Traditional Catholics, who try to keep the Faith of our fathers, were pleased this past weekend to see a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Mexico City burning effigies of the pagan "Pachamama" statues, while leading the faithful in prayer to atone for the sin of worshipping the statues during the recently concluded Amazon Synod at the Vatican. Here's the video, originally posted on LifeSite News.
Father Hugo Valdemar stands outside a Church dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, while flames leaped out of a metal fireplace on top of a table covered with a white cloth. He stands next to an altar-boy holding an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The priest was also flanked by an icon of Saint Michael the Archangel, to whom we pray earnestly, now more than ever, to protect us in the day of battle and deliver Holy Mother Church from her enemies, without and (especially) within.
"The most blessed Virgin of Guadalupe", Father Hugo says, "is a young woman who is pregnant. She has Jesus in her womb, who is to give birth to the new continent [the new world]. She says that she comes to grant her love to all the inhabitants of this entire continent (not just Mexico). She is pregnant and carries Jesus who will bring us the Gospel and drive away the darkness of idolatry and the devil."
The priest then picks up one of the Pachamama effigies and, holding it next to the image of Our Lady, explains the difference between the two.
"A friend exorcist says that this idol [Pachamama] is actually the figure of the Antichrist. It is a blasphemy and parody of Mary. Pachamama is pregnant but carries the Antichrist to give birth to him in the Masonic church, to destroy the sacraments, which is to return to idolatry and superstition. So, this Antichrist who is to give birth to a church with an 'Amazonian face' is an abomination, it is a contradiction to Church doctrine, which is the dynamic into which these idolaters want to enter now.
"So, in sign of repugnance to the offences that they made to the most Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome, in Her Church of Transpontina, we, as a protest and as a sign of reparation, burn this satanic idol of the Pachamama."
Father Hugo then drops the Pachamama into the fire, where it was consumed. Two more effigies were later burned. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, and to your Blessed Mother.
Showing posts with label Masons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Masons. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Book Review: Alta Vendita - The Masonic plot against the Church
Until his untimely death a year ago, John Vennari+ was the editor of Catholic Family News, a popular speaker at Catholic conferences, and the author of many articles and books on the Catholic Faith. I had the pleasure of working with him, off and on, for many years. I enjoyed his sharp sense of humour, and was inspired by his devotion to the True Faith and, especially, Our Lady of Fatima.
To commemorate his life and work, the Fatima Center has just published a second edition of The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita: A Masonic blueprint for the subversion of the Catholic Church.
Mr Vennari wrote the first edition (TAN Books, 1999) as a translation and commentary on a document, originally published in Italian in 1859, written by "Piccolo Tigre" (the code name of Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini) for the highest lodge of the Italian Carbonari, a network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy in the 19th century. It is a blueprint for revolution against the state, and against Holy Mother Church -- a revolution which continues in the mainstream Roman Catholic Church of the 21st century.
The 19th-century revolution in the Church, fomented by Mazzini and others intent on Her destruction, was condemned by Pope St. Pius X in his famous encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (On the Doctrines of the Modernists), published in 1907.
Following the Saint's motu proprio of 1910, requiring the Oath Against Modernism to be taken by "all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries", the virus of revolution lay dormant for half a century, only to be given new life in the 1960s, when the architects of Vatican II -- many of them secret Freemasons -- told us the Church must "reform itself" and "get with the times".
Thus began the jettisoning of all that has given the Church Her character and constant teaching. The diabolical disorientation which the Church and the faithful are now experiencing has not happened by chance. In The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita, John Vennari shows that the disasters of the mainstream Church -- e.g. the questioning of the existence of Hell by the Pope himself! -- are the culmination of a long process of patient planning by a Masonic group that has infiltrated the Church, not to take over its government openly, but to transform it from within.
According to the booklet (only 43 pages), their goal is to turn the Church from its mission of supernatural salvation to a focus on saving the world. Thus Her mission becomes "social justice" rather than salvation. All we hear from the Church's leaders -- up to and including the Pope -- these days is globalism, immigration, open borders and other ideals of secular humanism. There is lots about helping our neighbours, but little about helping ourselves to save our own souls.
Can there be any doubt that the revolution Mr Vennari describes is in "progress" -- the word itself has a distored meaning -- right now? We must fight it, but to fight it, we must first recognize it. To get your copy of The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita, click here to e-mail the Fatima Center or call (toll-free in North America) 1-800-263-8160. Tell `em Walt sent you!
