Fr. Thomas J. Rosica, CSB, condemns Catholic politicians who do not understand "moral teaching of the Church!"

Vatican English language spokesman and Consultor to the Pontifical Council on Social Communications and Executive Producer of Canada's Salt + Light, Your Catholic Channel of Hope has recently come down hard on Catholic politicians who do not understand the "moral teaching of the Church."

CBC: "...this message, (Laudato si) is going to be deeply unsettling to Republican politicians."

Fr. Rosica: "As it should be Heather, it should be very unsettling to the Santorum's and the Bush's and the Baynor's and the others who would like to use this not for concern for ecology and the environment (but) for political gain. Those who claim to be Catholic in the political world sometimes don't have any understanding of the moral teaching of the Church and the moral teaching of Popes"

Nancy Pelosi, Catholic speaks on abortion, ignores "the Church and the moral teaching of Popes."

Catholic Ted Kennedy (Kyrie eleison) and the dogma of abortion, ignores "the Church and the moral teaching of Popes."

Catholic Joe Biden on the matter of abortion, contraception and more ignores "the Church and the moral teaching of Popes."

In Canada, Justin Trudeau a Catholic bans all candidates from taking a Pro-Life position and ignores "the Church and the moral teaching of Popes."

Thomas Mulcair, a Catholic and leader of the socialist NDP states that no "anti-abortion" candidates may run for the Party in defiance of "the Church and the moral teaching of Popes."

I could go on. 

Name your favourite Catholic politician who lacks "any understanding of the moral teaching of the Church and the moral teaching of Popes" in the combox.

Oh, I am not a climate change denier, I just deny that it has anything to do with man but a normal part of the heating and cooling of the Earth. After all, there's a reason for fossils of ferns in Greenland.

Not accepting junk science and globalist and Marxist environmental fascism is not a sin. 

Not speaking out against abortion when given the opportunity is.

d

Will annulments now be a dime a dozen? Watch out bishops, your soul is now at risk even more!

The Pope has released the Motu Proprio as indicated yesterday. The first is for the Latin Church, the second for the Eastern Churches. So far, it is only in Latin and Italian and can be reached at the link below.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2015/9/8/nullitacic.html

From perusing a translator, and now Vatican Radio, this much can be gleaned.

Welcome to "Divorce, Catholic Style!"

The Court of Second Instance, essentially; a review of the diocesan tribunal's work at the national level, usually out of the nunciature, is gone. There is a single judge who must be a cleric, no longer a tribunal, though he can be assisted by non-clerical officials. The Bishop is the ultimate judge, not a delegated tribunal and there are modifications to the appeal process.

There are two ways to look at this; on the one hand, the ending of the Court of Second Instance which was a check on the diocesan tribunals may mean an increase in decrees of nullity, it was a check on abuse of process and judgement at the local level. I contend that most divorced Catholics couldn't care less about the process and don't bother, not because of the length of time or money, (a red-herring) but because they just don't care. Those who do care enough about their faith who do apply for a decree are probably justified in their request and generally receive it.

On the other hand, putting this in the hand of the bishop forces him to either be faithful to the doctrine or end up jeopardising his own soul. This may be a good thing.

Yet, I can't help but think that the process is clearly different throughout the world. In some places, it may take a decade or more and if so, this is unjust. So why not ensure that everyone is on the same page before one decides to throw the fish back?

Only time and analysis by people much more skilled than this writer, will tell.


The official report from Vatican Radio is as follows:

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/09/08/pope_francis_reforms_church_law_in_marital_nullity_trials/1170336

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis issued two Apostolic Letters motu proprio on Tuesday, by which he introduced reforms to the legal structures of the Church, which deal with questions of marital nullity. One of the Letters motu proprio, known by its Latin title, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus – or “The Lord Jesus, Clement Judge” – reforms the Code of Canon Law (CIC) governing the Latin Church, while the other, Mitis et misericors Iesus or “Clement and merciful Jesus” – reforms the Code of Canon Law for Oriental Churches (CCEO).

