A timely restatement of the True Faith

If you ask a practising Catholic -- never mind about the millions who have left the Church -- what they believe and what the Church believes, he or she might be hard-pressed to tell you. That's because their religious education has been sadly neglected, even in the so-called "Catholic schools". Not only that, the leaders of the Church (Hello, Holy Father!) are themselves unclear in their teaching, constantly contradicting themselves and confusing the faithful. Who knows what the Pope believes?

Faced with the great confusion which weakens the Faith and weakens Holy Mother Church, one courageous prelate, Gerhard Cardinal Müller, has apparently grown tired of waiting for a "Vatican III" to correct the manifest errors of Vatican II, and has this week issued a "Manifesto of Faith", in which he restates the core elements of the Faith of our fathers.

Cardinal Müller was the Prefect (= head) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 until the summer of 2017, when he was fired by Pope Francis for having the temerity to suggest that the Holy Father might be leading the Church into error on such things as the necessity of being Catholic to be saved from eternal damnation. See "Battle between modernism and tradition heats up as Pope fires 3IC", WWW 3/7/17.

Cardinal Müller's manifesto echos another restatement of the Faith, "Credo of the People of God", proclaimed in 1968 by Paul VI. That was a rather late-in-the-day attempt by the Pope to pour some oil on the troubled waters which he himself had stirred up. In the wake of Vatican II, the Church was in turmoil, and many Catholics were no longer sure what to believe. So, having opened the window through which "the smoke of Satan...entered the Church" (his own words!), Pope Montini felt it his duty to reaffirm the pillars of Church doctrine, taking as a starting point the Credo of the Council of Nicaea, aka the Nicene Creed, still recited by the faithful at traditional Catholic masses.

Instead of the Nicene Creed, Cardinal Müller has taken as the guideline for his "Manifesto of Faith", the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), adopted following Vatican II. His manifesto is thus not open to challenge as being an attempt to turn back the clock to a statement of the Faith as it was prior to the great "reform" of the Council. But even though it quotes the CCC, the manifesto accurately reflects and restates the stone truths of the Catholic Faith -- the Faith of our Fathers -- that the Church has always believed.

Saint Paul wrote to Saint Timothy, "there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry." (II Timothy 4:3-5, DRV) That is what Cardinal Müller has done. Lack of space keeps us from posting his "Manifesto of Faith", but you can click here to read the complete text. This what Catholics believe. This is the True Faith.

Footnote: LifeSite News (which Walt reads regularly and recommends highly) has started a petition of support for Cardinal Müller in his efforts to correct at least some of the errors of Pope Francis' pontificate. Click here to find out more and add your signature!

VIDEO: Cardinal Burke: The smoke of Satan has entered the Church

In "Vatican attempts to silence tradition-minded Catholic prelates" (WWW 7/11/18) Walt reported on recent attempts by the Vatican Secretariat of State (Peter the Roman, Prop.) to silence Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Cardinal Raymond Burke for daring to speak out against those responsible for today's crisis in the roman Catholic Church. (Hello, Pope Francis!)

Limitations of space prevented me from giving more than a suggestion of what these two prelates had done to deserve (which they didn't!) the Vatican's not-so-subtle warning that they'd better shut up about the apostasy, homosexuality, and heresy rampant today in the highest echelons of Holy Mother Church. What they did was call attention to the poisoned fruits of Vatican II, about which the Blessed Virgin Mary warned us in the Third Secret of Fatima, which was entrusted to Sister Lucia and has yet to be revealed in its entirety by the Vatican, for reasons which are now apparent.

Today Walt is pleased to share an address given by Cardinal Burke on 19 May 2017 at the fourth annual Rome Life Forum, organized by Voice of the Family, and originally posted on LifeSite News. In this talk, the prelate explains what Pope Paul VI meant when, near the end of his papacy, he said, publicly, that "through some fissue, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church". Running time, 32 minutes.



Today, the smoke of Satan is still there, denser and more choking than ever. Two of those who are being choked are Bishop Schneider and Cardinal Burke. Good Catholics, pay attention to what these two prelates are saying, before they are silenced forever. It is up to us, the remnant who cling to the Traditional Faith handed down to us by the Apostles and doctors of the Church from Our Lord Jesus Christ, to do all we can, through prayer and action, to bring about the victory of grace and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.

VIDEO: "Pope Paul VI: Patron Saint of Apostates" - so funny but so sad

The Catholic (?) Church is churning out so many new saints these days that keeping track of them is like counting baby spiders. The reasons for the canonization of some of them are as obscure as everything else that comes out of Pope Francis's mouth, but one goal seems to be to legitimize the disastrous Second Vatican Council by making every pope since them (except for John Paul I) a saint. The latest, raised to sainthood last week in spite of the lack of evidence of two miracles or anything else of great note, was Pope Paul VI, the one who let "the smoke of Satan" -- his own words -- into the Church.

