The Eponymous Flower

Church Vandalism Grows in France -- Thieves or Satanists?

2013-05-19T13:47:00.001-07:00

(Paris) in France acts of vandalism taken place against churches. One of the most recent cases occurred to the Church of Saint Jean Valence (Department of Drome) in southern France, the altar was set on fire by criminals or Satanists. The deed was committed on the 10th of May. The parish of Saint-Émilien to which the church belongs, stated: "On Friday, the 10th of May, it was severely damaged by arson, a church from the time of Saint-Jean. We pray for the perpetrators and we ask God to protect His Church. "

On 17 Thus May the regional newspaper La Voix du Nord that was broken in the church of Saint Vaast Ecuires in northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The tabernacle was broken into and a chalice and stole the cup with the consecrated hosts. To gain entry to the church, or the perpetrators then broke the main door, inside the door to the sacristy. They also stole a monstrance, a silver chalice, and the ciborium with the consecrated Hosts. . The loot had no particular value. "The symbolic damage is far greater than the value of the stolen items," the newspaper quoted the mayor Philippe Cousin as saying.

In both cases, the perpetrators are unknown. It is still unclear whether they were vandals, thieves or Satanists. Police are investigating.

Child Porn in the Pentagon: As Usual, Abject Silence

2013-05-18T17:39:00.001-07:00

Edit: we sometimes go over to Henry Makow, and came upon this story about large numbers of Pentagon employees accessing child pornography. Perhaps some will remember a similar story that made the rounds about allegations of pornography use at the Vatican, involving depraved, but still legal images. There are about 800 permanent employees at the Vatican, but none of the reports, although they were eager to denounce the supposed hypocrisy of the Vatican, didn't actually give any numbers.

Take on the other hand, the over 800 cases of actual downloading of child pornography at the Pentagon. Try 5,200. Although much more glaring, and even illegal, the story hasn't gotten the same traction as a salacious story about the Vatican. Still less were there any calls for a leadership change among the powers that be in our "Democratically" elected government.

What's especially interesting in recent reports pointing the finger at men in the media, is that more than 10,000 men reported being sexually assaulted in the military. It would be interesting to know the incidence of males preying on males.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/topics/senate-armed-services-subcommittee/

As far as we know there has been nothing but silence on this:

At present, for all we can determine, this story was utterly buried back in 2011.

"Hands Off My Church" -- Young Catholics Call for Silent March Against Hostility to Catholics in Avignon

2013-05-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

(Avignon) On Monday, the 20th of May a march will take place in the south French city of Avignon against anti-Christianity, The initiative is being planned by a group of young Catholics. They are reacting with it against the increasing violence against priests, religious and ecclesiastical facilities in the city of St. Ruf. The most recent incident was a violent attack of four suspected North African Muslims against a priest of the St. John Society on May 13th. The four attackers struck the priest unconscious.

The march isn't only directed against the antagonistica and aggressive disposition of parts of the Muslim inhabitants of the city, rather in general against the anti-Church climate. In the demonstration, the organizers deplore the scandal "Piss Christ" from April 2011, as a museum in Avignon as an "art work" of a crucifix placed in the urine of the "artist". Or against the insulting parades through the streets of the "city of the Popes" and the damage of a cemetery of Valréas. "The anti-Christian hate grows (blasphemous theater pieces, desecrated churches etc...)" is named in the outcry of the young Catholics. "We are complaining with emphasis on the lack of a reaction by the authorities and a part of the media, when it comes to the desecration and profanation and we complain with stress on the absence of any reaction against the violent attack on a man of the Church."

The initiators also call out not to tolerate hostility to the Church. "We observe the Cathophobia as an attack against the identity of France of of the French." The young Catholics are calling upon the "World culture and the homo-lobby".

The young Catholics call upon the "World Culture and the homo-lobby", in their struggle against homophobia, "to put a stop to our defamation". [Good luck with that.]

"We appeal that the State President and the Interior Minister who are so prompt to condemn the poor situation of Muslims, hostility against Islam and anti-Semitism, to do their duty by Catholics, who have been defamed and injured by anti-Christian attacks. We are not second class citizens."

