Abortion -This is a Suction Abortion

Here Fr. Frank Pavone, the modern apostle of the Pro-life movement, demonstrates a horrific suction abortion. He has bravely posted these videos on YouTube to stimulate public awareness and debate. Please offer Priests for Life your support in prayer and in any other way you are able to help.

Abortion -This is a Dismemberment Abortion

This is the first of two videos in which Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life demonstrates gruesome abortion procedures. Please pray for an end to the holocaust of abortion and support Priests for Life in their very important apostolic work on behalf of the unborn. Another video to follow...

Cardinal Archbishop of Lima: No Communion on the Hand in My Archdiocese

How heartening are many of the signs and statements from the Church these days, giving us hope that an authentic desire to regain much of what has been lost since the Vatican Council in Catholic culture and worship. One of the great abuses that crept into the Church is the nearly universal practice of communion being placed in the hands of worshipers. Long forbidden, the practice was permitted under John Paul II's papacy.

It doesn't take much discernment to understand that such a practice, on such a wide scale and especially in the context of having been forbidden for so many centuries, inevitably has led to loss of faith in the Real Presence and the distinction between the ordained priesthood and the priesthood of the laity.

A brave voice, that of Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru, now cries out from the wilderness: There will be no Communion in the hand in my diocese!

In a very informative piece at Petrus and translated at the excellent blog WDTPRS, the Cardinal has some strong words regarding liturgical abuse and Communion in the hand. In the article, the Cardinal points out the fault even in the Roman Curia after Vatican II - words that are as refreshing as they are true after four decades of Rome's disastrous, Nero-like approach to the liturgy. In the interview, the Cardinal says, "Then, and I believe this is partly the fault of the Roman Curia after Vatican II, there was a relaxed attitude, above all in interpretation, regarding the Council. It is urgently necessary to remedy this situation."

He continues, " . . . that relaxed attitude of many priests has made ridiculous in the eyes of Catholics the value of the Eucharist. Personally, I retain that it best way to administer Communion is on the tongue, so much that in my diocese I have forbidden the Host in the hand. In Masses with great attendance, in the past we even found Hosts thrown onto the pavement of the Church."

These are strong words, but greatly needed ones. Let us all pray for His Eminence, a true shepherd surrounded by wolves.

Traditional Mass at the North American College in Rome

I was very happy to see the interesting article at Orbis Catholicus conerning the TLM yesterday at the North American College in Rome. A couple years ago, I made a visit to the North American College and discussed the Traditional Mass with one of the higher ranking officials there. He seemed sympathetic to what I said, but he made clear that it wasn't really a priority in pastoral work, vernacular languages being needed far more than Latin (I got the impression that he thought that the issue was primarily one of language).

The Traditional Mass, long the standard for all Catholic worship until it was relegated to oblivion by Pope Paul VI, was offered at the North American College on Saturday with over sixty seminarians and the rector present. One seminarian said that it was the "coolest Mass I ever saw." Well yes it is "cool." It is the Church's great treasure, which you were denied until now, thanks to the Pope.

The Pope is Here!

Welcome to the United States, Most Holy Father!

We send you our warmest greetings in love, devotion, and obedience!

". . . it is written: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things!" - Romans 10:14-15

CBS Begins Negative Coverage of Papal Visit

The media just doesn't get it when it comes to covering the Pope and the Catholic Church. A case in point is CBS News (does anyone watch CBS anymore anyway?) and its coverage of the papal visit to the United States. CBS is trying set the tone by repeatedly referring to the Pope as a "hard liner." There is an interesting piece on this coverage at News Busters.

Military Archdiocese Says no to Traditional Mass

Check out this unfortunate story from the Catholic Family News. Archbishop Timothy Broglio has rejected a petition for the Traditional Mass under the provisions of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum on the grounds that the military doesn't constitute a "stable community."

Well I attend a college where the Traditional Mass is offered every day. Did the college use the excuse that since all of the students change every four years that there "isn't a stable community"? No they didn't, because they were serious about the Holy Father's desire to reinvigorate the life of the Church with the Traditional Mass.

Here is the letter from the Archdiocese:

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos: Bishop's Permission Not Needed for Traditional Mass

This isn't really earth-shattering news. We already knew this to be the case. But it bears repeating given the negative reaction of some bishops.

Vatican Issues Clarification on New Good Friday Prayer

On April 4 the Holy See issued a clarification concerning the new Good Friday prayer in the traditional calendar. It is, to say the least, a disappointment. It asserts that, "The continuation of the position found in Nostra Aetate is clearly shown by the fact that the prayer contained in the 1970 Missal continues to be in full use, and is the ordinary form of the prayer of Catholics".