According to the prefatory remarks attached to both Letters, the reforms are the result of an expert group appointed to study the current state of law and practice in the Church as far as marriage law is concerned. The Holy Father goes on in the preface to explain that the reforms are guided by seven specific criteria, ample excerpts of which Vatican Radio offers below in its own unofficial English translation:

1. That there be only one sentence in favor of executive nullity – It appeared opportune, in the first place, that there no longer be required a twofold decision in favor of marital nullity, in order that the parties be admitted to new canonically valid marriages: the moral certainty reached by the first judge according to law should be sufficient.
2. A single judge under the responsibility of the Bishop – The constitution of a single judge in the first instance, who shall always be a cleric, is placed under the responsibility of the Bishop, who, in the pastoral exercise of his own proper judicial power shall guarantee that no laxity be indulged in this matter.
3. The Bishop is judge – In order that the teaching of the II Vatican Council be finally translated into practice in an area of great importance, the decision was made to make evident the fact that the Bishop is, in his Church – of which he is constituted pastor and head – is by that same constitution judge among the faithful entrusted to him. It is desired that, in Dioceses both great and small, the Bishop himself should offer a sign of the conversion of ecclesiastical structures, and not leave the judicial function completely delegated to the offices of the diocesan curia, as far as matters pertaining to marriage are concerned.
4. Increased brevity in the legal process – In fact, beyond making the marriage annulment process more agile, a briefer form of trying nullity cases has been designed – in addition to the documentary process already approved and in use – which is to be applied in cases in which the accusation of marital nullity is supported by particularly evident arguments. In any case, the extent to which an abbreviated process of judgment might put the principle of the indissolubility of marriage at risk, did not escape me [writes Pope Francis – ed.]: thus, I have desired that, in such cases the Bishop himself shall be constituted judge, who, by force of his pastoral office is with Peter the greatest guarantor of Catholic unity in faith and in discipline.
5. Appeal to the Metropolitan See – It is fitting that the appeal to the Metropolitan See be re-introduced, since that office of headship of an Ecclesiastical province, stably in place through the centuries, is a distinctive sign of the synodality of the Church.
6. The proper role of the Bishops’ Conferences – The Bishops’ Conferences, which must be driven above all by the anxious apostolic desire to reach the far-off faithful, should formally recognize the duty to share the aforesaid conversion, and respect absolutely the right of the Bishops to organize judicial power each within his own particular Church.

There-establishment of vicinity between the judge and the faithful, in fact, shall not be successful if the stimulus does not come from the Conferences to the single Bishops, along with the necessary assistance, to put into practice the reform of the marital nullity process.  

7. Appeal to the Apostolic See – It is fitting that the appeal to the ordinary Tribunal of the Apostolic See, i.e. the Roman Rota, be maintained: this, in respect of a most ancient juridical principle, so that the bond between the See of Peter and the particular Churches be reinforced – having care, in any case, in the discipline of the use of said appeal, to contain any and all abuse of right, in order that the salvation of souls be given no cause for harm.

Indeed, the prefatory remarks make clear from the very start, that the single most important principle guiding the Holy Father’s action and the work of reform undertaken, is that of salus animarum – the salvation of souls – which is the suprema Ecclesiae lex – the supreme law of the Church. 

The Rigging of the Synod - "manipulation!" Will Pentin now be sued?

Ignatius Press has published Edward Pentin's new book, "The Rigging of a Vatican Synod?" Pentin uses a question mark in the title, perhaps it should be an exclamation point.

Will Pentin now be sued by certain clerics for saying what those of us said in the past and were served with vexatious and frivolous and un-Christian litigation at the behest of pompous and arrogant clericalists?

To all of you clerics out there no matter what colour of cassock you wear (if you even have one), we are not going to rest.

You will not be allowed to push your adulterist and sodomite agenda on the Bride of Christ. We will expose you. We will out you. We will stand up for Our Blessed Lord and His Holy Church in the face of all of you.

The Rigging of a Synod? – The Betrayal of our Families

 2015 Extraordinary Synod , Cardinal Baldisseri , Homosexuality , Marriage , Pope Francis ,Vatican , Voice Of The Family

September 6, 2015 (Voice of the Family) - A new book, The Rigging of a Vatican Synod?: An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, will shed much light on allegations that the Extraordinary Synod, held in Rome last October, was subject to manipulation. The book has been written by highly respected Vatican journalist Edward Pentin and carries the endorsement of Wilfrid Fox Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban. Cardinal Napier is one of the fifteen members of the permanent council of cardinals and bishops overseeing the Synod of Bishops, he attended the Extraordinary Synod and was a member of the committee that drafted the final relatio synodi of that Synod. 

Read the rest at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/the-rigging-of-a-synod-the-betrayal-of-our-families

Will the Pope make annulments easier?