To commemorate his life and work, the Fatima Center has just published a second edition of The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita: A Masonic blueprint for the subversion of the Catholic Church. Mr Vennari wrote the first edition (TAN Books, 1999) as a translation and commentary on a document, originally published in Italian in 1859, written by "Piccolo Tigre" (the code name of Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini) for the highest lodge of the Italian Carbonari, a network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy in the 19th century. It is a blueprint for revolution against the state, and against Holy Mother Church -- a revolution which continues in the mainstream Roman Catholic Church of the 21st century.
The 19th-century revolution in the Church, fomented by Mazzini and others intent on Her destruction, was condemned by Pope St. Pius X in his famous encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (On the Doctrines of the Modernists), published in 1907.
Following the Saint's motu proprio of 1910, requiring the Oath Against Modernism to be taken by "all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries", the virus of revolution lay dormant for half a century, only to be given new life in the 1960s, when the architects of Vatican II -- many of them secret Freemasons -- told us the Church must "reform itself" and "get with the times".
Thus began the jettisoning of all that has given the Church Her character and constant teaching. The diabolical disorientation which the Church and the faithful are now experiencing has not happened by chance. In The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita, John Vennari shows that the disasters of the mainstream Church -- e.g. the questioning of the existence of Hell by the Pope himself! -- are the culmination of a long process of patient planning by a Masonic group that has infiltrated the Church, not to take over its government openly, but to transform it from within.
According to the booklet (only 43 pages), their goal is to turn the Church from its mission of supernatural salvation to a focus on saving the world. Thus Her mission becomes "social justice" rather than salvation. All we hear from the Church's leaders -- up to and including the Pope -- these days is globalism, immigration, open borders and other ideals of secular humanism. There is lots about helping our neighbours, but little about helping ourselves to save our own souls.
Can there be any doubt that the revolution Mr Vennari describes is in "progress" -- the word itself has a distored meaning -- right now? We must fight it, but to fight it, we must first recognize it. To get your copy of The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita, click here to e-mail the Fatima Center or call (toll-free in North America) 1-800-263-8160. Tell `em Walt sent you!
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
The truth is out! The new mass was created by a "contemptible" Freemason
Regular readers of WWW will know that Walt is a traditional Catholic, one who rejects the "new, improved Catholic Church" which emerged from Vatican II. The most poisonous of all the "fruits" of that Council was the Novus Ordo Missae, the "New Mass" which the priest who writes the Traditio blog always calls the "New Mess". For so it is. Aesthetically, liturgically and (above all) theologically, the new mass is an abomination.
In its misguided effort to "keep up with the times", the Roman Catholic Church changed the Mass of All Time, beginning with the Missal of John XXIII in 1962 and culminating the New Order Liturgy imposed on the Church in October 1967 in spite of the objections of the Episcopal Synod. What's wrong with the New Mass? Click here to read "The Ottaviani Intervention", an open letter dated 25 September 1969 from Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to Pope Paul VI.
The leader of the movement for "reform" of the liturgy was then-Father Annibale Bugnini, who later become an archbishop and was made Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Only too late did we learn that Bugnini's goal was not simply to "reform" the Mass of St. Pius V, which had been the norm in the Roman Catholic Church for four centuries, but to make the Mass acceptable to Protestants, Jews and other non-believers. In so doing, he made it virtually un-Catholic!
Less than a month after publication of The Ottaviani Intervention, Abp. Bugnini was suddenly transferred out of the Vatican. After Paul VI learned that he (Bugnini) was actually a Freemason, he was made apostolic nuncio to Iran! Perhaps Bugnini was one of those Paul VI had in mind when he said, shortly before his death, that "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church."
One of those who served with then-Father Bugnini on the Consilium -- the group charged with reforming the Latin liturgy -- was Father Louis Bouyer, an eminent theologian who believed in the Faith of our father with the strength and conviction of the convert he was. Father Bouyer died in 2004, and now his memoirs have been published in France.
Noted Vaticanista Sandro Magister talks about Father Bouyer and his memoirs in "Le fiammeggianti memorie del convertito che Paolo VI voleva far cardinale" He writes, "Being called to serve on one of the preparatory commissions for Vatican II, Bouyer immediately realized from his own experience its greatness and its wretchedness, and soon pulled back from it."