This confirms that the Missal was indeed changed in part to reflect a new understanding of non-Christian religions, a rejection of the traditional prayer of the Church in order to foster more "religious understanding." That in itself is no understanding; we have known this all along. These drastic changes in the liturgy went a long way toward destroying Catholic identity. They have been disastrous.

To have the Vatican flaunt this change for the sake of those Jews who are still dissatisfied with the Good Friday Prayer, even after the Vatican was gracious enough to the Jews to allow them to interfere with the internal worship of the Catholic Church, is, I think, most unwise and untimely. It is a bad signal to the SSPX and does not bode well for their eventual reunion, even though they ought to take into account the enormous pressure on the Holy See to say stuff like this.

We can at least be thankful that the more radical predictions about the Holy See's clarification apparently did not take place. News reports had said previously that the Holy See was going to issue a statement that the prayer was completely speaking of the end times, that all would accept Christ and be saved at the end of time. Of course, the prayer doesn't mean any such thing. It is a prayer that all will acknowledge Christ and join the Catholic Church. It prays for this both in its older form and in the revised form issued by Benedict XVI.

Following is the unfortunate clarification issued by the Holy See:

CLARIFICATIONS ON THE NEW "OREMUS ET PRO IUDAEIS"


VATICAN CITY, 4 APR 2008 (VIS) - Here follows the communique provided by the Press Office of the Holy See on the publication of the new “Oremus et pro Iudaeis” for the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.

"Following the publication of the new Prayer for the Jews for the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, some groups within the Jewish community have expressed disappointment that it is not in harmony with the official declarations and statements of the Holy See regarding the Jewish people and their faith which have marked the progress of friendly relations between the Jews and the Catholic Church over the last forty years”.

"The Holy See wishes to reassure that the new formulation of the Prayer, which modifies certain expressions of the 1962 Missal, in no way intends to indicate a change in the Catholic Church’s regard for the Jews which has evolved from the basis of the Second Vatican Council, particularly the Declaration Nostra Aetate. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI, in an audience with the Chief Rabbis of Israel on 15 September 2005, remarked that this document has proven to be a milestone on the road towards the reconciliation of Christians with the Jewish people. The continuation of the position found in Nostra Aetate is clearly shown by the fact that the prayer contained in the 1970 Missal continues to be in full use, and is the ordinary form of the prayer of Catholics".

"In the context of other affirmations of the Council - on Sacred Scripture (Dei Verbum, 14) and on the Church (Lumen Gentium, 16) - Nostra Aetate presents the fundamental principles which have sustained and today continue to sustain the bonds of esteem, dialogue, love, solidarity and collaboration between Catholics and Jews. It is precisely while examining the mystery of the Church that Nostra Aetate recalls the unique bond with which the people of the New Testament is spiritually linked with the stock of Abraham and rejects every attitude of contempt or discrimination against Jews, firmly repudiating any kind of anti-Semitism".

"The Holy See hopes that the explanations made in this statement will help to clarify any misunderstanding. It reiterates the unwavering desire that the concrete progress made in mutual understanding and the growth in esteem between Jews and Christians will continue to develop".

OP/OREMUS ET PRO IUDAEIS/... VIS 080404 (390)

Happy Easter Everyone

My Easter break at TAC is over and I am back and preparing for the defense of my thesis before a board of three tutors (the equivalent of "professors" in other colleges.) I returned a few days ago from Clear Creek Monastery in Oklahoma, a growing community of traditional monks. I experienced the extraordinary form in its traditional monastic setting, which was quite a moving and enriching experience.

Please include me in your prayers as I defend my thesis on Wednesday. The topic is whether or not secession was a legal right possessed by the States at the time of the Constitution's ratification. I argue that it was a right that the States possessed. That is certainly controversial and I don't expect to have an easy defense.

Regular posting should resume after that. May everyone have a very blessed Easter season.

- James

Vatican Declares Knights of Columbus Founder "Venerable"

Knights of Columbus founder Fr. Michael McGivney has been named "Venerable Servant of God" by the Vatican. If canonized, he would become the first American born priest named a saint.

The Retirement of the Paul VI Papal Staff?

The Holy Father offered an open air Mass for Palm Sunday at the Vatican today. While doing so, he used a new (and more traditional) staff, which may replace the Paul VI walking staff that was used also by Popes John Paul I and John Paul II. Pope Benedict also used that staff, that is, until today.