UPDATED: One hour ago, 12:30 PM Rome time, the Vatican released the Motu proprios, the first deals with the Latin Church and the second, the Eastern Churches.

The document is only in Latin and Italian. 

They can be viewed here.

It is being reported on Rorate Caeli Blog that:

The Vatican today announced that a press conference will be held at noon tomorrow for the presentation of two Apostolic Letters of Pope Francis, given motu proprio: Mitis iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus. These concern the reform of the canonical process for the causes of declaration of nullity of marriage (commonly called "annulment") respectively for the (Latin-Rite) Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. 

The Pope has in his full authority the ability to issue a Law to do this. There is no point in discussing the matter at length until we see what is in it. Rorate links to an article written last year after the Synod by Don Pio Pace which can give us an idea of what may be in it.

I cannot speak for the rest of the world or the Pope's own experiences in Argentina. As a Catholic with a Decree of Nullity, I fail to understand the problem. The application in the Archdiocese of Toronto was not humiliating or onerous; but it was not simple. It took about two years, mostly due to my own delay in paperwork and witnesses which added a year. The Tribunal will look for the most obvious justifications for the decree and is often criticised by those who do not understand the process. The cost, as I recall, was around $900CDN which was  donation for which I received tax receipt. Frankly, the most difficult thing was discussing with the elderly auditor, a Religious Sister, the frequency of the marital embrace!

Note in particular what Rorate states at the bottom of the post:

Merely to illustrate how much things have changed in just three years: in 2012 the Vatican also had a project to reform some aspects of the canonical process for declarations of nullity. The major difference is that this project had as its aim to tighten, or make stricter, the grounds for granting these declarations -- not make these easier to obtain. (Rorate posted about this in May 2012.) One of the driving forces behind this "Ratzingerian" version of annulment reform was Cardinal Burke, whose removal from the Apostolic Signatura in November 2014 was, at the very least, highly convenient for the partisans of annulment simplification.  

Where is the problem?

The problem is right at the top; it begins with Jorge Bergoglio, Bishop of
Rome..

Thus, it begins.

The Pope's words on the SSPX confessions were not "magic" and the two little words that are looming on the horizon - all in the name of "mercy"

This writer has no authority to pronounce on the SSPX. The point of this blogpost is to relieve frustration and point out the ridiculousness of the whole situation. The whole affair is a circus and Rome is as much at fault, maybe more, than the SSPX itself.  


Whenever I got into a discussion about the Sacrament of Penance and the Society of St. Pius X, my brain would always hurt. On one hand, we have the obvious canonical jurisdictional issues of the local Ordinary and "Faculties" and on the other hand we had the consistent position of the SSPX on the supplied jurisdiction by the Church due to an emergency. Ultimately, one has to consider the "mercy" of God the Father to the humility and contriteness of the Penitent, confessing. That emergency clearly existed at the time that Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated the four bishops, it surely declined after Pope Benedict XVI efforts, particularly with Summorum Pontificum; though, I should think, it is may be raising its head again.

The Pope's acknowledging of the validity of the penitent's confession is a recognition that their Sacraments were valid all along for the very reason the SSPX has always claimed. There is no "magic" with the Pope's announcement, either they are valid or they are not. There is no magic about the date that they become "valid" of December 8 and nothing magic a year later when they theoretically do not. No, they are valid after December 8, 2015 and they will be valid in 2017 for the same reason and they are valid today just as they were valid last week and twenty years ago. Some people whom I love and respect take a different position. I do not agree with them. I do not attend or chant at the Chapel of the SSPX in Toronto. I did in the past. I received Holy Communion. I did not go to Confession because I had a Confessor elsewhere. I did not doubt the sincerity of the good people there who did go. They were living a life an apparent grace due to it and who was I to judge? 

If the Pope has validated their Confessions, then logic would follow that their marriages must be valid as are their Confirmations, Baptisms would have always been, regardless. Further, the Mass at the SSPX, while always valid, must now also be licit! Logic would presume it. If a person goes to Confession to an SSPX priest, one would presume they would go to Mass too in their chapels. One plus one is indeed two and the Pope knows that and now so does everyone else interested in this issue. The Mass at the Society of St. Pius X chapels is not only valid, it is licit because if there Confessions are, how can the Holy Mass not be. It is illogical to think otherwise.