The memoirs show how this Bugnini manipulated the process of liturgical reform during and after Vatican II. Father Bouyer had high praise for Joseph Ratzinger, Magister notes, and was himself highly regarded by Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini, who in 1963 became Pope Paul VI.
"Montini wanted Bouyer on the committee for the reform of the liturgy," Magister says, "presided over 'in theory' by Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, 'a generous man' but 'incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the criminal and unctuous' Annibale Bugnini, secretary and factotum of that same body, [described by the theologian] as 'as devoid of learning as he was of honesty'."
Father Bouyer records that Father Bugnini, whom he called “contemptible”, would dismiss other committee members' concerns about certain changes in the liturgy, saying, "The Pope wants it so." But, he recalls, when he spoke directly with Paul VI about the proposed changes, the Pontiff told him that Father Bugnini had claimed the working committee was unanimous in seeking the changes! Thus Father Bouyer concludes that Pope Paul was maneuvered into "approving without being in any way more than content with it than I was."
Contemptible indeed. Yet even now Francis, the most liberal pope since [Ed., can you fill in a name here? I can't think of any. Walt] is quietly suppressing the old "extraordinary" rite permitted by Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio "Summum Pontificum". The "reform" continues, and the Catholic Faith will be preserved only outside the Church, in the minds and hearts of true believers like Father Bouyer, RIP.
For further commentary on the disaster that is the "New Mass" click on the link in "What's wrong with the canonization of John Paul II" for a few choice words from Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant.
Recommended reading: The Suicide of Altering the Faith in the Liturgy, by Father Paul Kramer. Compares the New Mass and the traditional Roman Rite and presents surprising yet theologically sound answers to the questions which bother all sincere Catholics. Clarifies confusion about schism, tradition, liturgy, the Magisterium and authority in the Church. A convincing argument why we should stand fast and hold to tradition. 204 pages, paperback. Available from The Fatima Shoppe, $9.95.
In its misguided effort to "keep up with the times", the Roman Catholic Church changed the Mass of All Time, beginning with the Missal of John XXIII in 1962 and culminating the New Order Liturgy imposed on the Church in October 1967 in spite of the objections of the Episcopal Synod. What's wrong with the New Mass? Click here to read "The Ottaviani Intervention", an open letter dated 25 September 1969 from Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to Pope Paul VI.
The leader of the movement for "reform" of the liturgy was then-Father Annibale Bugnini, who later become an archbishop and was made Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Only too late did we learn that Bugnini's goal was not simply to "reform" the Mass of St. Pius V, which had been the norm in the Roman Catholic Church for four centuries, but to make the Mass acceptable to Protestants, Jews and other non-believers. In so doing, he made it virtually un-Catholic!
Less than a month after publication of The Ottaviani Intervention, Abp. Bugnini was suddenly transferred out of the Vatican. After Paul VI learned that he (Bugnini) was actually a Freemason, he was made apostolic nuncio to Iran! Perhaps Bugnini was one of those Paul VI had in mind when he said, shortly before his death, that "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church."
One of those who served with then-Father Bugnini on the Consilium -- the group charged with reforming the Latin liturgy -- was Father Louis Bouyer, an eminent theologian who believed in the Faith of our father with the strength and conviction of the convert he was. Father Bouyer died in 2004, and now his memoirs have been published in France.
Noted Vaticanista Sandro Magister talks about Father Bouyer and his memoirs in "Le fiammeggianti memorie del convertito che Paolo VI voleva far cardinale" He writes, "Being called to serve on one of the preparatory commissions for Vatican II, Bouyer immediately realized from his own experience its greatness and its wretchedness, and soon pulled back from it."
The memoirs show how this Bugnini manipulated the process of liturgical reform during and after Vatican II. Father Bouyer had high praise for Joseph Ratzinger, Magister notes, and was himself highly regarded by Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini, who in 1963 became Pope Paul VI.
"Montini wanted Bouyer on the committee for the reform of the liturgy," Magister says, "presided over 'in theory' by Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, 'a generous man' but 'incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the criminal and unctuous' Annibale Bugnini, secretary and factotum of that same body, [described by the theologian] as 'as devoid of learning as he was of honesty'."
