION
I. He hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us. (Eph. v. 2).
Consider that the Eternal Word is that God Who is so infinitely happy in Himself that His happiness cannot be greater than it is, nor could the salvation of all mankind have added anything to it; nor could the loss of souls have diminished it; and yet He has done and suffered so much to save us miserable worms that if His beatitude, as St. Thomas says, had depended on that of man, He could not have done or suffered more: "As if without him He could not be happy." And, indeed, if Jesus Christ could not have been happy without redeeming us, how could He have humbled Himself more than He has done, in taking upon Himself our infirmities, the miseries of infancy, the troubles of human life, and a death so barbarous and ignominious?
None but God was capable of loving to so great an excess such wretched sinners as we are, and who are so unworthy of being loved. A devout author says: "If Jesus Christ had permitted us to ask of Him to give us the greatest proof of His love, who would have ventured to ask of Him that He should become a Child like unto us, that He should clothe Himself with all our miseries, and make Himself of all men the most poor, the most despised, and the most ill-treated, even to being put to death by the hands of executioners, and in the greatest torments upon an infamous gibbet, cursed and forsaken by all, even by His own Father, Who abandoned His Son that He might not abandon us in our ruin?"
But that which we should not have had the boldness even to think of, the Son of God has thought of and accomplished.
My Jesus, I should, indeed, do great injustice to Thy mercy and Thy love, if, after Thou hast given me so many proofs of the love Thou bearest me, and the desire Thou hast to save me, I should still distrust Thy mercy and Thy love. My beloved Redeemer, I am a poor sinner; but Thou hast said that Thou didst come to seek sinners: I am not come to call the just, but sinners. (Matt. ix. 13). I am a poor infirm creature -- Thou camest to cure the infirm, and Thou didst say: They that are whole need not the physician, but they that are sick (Luke v. 31). I was lost through my sins, but Thou didst come to save the lost: The son of man is come to save that which was lost (Matt. xviii. 11). What, then, can I fear, if I am willing to amend my life and to become Thine? I have only myself and my own weakness to fear; but my own weakness and poverty ought to increase my confidence in Thee, Who hast declared Thyself to be the refuge of the destitute: The Lord is become a refuge for the poor (Ps. ix. 10).
II. Even from His childhood He sacrificed Himself for us to sufferings, to opprobium, and to death: He hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us (Eph. v. 2). He loved us, and out of love He gave us Himself, in order that we, by offering Him as a Victim to the Father, in satisfaction for our debts, might through His merits obtain from the divine goodness all the graces that we desire; a Victim dearer to the Father than if we offered Him the lives of all men and of all the Angels. Let us therefore continually offer to God the merits of Jesus Christ, and through them let us seek and hope for every good.
I implore this favour of Thee, O my Jesus! Give me confidence in Thy merits, and grant that I may always recommend myself to God through Thy merits. Eternal Father, save me from hell, and first from sin, for the love of Jesus Christ; for the sake of the merits of this Thy Son enlighten my mind to obey Thy will; give me strength against temptations; grant me the gift of Thy holy love; and, above all, I beseech Thee to give me the grace to pray to Thee to help me, for the love of Jesus Christ, Who hast promised that Thou wilt grant to him who prays in His name whatever he asks of Thee. If I continue to pray to Thee in this way, I shall certainly be saved; but if I neglect it, I shall certainly be lost. Most holy Mary, obtain for me this great gift of prayer, and that I may persevere in recommending myself constantly to God, and also to thee, who dost obtain from God whatever thou willest.
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| Top 4 ways the medical establishment tries to label people as MENTALLY ILL if they don’t vaccinate, |
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Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 12-04-2022, 09:52 PM - Forum: Health
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https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-12-01-t...ilate.html
"In Canada, Big Pharma Ontario wants to put every Canadian who is fully unvaccinated on psychiatric medications for being “mentally ill” for not desiring to have millions of toxic spike prions clogging their vascular system and cleansing organs. Doctors in Canada are literally being advised to consider medicating all patients who are fully unvaccinated with dangerous psychiatric SSRI drugs right now.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons put out that request in writing, suggesting anyone who denies the clot shots is suffering from mental illness. It sounds like these doctors are all suffering from Vaccine Derangement Syndrome themselves, or they know the truth about the immune-compromising gene-mutating jabs and just want to create more patients-for-life.
So far, it’s just a “suggestion,” like the Covid masks at the beginning of 2020, and then the quarantines, and then the vaccine passports, and then kidney-decimating Remdesivir, and then the choke-you-to-death-in-less-than-4-days ventilators.
