The Life of St. Andre

For your viewing pleasure --  

The Life Of St. Andre Bessette from Animus Productions on Vimeo.

A road begun at First Communion

What wonderful joy in Ottawa this past week on the Solemnity of St. Joseph with the consecration of the new Auxilliary Bishop of Ottawa, His Excellency Christian Reisbeck of the Companions of the Cross.  One of the unique circumstances of the evening was the presence of the His Excellency Thomas Dowd, Auxilliary Bishop of Montreal and the revelation that came from it. Not only are these two Canada's youngest, but they are the youngest bishops in North America and to to top it off, they attended the same elementary school in Ottawa and were in the same First Communion class!

The West Runs for "Gay Rights" and Stammers at the Islamic Terror of Boko Haram

ABIJA, Nigeria -- Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Jos and President of the Nigerian Bishops' Conference responded to the European criticism of Nigeria and defended the support for the new federal law against "gay marriage." Last January, the Bishops thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for the new law for the protection of marriage and against “gay marriage". Since then, the Church of Nigeria has been in the crossfire of criticism. And for many a western Church leader, it is embarrassing to have to defend it.

Values ​​of the Bible Can Never be Discrimination

Archbishop Kaigama stressed that the position of the Church in Nigeria corresponds exactly to the teaching of the Catholic Church.  He said, "We defend the moral values ​​of the Bible, the tradition of the Nigerian people."  "The defense of the moral value of the Bible can never be discrimination," said the chairman of the Bishops' Conference of the most populous African country.

The archbishop also criticized the one-sidedness of the West, "though always with you when it comes to the so-called gay rights in Nigeria you run, but to the ongoing terror attacks by the Islamic militia Boko Haram you only stammer”. He went on to say that "Constantly new violence, burned and mutilated bodies, women and children who are killed in a terrible rhythm: this is the emergency afflicting our country, but nothing from Europe on this. But for “gay rights” the EU, the European Parliament and other international institutions will mobilize.”

"Even women Who Cannot Read, Use the Morning after Pill from the West"

"In all the villages of Nigeria, there are women who have no education and girls who do not attend school. They cannot read or write, but they have the morning after pill. When they are questioned, they know which pill they have when to take abort. How can that be? Who tells them that and gives them the morning after pill, pushing it into her hand? It is the western governmental and non-governmental organizations that impose their ideas on us. And these 'values' mean birth control. This is worth much money and effort from the West. And why do they do that? To ensure that our government gets international economic aid, they must accept this Western policy. But that is called coercion. A culture and a mentality are imposed that is not ours, for us Nigerians not despise life." They attempt this by way of an ideological indoctrination but specifically from the outside to manipulate the minds of the people in Nigeria.

"We won’t give in to the West   just because it has Money to Blackmail Us"

To the law against "gay marriage" said Archbishop Kaigama: "We say very clearly: We don't hate anybody. We respect homosexuals as people, and we support them when their rights are violated as human beings. The Church has there then and defends them. But we also say quite clearly that homosexual acts are contrary to nature. They flatly contradict what we defend. Powerful organizations who blackmail our government would like us to legalize gay marriage.  And when they say that there are occasional homosexual tendencies in Africa, we say quite clearly that they are aberrations. We respect the dignity of marriage between a man and a woman. We will not give in to the West, just because it has money with which it can put pressure on us,” said Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Tempi

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

HT: The Eponymous Flower

Translation edited: by Vox Cantoris

Link to Katholisches...

Cardinal Burke on Kasper! --

"I trust that the error of his (Kasper's) approach will become clearer."

Holy Father; Consecration now, it is late, but not too late!

More Cardinals will call out Kasper for his falsity

Rome, March 15 (TMNews) - "From Bologna with love, stop." This is the title of an interview with the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna Carlo Caffara, a past rooted in Communion and Liberation, published today by the sheet. "Peroration of Cardinal Caffara after the consistory and the relationship Kasper," is the subtitle. "Do not touch the marriage of Christ. Do not judge a case, you do not bless a divorce. Hypocrisy is not merciful."