What the Pope has done by this masterstroke is undermine his episcopal brethren by removing their ability to use the jurisdictional argument on their local levels. The recent Bishop of Madison's letter is now moot. He also affirms, though unwittingly, that the Church is in disaster mode and has been. Everything the SSPX has ever argued on is right and correct. They have not changed one iota of the Catholic faith of my young childhood or that of my parents or my ancestors.

The Pope has used the same canonical juridical provision for his decision as the SSPX have always claimed. They were right all along and he knows it.

The Pope has acknowledged what is a fact; the SSPX is not in schism. If they were in schism, then the issues relating to them would be under Christian Unity and ecumenical offices with the Curia. They are not, they are in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the very reason that they are Catholics and not in schism. One plus one is two. Logic friends, logic. After all, the Church long ago validated that the Sacraments of actual schismatics, the Orthodox are valid. The local juridical argument against the SSPX priests never held any water and Francis has confirmed it.

So, good for Francis, Bishop of Rome. The Pope has thrown a bone, so to speak. to more traditional Catholics. He has, most likely unwittingly, revealed what has been spouted by the hierarchy for fifty years has been a house of cards and a fraud.

But don't be fooled friend.

This is only a bone to get everyone distracted off the real agenda.

It is coming in 30 days and it is about two words that are not so little.

Two. Very. Big. Words.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

More on the scandalous sabotage of Canadian Catholics and the Pro-Life cause by Canada's Bishops Conference

Yesterday's post, "Former employee reports, "Catholic Bishops complicit in Scandalous Sabotage of the Pro-Life Cause in Canada," links back to the genesis of this scandal. I originally posted my thoughts about our current election in Canada and an opinion on the Pro-Life movements record, not bound in all the facts. Steve Jalsevac of LifeSiteNews wrote me about my words and gave permission to publish his letter. That letter from Steve has been an incredibly valuable document. The blogpost by former CCCB employee Lea Z. Singh shines even more light on the scandal that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has committed - a scandal that began with the Winnipeg Statement dissenting from Humanae Vitae so many years ago. 

We, as Catholics in Canada are responsible too. We have been to easy to "go along to get along" and we have let our bishops off the hook. We have hidden behind their own weakness to excuse our sinful actions and our "choice" mentality.  

Steve has written to me again with some further information that was too long for the combox. I am posting it here with a few comments in brackets and italics for clarity for those who may not be familiar with the Canadian situation:

* * *

Dear David,

Thanks for the gracious apology and the comments from others. Many have asked John-Henry and I to do a book, but we are stretched to the maximum all the time so I don’t know if that will be possible. However, we shall see. 

Steve Jalsevac

Former St Bonaventure's pastor Friar Rick also actively campaigned for openly homosexual United Church pastor Roy Oliphant  who was elected as Liberal MP for the parish riding of Don Valley West. (Friar Richard Riccioli was born in Montreal and is now in the Diocese of Syracuse. Long ago he silenced comments on his blog because Catholics in Toronto were taking him to task for his many of his statements in the Toronto press and his blog. The NDP is a Socialist Party and is aggressively pro-abortion, no candidates may hold a Pro-Life position. )

And of course your readers may be well aware of the huge efforts by Campaign Life Coalition, LifeSiteNews and others for many years to encourage the Catholic bishops to stop funding pro-abortion, pro-contraception and pro-homosexual, leftist groups through Development and Peace. While pro-life and pro-family groups have been working heroically across Canada and internationally, these groups, using hundreds of millions of dollars in donations directed to them from the aid organizations of the CCCB and other nations’ bishops conferences, have been actively undermining, all the work that we and others have been doing in Canada and around the world. In Catholic schools and parishes in Canada, Development and Peace has been indoctrinating generations of children and parishioners with its liberal Catholic (anti-Catholic), secularist, leftist world views. And it is still fighting back very hard against its faithful Catholic critics.

It is beyond any comprehension that this can still be going on. The latest word is that the CCCB is developing a new strategy to undermine and neutralize the Development and Peace critics. That is, to destroy the good name and reputation of the critics instead of dealing with the enormous amount of evidence that was given to them about serious problems with the decision making flaws of D&P funding decisions. (see this link for D & P's campaign to silence its critics:

http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/08/canadas-development-peace-and-canadian.html)

Another scandal has been the total lack of cooperation of the Ontario Bishops (with one known exception) with the faithful laity attempting to stop the implementation of the Ontario government's sex ed curriculum. CLC, LifeSite, REAL Women and numerous other groups of various cultural and religious backgrounds have undertaken historically unprecedented cooperative actions to try to stop the curriculum. However, the bishops insisted on taking the quiet, behind the scenes direct negotiations with the government route which was predictably a total failure, as such a strategy has always been on these kinds of issues. (The same failed approach I should add that allowed "Gay Straight Alliances" into our Catholic schools. More than one Toronto priest has told me that they were "forbidden" to speak on the issue from the pulpit!)