With their appeal, the initiators call upon "all people of good will", to "take part in our protest" themselves. The March begins on Monday, the 20th of May at 2pm at the Place du Palais of the Popes. "We hope that many French Muslims and Jewish believers will take part in the silent march". A logo has been created for the demonstration. A black edged, yellow hand with the slogan: "Hands off of My Church". The colors recall on the Identity Movement, a structureless, informal and spontaneous new movement, which has its origin in France.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Una Fides

Link to katholisches...

The "Black Pope" Selected as the Speaker of for Religious Superiors

2013-05-18T04:58:00.002-07:00

(Rome) Father Adolfo Nicolas, since 2008, elected as the 30th Superior General of the Jesuits, was elected as the president of religious orders (USG) of the Union of Superiors General.[pdf] In the USG more than 200 of the great male orders of the Catholic Church are united. The largest order of the church is the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. Pope Francis also belongs to them. The term of office is three years.

In the two periods of office 2006-2012, as the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Salesians held the threads in his hand, his Mexican friar, Father Pascual Chavez Villanueva, the ninth since 2002 the ninth Superior General of the Salesians of Don Bosco, was elected head of Superiors General Conference. Now, as a Jesuit has taken his place on the papal throne, the office of "religious speaker" has been changed to the Jesuits. The Superior General endeavor to maintain good contacts with the Holy See.

At a Spaniard follows a Spaniard. The term of office of Father Jose Rodriguez Carballo lasted only a few months. The 119th Minister General of the Franciscan Order was in 2012, when a change of statutes made it necessary to have been elected to the head of the USG. On 6 April Pope Francis appointed him on one of the first personnel decisions of his pontificate to Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The Spanish Jesuit General moved as a former Vice-automatically on the top of the USG. The new deputies will be elected in November. The USG is an institution of pontifical right, which was built by the religious congregation as its own canon law subject.

Their main task is to improve cooperation between the Order and to promote a fruitful cooperation with the Order of the Holy See and the bishops. Its members include only superior general of religious orders of pontifical right. USG is the supreme organ of the General Assembly, which meets once a year. It elects the Executive Board, composed of the Chairman, a Deputy Chairman and ten members of the Board.

The Superior General of the Jesuits is known popularly as the "Black Pope", he is called this because of the black cassock he wears in contrast to the white of the Pope. The name goes back to the often powerful position in the history of the Jesuit Order and because the Superior General of the Jesuits worldwide of 19,000 today like the Pope, is elected for life.

Although Father Nicolas is a Spaniard, he has an experience marked with an "Asian" religious life behind him. He worked most of the time in Asia, especially Japan.

Among the 29 successors of the Founder and first General Order of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Spanish theologian is the second, who comes from the land of the rising sun. Before him, Father Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991) already had a similar path behind him before he was elected the 29th Superior General in 1965. Father Arrupe was novice master of his order in Hiroshima and witnessed the American atomic bombing of the city. Under his leadership it became the largest order of the Catholic Church, who was known for his iron discipline, through the upheavals that followed the Second Vatican Council, in a serious crisis.

It was a crisis that Pope John Paul II in 1981 led to demand the early resignation of Father Arrupe a say and a choice of a successor. The Dutchman Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach was given the task of regrouping the order again and leading it to calmer waters and more moderate positions. After his resignation in 2008 Father Adolfo Nicolas was appointed as his successor.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Cathopedia / La cigüeña de la torre

Link to katholisches...

Edit: seems to me that an ugly logo stands for institutionalism, ossification and further decline into irrelevance. This Superior has had problems in the past in an order riddled with problems. Does he really grasp the problems surrounding them?

The Bishop of Versailles Will Celebrate the Concluding Mass -- 2 Times 100 km: International Pentecost Pilgramage of Tradition Between Paris and Chartres

2013-05-17T22:39:00.001-07:00

(Paris) Bishop Marie Eric Aummonier, Bishop of Versailles, is to be the celebrant at the Cathedral of Chartres to the conclusion of this year's International Pentecost Pilgrimage of the Ecclesia Dei communities in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite on Whit Monday. This decision was announced, the organizers of the pilgrimage traditional Association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté. This is another sign that the traditional Catholics are perceived by the bishops of the region of Paris more and more as self-evidently part of the Church and recognized. The prelude was in 2010 by the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, with a visit to the pilgrims in the large tent city of the three-day pilgrimage on foot, to be covered in approximately 100 kilometers from Paris to Chartres.