On the proposal of the Cardinal Walter Kasper about the possibility of readmitted to communion, after a period of penance, divorziarti remarried couples who request it, Caffara states: "If the Church admits to 'Eucharist, however, must give a judgment of legitimacy the second union. E 'logical. But then - as was wondering - what about the first marriage? Second, it is said, can not be a true second marriage, since bigamy is against the word of the Lord. And the first? And 'loose? But the popes have always taught that the power of the Pope does not come to this: the ratified and consummated marriage, the Pope has no power. The proposed solution leads to think that is the first marriage, but there is also a second form of cohabitation that the Church legitimate. then c 'is an exercise of human sexuality extramarital that the Church considers legitimate. But with this you deny the backbone of the Church's teaching on sexuality. At this point one might ask, and why not approve the free cohabitation? And why not relationships between homosexuals? ".

Traditional Mass banned in Costa Rica!

Below is the report from Una Voce Costa Rica.

A law is only as good as its enforcement.  

Official Communiqué: Tridentine Mass Banned in Costa Rica

[para la traducción al Castellano pincha aquí]

Official Communiqué

- To the Confused Catholics of Costa Rica and Abroad -

The purpose of this statement is to present a summarized report of the situation in Costa Rica, particularly in the Archdiocese of San José, in relation to the Mass of Ages, also called the Tridentine Mass, Traditional Latin Mass or Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
Una Voce Costa Rica, member of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce, a federation with recognition from the Holy See, has been working in recent years for all Catholics in Costa Rica to enjoy what in the letter accompanying the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of His Holiness Benedict XVI was called "a precious treasure to be preserved " .

Former Archbishop 
 Hugo Barrantes

 

A massive, looming threat

Matt C.Abbott column

A 'massive, looming threat' to the Church; Catholic film critic on 'Passion' vs. 'Son of God'

March 11, 2014

The following is a good letter to the editor, written by Father Brian W. Harrison, O.S., of St. Louis, Mo., that appears (in slightly abbreviated form) in the February 2014 issue of Inside the Vatican magazine.

Dear Dr. [Robert] Moynihan,

In your latest Letter from Rome, commenting on the new appointments to the College of Cardinals, you report rather nonchalantly that "[Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig] Müller is also known for having said that the Church's position on admitting to divorced and remarried Catholics to the sacrament of Communion is not something that can or will be changed. But other German Church leaders, including Cardinal Walter Kasper, have recently gone on record saying the teaching may and will be changed."

Your brief, matter-of-fact report on this controversy reminds me of the tip of an iceberg. It alludes to, but does not reveal the immensity of, a massive, looming threat that bids fair to pierce, penetrate and rend in twain Peter's barque – already tossing perilously amid stormy and icy seas. The shocking magnitude of the doctrinal and pastoral crisis lurking beneath this politely-worded dispute between scholarly German prelates can scarcely be overstated. For what is at stake here is fidelity to a teaching of Jesus Christ that directly and profoundly affects the lives of hundreds of millions of Catholics: the indissolubility of marriage.

The German bishops have devised a pastoral plan to admit divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion, whether or not a Church tribunal has granted a decree of nullity of their first marriage. Cardinal-elect Müller, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has not only published a strong article in L'Osservatore Romano reaffirming the perennial Catholic doctrine confirmed by John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio; he has also written officially to the German bishops' conference telling them to rectify their heterodox pastoral plan. But the bishops, led by their conference president and by Cardinal Kasper, are openly defying the head of the CDF, and predicting that the existing doctrine and discipline will soon be changed!

Think of the appalling ramifications of this. If German Catholics don't need decrees of nullity, neither will any Catholics anywhere. Won't the world's Catholic marriage tribunals then become basically irrelevant? Will they eventually just close down? And won't this reversal of bimillennial Catholic doctrine mean that the Protestants and Orthodox, who have allowed divorce and remarriage for century after century, have been more docile to the Holy Spirit on this issue than the true Church of Christ? Indeed, how credible, now, will be her claim to be the true Church? On what other controverted issues, perhaps, has the Catholic Church been wrong and the separated brethren right?

And what of Jesus' teaching that those who remarry after divorce commit adultery? Admitting them to Communion without a commitment to continence will lead logically to one of three faith-breaking conclusions: (a) Our Lord was mistaken in calling this relationship adulterous – in which case he can scarcely have been the Son of God; (b) adultery is not intrinsically and gravely sinful – in which case the Church's universal and ordinary magisterium has always been wrong; or (c) Communion can be given to some who are living in objectively grave sin – in which case not only has the magisterium also erred monumentally by always teaching the opposite, but the way will also be opened to Communion for fornicators, practicing homosexuals, pederasts, and who knows who else? (And, please, spare us the sophistry that Jesus' teaching was correct 'in his own historical and cultural context,' but that since about Martin Luther's time that has all changed.)