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It always starts off as a ‘suggestion,’ but then come the virus “experts” advice, then the mandates, then the government tyranny. The growing members of the Covid Vaccine Cult, also known as the Branch Covidians, are now so deranged that they want to label all the sane people crazy and force-medicate us all.
Top 4 ways the Allopathic Industrial Complex tries to label people as mentally ill if they don’t vaccinate, medicate or mutilate
Insane is the new sane, and sane is now insane, according to the medical establishment. Get ready for the top ways Big Pharma now labels people as mentally unstable if they don’t comply with all the deadly vaccinations, drugs, and surgery “recommended” for the ‘denialists.’
#1. If you don’t support child and teen gender mutilation surgery and cancer-causing, gender-bender hormone therapy, you are a violent, bigoted, racist, gay-bashing freak who needs psychological help, according to the Left.
#2. If you have emotions such as angst, worry, frustration, anger, sadness, or even just confusion, you are mentally unstable and need psychotropic SSRI medications immediately and forever, according to the medical establishment and the DSM psychology manual.
#3. If you don’t take every vaccine ‘recommended’ by the CDC, you are conspiring to mass murder the vaccinated and should be taken away to an insane asylum, force-vaccinated, force-medicated, and put in a straight jacket in a solitary confinement cell indefinitely, while being ‘re-educated,’ according to the Vaccine Cult.
#4. If you don’t think about sex all day, being gay, choosing multiple sex partners regularly, and inviting strip club dancers into school classrooms, including day care centers, then you are a straight, white-supremacist (even if you’re not white), who hates all gays and wants to eliminate all gay people’s rights, according to the LBGTQ-whatever movement.
Don’t fall for all the cons, where the freaks accuse the natural health advocates of being freaks. It’s one of the oldest cons in the book. Do bookmark Vaccines.news to your favorite independent websites for updates on experimental gene therapy injections and medications that are making the medical complex crazier every day."
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| Pope Francis Interview with America Magazine |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-03-2022, 06:22 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis discusses Ukraine, U.S. bishops and more
![[Image: pope-francis-group-photo-america.jpg]](https://www.americamagazine.org/sites/default/files/inline-images/pope-francis-group-photo-america.jpg)
Pope Francis stands for a group photo with the staff of America. ((America Media/Antonello Nusca)
America Magazine [slightly adatped] | November 28, 2022
Editor’s Note: On Nov. 22, 2022, five representatives of America Media interviewed Pope Francis at his residence at Santa Marta at the Vatican. Matt Malone, S.J., the departing editor in chief of America, was joined by Sam Sawyer, S.J., the incoming editor in chief; executive editor Kerry Weber; Gerard O’Connell, America’s Vatican correspondent; and Gloria Purvis, host of “The Gloria Purvis Podcast.” They discussed a wide range of topics with the pope, including polarization in the U.S. church, racism, the war in Ukraine, the Vatican’s relations with China and church teaching on the ordination of women. The interview was conducted in Spanish with the assistance of a translator, Elisabetta Piqué. A transcript of the Spanish text can be found here.
Pope Francis: Thank you for coming!
Matt Malone, S.J.: Holy Father, America magazine was founded by the Jesuits in 1909, and we’ve been published continuously since. This is our first opportunity to speak face to face with a pope, and we’re very grateful. The first thing that is on the mind of our readers, that surprises them, is that you always seem joyful, happy, even amid crises and troubles. What is it that makes you so joyful, so peaceful and happy in your ministry?
I didn’t know that I am always like that. I am joyful when I am with people—always. One of the things I find most difficult as pope is not being able to walk on the street with the people, because here one cannot go out; it is impossible to walk on the street. But I would not say that I am happy because I am healthy, or because I eat well, or because I sleep well, or because I pray a great deal. I am happy because I feel happy, God makes me happy. I don’t have anything to blame on the Lord, not even when bad things happen to me. Nothing. Throughout my life, he has always guided me on his path, sometimes in difficult moments, but there is always the assurance that one does not walk alone. I have that assurance. He is always at my side. One has one’s faults, also one’s sins; I go to confession every 15 days—I do not know, that is just how I am.
Sam Sawyer, S.J.: Holy Father, in your speech to the U.S. Congress seven years ago, you warned against “the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil, or the righteous and sinners” and you also called for “a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.” Yet since your speech to Congress we have seen not only political polarization grow deeper, also polarization within the life of the church. How can the church respond to polarization within its own life and help respond to polarization in society?