At Pentecost the two largest international traditional pilgrimages will take place at the same time. In addition to the pilgrimage of Fraternity of St. Peter and other Ecclesia Dei communities from Paris to Chartres, another pilgrimage takes place at the same time by the SSPX, which follows the exact opposite way from Chartres to Paris. Both pilgrimages originally go back to the same origin. As when the SSPX came to a break because Rome did not allow episcopal ordinations in 1988 and the Fraternity of St. Peter and the Ecclesia Dei communities emerged, also share the pilgrimage.

The pilgrimage of the Fraternity can use the cathedrals, which is why the Holy Mass is celebrated at the beginning in the cathedral of Paris and the conclusion is at the Cathedral of Chartres. The SSPX are still denied this, which is why Holy Mass is celebrated at the beginning of the pilgrimage outside the Cathedral of Chartres in the open air, as the concluding Mass at Les Invalides in Paris. At these two largest pilgrimages of tradition together, tens of thousands of believers will participate.

There are still free spots at the SSPX. The American group will be led by Father Patrick Rutledge.

Link to katholishes...

Iconoclastic Play Directed at the Mother of God

2013-05-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Edit: when the reviewer here says “iconoclastic” he thinks of it as being something positive. This is the real war on the woman. It attempts to portray Mary as a menopausal East Coast liberal. These sorts of events have been closed down and disrupted in Europe by courageous youth. Why not in New Jersey?

It was not quite the Blessed Mother I knew. But actress Fiona Shaw’s Mary was blessed in all her humanness on display at the Walter Kerr Theatre where she flawlessly embodied the mother of Jesus in the iconoclastic “The Testament of Mary,” by Irish playwright and author Colm Toibin.

Her Mary was raw and naked in many ways. And that could explain the protests mounted by the American Society of Tradition, Family and Property on opening night.

While some sang “Ave Maria,” others held signs that read, “It’s fiction, not truth, but 100 percent blasphemy.” The producers responded in a Playbill online statement, “The Testament of Mary explores in a very serious way, something that matters to all of us. It is neither anti-Mary nor anti-Christianity but a portrait of a very human woman a mother who is trying to make sense of and come to terms with the tragic death of her son.”

Link to source...

Massive Protests Break up Gomorrist Rallies in Georgia

2013-05-17T11:03:00.001-07:00

By Margarita Antidze

TBILISI (Reuters) - Priests and thousands of other Georgians broke through police barricades and forced gay rights activists to flee on Friday, cutting short their rally to mark the international day against homophobia.

Holding banners saying "Stop Homosexual Propaganda in Georgia!" and "Not in our city!", the demonstrators swarmed into a square in central Tbilisi where about 50 Georgians were rallying in support of gay rights. Police escorted the gay rights supporters onto buses and drove them away to avoid violence.

Several people, including some journalists, received minor injuries, Georgian media said.

"We won't allow these sick people to hold gay parades in our country," said Zhuzhuna Tavadze, brandishing a bunch of nettles and adding that she was ready to fight.

Link to yahoonews...

Edit: we hope the Catholic Bishops of the US are taking note

New Appointment in Argentina -- Pope Bergolio and ++Fernandez’s Silence at Jewish Slanders

2013-05-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

(Buenos Aires) Pope Francis is to raise the rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, Victor Manuel Fernandez to archbishop on Monday.

The appointment came as a surprise. The rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Ayres”, from now on UCA, was awarded with the dignity of a titular bishopric of Tiburnia by the Pope. The designation is unique. Fernandez was particularly close in the Argentine Church to Pope Bergoglio. The Pope wants him there at the head and to strengthen the University. There are about 20,000 students currently enrolled there.

The Rector of the Catholic University will be Archbishop Fernandez

Rector Fernandez was born born on 18 July 1962 in Alcira Gigena in the province of Cordoba. In 1986 he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Villa de Concepcion de Rio Cuarto, he graduated from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1990 and then his Master's degree at the UCA and the doctorate with a dissertation on St. Bonaventure.