The bishops forbade all agencies and persons under their direct authority from publicly opposing the curriculum, or at least that is what happened in the Toronto diocese. They took for themselves the authority over the sex education of Catholic children while leaving those of other or no faiths in public schools abandoned to the certain harm of the curriculum. This was in direct violation of Catholic teaching where it is clearly stated that parents, not bishops, are the first educators of their children and have the main responsibility for that education and that bishops have a responsibility to assist them and persons of all faiths on such major and serious moral matters. 

All appeals for a meeting and other cooperation with the bishops from those publicly opposing the curriculum were ignored by the bishops and in some cases the parents and groups were told to stop being so vocal because it was interfering with the bishops' own unilaterally decided strategy. You can imagine the dismay and puzzlement of not just the Catholics, but also all others opposed to the curriculum in reaction to this Catholic institutional indifference and even hostility towards their efforts. Had the bishops instead decided to use their moral authority and roused the parishioners throughout the province to actively demand that the government withdraw the immoral curriculum, together with all the other opposing groups, I have no doubt whatever that it would have been withdrawn. But Church authorities decided completely against that, relying as usual on professional Catholic and well-connected and wealthy advisors and lawyers, etc. who cannot be trusted to have the protection of the faith as a high priority.

As was discovered, various Catholic agencies actually quietly, unknown to the Catholic population, took part in the development of the curriculum and completely supported it. Many also learned the that current Catholic Fully Alive program already incorporates many, but not all, of the elements in the government program and has done so for years. So no wonder the opposition to the program was so weak as to be almost non-existent. 

As the grassroots parents movement against the curriculum is growing and thousands show up to participate in the various events, one thing is becoming more disturbingly obvious every day. The Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Chinese Christians, Russian and other Orthodox, Coptics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals and many other cultural and religious group leaders are visibly present, but there are rarely ever any representatives of the Catholic Church at the events. It is a great embarrassment and shame for the individual Catholics who are taking part in this movement. Where is the Catholic Church all are saying - the largest religious denomination in the province, with the very best documented and presented teachings in the world in these issues? The one religious denomination with by far the most potential influence in the province.

Not only are they not there, they are actively opposing this parents’ movement and supporting the curriculum behind the scenes and sometimes in public. This is yet another great scandal.

One thing that the pro-life has been very grateful for is that a large number of Catholic bishops has been participating in a meaningful way in the March for Life for the past several years. We always want to give credit where credit is due and LifeSite is happy to report such positive, helpful actions assisting the laity on the great moral struggles of our time.

And I have never meant any of these comments to reflect badly on all the bishops. Here and there some bishops have done good things and there are some bishops much more faithful than others. Archbishop Prendergast has been faithful in so many ways as was now retired bishop Nicholas Di Angeles of Peterborough, a wonderful man who did the best that he could in many situations and was a faithful supporter of both CLC and LifeSiteNews. 

Also, the Catholic laity is not remotely aware of the intense pressure that is often put on outspokenly faithful bishops by the bishops conferences and other persons in in the Church to not "rock the boat." This really does happen and has often happened. The stories I have heard would curl your hair. (Put it in a book!) The dissident, worldly and especially the homosexual bishops, have been ruthless against their brother bishops who "step out of line” from the CCCB, Ontario Bishops or other provincial bishops' conferences unity of mediocrity or worse. They see these good bishops are being dangerous to their agendas.

But again, not all is negative, and LifeSite is always very happy to be able to report any good news regarding the Catholic Church in Canada.

Steve Jalsevac

LifeSiteNews

See the following LifeSiteNews Reports for some insight into this situation:

Ontario Catholic leadership meekly accepts Wynne Sex-ed while 70,000+ citizens oppose it

Ontario bishops’ general secretary has been actively supporting Wynne’s child abusive sex-ed

Official Catholic parents’ group challenged for backing Wynne’s sex-ed: ‘Are they simply a pawn?’