Let us make no mistake: Satan is right now shaking the Church to her very foundations over this divorce issue. If anything, the confusion is becoming even graver than that over contraception between 1965 and 1968, when Paul VI's seeming vacillation allowed Catholics round the world to anticipate a reversal of perennial Church teaching. If the present Successor of Peter now keeps silent about divorce and remarriage, thereby tacitly telling the Church and the world that the teaching of Jesus Christ will be up for open debate at a forthcoming Synod of Bishops, one fears a terrible price will soon have to be paid.

Archbishop Sample's Homily

Did Archbishop Sample let them "dress him up?" as we've been lectured to recently about Benedict XVI? 

There are those who will distort the truth and deny their own history; they proffer a Church that is a rupture with itself. Others, like Archbishop Sample understand the truth.

God bless this Archbishop.

The battle we face goes on, we will not give up. Long Live Papa Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Emeritus

Perhaps the professional clericalists that head universities and alleged Catholic cable networks which have the temerity to say "don't get me wrong, I loved Pope Benedict, but look at how they dressed him up" and then continue to affront others that actually have read him might want to view this 51 minutes by Father Calvin Goodwin, FSSP who quotes considerably from Joseph Ratzinger and says himself, "we should not underestimate the situation we are in."

While this writer in no way endorses the actions of any of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre, it does not mean that what they may say from time to time is not correct:

“But blind obedience is ridiculous! What are we lambs to do when the Shepherd is struck and the sheep are scattered ? Pretend all is well. and let ourselves be devoured by wolves in the name of obedience ? What can one say to such people? They are wilfully ignorant in the belief that wilful ignorance is a virtue! Where does such a mindset come from ? What error crept into the Church to make Catholics switch off their minds? Richard Williamson, SSPX

Enough!

Cardinal Dolan: Pope Francis Wants Church to Study Gay Unions

BY TOM CURRY

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said Sunday that Pope Francis believes the Catholic Church needs to examine why some states are choosing to legalize civil unions of gay couples. But the pontiff has not expressed approval of such unions, Dolan said.

“He didn't come right out and say he was for them,” Dolan said in an exclusive interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. What the pope has said, according to Dolan, is that church leaders need to “look into it and see the reasons that have driven them…. Rather than quickly condemn them… let's just ask the questions as to why that has appealed to certain people…."

Dolan said he himself believes that marriage between one man and one woman is “not something that's just a religious, sacramental concern…it's also the building block of society and culture. So it belongs to culture. And if we water down that sacred meaning of marriage in any way, I worry that not only the church would suffer, I worry that culture and society would.”

On the pontiff’s views on capitalism and disparities of wealth, Dolan said it was “terrible hyperbole” for commentator Rush Limbaugh to refer to Pope Francis as a Marxist.

The Catholic Church is “always concerned about excesses on the left, which is collectivism, socialism, communism, and excesses on the right, which is unfettered, cut-throat capitalism,” Dolan said. “Somewhere in between is the via media, which will come to a fair, equitable, just, economic system.”

Pope John Paul II, having lived under a Communist regime in Poland, “was a bit more sensitive to the excesses on the left. Francis, he's a bit more sensitive about the excesses to the right.” As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis lived under right-wing regimes in Argentina for much of his life.

Francis saying what we need to hear: priest

More Rosicanism: Trying to explain the "delicate" matter

Extremely relevant commentary from Squeaker. 

My question, why do so many statements of the Pope need explaining? 

The Church has no business talking about "civil unions" and trying to mask it as if it were all about a "son looking after his mother" or some other arrangement and that the State has a responsibility. We are not stupid, we know what this is about. The Church sanctioning civil unions of same sex persons as a substitute to so-called "same sex marriage." The State can do what it wants with this issue but it is not for the Church to give any credence to it. The CDF under then Cardinal Ratzinger made it abundantly clear.

All protections for people in "same-sex" relationships or other "family" relationships are all there in law already. Powers of Attorney for either personal care or property, wills, real estate titles, contracts. All there, already in contract law.