Polarization is not Catholic. A Catholic cannot think either-or (aut-aut) and reduce everything to polarization. The essence of what is Catholic is both-and (et-et). The Catholic unites the good and the not-so-good. There is only one people of God. When there is polarization, a divisive mentality arises, which privileges some and leaves others behind. The Catholic always harmonizes differences. If we see how the Holy Spirit acts; it first causes disorder: Think of the morning of Pentecost, and the confusion and mess (lío) it created there, and then it brings about harmony. The Holy Spirit in the church does not reduce everything to just one value; rather, it harmonizes opposing differences. That is the Catholic spirit. The more harmony there is between the differences and the opposites the more Catholic it is. The more polarization there is, the more one loses the Catholic spirit and falls into a sectarian spirit. This [saying] is not mine, but I repeat it: what is Catholic is not either-or, but is both-and, combining differences. And this is how we understand the Catholic way of dealing with sin, which is not puritanical: saints and sinners, both together.
Polarization is not Catholic. A Catholic cannot think either-or and reduce everything to polarization. The essence of what is Catholic is both-and.
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It is interesting to search for the roots of what is Catholic in the choices that Jesus made. Jesus had four possibilities: either to be a Pharisee, or to be a Sadducee, or to be an Essene, or to be a Zealot. These were the four parties, the four options at that time. And Jesus was not a Pharisee, nor a Sadducee, nor an Essene, nor a Zealot. He was something different. And if we look at the deviations in the history of the church we can see that they are always on the side of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees, of the Essenes, or the Zealots. Jesus went beyond all this by proposing the Beatitudes, which are also something different.
The temptation in the church was always to follow in these four paths. In the United States you have a Catholicism that is particular to the United States—that is normal. But you also have some ideological Catholic groups.
Kerry Weber: Holy Father, in 2021, we conducted a survey asking Catholics [in the United States] who they trusted to be their leaders and guides on matters of faith and morals. Of all the groups we listed, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was found to be the least trustworthy; only 20 percent found it to be “very trustworthy.” Catholics ranked their own local bishop higher; around 29 percent described them as “very trustworthy.” But the majority of Catholics seem to have lost faith in the bishops’ conference’s ability to offer moral guidance. How can the U.S. Catholic bishops regain the trust of American Catholics?
The question is good because it speaks about the bishops. But I think it is misleading to speak of the relationship between Catholics and the bishops’ conference. The bishops’ conference is not the pastor; the pastor is the bishop. So one runs the risk of diminishing the authority of the bishop when you look only to the bishops’ conference. The bishops’ conference is there to bring together the bishops, to work together, to discuss issues, to make pastoral plans. But each bishop is a pastor. Let us not dissolve the power of the bishop by reducing it to the power of the bishops’ conference. Because at that level, these tendencies compete, more on the right, more on the left, more here, more there, and anyway [the bishops’ conference] does not have the flesh-and-blood responsibility like that of a bishop with his people, a pastor with his people.
Jesus did not create bishops’ conferences. Jesus created bishops, and each bishop is pastor of his people. On this, I recall a fifth-century author who, in my judgment, has written the best profile of a bishop. It is St. Augustine in his treatise “De Pastoribus.”
Therefore, the question is: What is the relation of the bishop with his people? Permit me to mention a bishop about whom I do not know if he is conservative, or if he is progressive, if he is of the right or of the left, but he is a good pastor: [Mark] Seitz, [bishop of El Paso,] on the border with Mexico. He is a man who grasps all the contradictions of that place and carries them forward as a pastor. I do not say the others are not good, but this is one I know. You have some good bishops who are more on the right, some good bishops who are more on the left, but they are more bishops than ideologues; they are more pastors than ideologues. That is the key.
The answer to your question is: The bishops’ conference is an organization meant to assist and unite, a symbol of unity. But the grace of Jesus Christ is in the relationship between the bishop and his people, his diocese.
Gloria Purvis: Holy Father, abortion is a heavily politicized issue in the United States. We know it is wrong. And the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion. However, it still seems to plague the church in the sense that it separates us. Should the bishops prioritize abortion in relation to other social justice issues?
On abortion, I can tell you these things, which I’ve said before. In any book of embryology it is said that shortly before one month after conception the organs and the DNA are already delineated in the tiny fetus, before the mother even becomes aware. Therefore, there is a living human being. I do not say a person, because this is debated, but a living human being. And I raise two questions: Is it right to get rid of a human being to resolve a problem? Second question: Is it right to hire a “hit man” to resolve a problem? The problem arises when this reality of killing a human being is transformed into a political question, or when a pastor of the church uses political categories.