Father Bouyer records that Father Bugnini, whom he called “contemptible”, would dismiss other committee members' concerns about certain changes in the liturgy, saying, "The Pope wants it so." But, he recalls, when he spoke directly with Paul VI about the proposed changes, the Pontiff told him that Father Bugnini had claimed the working committee was unanimous in seeking the changes! Thus Father Bouyer concludes that Pope Paul was maneuvered into "approving without being in any way more than content with it than I was."
Contemptible indeed. Yet even now Francis, the most liberal pope since [Ed., can you fill in a name here? I can't think of any. Walt] is quietly suppressing the old "extraordinary" rite permitted by Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio "Summum Pontificum". The "reform" continues, and the Catholic Faith will be preserved only outside the Church, in the minds and hearts of true believers like Father Bouyer, RIP.
For further commentary on the disaster that is the "New Mass" click on the link in "What's wrong with the canonization of John Paul II" for a few choice words from Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant.
Recommended reading: The Suicide of Altering the Faith in the Liturgy, by Father Paul Kramer. Compares the New Mass and the traditional Roman Rite and presents surprising yet theologically sound answers to the questions which bother all sincere Catholics. Clarifies confusion about schism, tradition, liturgy, the Magisterium and authority in the Church. A convincing argument why we should stand fast and hold to tradition. 204 pages, paperback. Available from The Fatima Shoppe, $9.95.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Satanists (or Freemasons?) want to give back to New York community
Agent 3 has just sent us a link to a story published in Canada [not in the USA? Ed.] by the QMI Agency. Here's the headline (and the link): Highway to hell? Satanists want to adopt a New York highway. We'll come to the story in a minute, but want you to have a look at the picture QMI chose to print right under the headline.
According to the newspaper, this is a screenshot from the video produced by the Satanic Temple to "promote a message of Satanic civic pride and social responsibility." Hmm.
Where have we seen this image before? Have a look in your wallet. There... on the other side of the engraving of George Washington. (A "temple" where George rests, at Alexandria VA, is adorned with a similar symbol.) Yes, that's right. By the Compass and by the Square, it's the "all-seeing eye" -- one of the chief symbols of Freemasonry!
Does that mean there's some connection between Freemasonry and Satanism? The Church has always said so, although She doesn't mention it much these days, which tells ye all ye need to know about who runs the Vatican. According to the commandments of the traditional (pre-Vatican II) Church, no Catholic may belong to the Masons or any other secret society. Len is pretty sure that would include the Satanic Temple.
Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the rest of the story, from the QMI/Sun newspapers.
The Satanists have set up an Indiegogo page to raise the $15,000 they need to adopt a stretch of New York highway for two years "by way of litter cleanup and landscaping". If they succeed, the Department of Transportation will have to put up a sign acknowledging The Satanic Temple as the adopters. "We call on all people to support the Satanic Temple in this effort to engage their community in a positive, productive manner," the [Satanists] said.
To drum up awareness for the campaign, the church performed a "pink mass" on Sunday over the grave of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps Jr.'s mother. The ritual, which involves chants and gay makeouts over the grave, aims to make deceased's spirit turn homosexual.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Holy Mass: back to the future
Last week Pope Benedict XVI issued an instruction to clarify and reinforce Summorum Pontificum, his 2007 apostolic letter that encouraged wider use of the old Tridentine Rite of the Holy Mass. Because the letter called the Mass of All Time "the extraordinary rite", some bishops and priests seemed to feel that the new novus ordo mass was to remain the norm.
The old mass, the modernists argue, is only to be trotted out occasionally to appease old-fashioned traditional Catholics who feel the new mass is really a "new mess" foisted on the Church at Vatican II by a fifth column of Protestants and Masons.
Last week's instruction makes it clear that, rather than just throwing a sop to the Society of St. Pius X and other traditionalists, the Holy Father is slowly but surely attempting to turn around St. Peter's barque around. According to Kurt Cardinal Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Summorum Pontificum is just the first step in a "reform of the reform" in liturgy.
The cardinal said on Saturday that Pope Benedict thinks the post-Vatican II liturgical changes have brought "many positive fruits" but also problems, including a focus on purely practical matters and a neglect of the paschal mystery in the Eucharistic celebration. He said it was legitimate to ask whether liturgical innovators had intentionally gone beyond the council's stated intentions.