This is a sham and we are in grave trouble as Catholics when high-profile clericalists start trying to square a circle and refer to such a thing as "delicate."

The last year has not been easy, the next is going to be worse. We are in for a rough ride and it is  not going to get better.

The Pope declared that the papacy is an institution and that future popes could resign too. I can't wait, heck; let's have three, it has happened before, after all.

Go and read the whole piece over at SoCon. There are a few in Rome and elsewhere that need a lesson from the CDF.

Fr. Rosica doing PR for the Vatican

Posted on March 8th, 2014 by Squeaker in Uncategorized

Yesterday, I reflected on the usefulness of the Holy Father’s interviews.  I reported an article by CNN that distorted the Holy Father’s latest interview statements. If you read the CNN article in question, you’ll get this excerpt of damage control from the Vatican spokesman:

“The Pope did not choose to enter into debates about the delicate matter of gay civil unions,” said the Rev. Thomas Rosica, a consultant to the Vatican press office.

Rosicanism

See update below
There are a lot of "isms" out there and the ancient heresy of Pelagianism has been talked about a lot lately in the Church. So what exactly is it? 

Named after a British monk and condemned as heresy by the Council of Cathage in A.D. 431, Pelagianism views humanity as basically good and morally unaffected by the Fall of Adam and Eve; it denies the imputation of Adam's sin, original sin, total depravity and the need for the substitutionary blood atonement of Our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, man is fundamentally good and is in possession of free will and with regards to salvation, it teaches that man has the ability in and of himself and without divine aid to obey God and earn, on our account, eternal salvation. 

Do you attend or know someone who attends the traditional Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church - the Usus Antiquior, Vetus Ordo, Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, Tridentine Rite, Traditional Latin Mass, whatever you wish to call it -- does that paragraph above describe you or the people whom you know? 

Well, Father Tom Rosica seems to think so. He has taken a rather out of context quote of Pope Francis (apparently against those who presented him with rosary counts) and he has used the expression in a sometimes angry speech, hosted on Salt + Light. He has accused people of only liking fanons and vestments and that those who attend or prefer in some way the traditional liturgy do not seek Christ. He does so in a raised voice and near angry tones when describing these people; you, me, whomever. He openly declares that these people are "divisive" aside from being Pelagians, which means that you, me, they are heretics.

Barona at Toronto Catholic Witness has transcribed the most telling parts. If you wish you can link from there to the actual video. I for one, won't be responsible for adding one hit to this less than adequate catholic apostolate.

What I wish to know is why is Father Tom Rosica so angry? What is his fear?

On any given Sunday in the Archdiocese of Toronto, no more than 700 souls, tops (and I include those at the Society of St. Pius X) attend this liturgy. In the Diocese of Hamilton, maybe 200, in the Diocese of London 150 between the Mass at Assumption in Windsor and Regina Mundi in London.

What on earth is possessing this priest, this university president that has turned Ontario's oldest Catholic university into a chaplaincy and sold off its heritage; this papal consultor on social communications -- this mocker of people calling them "Taliban Catholics" and "extremists" -- one who sues fellow Catholics and Tweets slander sheet newspapers such as Rolling Stone who whilst featuring a Pope on its cover, denigrates another inside to say nothing about distorting the words of the one on the cover; and he Tweets it, promotes it on his own feed as if we should be rejoicing over it. 

What is the problem? Why the reason for such hatred, yes; hatred and disdain over those few who seek after the liturgical "crumbs from the Master's table". 

Really? 700 in Toronto and including the FSSP in Ottawa and the odd mass in Kingston and Sudbury maybe 1000, give or take -- and maybe double that for across Canada; these few are Pelagians? These few are divisive? 

This so-called "division" is not created by these few people. No, it is a lie! This division is created by those who call these people names and have the temerity to equate them with heretics and question their spirituality, their devotion; they take their own personal issues out on the form of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which was codified in its present form by St. Pius V for the western Church but had been celebrated in that manner in Rome for over one thousand years before that.

I am not saved by my works. I am saved by the all redeeming blood of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary made present at Mass in either Form (when in accord with the rubrics, matter, form and intent of the Church) and the Father's mercy through the grace of the Holy Spirit and may I die in a state of grace so that I may be granted a stay in purgatory if I am not fit for heaven and that I excape Hell. Does this sound as if I am a Pelagian? Are you?