Victory for the Family: Ford Agrees to Stop Promoting Homosexual Agenda After Boycott

With Ford sales dropping and almost a million people having signed a pledge to boycott Ford over its support of the radical homosexual agenda, Ford has now agreed to stop this anti-family activity. This is proof of the ability of Christians and those who recognize the natural law tradition to enter into effective coalitions and make progress to stop the decay of our culture.

Now of course Ford will come under fire from pro-homosexual groups, which is further proof that they should have had sense enough to avoid such activity in the first place. This should be a lesson for other businesses wishing to push an anti-family agenda.

The American Family Association released the following statement:

I have some good news for you! AFA is suspending its two year boycott of Ford Motor Company. The conditions of the original agreement presented in fall 2005 have been met. We reached the conclusion that Ford had met the conditions of the agreement based on monitoring for several months. Individuals are free to purchase Ford vehicles again.

Your support of the boycott played a key role in convincing Ford to cease its significant support of the homosexual agenda. During the 24 months the boycott was in effect, Ford sales dropped an average of 8% per month. The boycott was not entirely responsible for the drop in sales, but it played a very significant role.

A total of 780,365 individuals signed AFA's Boycott Ford petition.

The original agreement contained four items:

1. Ford would not renew current promotions or create future incentives that give cash donations to homosexual organizations based on the purchase of a vehicle.
2. Ford would not make corporate donations to homosexual organizations that, as part of their activities, engage in political or social campaigns to promote civil unions or same-sex marriage.
3. Ford would stop giving cash and vehicle donations or endorsements to homosexual social activities such as Gay Pride parades.
4. Ford would cease all advertising on homosexual Web sites and through homosexual media outlets (magazines, television, radio) in the U.S. with the exception of $100,000 to be used by Volvo. The Volvo ads would be the same ads used in the general media and not aimed at the homosexual community specifically.

A few minor issues remain, and we will continue to bring these to the attention of Ford. But basically Ford has met the terms of the agreement. We are therefore suspending the boycott.

Rabbi Says Vatican to Further "Clarify" Good Friday Prayer Ruling

Well they're at it again. The chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, Rabbi David Rosen, has taken upon himself to preempt any official Vatican announcement by telling the press that he has been assured that the Vatican Secretary of State will issue a statement, saying that "the pope's revised prayer for Good Friday for the Tridentine rite is not a call for Catholics to try to convert Jews." This is very possibly a way of putting pressure on the Pope to make such a statement rather than an indication that he has made a final decision on doing so.

As we would expect, Cardinal Kasper is behind all of this. The story says,

Rabbi Rosen, who was at the Vatican to plan the upcoming meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, said he took the opportunity to discuss concerns about the prayer with Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews.

He said the cardinal confirmed that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, "will issue a statement formally confirming his own assurances to us that the text is only eschatological, that the church is opposed to all proselytism, that the church respects the Jewish people and it recognizes the eternal validity of God's covenant with the Jewish people."

Precisely what it means to say that the Good Friday prayer is "only eschatological" (translation: only refers to the end times) is unclear. Christ is the ONE Savior of all mankind NOW, and not only at the end of time. He is the Messiah that the Jews awaited and many rejected. That is NOW and not only at the end of time.

Rosen attempts later to give the meaning of this statement:

Such a statement, Rabbi Rosen said, would clarify that the pope's text is a prayer that all will be saved at the end of time "and it contains no call for a Christian attempt to convert the Jews in the here and now."

What does such a prayer, "that all may be saved at the end of time" even mean? Certainly it would not be correct to pray that every person would actually be saved, since that violates Scripture which clearly shows us that some are lost. Rather it must, according to this, be a general prayer that everyone will acknowledge Christ and come to salvation, which includes "all" in the sense of desiring this salvation for all and not as if one were praying that absolutely all people would be saved.

The prayer specifically speaks of knowing Christ and entering the Church, and so this salvation of "all" would be tied to this knowing and entering, which would be for "everyone." Of course, the Jews are included in "everyone," so this would still be a prayer for the Jews to acknowledge Christ and convert to the Church, even if you took it according to the way Rabbi Rosen is taking the prayer. So why veil the prayer and make it ambiguous? Lex Ordandi Lex Credendi! Let us pray as we believe, that Jesus Christ is the Way for all men, including the Jews. The prayer is very clear about this.