This, he went on, explains why the Holy Father has introduced a new reform movement, beginning with Summorum Pontificum. The aim, he said, is to revisit Vatican II's teachings in liturgy and strengthen certain elements, including the Christological and sacrificial dimensions of the Mass.
The pope's long-term aim is not simply to allow the old and new rites to coexist, Cardinal Koch concluded, but to move toward a "common rite" that is shaped by the mutual enrichment of the two Mass forms.
Walt's advice to Catholics born since 1956? Sign up for Latin lessons!
The old mass, the modernists argue, is only to be trotted out occasionally to appease old-fashioned traditional Catholics who feel the new mass is really a "new mess" foisted on the Church at Vatican II by a fifth column of Protestants and Masons.
Last week's instruction makes it clear that, rather than just throwing a sop to the Society of St. Pius X and other traditionalists, the Holy Father is slowly but surely attempting to turn around St. Peter's barque around. According to Kurt Cardinal Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Summorum Pontificum is just the first step in a "reform of the reform" in liturgy.
The cardinal said on Saturday that Pope Benedict thinks the post-Vatican II liturgical changes have brought "many positive fruits" but also problems, including a focus on purely practical matters and a neglect of the paschal mystery in the Eucharistic celebration. He said it was legitimate to ask whether liturgical innovators had intentionally gone beyond the council's stated intentions.
This, he went on, explains why the Holy Father has introduced a new reform movement, beginning with Summorum Pontificum. The aim, he said, is to revisit Vatican II's teachings in liturgy and strengthen certain elements, including the Christological and sacrificial dimensions of the Mass.
The pope's long-term aim is not simply to allow the old and new rites to coexist, Cardinal Koch concluded, but to move toward a "common rite" that is shaped by the mutual enrichment of the two Mass forms.
Walt's advice to Catholics born since 1956? Sign up for Latin lessons!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Zen and the maintenance of the Faith - the REAL Catholic Church in China
Freedom of religion is "guaranteed" in the constitution of the People's Republic of China. Yes, Chinese are free to worship any God they please in any way they please...as long as the Communist government approves.
Let it be remembered that China is a totalitarian, Communist-ruled state. And the official religion of Communism is atheism. Good Communists believe in the Party, not in God. And let it be remembered too that good Catholics cannot be good Communists. The two creeds are antithetical. Man cannot serve two masters. It is still a sin for a Catholic to belong to the Communist Party or any secret society such as the Freemasons.
Thus Chinese Catholics were impaled on the horns of a dilemma when the Communists usurped power in 1949. The new government also needed to figure out a way to co-opt all the troublesome people -- especially the Catholic clergy -- who owed allegiance to Rome rather than Beijing.
Their solution was to set up a schismatic, puppet "church", the Catholic Patriotic Association, and put heavy pressure on Chinese bishops, priests and laypeople to join. Many did, but many did not. Those who stayed in the "underground Church" were rewarded for their steadfastness with ostracism, persecution, imprisonment, torture and even death. Don't let anyone tell you that there are no Catholic martyrs in the 21st century. Several bishops and priests, and uncounted laypeople have died in Chinese Communist prisons.
Meanwhile, the Vatican, under the aegis of Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano and his successor, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has pursued a policy of "Ostpolitik" -- "making nice" with the Communists and their lapdog bishops and priests in hopes of "normalizing" relations between two institutions which are diametrically opposed.
Part of this delusional attempt to reconcile with the Chinese Communists was a letter written (or at least signed) by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. In this much misunderstood document, the Pope appeared to encourage members of the underground Church to attend CPA "masses" and recognize the leadership of Beijing-appointed bishops and priests. To say that this letter caused confusion and distress in the underground community is a gross understatement.
For a good account of what the Pope's letter was really all about, click here to read "Latest Vatican Pronouncement on China: Statement of Support or Start of a Sellout", by noted Catholic commentator James W. Bannister.
Not long before the Pope's letter appeared, the Archbishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, was elevated to the rank of cardinal, and given a special mission to "bridge the gap" between the Holy See and Beijing, between the real Roman Catholic Church in China and the CPA.
Imagine the consternation in the Vatican Secretariat of State when Cardinal Zen, rather than toeing the party line, turned out to be a tireless champion for religious freedom! Cardinal Zen, now bishop emeritus, persists in preaching that being Catholic allows one to be truly patriotic and anyone who opposes their faith to serve the homeland (as the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party insists) is guilty of sophistry.