Let me say this; most people whom I know that attend the forma extraordinaria also attend the forma ordinaria; I certainly do and I chant in both, every weekend! So, let's get this division nonsense put to rest.

Who is this priest to say that what I believe or what you believe because you prefer or your friend prefers to worship God exclusively in the traditional liturgy is a Pelagian -- a heretic? 

The interview is full of half-truths and distortions and detraction and it is unbecoming of a Catholic priest and one with papal mandate. It's time to call it out for what it is and from whence it comes.

Really now; who is being divisive? 

It is hatred, pure and simple and the question needs to be asked, why?

UPDATE:

Salt + Light has removed the video.

The transcript, courtesy of Barona at Toronto Catholic Witness follow quoting Father Tom Roscia verbatim:

"The final ideological temptation, that the Pope has been speaking about; he refers to it as the Pelagian solution. The Pelagians, this group at the time of St. Augustine, believed that sanctity was the result of human effort without any assistance from God or the Spirit. This is the temptation of conservative Catholicism to a form of restorationism. "We gotta get back to what things were; the Council was wrong, this shouldn't have happened. We're gonna take you back to the real thing'"!

They seek a purely disciplinary solution to all of the Church's problems; through the restoration of outdated forms and manners, the usage of English [Latin?] language, incomprehensible to most of us who speak English. On a cultural level, it is no longer meaningful. We can see why Francis rejected the  grandiose Papal apparel. One of the things I felt very badly about (and I loved Pope Benedict), is the way that they dressed him up in these past years, and put vestments and things on him. And looking at some of the pictures; saying: this is not Pope Benedict. This is not this great theologian. And how many of us - hopefully not a lot of us here - loved Pope Benedict for the wrong reasons. And there's nothing worse than loving someone for the wrong reasons. 

I asked some of my friends who are very upset with the simplicity of Pope Francis; I said: what were you upset about; what are you upset about? "We loved Benedict! We loved the clothes, we loved the fanon". We loved all these exotic things from museum cupboards"! But I said: did you remember Pope Benedict's homily on Christmas Midnight Mass, do you remember what he said on Holy Thursday, do you remember what he said at the Stations of the Cross at the colosseum? "No! I liked the clothing". 

As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Maria Bergoglio was never a fan of the Tridentine Mass, andhe only allowed it when it was mandated by Pope Benedict for the entire Church.There is nothing wrong with the Tridentine Mass; it was a very beautiful attempt of Pope Benedict to make peace in the Church. But for adherents of that Mass who wish to use it as a weapon of division, as a denial of the Council, as a mean spirited force; no liturgy in the name of Jesus Christ is meant to do that. Whether one celebrates the New Rite, the Extraordinary Form, the Rite of Paul VI, or whatever, it is ultimately about Jesus Christ and his life giving action in that celebration."

The not so friendly ghost

Watch it friends, be very careful and pay close attention. Casper it not such a friendly ghost. The "Council of the Media" which our beloved Benedict warned us about is back. As one who was divorced and waited upon the Church for her decision regarding an annulment I deeply resent these German bishops and the rest of this stinking liberals who wish to debase the truth of the Faith!

No, I say! This is not acceptable! There will be no change in doctrine because there cannot be a change in doctrine. Anyone who thinks that there can be and those who speculate and promote it are deceiving you. 

I repeat, the Pope will not change the doctrine on divorce and remarriage, contraception, same-sex so-called marriage, sodomy, or the reception of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried Catholics. Pastoral matters on how to treat and counsel these people are another matter, but the Pope will not change doctrine! 

Read it the rest of the manipulation here.

The Two Synods, Real and of the Media

The upcoming synod on the family is being shaped by the same phenomenon that influenced Vatican II. But this time the duplication appears intentional, with all of the risks that it involves

by Sandro Magister

ROME, February 26, 2014 – In the first consistory of his pontificate, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has not been tender with the caste of the cardinals.

At the opening of the assembly, he charged them with "rivalry, envy, factions." And in the closing homily, with "intrigues, gossip, cliques, favoritism, preferential treatment."

And yet it is to this hardly esteemed college of cardinals that Francis has entrusted the first important high-level discussion on the topic of the upcoming synod of bishops, the family, at a time like the present - the pope said - in which it "is despised, is mistreated."