Catholic trustee on sex-ed: The gvmt ‘tells us what to do, and we need to do it’

Toronto Catholic trustees claim bishops’ support as they vote down motion to delay Wynne’s sex-ed

Parents urge pope’s envoy to push for stronger Catholic response to Wynne’s explicit sex-ed

Hamilton diocese cancels talk at Catholic parish criticizing Wynne’s explicit sex-ed

Former employee reports: "Catholic bishops complicit in scandalous sabotage of the pro-life cause in Canada!"

A few weeks ago, I posted an article about the Canadian election and the Pro-Life movement. Steve Jalsevac of LifeSiteNews wrote a letter to me challenging my thinking. With Steve's permission, I reprinted that letter.

Steve articulated a history of manipulation by the Bishops' Conference and literal thuggery by politicians on the issue. His letter is must read.

Lea Z. Singh is a freelance writer, activist, lawyer and mother. She was born behind the Iron Curtain in the days of Communism and raised in Edmonton. She is a graduate of the United World College of the Atlantic, Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. Lea blogs at Culture Witness.

She also worked for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In her most recent blog post. Lea writes about the letter which Steve sent to me and that I posted on the blog. She adds to the facts from her own experiences at the CCCB. It is chilling and revealing of a scandal of proportions not seen since the Winnipeg Statement.

This story has legs and it must be told. 

http://www.culturewitness.com/2015/09/catholic-bishops-complicit-in.html#more

Is Jalsevac right? My experience at the CCCB
Jalsevac makes some very serious allegations about the Catholic Church's destructive role in the battle against abortion in Canada. Is he right?
As someone who worked at the CCCB headquarters for five years from 2005-2009, and had an inside view of the CCCB as Assistant Director of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, I suspect that Jalsevac is shedding light on a real and scandalous problem with the Canadian Catholic Church.
...
The permanent sulk
Most people are not aware that the CCCB holds a petty adolescent grudge against Campaign Life Coalition and its news organization, LifeSiteNews - Steve Jalsevac's employer.
This grudge was one of the first things that I noticed when I first joined COLF in the summer of 2005. For instance, I was (unofficially) discouraged from circulating LifeSiteNews stories by email to the Bishops and Secretariat, or referencing LifeSiteNews as a source in internal documents. LifeSiteNews was considered extreme and lacking in credibility, and there was distrust towards the leadership of Campaign Life.
...
It's all about the money
The Catholic Church in Canada lives in fear. Not of the culture of death, but of Canadian tax laws.
The Canadian Income Tax specifies that charities must cap their involvement in political activity at 10% of their total activity. The Catholic Church is a registered charity, and it makes a lot of money with that status. Many parishioners all across Canada donate to their local parishes each Sunday with the understanding that they will receive tax deductions for their donations. How many people would stop donating, or would donate substantially less, if the Church was no longer able to provide them with tax receipts?

This is a damning condemnation, the second in the last week, of the manipulation, the deceit and the betrayal of Catholics in Canada by their own bishops and the minions that surround them in their Conference.

Nothing less than a complete house-cleaning at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and a public acknowledgement before God and Canadian Catholics of their failure to teach and sanctify whilst undermining the work of the laity for Life!

Not one penny. Not for CCCB, not for Development & Peace and not for Pastoral Campaigns with flashy names. Give funds to your priest directly or the "building fund" of your parish. The only way to teach these men because "It's all about money" is with money and lack thereof.

Francis validates SSPX Confessions! What does this mean for the Society?

There have not been many times in this papacy that I have praised the actions of Pope Francis. Mostly, his careless choice of words and his name-calling have been hurtful. I am not impressed with the power he has given or permitted by evil men who have an agenda to undermine doctrine through stealth practices.

However, it behooves me, in all intellect and charity to express in an affirming way when something is said well.

This is a beautiful letter and it is what the Year of Mercy should be all about. Unfortunately, given the Synod shenanigans, one is left with trepidation that the Year of Mercy will end up being a free-for-all of dissent on doctrine due to the manipulations behind the scenes last year and even now by certain clerics, bishops and cardinals.

The two most important points, the power of the priest to grant absolution to a woman who is penitent from having an abortion. Though, I find this confusing as this past week a Monsignor indicated that in many places, my own diocese included. that authority has already been delegated to a parish priest. Perhaps this is not everywhere and perhaps not in Argentina, as we have seen, the Pope is often parochial in his approach.