Fernandez worked from 1991 to 2007 in parish ministry (1993-2000) as pastor of Santa Teresita) and taught at the Seminary of Rio Cuarto, then at the Faculty of Theology at the UCA. He was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of 2002, and in 2008 Dean of the same, where taught as professor of moral theology. From 2003 to 2005, the theologian was ecumenical officer of the Diocese of Rio Cuarto. Pope Francis knows him primarily through the Charismatic Renewal. Fernandez was the diocesan ecclesiastical assistant of the Movimiento de Renovacion Carismática.

Imposed by Archbishop Bergoglio 2009 as Rector

Fernandez was taken as Peritus in 2007 to the Argentine Bishops' Conference of the so-called Conference of Aparecida, the 5th General Assembly of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. He was instrumental in the formulation of the final document, which was prepared under the direction of the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires. In 2009 Cardinal Bergoglio prevailed for Fernandez against conservative resistance as rector of the university.

Under his Rectorate a Faculty of Social Sciences was established at the UCA. With the Coordinación de Compromisos Social, Fernandez launched a connection of the involvement of the university in the social network of the city of Buenos Aires desired by Archbishop Bergoglio, including the slums Villas miseries in the suburbs. The participation opportunities at the University have been rearranged, field offices were expanded and further established.

Interfaith celebration For 50 years of the Council Beginning with an Honorary Doctorate for Rabbi

However, his Rectorate includes his silence, as when the Pontifical University of the Catholic Church was attacked. On 11October 2012 he was suspected at the UCA in the presence of the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio, the Apostolic Nuncio and the Papal preacher, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, house of the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Although the memorial concerned a central event of the recent Catholic Church history, it became the part of an inter-religious celebration. As part of this celebration, the rabbi of Buenos Aires, Abraham Skorka, a personal friend of the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, had a conversation with the Cardinal in a book published in 2010, at which an honorary doctorate from the University was awarded at the suggestion of Cardinal Bergoglio. Rabbi Skorka is an advocate of the legalization of gay "marriage" in Argentina.

"Undignified spectacle": Church to Church representatives applauded defamation by Rabbi

As Pagina Catolica wrote, “it is an unworthy spectacle that the highest representatives of the Catholic Church allowed the highest representatives of Judaism in the country to appear at the Pontifical University". In his acceptance speech for the highest academic honor conferred by the University, the rabbi compared the Catholic Church with Nazism, describing its anti-Semitism explicitly as a product of Catholic theology ("tuvo raíces en la teología que se fue desarrollando en la Iglesia Catolica") . On the contrary no one suggested a contradiction. At the end of the speech Rector Fernandez, Cardinal Bergoglio, the nuncio present, Father Cantalamessa and the current Archbishop of Buenos Aires Mario Poli applauded the awarding of the honorary Catholic doctorate to the rabbi.

The Episcopal Ordination on is to be held on the 15th of June at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires. The principal consecrator will be appointed shortly after he is selected by Pope Francis' successor as archbishop of Buenos Aires Mario Aurelio its policy, who has also taken over the office of the Grand Chancellor of the UCA from Cardinal Bergolio.

Fernandez was awarded the Titular Diocese of Tiburnia which refers to city of Teurnia in 600 before it was sacked by the Avars on the Lurnfeld in Upper Carinthia (Austria). The Celtic founded city was established as a Roman city and had a Bishop at least by the 4th century. The Archdiocese went down with the city in the early seventh Century. The early Christian three-nave episcopal church was uncovered during excavations in the 80s.

Link to Katholisches...

Insight on Resignation of Cardinal O’Brien by Militant Catholic

2013-05-16T12:12:00.001-07:00

Edit: don’t forget that the Scottish Cardinal was exposed by other aberrosexuals among his priests, who were apparently outraged by the otherwise Old Liberal Cardinal’s statements against the evils of that sin.

These priests don’t sound like victims, they sound like willing participants who decided to discredit the Cardinal long after the fact of their interaction. If this is the case, they should resign.

Also recall this in relation to Father Dariusz Oko’s ongoing research about a satanic lavender mafia working behind the scenes.