Father Celatus, who writes the new "Last Word" column in The Remnant newspaper, composed a delightfully devilish comment, in rhyme and music (the tune is that of "Good King Wenceslas"), which Walt is pleased to share. God save His Holy Church!



Comment from Ed.: The only reason Benedict XVI and Francis haven't been canonized is that they're not dead yet!

"Smoke of Satan" blowing through Synod on the Family

Nearing death, and ruing his role in approving the modernist innovations and "reforms" of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI is famously (or infamously) said "The smoke of Satan has entered the Church".

Half a century later, the Archbishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), Most Rev. Tomash Peta, used the same phrase in addressing the Bishops' Synod on the Family, in progress [another word, perhaps? Ed.] at the Vatican. "During the Synod last year [2014]," the prelate said, "'the smoke of Satan' was trying to enter the aula of Paul VI."

On its website, Voice of the Family, a coalition of pro-life groups, published the text of His Excellency's remarks, with his permission, under the headline "We can perceive the 'infernal smoke' in synod interventions".

What is "the smoke of Satan"? Archbishop Peta identifies it with "the proposal to admit to Holy Communion those who are divorced and living in new civil unions; the affirmation that cohabitation is a union which may have in itself some values; the pleading for homosexuality as something which is allegedly normal."

"Some synod fathers [he added] have not understood correctly the appeal of Pope Francis for an open discussion and started to bring forward ideas which contradict the bi-millennial Tradition of the Church, rooted in the Eternal Word of God. Unfortunately, one can still perceive the smell of this 'infernal smoke' in some items of the Instrumentum Laboris [working document] and also in the interventions of some synod fathers this year.

"To my mind, the main task of a Synod consists in indicating again to the Gospel of the marriage and of the family and that means to the teaching of Our Saviour. It [must not be] allowed to destroy the fundament -– to destroy the rock."

UPDATED 14/12 - Pope Francis - losing it or already lost it?

A few weeks ago, Francis Cardinal George, on his retirement as Archbishop of Chicago, said he was struggling to understand Pope Francis and the latter's puzzling and often contradictory pronouncements. In a November interview with Crux ("Covering all things Catholic"), the prelate posed a series of questions he’d like to ask Pope Francis, including whether the pontiff fully understands the way some of his statements "leave people wondering if he still holds the doctrine."

Francis did two things this week that could only have increased the wonderment -- perhaps we can even say "doubt" -- of Cardinal George but 1000s of other churchmen and faithful Catholics.

The Dalai Lama visited Rome this week, and, like most tourists, had a yen to visit the Vatican and meet the Pope. But Francis -- the great apostle of ecumenism -- refused! How strange! In the name of ecumenism, this pope has met with leaders of our separated (Orthodox) brethren, going so far as to bow low to Patriarch Bartholomew I and ask for his blessing.

Strange behaviour for someone who is supposed to be the successor of St. Peter, and head of the Church established by Our Lord Himself.

Pope Francis has also met with Jewish leaders and (of course) Muslim leaders, in the name of the false ecumenism which he preaches nowadays. (What he's promoting is actually a form of syncretism, the heretical notion that all religions are equal, all leading towards the same God. This is contrary to Catholic dogma.) But for the spiritual leader of millions of Buddhists? Errr, sorry, no. That might upset the Chinese Communists, with whom the Church is trying to coexist peacefully, in spite of the fact that they keep killing our clergy and faithful.

Further reading on WWW:
"China -- not a good place to be a democrat or a Catholic"
"Archbishop of Chicago talks about the high price of US citizenship"

But wait, there's more! Mysteriously unreported on Jeff Mirus's Catholic World News website -- I call it "The Daily Pope" -- was Francis's pronouncement this week that... wait for it... all dogs go to heaven!

"One day," the Pope said, "we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God's creatures." Amazing! It may be a popular sentiment -- great news for all animal lovers -- but it's completely contrary to Catholic dogma, which teaches us that only human beings can go to heaven, because only humans have souls!

We really must wonder, with Cardinal George, if, in his quest for praise and popularity from the world at large, the Humblest Pope Ever has abandoned completely the Catholic Faith which it is his solemn obligation to protect. God knows.

Comment from Ed.: Perhaps Francis intends  his pronouncement to be the new "dog"ma. Geddit?! 

UPDATE AND CORRECTION! - Apparently there was much soiling of shorts at the Vatican over reports that Pope Francis said all creatures can go to heaven.  Deputy Spokesthingy Fr. Ciro Benedettini said he received a number of calls on the story on Friday, and was taken by surprise because he didn't recall the Pope saying anything like that in remarks at his weekly general audience on Nov. 26.

The New York Times, which ran a story on Thursday about the purported comment, acknowledged its mistake in a correction on Friday that it had misattributed a remark made by Pope Paul VI. So that's OK then because we know that Paul VI is only a step from sainthood, so he must be in heaven and he hasn't sent down a correction.

Another comment from Ed.: Sadly, the misquote may dog Francis' papacy for years.

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.

Judgment Day - 19 September 2016 ???