On June 29th, Cardinal Zen published yet another letter highly critical of the Vatican's attempts at rapprochement with Beijing, and Beijing's attempts to bring the Chinese Church under its complete control and suppress all who dissent.
He exhorts Chinese Catholic leaders -- especially those of the "official" church recognized by the government -- to be more courageous in resisting compromise, and especially in rejecting the claims to authority made by the CPA.
Cardinal Zen's letter concludes thus:
We must pray that the leaders of our Nation come to understand that a free Catholic Church is no threat to our country. On the contrary, if we are allowed to live happily our faith, we can contribute more to the welfare and all-round progress of our people....
On this journey of faith, we have been promised both tribulations and consolations. Our companions and models are the Saints and especially the glorious Martyrs.
Mary, Help of Christians, our Heavenly Mother and the Star of Hope, to whom the Pope has entrusted our Church, will lead us to peaceful victory."
You can read the full text of the prelate's letter in "Cardinal Zen: The Church in China two years after the Pope's Letter".
Let it be remembered that China is a totalitarian, Communist-ruled state. And the official religion of Communism is atheism. Good Communists believe in the Party, not in God. And let it be remembered too that good Catholics cannot be good Communists. The two creeds are antithetical. Man cannot serve two masters. It is still a sin for a Catholic to belong to the Communist Party or any secret society such as the Freemasons.
Thus Chinese Catholics were impaled on the horns of a dilemma when the Communists usurped power in 1949. The new government also needed to figure out a way to co-opt all the troublesome people -- especially the Catholic clergy -- who owed allegiance to Rome rather than Beijing.
Their solution was to set up a schismatic, puppet "church", the Catholic Patriotic Association, and put heavy pressure on Chinese bishops, priests and laypeople to join. Many did, but many did not. Those who stayed in the "underground Church" were rewarded for their steadfastness with ostracism, persecution, imprisonment, torture and even death. Don't let anyone tell you that there are no Catholic martyrs in the 21st century. Several bishops and priests, and uncounted laypeople have died in Chinese Communist prisons.
Meanwhile, the Vatican, under the aegis of Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano and his successor, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has pursued a policy of "Ostpolitik" -- "making nice" with the Communists and their lapdog bishops and priests in hopes of "normalizing" relations between two institutions which are diametrically opposed.
Part of this delusional attempt to reconcile with the Chinese Communists was a letter written (or at least signed) by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. In this much misunderstood document, the Pope appeared to encourage members of the underground Church to attend CPA "masses" and recognize the leadership of Beijing-appointed bishops and priests. To say that this letter caused confusion and distress in the underground community is a gross understatement.
For a good account of what the Pope's letter was really all about, click here to read "Latest Vatican Pronouncement on China: Statement of Support or Start of a Sellout", by noted Catholic commentator James W. Bannister.
Not long before the Pope's letter appeared, the Archbishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, was elevated to the rank of cardinal, and given a special mission to "bridge the gap" between the Holy See and Beijing, between the real Roman Catholic Church in China and the CPA.
Imagine the consternation in the Vatican Secretariat of State when Cardinal Zen, rather than toeing the party line, turned out to be a tireless champion for religious freedom! Cardinal Zen, now bishop emeritus, persists in preaching that being Catholic allows one to be truly patriotic and anyone who opposes their faith to serve the homeland (as the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party insists) is guilty of sophistry.
On June 29th, Cardinal Zen published yet another letter highly critical of the Vatican's attempts at rapprochement with Beijing, and Beijing's attempts to bring the Chinese Church under its complete control and suppress all who dissent.
He exhorts Chinese Catholic leaders -- especially those of the "official" church recognized by the government -- to be more courageous in resisting compromise, and especially in rejecting the claims to authority made by the CPA.
Cardinal Zen's letter concludes thus:
We must pray that the leaders of our Nation come to understand that a free Catholic Church is no threat to our country. On the contrary, if we are allowed to live happily our faith, we can contribute more to the welfare and all-round progress of our people....
On this journey of faith, we have been promised both tribulations and consolations. Our companions and models are the Saints and especially the glorious Martyrs.
Mary, Help of Christians, our Heavenly Mother and the Star of Hope, to whom the Pope has entrusted our Church, will lead us to peaceful victory."
You can read the full text of the prelate's letter in "Cardinal Zen: The Church in China two years after the Pope's Letter".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)