Each time a problem loses the pastoral dimension ([i]pastoralidad), that problem becomes a political problem and becomes more political than pastoral. I mean, let no one hijack this truth, which is universal. It does not belong to one party or another. It is universal. When I see a problem like this one, which is a crime, become strongly, intensely political, there is a failure of pastoral care in approaching this problem. Whether in this question of abortion, or in other problems, one cannot lose sight of the pastoral dimension: A bishop is a pastor, a diocese is the holy people of God with their pastor. We cannot deal with [abortion] as if it is only a civil matter.[/i]
Gerard O’Connell: The question was if the bishops’ conference should present the fight against abortion as the number one problem, while all the rest are secondary.
My response is that this is a problem the bishops’ conference has to resolve within itself. What interests me is the relationship of the bishop with the people, which is sacramental. The other [issue] is organizational, and bishops’ conferences at times get it wrong (equivocan). It is enough to look at the Second World War and at certain choices that some bishops’ conferences made, which were wrong from a political or social viewpoint. Sometimes a majority wins, but maybe the majority is not right.
In other words, let this be clear: A bishops’ conference has, ordinarily, to give its opinion on faith and traditions, but above all on diocesan administration and so on. The sacramental part of the pastoral ministry is in the relationship between the pastor and the people of God, between the bishop and his people. And this cannot be delegated to the bishops’ conference. The conference helps to organize meetings, and these are very important; but for a bishop, [being] pastor is most important. What is most important, I would say essential, is the sacramental. Obviously, each bishop must seek fraternity with the other bishops, that is important. But what is essential is the relationship with his people.
Sam Sawyer, S.J.: Holy Father, the sexual abuse crisis has greatly damaged both the church’s credibility and its effort at evangelization. Recent revelations of abuse committed by bishops, who have been allowed to retire quietly, have increased concerns about the church’s transparency in the handling of abuse cases, especially when it involves bishops. What more can the Vatican do to improve in this aspect of transparency?
Some history. Until the Boston crisis, when everything was uncovered, the church acted by moving an abuser from his place; covering up, as often happens in families today. The problem of sexual abuse is extremely serious in society. When I held the meeting of the presidents of the bishops’ conferences three and a half years ago, I asked for official statistics and [i]42 percent to 46 percent of abuses occur in the family home or in the neighborhood. After that in prevalence comes the world of sport, then that of education, and 3 percent [of abusers] are Catholic priests. One could say, “That is good, we are few.” No! If there had been only one case, it would have been monstrous. The abuse of minors is one of the most monstrous things. The practice, which is still maintained in some families and institutions today, was to cover it up. The church made the decision to not cover up [anymore]. From there progress was made in judicial processes, the creation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Here, a great [example] is Cardinal [Seán] O’Malley of Boston, who had the mindset to institutionalize [the protection of minors] within the church. When honest people see how the church is taking responsibility for this monstrosity, they understand that the church is one thing while the abusers who are being punished by the church are another. The leader in taking these decisions was Benedict XVI. It is a “new” problem in its manifestation, but eternal in that it has always existed. In the pagan world they commonly used children for pleasure. One of the things that most worries me is child pornography. These are filmed live. In which country are these films made? What are the authorities of these countries doing that allows this to happen? It is criminal. Criminal!
The church takes responsibility for its own sin, and we go forward, sinners, trusting in the mercy of God. When I travel, I generally receive a delegation of victims of abuse. An anecdote about this: When I was in Ireland, people who had been abused asked for an audience. There were six or seven of them. At the beginning, they were a little angry, and they were right. I said to them: “Look, let us do something. Tomorrow, I have to give a homily; why don’t we prepare it together, about this problem?” And that gave rise to a beautiful phenomenon because what had started as a protest was transformed into something positive and, together, we all created the homily for the next day. That was a positive thing [that happened] in Ireland, one of the most heated situations I have had to face. What should the church do, then? Keep moving forward with seriousness and with shame. Did I answer your question?
S.S.: The one thing I would follow up on is this: The U.S. church has made a great advance in dealing with abuse when it happens with priests. However, it seems there is less transparency when a bishop is accused, and that is worrying.
Yes, and here I believe we have to go forward with equal transparency. If there is less transparency, it is a mistake.