Religious Priest Attacked in "Arab-Islamic Zone" of Avignon -- Archbishop Denounces Increasing Violence

2013-05-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

(Avignon) A priest of the Catholic Community of St. John was assaulted on Monday night on the open road. The attackers, four men of North African origin, presumably Muslims, beat up Father Gregoire, till two other members of the Communauté de Saint-Jean came to the rescue. Father Gregoire was lying unconscious on the ground. He was taken to hospital, where he stayed overnight for observation. He suffered numerous bruises, bruises and a broken nose.

The incident occurred in the southern French city of Avignon. Father Gregoire was, as is usual for the Community of St. John, on the street in the habit.

Monsignor Jean-Pierre Cattenoz, the Archbishop of Avignon was at a Tuesday morning press conference to publicize the serious aggression. The archbishop called for increased security measures in the district of Saint Ruif. Monsignor Cattenoz complained increasing attacks against Catholic priests and religious Affected were mostly members of the Community of St. John, which are particularly active in the pastoral district.

The neighborhood, named after the saintly founder of the city, is today the "Arab-Muslim region of Avignon," in which was "Sharia in Action", the Observatoire de l'islamization .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Observatoire de la Christianophobia

Well Meaning Gesture by the Bishop of Gap Toward the SSPX

2013-05-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

(Gap) A surprising gesture came from Bishop Jean-Michael Di Falco of Gap toward the Society of St. Pius X. on Sunday, the 12th Died May, as Father Dominique Lagneau of heart failure. Father Lagneau was the superior of the retreat and spiritual exercise center of Notre Dame for priests of the SSPX in Montgardin in the diocese of Gap. Monsignor Jean-Michel di Falco, the Bishop of Gap was visited his body, and prayed for the soul of the deceased. The retreat and retreat house reports directly to the General Council of the Society in Menzingen.

Besides the noble gesture of Bishop on this occasion, he noticed that the Church of the Society is much too small to hold the faithful expected to attend the funeral. He allowed therefore, Monsignor Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the SSPX to celebrate Requiem at the Eglise des Cordeliers in Gap. The Requiem Mass and burial take place on Friday 17th May at 15.00 clock.

"There are gestures of kindness like this that can help to resolve the differences between Rome and the Society. The canonical recognition that talks about doctrine are certainly important, but not enough. It also requires the human relations of mutual goodwill and respect, " wrote Riposte Catholique on the event of in Gap.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Fecit

Do Modern Priests Have the Freedom to Do Whatever They Want? -- Liturgical Abuse

2013-05-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

(Rome) The traditional website Messa in Latino has reported on the correspondence between a Catholic woman and the Curia of the northern Italian diocese p * of the behavior of a priest incardinated in this diocese. With the following letter, the Catholic turned to the Curia:

"I do not know if it's the same priest or one of a similar name. I refer to Don DZ, who ought to be incardinated according to my search on the internet, in your diocese. It is important to me to report the invalidity of last Sunday’s Mass celebrated by him on the cruise ship C.M.. When the gospel should have been carried forward, the priest said, 'Let there be but these things'. Instead, he called - I repeats: during the honoring of the Gospel - four people of whom he was asked questions in this way, 'What do you expect from life’ and other similar incoherent platitudes. I refused to continue to participate, because I was taught that the Holy Mass is Calvary and the sacrifice of the cross and walked away. On television I could celebrate the Holy Mass from B.. Friends told me later that Don Z. has invited by the faithful at the end to read the Sunday Gospel at home. I hope that the Church hierarchy is engaged in putting an end to liturgical abuses. I would want a sign of proof of receipt. I beg your pardon, I thank you for your attention. "

The Vicar General of the Diocese P. replied immediately: "Dear Mrs. S., I thank you for the message, it is a really unfortunate incident. I would urge that you contact the priest as soon as possible. Sincerely, Don PD, Vicar General ".

From a comment of Messa in Latino: "Given the fact that many priests, are only a little traditionally friendly, they must pay for their attention and love for the old Mass dearly, we are really excited to see what measures the Diocesan Curia P. will take against serious abuse. "

* Editor all local and personal details are known

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Sursum Corda

Link to katholisches…

Edit: Liturgical abuses are the norm rather than the exception.