3 portents of the coming Armageddon, published here a week ago, is drawing considerable interest. And why not? End-of-the-world questions and prophecies have been on people's minds and lips since about 90 seconds after Our Lord's Resurrection.

When is Jesus going to return in glory? How much longer will God tolerate the wickedness and perversity of His people? When will be the awful day of judgment? How long do we have to get ready?

These questions were perhaps even more real, more urgent to the people of the mid-14th century than they are to us, six-and-a-half centuries later. The 14th century was a time of terrible turmoil, with people from kings to commoners suffering from the Black Death and constant wars and pillage. The Church was even more corrupt and dissolute than it is today, held captive in "Babylon" (Avignon, France), then torn in the latter part of the century by the Great Schism.

In her monumental work A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous 14th Century (Ballantine, 1978), historian Barbara Tuchman tells us that the people of that time were fascinated and entertained by liturgical plays (such as the Passion Play, which survived in parts of Europe until the end of the 20th century) and "miracle plays and mysteries", whose subject matter was religious, but scripts and presentation more like secular drama.

She goes on to describe "The Day of Judgment" and "The Harrowing of Hell", which may have been performed at the historic entertainment in Paris of Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, by Charles V, King of France. Read carefully her synopsis of these plays of prophecy.

"Apocalypse...was enacted in the Day of Judgment and the Harrowing of Hell, when Christ goes down to lead Adam and the prophets out to Paradise. Anti-Christ appears at his appointed time, traditionally fixed at three and half years before the Last Judgment. Born of Satan's seduction of a woman of Babylon, and instructed in all the demonic arts, he gains such power that kinds and cardinals pay him homage until he is overthrown at Armageddon in the triumph of good over evil. The saved are separated from the damned, and angels empty the vials of wrath." [My emphasis. Walt]

Now let us suppose, just for the sake of the argument, that Pope Francis is the Antichrist, the devil wrapped in a cloak of gentleness and humility. Francis was "inaugurated" -- the Church doesn't "consecrate", "crown" or "enthrone" popes any more -- on 19 March 2013. Add the "traditional" three years and six months and you get 19 September 2016. That's the date. Don't say Walt didn't warn you!

I'll give you that it's hard to see in Pope Francis the "Peter the Roman" named in the prophecy of St. Malachy as the last pope. But hold on. Francis has been rumored for some time to be in poor health. Since being "installed", he has cancelled several audiences and appearances, and the Vatican has press office has denied he is sick, which means he probably is. Suppose he dies? Then all bets are off and we will look for some "Petrine connection" in his successor.

What about "the woman of Babylon"? Ask any evangelical Protestant preacher and he'll tell you the Church of Rome is the "whore of Babylon" spoken of in the 17th and 18th chapters of the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine (or Revelation).
"I will shew thee the condemnation of the great harlot, who sitteth upon many waters (17:1)... on her forehead a name was written: A mystery; Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the abominations of the earth. (17:5)"

The mystery plays speak of "Satan's seduction of a woman of Babylon". Has the devil seduced and perverted the Church of Rome, founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ when He walked among us? Don't take Walt's word for it. Heed the words of Pope Paul VI, who, following Vatican II and towards the end of reign, said publicly that "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church". He knew it full well, having been the pope who held open the window.

So there you have it. 19 September 2016. Walt isn't about to paint a placard saying "The end of the world is nigh" and go stand in front of the cathedral. Not just yet. But neither would I recommend turning a blind eye to the signs and portents.

What I do recommend, if this talk of Judgment Day is making you a bit nervous, is that you read Crucial Truths to Save Your Soul, by Father Nicholas Gruner, reviewed here last month.

"Communists stole our flag!" sez Pope

Maybe yesterday's post -- "a message for the Pope" seen at the Vatican (???) -- wasn't a joke after all. Like Art Linklater's kids, Francis says the darnedest things!

In an interview with Il Messaggero, the Party Pope was asked about a blog post in the Economist, which described him as a "Leninist" for his criticism of capitalism and calls for radical economic reform. Said Francis, "I can only say that the communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel."

"Communists say that all this is communism," he said. "Sure, twenty centuries later. So when they speak, one can say to them: 'but then you are Christian.'"

The Pope went on to tell Il Messaggero that his own world view is "not dissimilar" to Communist ideology. He has often attacked the global economic system as turning away from the poor and not doing enough to share wealth with those who need it most. He has criticized the wealth made from financial speculation as intolerable. And he has said speculation on commodities is a scandal that compromises the poor's access to food.

Dear Catholic readers, something is outta whack here! Has the Holy Father forgotten that Karl Marx was a self-proclaimed atheist? That is was Marx who called religion the opium of the people? Francis's astonishing ad-libs -- "In my life I have met a lot of Marxists who are good people." -- must have his predecessors spinning in their tombs!

In 1907 Saint Pius X published his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, which condemned the errors of Modernism of which Karl Marx was a leading proponent. "How far this position is removed from that of Catholic teaching!", wrote the sainted pope. This was followed, in 1910, with The Oath Against Modernism, which was required to be sworn by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries.