Gerard O’Connell: Holy Father, about Ukraine: Many in the United States have been confused by your seeming unwillingness to directly criticize Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, preferring instead to speak more generally of the need for an end to war, an end to mercenary activity rather than Russian attacks, and to the traffic in arms. How would you explain your position on this war to Ukrainians, or Americans and others who support Ukraine?
When I speak about Ukraine, I speak of a people who are martyred. If you have a martyred people, you have someone who martyrs them. When I speak about Ukraine, I speak about the cruelty because I have much information about the cruelty of the troops that come in. Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryati and so on. Certainly, the one who invades is the Russian state. This is very clear. Sometimes I try not to specify so as not to offend and rather condemn in general, although it is well known whom I am condemning. It is not necessary that I put a name and surname.
On the second day of the war, I went to the Russian embassy [to the Holy See], an unusual gesture because the pope never goes to an embassy. And there I said to the ambassador to tell [Vladimir] Putin that I was willing to travel on condition that he allowed me a tiny window to negotiate. [Sergey] Lavrov, the foreign minister at a high level, replied with a very nice letter from which I understood that for the time being it was not necessary.
Pope Francis is seated with the editors and staff of America, seen from above
Pope Francis speaks with editors and staff of America. (America Media/Antonello Nusca)
I spoke to President Zelensky three times by phone. And I work in general with receiving lists of prisoners, both civilian prisoners and military prisoners, and I have these sent to the Russian government, and the response has always been very positive.
I also thought of traveling, but I made the decision: If I travel, I go to Moscow and to Kyiv, to both, not to one place only. And I never gave the impression that I was covering up the aggression. I received here in this hall, three or four times, a delegation from the Ukrainian government. And we work together.
Why do I not name Putin? Because it is not necessary; it is already known. However, sometimes people latch onto a detail. Everyone knows my stance, with Putin or without Putin, without naming him.
Some cardinals went to Ukraine: Cardinal Czerny went twice; [Archbishop] Gallagher, who is responsible for [relations with] states, spent four days in Ukraine, and I received a report of what he saw; and Cardinal Krajewski went four times. He goes with his van loaded with things and spent last Holy Week in Ukraine. I mean the presence of the Holy See with the cardinals is very strong, and I am in continual contact with people in positions of responsibility.
And I should like to mention that there is in these days the anniversary of the Holodomor, the genocide that Stalin committed against the Ukrainians [in 1932-33]. I believe it is appropriate to mention it as a historical antecedent of the [present] conflict.
The position of the Holy See is to seek peace and to seek an understanding. The diplomacy of the Holy See is moving in this direction and, of course, is always willing to mediate.
Gloria Purvis: In the history of the church in the United States, Black Catholics have largely been neglected. It is our experience in the church, but we stayed because we believed. Now, a recent survey has shown that a large number of Black Catholics are leaving the church. Racism is important to us, but other Catholics do not see it as a priority. After George Floyd’s murder more people have left the church because of the neglect within the church around the theme of racism. What would you say now to Black Catholics in the United States who experienced racism and at the same time experience a deafness within the church for calls for racial justice? How can you encourage them?
I would say to them that I am close to the suffering they are experiencing, which is a racial suffering. And [in this situation], those who should in some way be close to them are the local bishops. The church has bishops of African American descent.
G.P.: Yes, but most of us go to parishes where the priests are not African American, and most of the other people are not African American, and they appear not to have sensitivity for our suffering. Many times they ignore our suffering. So how can we encourage Black Catholics to stay?
I believe what is important here is pastoral development, be it of the bishops or of the laity, a mature pastoral development. Yes, we see the discrimination, and I understand that they do not want to go. Sometimes in other countries the same happens in these sorts of situations. But this has a very ancient history, much older than your history [in the U.S.], and it has not been resolved. The bishops and the pastoral workers have to help to resolve it in an evangelical way.
I would say to African American Catholics that the pope is aware of their suffering, that he loves them very much, and that they should resist and not walk away. Racism is an intolerable sin against God. The church, the pastors and lay people must continue fighting to eradicate it and for a more just world.
I take this opportunity to say that I also love, very much, the Indigenous peoples of the United States. And I do not forget the Latinos, who are very many there now.
Kerry Weber: Holy Father, as you know, women have contributed and can contribute much to the life of the church. You have appointed many women at the Vatican, which is great. Nevertheless, many women feel pain because they cannot be ordained priests. What would you say to a woman who is already serving in the life of the church, but who still feels called to be a priest?