Benedictine Abbey of Wisques Returns Back to Traditional Rite -- Colonization From Fontgambault with Bishop of Arras’ Approval

2013-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

(Paris) The Bishop of Arras, Boulogne and Saint-Omer, Jean-Paul Jaeger and the Abbot Dom Jean Pateau of the Benedictine Abbey of Notre-Dame de Fontgombault, have sealed the takeover of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Paul at Wisques. The Benedictine Abbey of Wisques is being repopulated by monks from Fontgambault at the end of the year. Thus this will also allow that this Abbey will return to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite.

As previously reported , a group of monks from Fontgombault has already spent several weeks in January at Wisques to consider making a takeover concrete. The main point of consideration are difficulties in ensuring the survival of the Abbey of Saint Paul Wisques by its own power. The average age of the monks in Wisques is more than 75 years.

The abbey was founded in the second half of the 19th Century by Fontgombault. For this reason Fontgombault now been asked to ensure with monks there the continued existence of the Abbey of Wisques and start with a new beginning of the abbey. Towards the end of the year monks from the Abbey Fontgombault will colonize and form a new convent with 18 monks, such as the website of the diocese of Arras, Saint-Omer Boulanger has announced. The new convent will elect its own abbot and prior.

The Abbey of Wisques thus joins the ranks of the monasteries of a tradition in which the Holy Mass and the whole Divine Office, the entire liturgy will be maintained in the traditional form and Gregorian Chant.

Link katholisches….

Gomorrah Minnesota: "Do What Thou Wilt" and "Love is the law, love under will."

2013-05-13T20:16:00.001-07:00

Edit: Sometimes, things are so obvious, they can't be ignored. "Love is the law, love under will", is a salutation employed by the Aleister Crowley, an infamous satanist who died shortly after the Second World War.

Just recently, the State of Minnesota has finally managed to vote enough times to honor aberrounions. There has been very little public outcry and almost nothing from the Archbishop of St. Paul. Now rainbow flags triumphantly line the Wabasha bridge.

Crowley's salutation is also the name of the concert to be celebrated in Eco Park in downtown Saint Paul, the "Love is the Law" concert, featuring a diverse bash of performers funded by the taxpayers of Minnesota, whether they like it or not. The festivities begin at 5pm. There will most likely be no public outcry. Certainly not the kind that has been witnessed in France. It's almost as though an invading army has taken the city of St. Paul without firing a single shot.

Here is a photo of Kenneth Anger and Alfred Kinsey at the house of Crowley with a likeness of him between them.

The event tomorrow will feature the song by a local band, which was briefly popular on the national scene about 25 years ago and some of its surviving members.

The photograph above was taken from Public Vigil, which has some interesting commentary about Crowleyism and its connections with the corruption and destruction of the young, especially its connection with politicians and Catholic priests, and how champions of homosexuality like Paul Shanley, were morphed suddenly by the media into pedophiles:

You could say that Shanley was ahead of his time. He was pushing for all the things that the homosexual movement is pushing for now. End priestly celibacy. Women "priests". Let the laity run the Church through a "democratic" process.

Not only did he preach that being a homosexual or bisexual was OK, he advocated fervently for gay rights from the lectern and in the media. He chided the Catholic Church for what he considered homophobia and testified at the State House on behalf of antidiscrimination legislation.

Murderer Gosnell Condemned on Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

2013-05-13T15:04:00.002-07:00

[Fox News] A Philadelphia doctor was found guilty Monday of murdering three babies born alive in an abortion clinic, Fox News confirms. He was acquitted in the fourth baby's death, and found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an adult patient.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was convicted of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who authorities say were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy clinic, in a case that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over abortion.

Gosnell was cleared in the death of a fourth baby, who prosecutors say let out a soft whimper before he snipped its neck.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/13/jury-split-on-2-counts-in-trial-abortion-doctor-kermit-gosnell/#ixzz2TDF7Zl8j

Image: Our Lady of Fatima...