42 years after Pascendi, by which time Communist governments had enslaved Russia, eastern Europe and China, Pope Pius XII issued the Decree against Communism, which excommunicates all Catholics collaborating with Communists. Pope John XXIII confirmed the decree in 1962. Pope Francis probably never read Pascendi or took the Oath Against Modernism, but surely he must be aware of the Decree!

What we see here is yet another example of the infiltration into the highest levels of the church of Communists and Freemasons. The writer of the Traditio website points out that Francis is a product of the "new" Society of Jesus (Jesuits). With the "opening up" of the Church by Vatican II, many Latin American Jesuits decided it was OK to defy the Decree, and embraced Communism and so-called "liberation theology".

Well-known traditional Catholic author Malachi Martin, who was a former Jesuit, wrote in his book, The Jesuits (1988), about how the Modernists and Communists took over the order and turned it into a society of Communist sympathizers. Pope Francis was a committed member of that society.

Reflecting on the aftermath of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI said "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church". Now it seems the smoke has wafted all the way to the top.

St McPeter's special today: Sainthood 2-for-1!

This editorial cartoon appeared in The Remnant -- a pro-family, pro-life, pro-Catholic newspaper which Walt recommends highly. A big "well done" to the artist.

Worth reading in the Remnant: "Pope Paul VI: Next Contestant on the Santo Subito Show"

Holy Father, be careful what you wish for!

"'I prefer a church bruised, hurting and dirty': Pope's extrodinary mission statement shakes up Vatican"

Headlines like this are all over the media -- especially the "Catholic" media -- this morning. But Walt has a news flash for Pope Francis.

Holy Father, you want a Church that's "bruised, hurting and dirty"? Wake up and smell the coffee [or the communion wine. Ed.]!

Thanks to the diabolical disorientation of your predecessors (and their secretaries of state, in particular), the Roman Catholic church is already "bruised, hurting and dirty"! Faithful Catholics were hoping and praying that you would reverse the slide into corruption, immorality and apostasy, and blow "the smoke of Satan"* out of Holy Mother Church. So far, we are gravely disappointed.

* Not long before he died, Pope Paul VI said "The smoke of Satan has entered the Church". He should have known, because through Vatican II he opened the window.

More proof that the Devil lurks within the Vatican

Traditional Catholics insist that in the wake of Vatican II "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church". Those were the words of Pope Paul VI, not long before his death. He should know, since he and his predecessor, John XXIII, were the ones who opened the window.

Of course it's hard to see smoke. Sometimes it comes disguised in human form. (Hello, Cardinal Bertone!) And sometimes we catch a glimpse, if not of the Old Nick himself, then of the work of one of his minions, for example a gremlin.

Surely it must have been a gremlin -- or perhaps a Freemason -- in the Italian State Mint, who caused the spelling error in the name of our Lord, forcing the Vatican to withdraw 1000s of bronze, silver and gold medals commissioned to celebrate the first year of Pope Francis’ pontificate. [But it hasn't even been a year yet, has it? It just seems longer... Ed.]

Look carefully at the inscription on the medal pictured. That's the Pope's official motto, the words that (Catholic Culture tells us) "moved the young Jorge Mario Bergoglio when he felt the call to the priesthood." Perhaps there was some static on the line, since the name of Jesus is spelled "Lesus".

It is said that four coins were sold before the mistake was realized and the medallions recalled. Instant collector's items! Walt wonders who got them. If you see them on eBay, please let me know.

Pope who? Francis? Who?

Walt's agent in the Vatican reports that the new pope's first words to the cardinals assembled for a late dinner last night were, "Let me be Frank with you..." [OK, you got that out of your system. Now get on with it. Ed.]

OK, seriously... Walt didn't have any bets on the outcome of this week's conclave, which was just as well as Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio was a 25-to-1 long shot so my wise barber would have been the richer, not I. Frankly [Don't make me come up there! Ed.], although Cardinal Bergoglio is said to have been the runner-up to Pope Ratzinger last time, I had never heard of him. All I know is what I read in the press.

Our new Pope Francis (not Francis I until there's another) is Argentinian, born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants. Nothing wrong with that. Lots of Argentinians have ties to Italy, and being raised in an immigrant family is said to be good for the character.

He is a Jesuit -- the first Jesuit pope in history. He took the name "Francis" in honour of St. Francis Xavier, the great missionary and evangelizer, and one of the first seven Jesuits formed under St. Ignatius Loyola. Over the centuries, the Jesuit order has had a somewhat fraught relationship with Rome. Sometimes the Jesuits have been great defenders of the Faith. Occasionally -- and recently -- some Jesuits have taken up the cause of liberalization and modernization, thus departure from Tradition.

As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio stood against a powerful secular government on the issues of same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion. Argentina's laws on those matters have been liberalized, but not for lack of opposition by the prelate. In fact, Argentina's president once referred to him as "the opposition".  