It is a theological problem. I think that we amputate the being of the church if we consider only the way of the ministerial dimension ([i]ministerialidad) of the life of the church. The way is not only [ordained] ministry. The church is woman. The church is a spouse. We have not developed a theology of women that reflects this. The ministerial dimension, we can say, is that of the Petrine church. I am using a category of theologians. The Petrine principle is that of ministry. But there is another principle that is still more important, about which we do not speak, that is the Marian principle, which is the principle of femininity (femineidad) in the church, of the woman in the church, where the church sees a mirror of herself because she is a woman and a spouse. A church with only the Petrine principle would be a church that one would think is reduced to its ministerial dimension, nothing else. But the church is more than a ministry. It is the whole people of God. The church is woman. The church is a spouse. Therefore, the dignity of women is mirrored in this way.
There is a third way: the administrative way. The ministerial way, the ecclesial way, let us say, Marian, and the administrative way, which is not a theological thing, it is something of normal administration. And, in this aspect, I believe we have to give more space to women. Here in the Vatican, the places where we have put women are functioning better. For example, in the Council for the Economy, where there are six cardinals and six laypersons. Two years ago, I appointed five women among the six laypersons, and that was a revolution. The deputy governor of the Vatican is a woman. When a woman enters politics or manages things, generally she does better. Many economists are women, and they are renewing the economy in a constructive way.
So there are three principles, two theological and one administrative. The Petrine principle, which is the ministerial dimension, but the church cannot function only with that one. The Marian principle, which is that of the spousal church, the church as spouse, the church as woman. And the administrative principle, which is not theological, but is rather that of administration, about what one does.
And why can a woman not enter ordained ministry? It is because the Petrine principle has no place for that. Yes, one has to be in the Marian principle, which is more important. Woman is more, she looks more like the church, which is mother and spouse. I believe that we have too often failed in our catechesis when explaining these things. We have relied too much on the administrative principle to explain it, which in the long term does not work.
This is an abbreviated explanation, but I wanted to highlight the two theological principles; the Petrine principle and the Marian principle that make up the church. Therefore, that the woman does not enter into the ministerial life is not a deprivation. No. Your place is that which is much more important and which we have yet to develop, the catechesis about women in the way of the Marian principle.
And on this, about the charism of women, allow me [to share] a personal experience. To ordain a priest one asks for information from persons who know the candidate. The best information that I have received, the right information, was either from my brother coadjutor [bishops], or brother laypersons who are not priests, or from women. They have a nose (olfato), an ecclesial sense to see if this man is or is not suitable for the priesthood.
Another anecdote: once I asked for information about a very bright candidate for the priesthood. I asked his professors, companions and also the people in the parish where he went. And [the latter] gave me a very negative report, written by a woman, saying, “He is a danger, this young man won’t work out.” So, I phoned her and said, “Why do you say that?” And she said: “I don’t know why, but if he were my son, I would not let him be ordained; he is lacking something.” So I followed her advice and said to the candidate, “Look, this year you won’t be ordained. Let’s wait.” Three months later this man had a crisis and left. The woman is a mother and sees the mystery of the church more clearly than we men. For this reason, the advice of a woman is very important, and the decision of a woman is better.[/i]
Matt Malone, S.J.: In the United States, there are those who interpret your criticisms of market capitalism as criticisms of the United States. There are even some who think you may be a socialist, or they call you a communist, or they call you a Marxist. You, of course, have always said you are following the Gospel. But how do you respond to those who say that what the church and you have to say about economics is not important?
I always ask myself, where does this labeling come from? For example, when we were returning from Ireland on the plane, a letter from an American prelate erupted that said all kinds of things about me. I try to follow the Gospel. I am much enlightened by the Beatitudes, but above all by the standard by which we will be judged: Matthew 25. “I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was in prison, and you visited me. I was sick and you cared for me.” Is Jesus a communist, then? The problem that is behind this, that you have rightly touched on, is the socio-political reduction of the Gospel message. If I see the Gospel in a sociological way only, yes, I am a communist, and so too is Jesus. Behind these Beatitudes and Matthew 25 there is a message that is Jesus’ own. And that is to be Christian. The communists stole some of our Christian values. [Laughter.] Some others, they made a disaster out of them.
Gerard O’Connell: Speaking about communism, you have been criticized over China. You signed an agreement with China on the nomination of bishops. Some people, and you yourself, have said the result is not great, but it is a result. Some people in the church and in politics say you are paying a high price for maintaining silence on human rights [in China].