It says,

Let us also pray for the Jews: that God our Lord might enlighten their hearts, so that they might know Jesus Christ as the Savior of all mankind.
Let us pray.
Let us bend our knees (kneel).
Please rise.
Almighty and eternal God, whose desire it is that all men might be saved and come to the knowledge of truth, grant in your mercy that as the fullness of mankind enters into your Church, all Israel may be saved, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

So clearly, it would be a joke to state that this doesn't really mean that we are praying for the conversion of the Jews. What else is it praying for? That God would enlighten the Jews that they may know Jesus Christ... that the fullness of mankind (including the Jews) should enter into the Church and all Israel (Jews included, as St. Paul speaks of the original olive tree which has the Gentile branches grafted onto it) may be saved.

the article continues by saying that the clarification will also say:

". . . that the church is opposed to all proselytism, that the church respects the Jewish people and it recognizes the eternal validity of God's covenant with the Jewish people."

Pictured: Rabbi Rosen meets with Pope Benedict

The Church simply cannot issue a statement against proselytism in principle. Every man should hear the Gospel of Christ, Jewish or not. In this age of religious relativism, there is the idea that has crept into the Church and which has thoroughly corrupted the mind of Cardinal Kasper that all religions are more or less praiseworthy as such, as religions. They think that these religions are salvific as such, as religions, whereas the true Catholic doctrine is that only the Catholic religion is salvific as such; that means that only the Catholic teaching contains the fullness of the Truths that are necessary for salvation and is itself the chosen means of God by which man may enter into eternal life, as in an Ark. "He has not God as his father who will not have the Church as his mother." That statement is even in the new catechism.

A "clarification" of this sort regarding the Good Friday prayer would do nothing but to further confuse the Catholic faithful who are already infected with modernism and relativistic notions on matters of faith. The truth is that Christ IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE the sole source of salvation for the WHOLE of the human race. There is given no other name in heaven or on earth by which man may be saved than Christ Jesus. If anyone is saved, He is saved by the merits of the Passion of Jesus Christ, which we remember and relive this week.

This is a test as to whether Rome is serious about reclaiming Catholic identity. Traditionalists are watching, and the resolution of this will be very telling as to whether we are on our way out of this current Church crisis or whether Rome's recent allusions to tradition are only so many empty words.

Pope's Third Encyclical to Focus upon Truth

Pope’s third encyclical to be titled “Love in Truth”

Vatican City, Mar 14, 2008 / 01:10 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI’s third encyclical will discuss Catholic social teaching, touching on issues as varied as poverty, peace, wars, international cooperation, energy sources, and globalization.

The encyclical will be titled “Caritas in Veritate,” “Love In Truth,” La Repubblica reports.

“Caritas in Veritate” will be Pope Benedict’s third encyclical. His first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est,” examined the virtue of love while the second, “Spe Salvi,” focused upon the virtue of hope.

The four-chapter encyclical will no longer be published on May 1 as previously planned, but will be delayed so that translations, especially the Chinese translation, may be completed.

The decision to offer a Chinese version of the encyclical comes at a time when Pope Benedict is seeking to improve relations with the Chinese government.

Last June, he sent a letter offering dialogue with Chinese authorities. In September, Chinese priest Father Joseph Li Shan was installed as Bishop of Beijing with the approval of the Pope, an event that has not happened in fifty years.

Other Vatican-approved bishops are believed to have been installed in the official state church in China. China has an estimated eight to 12 million Catholics split between an ‘underground’ Church loyal to Rome and a state-run Catholic Patriotic Association cooperative with the government.

U.S. Catholic Colleges to Receive Papal "Slap on the Hand"

Catholic colleges in the United States are expected to receive a "slap on the hand" from Pope Benedict when he visits the United States next month. The Pope himself has requested a meeting with college presidents during his pastoral visit. In the wake of a number of embarrassing incidents ranging from the lewd "vagina monologues" play to rallies by pro-death politicians at Catholic institutions, the meeting is expected to be a stern rebuke from Peter's successor, and we might say one that is well deserved. Many institutions use their connections with dioceses and use the name "Catholic" to hold on to donors. However, if they choose to carry the name, they simply cannot continue to oppose the teachings of the Church.

If only the Pope only had the power that Peter had when dealing with Ananias and Sapphira! Wouldn't the Church be a better place?

Check out the story in yesterday's Washington Post and United Press International.

p.s. Right on key, yesterday there was a story that Villanova University on Thursday allowed pro-death Barack Obama's wife Michelle to speak at a rally there for her husband.