Francis is the first pope from the New World, and the first pope from the southern hemisphere. Considering that more than half of the world's 1,200,000,000 Catholics live in "the South", and that the Old World is in seemingly irreversible decline, it's good to see a recognition of the shift in the centre of power. And thank God the choice wasn't the "charismatic" (read "blowhard") American Cardinal Dolan.

Thank God too that the cardinal electors has the wisdom to steer clear of the trap set for them by the despicable and despised Cardinal Bertone. Knowing that he himself would not have a prayer of getting the position he coveted for all these years, Bertone put up his owned man, Brazil's Cardinal Scherer -- a prelate unloved even in his own country -- against the supposed front-runner, the Italian Cardinal Scola, who was backed by the large anti-Bertone faction within the Curia. Neither would have been a suitable choice.

The history of the papacy since the death of Pius XII has been a sad one. John XXIII, for reasons highly suspect but ultimately unknown, called the council which undertook the suicidal "reform" of the Roman Catholic Church. His successor, Paul VI, let "the smoke of Satan" into the Church. Those were Pope Pauls' own words!

Yes, the smoke of Satan entered the Church by way of Vatican II. It was rumored that John Paul I intended to undo some of the worst abuses of the Council -- notably the suppression of the Mass of All Time in favour of the vernacular "New Mass" -- but he died mysteriously just a month into his reign. How Italian is that!

Since then, under John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Church (especially the Vatican) is still filled with the "unholy smoke". The smoky stench of sin and corruption is everywhere, especially in the Curia. It is to be hoped that Pope Francis, who had no connection with Rome and the evil men who lurk there, will open the windows. Let this "new broom" sweep clean! Let us pray...

Recommended reading on the disastrous consequences of Vatican II: Has the Catholic Church Gone Mad?, by John Eppstein (Arlington House, 1971).

"Peter the Roman": the last pope?

Saint Malachy (1094-1148) was known as great prophet. While in Rome in 1139 he received a vision showing him all the popes from his day to the end of time. According to these prophecies, there would be only two more popes after John Paul II.

While on his way to the Vatican to assume the post of papal legate for Ireland, he fell into a trance and saw a line of papal reigns stretching from the successor to Innocent II and extending through centuries to the last of the line.

When he committed his vision to paper, St. Malachy assigned short descriptions in Latin to each pope. These phrases or mottoes usually refer to a family name, birthplace, coat-of-arms, or office held before election to the papacy.

Some of the phrases are multiple prophecies, written with ingenious word play. They purport to describe each of the Roman Catholic popes (along with a few anti-popes), beginning with Pope Celestine II (elected in 1143) and concluding with a pope described in the prophecy as "Peter the Roman", whose pontificate will end in the destruction of the city of Rome.

Through the centuries, his prophecies have turned out to be amazingly accurate, even prophesying the date of his death. In all, 112 popes and their characteristics are listed from 1143 to the prophesied end of the world, or perhaps religion as we know it, when the Truth of human creation and destiny is finally revealed. And now the video.

Saint Malachy's prophecies - The Last 10 Popes

1. The Burning Fire. PIUS X. 1903-1914. This Pope showed a burning passion for spiritual renewal in the Church.

2. Religion Laid Waste. BENEDICT XV. 1914-1922. During this Pope's reign saw Communism move into Russia where religious life was laid waste, and World War I with the death of millions of Christians who were carnage in Flanders Field and elsewhere.

3. Unshaken Faith. PIUS XI. 1922-1939. This Pope faced tremendous pressure from fascist and sinister powers in Germany and Italy, but he was an outspoken critic of Communism and Fascism which enraged Hitler.

4. An Angelic Shepherd. PIUS XII. 1939-1958. This Pope had an affinity for the spiritual world and received visions which have not been made public. Peter Bander says Pius XII "has emerged as one of the great Popes of all time," and he "was in the truest sense of the word an Angelic Pastor to the flock..."

5. Pastor and Mariner. JOHN XXIII. 1958-1963. John was a pastor to the world, much beloved, and the Patriarch of Venice. The connection to "mariner" is thus remarkable.

6. Flower of Flowers. PAUL VI. 1963-1978. Paul's coat-of-arms depicts three fleurs-de-lis, corresponding to Malachay's prophecy. His coat of arms included three fleurs-de-lis (iris blossoms).

7. Of the Half Moon. JOHN PAUL I. 1978-1978. John Paul I was elected Pope on August 26, 1978, when there was a half moon. He reigned 33 days, that is, about one month, when he died, although many think he was murdered. He was the 109th Pope - is "De Medietate Lunae" (Of the Half Moon). The corresponding pope was John Paul I (1978-78), who was born in the diocese of Belluno (beautiful moon) and was baptized Albino Luciani (white light). He became pope on August 26, 1978, when the moon appeared exactly half full. It was in its waning phase. He died the following month, soon after an eclipse of the moon.