It is not a matter of speaking or silence. That is not the reality. The reality is to dialogue or not to dialogue. And one dialogs up to the point that is possible.
For me, the greatest model I find in the modern period of the church is Cardinal Casaroli. There is a book called The Martyrdom of Patience that is all about the work he did in Eastern Europe. The popes—I mean Paul VI and John XXIII—sent him above all to the countries of Central Europe to try to re-establish relations during the period of communism, during the Cold War. And this man dialogued with governments, slowly, and he did what he could and slowly was able to re-establish the Catholic hierarchy in those countries. For example—I think of one case—it was not always possible to appoint the best person as archbishop in the capital, but instead the one that was possible according to the government.
Dialogue is the way of the best diplomacy. With China I have opted for the way of dialogue. It is slow, it has its failures, it has its successes, but I cannot find another way. And I want to underline this: The Chinese people are a people of great wisdom and deserve my respect and my admiration. I take off my hat to them. And for this reason I try to dialogue, because it is not that we are going to conquer people. No! There are Christians there. They have to be cared for, so that they may be good Chinese and good Christians.
There is another beautiful story about how the church carries out this apostolate. It’s about the last time [then Archbishop] Casaroli saw John XXIII. He gave a report on how the negotiations were going in these countries. Casaroli used to go on weekends to the prison for minors at Casal del Marmo to visit the young people. At the audience with John XXIII, they spoke about the problem of this country, that country and the other. Difficult decisions had to be taken, for example, to get [Cardinal József] Mindszenty to come to Rome; he was then in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. It was a problem, a hard decision, but Casaroli had prepared [the transfer]. And when he was about to leave, John XXIII asked him, “Eminence, one small matter: Do you still go on weekends to this prison for minors?” [When Casaroli replied,] ‘Yes,’ [the pope said,] “Give them my greetings and do not abandon them!” In the hearts of these two great men, it was as important to go to the prison and visit the young people there as it was to establish relations with Prague, Budapest or with Vienna. These are the great ones. This gives a full picture of them.
G.O’C.: Last question. You have now been pope for 10 years.
Yes! [Laughs.]
G.O’C.: If you look back, are there three things that you would have done differently, or that you regret?
All! All! [Said in English, and laughs and laughs.] All differently! However, I did what the Holy Spirit was telling me I had to do. And when I did not do it, I made a mistake.[/i]
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| St. Catherine of Siena on Position of the Sun in the Universe |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-03-2022, 05:51 AM - Forum: The Saints
- Replies (1)
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The center of the Universe? - quotes from St. Catherine of Siena
gloria.tv [adapted] | December 1, 2022
A couple of quotes from "The Dialogue" of St. Catherine of Siena dictated by God the Eternal Father about Geometry and Mechanics and Structure of the Universe.
An important quote from St. Catherine of Siena: "The Dialogue of the Seraphic Virgin Catherine of Siena"; Translated by Algar Thorold; Chapter LXXX; page 168; Quote by God the Eternal Father about the spinning sky above us, and the Center of the Universe being either the Sun or the Earth:
Quote:"I even wait for them and command the Earth to give them of her fruits, the Sun to give them light and warmth, and the sky to move above them."
And another one from the same book, Chapter CX, p.233:
Quote:"...as in the case of natural Sun, in which heat and light cannot be separated, so perfect is their union; for, the Sun, NEVER LEAVING ITS ORBIT, lights the whole world and warms whoever wishes to be warmed by it,..."
So, as to Geocentrism, the words of God the Father given to St. Catherine of Siena are apparent: the Sun moves in an orbit, and, the sky moves over the Earth.
Flammarion (colored), XIX Century:
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| Pope Francis: Benedict XVI's theology is not for the past, but fruitful for the future |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-02-2022, 01:17 PM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Pope Francis: Benedict XVI's theology is not for the past, but fruitful for the future
Vatican News [Emphasis mine]| December 1, 2022
At the 2022 Ratzinger Prize award ceremony, Pope Francis highlights the significant contributions of the recipients - Fr. Michel Fédou, SJ, and Professor Joseph H.H. Weiler – and hails the prestigious award for providing indications of lines of commitment for study and life, which should be proposed to everyone.
Pope Francis addressed participants at the 2022 Ratzinger Prize award ceremony on Thursday, during which this year's recipients - Father Michel Fédou and Prof. Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler - were presented with the prestigious award.
The Ratzinger award, launched in 2011, is given to scholars that have stood out for their scientific research in the theological field, much like Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. Over the years, recipients have included composers, artists, and writers who have made notable contributions to the world of arts related to Christianity.