The most astounding is the last paragraph. The sins confessed by the penitent to the priests and bishops of the Society of St. Pius X are forgiven when they administer the Sacrament of Penance. This is very subtle. These are not universal faculties.

This is going to be very, very controversial within the Society and particularly amongst its adherents as they now question their priests on their past Confessions and their validity. There is danger in this move by the Pope. While on one hand it seems full of mercy for the people who worship there and the priests, on the other hand, it is loaded with the potential to deeply divide the Society and its congregants. I would love to be a fly on the wall when the priests have to explain that heretofore their confessions were invalid but now the Pope is wrong because they were valid before under ecclesia supplet and now the Pope is just acknowledging it.

There will be a lot of twisting in the wind today and next Sunday on this and a lot of surprised faces in the debate - on all sides.

Perhaps though, it is just more simple -- God the Holy Spirit is still showing that He is running the show notwithstanding the mess His prelates and people make.

To My Venerable Brother

Archbishop Rino Fisichella

President of the Pontifical Council

for the Promotion of the New Evangelization

With the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy I would like to focus on several points which I believe require attention to enable the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God. It is indeed my wish that the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective.

My thought first of all goes to all the faithful who, whether in individual Dioceses or as pilgrims to Rome, will experience the grace of the Jubilee. I wish that the Jubilee Indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting completely the sin committed. To experience and obtain the Indulgence, the faithful are called to make a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop, and in the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion. Likewise, I dispose that the Indulgence may be obtained in the Shrines in which the Door of Mercy is open and in the churches which traditionally are identified as Jubilee Churches. It is important that this moment be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy. It will be necessary to accompany these celebrations with the profession of faith and with prayer for me and for the intentions that I bear in my heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world.

Additionally, I am thinking of those for whom, for various reasons, it will be impossible to enter the Holy Door, particularly the sick and people who are elderly and alone, often confined to the home. For them it will be of great help to live their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness to the Lord who in the mystery of his Passion, death and Resurrection indicates the royal road which gives meaning to pain and loneliness. Living with faith and joyful hope this moment of trial, receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication, will be for them the means of obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence. My thoughts also turn to those incarcerated, whose freedom is limited. The Jubilee Year has always constituted an opportunity for great amnesty, which is intended to include the many people who, despite deserving punishment, have become conscious of the injustice they worked and sincerely wish to re-enter society and make their honest contribution to it. May they all be touched in a tangible way by the mercy of the Father who wants to be close to those who have the greatest need of his forgiveness. They may obtain the Indulgence in the chapels of the prisons. May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom.

I have asked the Church in this Jubilee Year to rediscover the richness encompassed by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The experience of mercy, indeed, becomes visible in the witness of concrete signs as Jesus himself taught us. Each time that one of the faithful personally performs one or more of these actions, he or she shall surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. Hence the commitment to live by mercy so as to obtain the grace of complete and exhaustive forgiveness by the power of the love of the Father who excludes no one. The Jubilee Indulgence is thus full, the fruit of the very event which is to be celebrated and experienced with faith, hope and charity.

Furthermore, the Jubilee Indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased. We are bound to them by the witness of faith and charity that they have left us. Thus, as we remember them in the Eucharistic celebration, thus we can, in the great mystery of the Communion of Saints, pray for them, that the merciful Face of the Father free them of every remnant of fault and strongly embrace them in the unending beatitude.

One of the serious problems of our time is clearly the changed relationship with respect to life. A widespread and insensitive mentality has led to the loss of the proper personal and social sensitivity to welcome new life. The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realizing the extreme harm that such an act entails. Many others, on the other hand, although experiencing this moment as a defeat, believe that they have no other option. I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal. I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision. What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope. The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father. For this reason too, I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it. May priests fulfil this great task by expressing words of genuine welcome combined with a reflection that explains the gravity of the sin committed, besides indicating a path of authentic conversion by which to obtain the true and generous forgiveness of the Father who renews all with his presence.

A final consideration concerns those faithful who for various reasons choose to attend churches officiated by priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X. This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one. From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint. I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity. In the meantime, motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition, I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins.

Trusting in the intercession of the Mother of Mercy, I entrust the preparations for this Extraordinary Jubilee Year to her protection.

From the Vatican, 1 September 2015

FRANCISCUS