8. The Labour of the Son. JOHN PAUL II. 1978-2005. Pope John Paul II was the most travelled Pope in history. He circled the globe numerous times, preaching to huge audiences everywhere he went. He survived an assassination attempt. He has written a book which has enjoyed a large circulation. Like the sun which never ceases to labor and provides light daily, this Pope has been incessant. He was born on May 18, 1920. On that date in the morning there was a near total eclipse of the sun over Europe. Prophecy - The 110th Pope is "De Labore Solis" (Of the Solar Eclipse, or, From the Toil of the Sun). Like the sun he came out of the East (Poland).

9. The Glory of the Olive. The Order of St. BENEDICT has said this Pope will come from their order. It is interesting that Jesus gave his apocalyptic prophecy about the end of time from the Mount of Olives. This Pope will reign during the beginning of the tribulation Jesus spoke of. The 111th prophesy is "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olive). The Order of Saint Benedict has claimed that this pope will come from their ranks. Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil.

10. Peter the Roman - This final Pope will likely be Satan, taking the form of a man named Peter who will gain a worldwide allegiance and adoration. He will be the final antichrist which prophecy students have long foretold. If it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived. The 112th prophecy states: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."

DISCLAIMER: The commentator in this video is an evangelical Protestant, not a spokesperson for the Church. However, like so many Protestants, he understands that to know God's plan for us, we must know the Bible and the traditions of the Church. What he says makes sense to me. Even if you don't believe in prophecies made after the last book of the Bible (the Apocalypse, or Revelation as the speaker refers to it), the signs of the last times are there, in the Bible itself. We have only to read and heed.  

How the Vatican sold out to Communism

In a just-released article in The Catholic World Report, journalist Edward Pentin examines why the Second Vatican Council failed to issue an explicit condemnation of Communism. Has lifted the veil of mystery over the omission, citing the findings of an impressive list of reputable Church historians: Father Norman Tanner, Roberto de Mattei, Christopher Gillibrand, Edmund Mazza and Jean Madiran.

This omission was not just allowed to happen, but actually approved by two of the Conciliar popes -- John XXIII and Paul VI -- who we now know had read the Third Secret of Fatima. Cardinal Woytyla, later to become Pope John Paul II, also had a hand in the sell-out to Moscow, although whether he had seen the Third Secret at this point is in not known.

Mr. Pentin refers to Jean Madiran's book, The Metz Agreement, which describes how the Vatican effectively sold out to Communism, at a secret meeting in 1962 between Cardinal Eugène Tisserant and the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Nikodim, who was in fact an agent of the KGB.

The Vatican's policy of making nice with the Reds has become known as Ostpolitik, and has been denounced for decades -- literally -- by the devotees of Our Lady of Fatima, led by Father Nicholas Gruner, Christopher A. Ferrara, and John Vennari.

Ostpolik -- the bastard child of Cardinals Sodano, Casaroli and now Bertone -- explains such aberrations as the Vatican's tolerance of the schismatic and heretical Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which actually persecutes and imprisons priests and bishops of the true "underground" Catholic church.

For their pains, the "Fatimists" have been labelled "conspiracy theorists" and worse. But Mr. Pentin quotes Sr De Mattei as asking, "Were those who denounced the brutal oppression of Communism in the Council, calling for its solemn condemnation, prophets? Or were those who believed, as the architects of Ostpolitik, that it was necessary to come to an agreement with Communism -- a compromise -- because Communism interpreted humanity's anxieties over justice and would have survived one or two centuries, improving the world?"

The author of Il Concilio Vaticano II -- Una storia mai scritta concludes, "If the Second Vatican Council would have condemned Communism, it would have helped accelerate its decline. The opposite occurred."

Our Lady of Fatima knew it. She told us that unless Her request for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart were granted, the errors of Communism would spread throughout the world! And so it has come to pass.

Mr. Fentin quotes Professor Mazza as calling "the loss of the transcendent" -- the secularization of our society -- the worst of the errors. "What  has happened over the last 50  years? The errors of atheism and socialism, a world without God, has 'Marxized' the world so that we're ready to embrace socialism if it's couched in the right terms." Precisely what the Communists wanted!

Good Catholics, you must read this article! It is of the utmost importance in understanding what's going on in the Catholic Church today. Through Ostpolitik, the Church got into bed with the Communists; now it can't get out!

Ed. has put Edward Pentin's excellent article into .pdf format. The file is about 2.9 MB. We'll be happy to e-mail it to you. Send your request to the usual e-address: walt.whiteman@yahoo.com.

Traditionalist SSPX defy leader, reject terms of "reunion" with Rome

Walt started the week by reading the brief and totally unilluminating press release emanating from the General Chapter of the Society of St. Pius X which met at the SSPX HQ at Écone this past week.

In its entirety it says:
The General Chapter of the Society of Saint Pius X ended this Saturday, July 14, 2012, in Econe (Switzerland). Gathered near Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s tomb, the capitularies have given thanks to God for the profound unity that prevailed among them during all these workdays.

The General Chapter will soon make a common statement to Rome, which will then be made public. The General Superior, Bishop Fellay, thanks deeply all the priests and faithfuls for their fervent prayers.