The contributions of Benedict XVI
In his speech, Pope Francis greeted those present for the occasion, and in particular, the two recipients of the 2022 Ratzinger Prize.
Pope Francis then highlighted the “spiritual presence and accompaniment in prayer” of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI for the whole Church, and highlighted that the occasion reaffirmed the contribution of his theological work and thought which “continue to be fruitful and operative.”
Recalling the recently commemorated 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis pointed to Father Joseph Ratzinger's role at the Council, as an expert who helped in the creation of some of its documents; and then in his calling as Pope Benedict XVI to “lead the ecclesial community in its implementation, both alongside St. John Paul II and [then as Pastor of the universal Church.”
Even recently, Pope Francis noted, Benedict XVI still wanted to highlight how the Council enduringly exercises its crucial function, as it gave us the necessary guidelines to reformulate the central question of the nature and mission of the Church in our time (in his message for the 10th International Symposium of the Ratzinger Foundation, Oct. 7, 2022). In fact, Benedict XVI has “helped us to read the conciliar documents in-depth, proposing a "hermeneutic of reform and continuity."
Furthermore, Benedict XVI’s theological contributions are offered through the publication of the Opera Omnia, the German edition of which is nearing completion, while the translation in other languages continues to progress.
“These contributions, offer us a solid theological basis for the Church's journey: a ‘living’ Church, which he taught us to see and live as communion, and which is on the move - in "synod" - guided by the Spirit of the Lord, always open to the mission of proclaiming the Gospel and serving the world in which it lives.”
The Pope then encouraged collaboration between Vatican Foundations named after Blessed John Paul I and St. John Paul II, as well as the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation, noting that the service of the Benedict XVI Foundation is placed in the perspective of the conviction that his magisterium and thought “are not directed toward the past, but are fruitful for the future, for the implementation of the Council and for the dialogue between the Church and the world today, in the most topical and debated fields, such as integral ecology, human rights, and the encounter between different cultures.”
The awardees
Pope Francis then shifted his attention to the prizewinners – Father Michel Fédou and Prof. Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler – pointing at their accomplishments in the fields of study and teaching – fields considered by Ratzinger to be “of vital importance.”
Fr. Fédou
Concerning Fr. Fédou, the Pope noted that this “master of Christian theology” has dedicated his life to study and teaching, particularly of the works of the Eastern and Western Church Fathers and the development of Christology over the centuries. Also, in order not to focus his gaze only on the past, his knowledge of the faith tradition nourished in him a living thought, which was also able to address current issues in the field of ecumenism and in that of relations with other religions.
In Fr. Fédou, the Pope noted, “we recognize and pay tribute to a valiant heir and continuer of the great tradition of French theology, which has given the Church masters of the stature of Father Henri De Lubac and solid and courageous cultural enterprises such as the Sources Chrétiennes, whose publication began eighty years ago.”
“Without the contribution of this French theology, the richness, depth, and breadth of reflection on which the Second Vatican Council was nourished would not have been possible, and we must hope that it will continue to bear fruit for its implementation in the long run,” Pope Francis said.
Prof. Weiler
Pope Francis hailed Prof. Weiler as the first adherent of the Jewish faith to be awarded the prestigious prize. The Pope welcomed this, noting that Benedict XVI firmly and proudly affirmed that "an objective of his personal theological work had been from the beginning the sharing and promotion of all the steps of reconciliation between Christians and Jews taken since the Council."
The Holy Father further noted the harmony between Benedict XVI and Prof. Weiler in other issues, including the relationship between faith and juridical reason in the contemporary world; the crisis of juridical positivism and the conflicts generated by an unlimited extension of subjective rights; and the proper understanding of the exercise of religious freedom in a culture that tends to relegate religion to the private sphere.
Prof. Weiler, the Pope said, has not only conducted in-depth studies on them, but has also taken courageous positions, moving, when necessary, from the academic level to the level of discussion – or ‘discernment’ – in the search for consensus on fundamental values and the overcoming of conflicts for the common good.
“These awards, in addition to representing well-deserved recognition, offer the indication of lines of commitment, study, and life of great significance, which elicit our admiration and demand to be proposed for the attention of all.”
Concluding, Pope Francis reiterated his congratulations to the awardees and wished them the best in the continuation of their endeavors. He also invoked God’s blessing upon them, their families and friends, and the members and supporters of the Ratzinger Foundation.
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