More on Maria Divine Mercy Fraud

This update continues what was previously posted here, that this woman and her machine is a complete fraud and the empire is collapsing around her. The quote of the day comes from our friends at Creative Minority Report, "The Divine justice waiting for those willingly perpetrate fraud on believers makes me shudder."

*Critical Updates

MARTIN ROTH SPEAKS!  

‘Visionary’s’ business partner ‘goes ballistic.’ Confesses: Mary Carberry IS Maria Divine Mercy!

Posted Feb. 17, 2014

An Irish ‘visionary’s’ empire is dismantling.  On Feb. 4, Heinrich Martin Roth, German business partner of the ‘visionary’ Maria Divine Mercy, posted a 30-page ‘rant’ on his website reacting to a flier distributed by German Catholic publishers Miriam-Verlag.

Mary McGovern-Carberry in April 2009, from Irish Independent Online article announcing new PR venture, Eighty Twenty PR. Today a company spokesman says, “We are no longer associated with Mary McGovern.”

While defending ‘Maria Divine Mercy’ and attempting to support the authenticity of her ‘messages from heaven,’ Roth, writing in German, provides embarrassing details exposing the ‘visionary’s’ identity and history. He admits:  Ireland resident Mary Carberry is Maria Divine Mercy!

Are Carberry and Irish business partner Breffni Cully aware what Roth has done?

The Miriam-Verlag two-page flier – the object of Roth’s bizarre document – was edited by a priest working in Switzerland and his affiliated group.  The flier exposes the MDM fraud primarily using information authored by Michael Hesemann posted at the popular German Catholic website Kath.net.  Roth also reacts to an article at MidwayStreet.wordpress.com that represents the work of international researchers exploring the identity of the Internet ‘visionary.’ 

Ordinariate Anniversary Mass

Tu modo, qui sequitur te! (You fashion follower you!)

On behalf of Abbe Joseph, (Seminarian JH), Thank you!

Dear Friends,

A few months ago, I launched a fundraising campaign here for a young man from the rural north of the Archdiocese of Toronto studying for the priesthood in Italy. Abbe Joseph H., is at the Institute of Christ the King in Griciliano, Italy and comes from a wonderful home-schooled family. 

Please let me take this opportunity on his behalf to say "thank you and God bless you." 

Your generosity has been greatly appreciated. You sent cheques directly to the Toronto Traditional Mass Society on his behalf and donated through CanadaHelps. The goal was met and even yesterday, more funds came in.

Abbe Joseph's needs have been met for this year and he has a nest egg to begin next year.

Please know that on a daily basis, he offers Mass and prayers for all of his benefactors.

May God bless you.

Edmonton Archbishop bans Holy Communion on the tongue

Reminiscent of the false flag of H1N1 when many bishops in Canada had the temerity to bow to public health officials and alter liturgical norms and practises. Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton has banned Holy Communion on the tongue -- a norm, a law in fact, over which he has no power to affect.

In a January 6 letter to priests, due to the apparent "escalation in influenza" various "temporary" measures were enacted in addition to the banning of the Body of Christ on the tongue including the elimination of the distribution of the Precious Blood, emptying of Holy Water fonts and the practice of shaking hands at the Peace.

The reception of Holy Communion at Mass by the people is not mandatory, only the priest celebrant is required to complete the Sacrifice. If the influenza was so serious, then all should have refrained on order of the Archbishop and made a Spiritual Communion which would have come under his authority.  The banning of distribution of Holy Communion on the tongue is not within the Archbishop's purview. The Law of the Church provides that it is the norm and it is communion in the hand that is the indult, the exception.

During H1N1, Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary also bowed to secular authorities and went so far as to suspend the Holy Mass by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter after they asked the people to make a "Spiritual Communion" so that the priests would not be forced to violate Church Law, disobey the bishop or their consciences. The actions of Bishop Henry came to an abrupt halt after intervention from the Vatican. In a response to a letter to Bishop Henry by this writer, he responded by twisting the words of Pope Benedict XVI's letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum to elevate his authority over the Vetus Ordo beyond what the letter or motu proprio actually stated.

This matter was clearly dealt with previously.

In Toronto, Holy Communion was also banned on the tongue during the H1N1 scam, though the FSSP which was here at the time did not follow it and three months later, they departed Toronto. In Ottawa and Vancouver for example, no ban on the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue was demanded in the either Form of the Roman Rite.