What really happened
Word travels fast in these days of the Internet, and Walt's agents heard just after Mass yesterday that the group opposed to the General Superior, Most Rev. Bernard Fellay, has forced him to back down from his proposed sellout to the Vatican's Ecclesia Dei, the commission charged with getting the traditionalists to bend the knee to the errors of Vatican II.

Bishop Fellay has been ordered, my sources say, to send a communiqué to Benedict XVI
rejecting the Pope's demand for "full acceptance" of the modernist Council as the price of entrance into "full communion" with the mainstream not-so-Catholic Church.

Just before the General Chapter convened, Bishop Fellay had already started changing his tune. He is said to have stated publicly that he would not accept any deal with Rome "at this time", given the content of the Holy Father's latest "evaluations."

Could it be that the SSPX's Moses has seen that he's leading his people in the wrong direction -- further into the desert of the "new Faith" as proclaimed by Vatican II? Did the penny drop when the pope appointed the Marxist Gerhardt Muller as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the hopeless modernist Joseph DiNoia as Vice-Prefect of Ecclesia Dei?

Or was the last straw the publication of the three SSPX bishops' letter criticizing Fellay's sellout programme, which was followed by some 30 of his own priests speaking out against him? Or how about the proposed canonization of Pope Paul VI, the pope who let "the smoke of Satan" into the Church?

Those were Paul VI's exact words: "The smoke of Satan has entered the Church." What Bishop Fellay is hearing from his fellow bishops, priests and faithful is that we prefer to remain outside... in the non-smoking section.

Recommended reading: "Archbishop Di Noia Admits:The Goal is to Convert SSPX to Conciliar Thinking", by John Vennari, in Catholic Family News.

Bertone: "It's the Pope, not me!"

Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone is unable to keep his own counsel any longer! Having been named by La Repubblica [not to mention WWW! Ed.] as either the attacker or the attackee in the ongoing Vatileaks saga, the Man Who Would Be Pope has given an interview to RAI-TV on the leaks of confidential Vatican documents.

According to the "Prime Minister of the Vatican" the leaks are an attack on Pope Benedict XVI. Recalling an earlier day when Pope Paul VI was under attack from within the Vatican, the cardinal said that in this case "the attacks are more carefully aimed, and sometimes also ferocious, destructive, and organized". Click here to read the full text of the interview, as translated by the National Catholic Reporter.

Surely Walt is not the only one experiencing a certain cognitive dissonance here. In other words... say what?! Odd that the cardinal should point the finger at the Pope, since he -- not the Pope -- is the one who appears in an unfavourable light in the documents that have been released so far. None of the leaked documents has been embarrassing to the Holy Father.

Cardinal Bertone's use of the word "organized" to describe the leaks suggests that he shares the general belief in Rome that the leaks have been orchestrated by a group of people. But who is the organizer? Is there some kind of collective mind at work, or could it be just one jealous and disgruntled individual?

One more innocent question. Should we believe Cardinal Bertone? Or is this another instance of his going on the air to present misinformation and disinformation to a lapdog interviewer?

Something similar happened just over five years ago, on the popular RAI talk show Porta a Porta. On 31 May 2007 the cardinal got Bruno Vespa -- Italy's answer to Phil Donahue -- to toss him a couple of fungos on the subject of the Third Secret of Fatima, which Bertone insisted had been disclosed at last, in its entirety, on 26 June 2000.

Unfortunately for His Eminence, the interview turned into a huge "own goal", as Bertone showed the world, on live TV, that there were at least two envelopes whose contents (Sister Lucia wrote) were only to be opened in 1960. Until that interview, the cardinal had maintained that there was only one envelope, and that Lucia had never received an order from Our Lady referring to 1960.

For an excellent account of Cardinal Bertone's deception and his personal campaign to conceal the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Third Secret of Fatima, read The Secret Still Hidden by Christopher Ferrara (Good Counsel Publications, 2008).

In the old Soviet Union, it was said that you couldn't believe anything until it was officially denied. Walt thinks the same could be said of the Vatican Secretariat of State. Stay tuned.

Breaking news! We didn't have to stay tuned too long. None other than Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, has conceded that the multiple leaks of confidential documents have damaged the credibility of the Vatican. "Clearly to restore a climate of serenity and trust is a process," said Father Lombardi. (Walt's emphasis.) "It is not something that can be solved in a few days." Indeed? Indeed.

Further reading: "Benedict XVI admits Church's problems come 'from within'" posted here 11 May 2010.

Homosexuality and pedophilia in the Church: whose fault is it?

Readers of this blog will know that I have no love and little respect for Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State and pope wannabe. Bertone is the chief liar and denier of the Message of Fatima, as well as being principal apologist for the mess that is the modern (post-Vatican II) Roman Catholic Church.

Every once in a while, though, the "Prime Minister of the Holy See" says something that is dead right, and according to the traditional teaching of the Church. More's the pity that his flashes of insight don't occur more often.