What is most shocking to this writer, beyond the arrogance of the Archbishop of Edmonton to flaunt the Law of the Church, is that after nearly a month, this word has finally become known. Are the Catholics of Edmonton that careless about what their role is when bishops act in error and restrict their rights or are there just so few that receive the Lord in the traditional manner? Do any of them even know their rights or do they even care?

There has never been a study with any hard data that the distribution of Holy Communion on the tongue, properly administered, leads to any proliferation of influenza. Not even during the Spanish Flu epidemic a century ago, when all received on the tongue, was such a measure taken.

Ironically, as reported in the Catholic Register, whilst President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Smith, urged Canadian Catholics to "stand up for their religious rights" and he worried about the "erosion" of religious rights.

Except perhaps when the erosion is from within.

From a historical point-of-view, may I refer you to this letter from 98 year old Msgr. Vincent Foy who will soon celebrate his 75th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.

Well, Edmonton Catholics, what do you say?

Pastoral Scene

Influenza Precautions Announced

Posted in [Archdiocesan News] By Lorraine

In light of the recent escalation in influenza cases in Alberta, Archbishop Richard Smith has directed that parishes in the Archdiocese implement a number of temporary measures to guard against the spread of disease. These include:

• Discontinue the reception of the Precious Blood as part of any public celebration of the Eucharist.
• Limit the reception of the Body of Christ to the hands only.
• Suspend the practice of shaking hands during the Sign of Peace. This can be replaced by a bow or an intentional nod of the head toward those around you.
• Empty all holy water fonts.
• Be mindful of the importance of basic health measures. For example, thorough hand washing is an effective means of preventing the transmission of infectious material (nasal secretions, saliva, etc.) from soiled hands. Make alcohol-based hand sanitizing solution or tissues available in the church entrance.
• Encourage all parishioners to remain home at the first sign of illness, especially a cough or fever, out of respect for their brothers and sisters. Those who stay home can view a televised Mass onSalt+Light Television, on EWTN Television, or online at www.canadiandailymass.com. They can also make a Spiritual Communion; instructions for this are posted on our Divine Worship page. 
• Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should sanitize their hands immediately before receiving Communion themselves and avoid touching their face or other surfaces such as handrails before distributing Communion. Rub hand sanitizer over the hands until completely dry. (The sanitizer must evaporate or stay on the skin for 10 seconds to achieve any antibacterial/antiviral effect.)
• Pastoral care team members who bring the Blessed Sacrament to shut-ins should not attend any homes where influenza is known or suspected to be present.
• All pastoral care visitors to hospitals and nursing homes, whether clergy or lay volunteers, must observe all posted infection control procedures at these institutions (e.g. hand sanitizing, gowning, masking.)

“Please note that the decision to impose restrictions on the liturgy was not made lightly,” Archbishop Smith wrote in a January 8th letter to priests. “It was based on prayer, reflection and consultation with Alberta Health Services, the agency which is in the best position to assess local conditions and risk. It is my intention to lift the restrictions as soon as the provincial health authorities assure us that the risk of influenza infection has dropped substantially. “

Archbishop Smith also asks that we pray for the comfort and healing of all those afflicted by the illness, those who have died, and for those who are caring for the sick.

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Buffoonery

Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Notre Shame

This is what the Pope had to say to the folks from Notre Shame.

In my recent Apostolic Exhortation on the Joy of the Gospel, I stressed the missionary dimension of Christian discipleship, which needs to be evident in the lives of individuals and in the workings of each of the Church’s institutions. This commitment to “missionary discipleship” ought to be reflected in a special way in Catholic universities (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 132-134), which by their very nature are committed to demonstrating the harmony of faith and reason and the relevance of the Christian message for a full and authentically human life. Essential in this regard is the uncompromising witness of Catholic universities to the Church’s moral teaching, and the defense of her freedom, precisely in and through her institutions, to uphold that teaching as authoritatively proclaimed by the magisterium of her pastors. It is my hope that the University of Notre Dame will continue to offer unambiguous testimony to this aspect of its foundational Catholic identity, especially in the face of efforts, from whatever quarter, to dilute that indispensable witness. And this is important: its identity, as it was intended from the beginning. To defend it, to preserve it and to advance it!

Franciscus

Address to delegation of the University of Notre Dame du Lac

January 30, 2014