Last week His Eminence said at a news conference in Chile that the crisis of clerical sex abuse is due more to the homosexuality of large numbers of priests and bishops, rather than the discipline of clerical celibacy.

“Many psychologists and psychiatrists have shown that there is no link between celibacy and pedophilia but many others have shown, I have recently been told, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia. That is true,” he said. “The behaviour of the priests in this case, the negative behaviour, is very serious, is scandalous.”

In the last sentence quoted, the cardinal displays his remarkable facility for stating the obvious. But the point of the message -- that there is a relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia -- begs the question of how it is that so many homosexuals and pedophiles come to be wearing Roman collars.

Please read or reread Paedophilia in the Church - the effect of the Sixties, which I wrote here on March 25th. I venture the opinion that, up until the 60s and Vatican II, the Church had no greater proportion of homosexuals in Her priesthood and laity than any other institution or segment of the population. There is...or was...nothing about Catholicism that would lead one to decide to be queer!

Then came the sexual revolution. Nothing was wrong any more. The Church stopped preaching about sin and hell. Catholics no longer got straight answers (in Confession) to questions about sex and moral behaviour. Instead, when we asked "Father, is that a sin?", the answer we got was "How do you feel about it?" (Not kidding. I personally heard those very words.)

As might have been foreseen, the seminaries -- at least some of them -- became hotbeds of homosexuality. Just one example was in the Archdiocese of Toronto where the Cardinal Archbishop felt compelled to have the seminar closed because it had become a den of iniquity.

Who is to blame for opening the doors of the Church to "the smoke of Satan"? I'm quoting Pope Paul VI, who now must realize the answer to the question. If not, let's hope that, wherever he is now, there's a mirror for him to look in! For it is the Church hierarchy, at the highest levels, including Cardinal Bertone and Cardinal Ratzinger, as he then was, who did nothing to stop -- even encouraged -- the erosion of the traditional teachings of the Church and the immorality of growing numbers of priests.

The Chinese have a saying, "The fish always rots from the head down." So it is with large institutions, including the Church. When the leaders, who should be giving firm and proper guidance and direction to those below them, are more concerned with winning popularity contests and chasing the fashions of the times, one cannot expect other than the decline and fall of the institution.

So it was with the Roman empire. So it was with the British empire. So it is today with the American empire. And so it will be with the Roman Catholic Church unless the clear warnings of Scripture and Our Lady of Fatima are not heeded.

Catholics welcome a return to order and meaning in the Mass

November 28th's New York Times carried a fascinating op-ed piece by Kenneth J. Wolfe, the first traditional Catholic to contribute to the left-liberal paper in living memory. Mr. Wolfe explains how it was that Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, who should have been excommunicated, being a Freemason, came to destroy the traditional Mass of St. Pius V, the Tridentine Mass, the Mass of All Time.

The story goes back to 1948, when Pope Pius XII, who was opposed to any modernization of the traditional Latin Mass, in use for over four centuries, nevertheless appointed Bugnini to the Vatican's liturgical commission. One wonders if Pius knew that Bugnini “aimed at appeasing non-Catholics, and…emulating Protestant services…including placing altars to face the people instead of a sacrifice toward the liturgical east.”

Wolfe’s piece quotes Bugnini’s infamous declaration: “We must strip from our...Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.”

And he succeeded, at least partly because none of Pius's successors knew or cared much about the liturgy. The next pope, John XXIII, named Bugnini secretary to the Preparatory Commission for the Liturgy of Vatican II, in which position he worked with Catholic clergymen and, surprisingly, some Protestant ministers on liturgical reforms. In 1962 he wrote what would eventually become the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the document that gave the form of the new Mass.

Wolfe recounts how Bugnini changed so many things so quickly and so completely that the popes themselves sometimes did not know the latest directives. He tells how Pope Paul VI once questioned the vestments set out for him by his staff, saying they were the wrong color, only to be told "he" had eliminated the week-long celebration of Pentecost and could not wear the corresponding red garments for Mass. The pope’s master of ceremonies then saw Paul break down in tears.

"What a telling bit of history this is," says Catholic commentator Christopher Ferrara. Since Vatican II, he says, "the Pope has too often become a rubber stamp for the whims of the Vatican bureaucracy, whose functionaries all purport to act in his name and with his 'full authority'. The result of this factory-like process is that a Pope confronted with a fait accompli enacted in his name may lack the hardihood to overturn it."

Thanks be to God, we at last have a Pope, Benedict XVI, who seems to want to undo the incalculable damage of Vatican II. In particular, Benedict seems bent on "reforming the reform", to restore to the faithful the true Mass, the traditional Mass which served us so well for so long.

Wolfe concludes with praise for Pope Benedict XVI’s "counterrevolution". He ends with this indictment of the past forty years of "liturgical reform":
"Bugnini may have finally met his match in Benedict XVI… 40 years of the new Mass have brought chaos and banality into the most visible and outward sign of the Church. Benedict XVI wants a return to order and meaning. So, it seems, does the next generation of Catholics."