Greens Under Fire in Germany for Working to Legalize Sex with Children During the Eighties

2013-05-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Edit: We first reported on this back in 2010 when we got hold of kreuz.net's story. It's interesting that this report is being covered by Germany's Nazi-founded Spiegel with such frankness. It's also interesting how they can report this in isolation from the usual accusations against the Catholic Church, which to date, has never officially sought legalizing sex between adults and children. They do what they can to show the Green Party's attempt to disassociate themselves from pederasts seeking the legalization of sex between adults and children. Another perverted influence on German society, Volker Beck, who has also campaigned for sex with children in the past, has also attempted to disassociated himself from earlier positions he has taken, even to the point of denying them. It's also interesting that a party

It will be interesting to see if Spiegel gets this into English.

Pedophiles had greater influence with the Greens than previously known. In the early years of the party a working group, according to SPIEGEL information, was open to legalizing sex with children. It was not only tolerated but financed by the Federal and Parliamentary Group.

The Greens gone significantly into the defensive on the debate about the influence of pedophiles in the early years of the party. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, the Greens have were more widely involved in the eighties on behalf of the interests of pedophiles than is previously known. Thus, the "Federal Association of Gays, Transsexuals and Pederasts" (BAG SchwuP) that openly voiced support to legalize sex with children, was funded directly by the federal party (Bundespartei) and the parliamentary group (Bundesfraktion). This is according to research by SPIEGEL directly from documents of the Green Party archive.

In addition, BAG SchwuP was assigned to the working group on "Law and Society" of the Bundestag in 1984 and thus had influence on public opinion of the group. In newsletters of BAG SchwuP which also went to the party headquarters, scantily clad boys or drawings of naked boys with angel wings were partially displayed.

"The Greens were the only federal political hope for pedophiles," said Kurt Hartmann, a former member of the BAG SchwuP, to SPIEGEL. "They are the only party who has put their necks out for sexual minorities in the long term." In 1983 in the gay scene magazine "Torso" there was an ad for the Greens, who voiced support to legalize sex with children, unless there is violence in the game and there is no abuse of a relationship of subordination.

"That was the Greens mainstream"

The Green Party Executive Committee will decide on this Monday that independent researchers are to reappraise the influence of pedophiles on the party in the eighties. However, Green Party leader Cem Özdemir stressed to SPIEGEL that pedophiles have hardly influenced the will of the party. "The protection of children from sexual abuse was and is our main concern," he said. "It is not acceptable, though some are now trying to re-interpret a seemingly lax attitude of the Greens against the sexual abuse of children, the positions of individual groups in the past." The debate was kindled in Europe earlier by expressions of Green politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit's intimacies with children. He had already called his comments an "unacceptable provocation" in mid-April, and wished that it "would not have been written".

Cohn-Bendit, challenged the view that legalizing sex with children, with the Greens in the eighties was a minority position. "You only have to look at the proposals for legalization for sex with adults," said Cohn-Bendit SPIEGEL. "That was the Green Party mainstream."

Link to Spiegel...

Protest Against Castellucci's Blasphemy at Vienna's Burgtheater -- For Cathedral Rector Faber "Artificial Outrage"

2013-05-12T18:28:00.001-07:00

Edit: it's no small wonder that the Mason-loving, Communist promoting Cathedral Rector of Vienna's most ancient edifice condemns Catholics who are outraged that the Faith is being disparaged at public expense. It's more surprising that the Porno-Rector hasn't invited Castellucci to perform the play in the Stepensdom itself, with the Danube Cardinal's full approval of course.

(Vienna) Romeo Castellucci's blasphemous piece about the Concept of the Face of the Son of God was listed at the Vienna Festival Weeks at the Vienna Burgtheater. On Saturday night there was at the premiere to massive boos and catcalls. As in Paris and Milan this had occurred because of the blasphemous scenes vehement objections from the public. In Paris, young Catholics had occupied the stage in 2011 and had been taken away by the police. Castellucci's piece is da Messina performed before an oversized picture of Jesus by Renaissance painter Antonello. The representation of the Son of God is smeared with feces and pelted with stones. From the audience there resounded on Saturday: "Such a mess!", "Stop it!", "Shame on you!"

Castellucci is passed around since the protests against his God insult from the left Kulturschickeria. In Germany, he joined with another piece on already at the Ruhr Festival.

The author talks about a true to life representation of human existence. This also included the rebellion against an overpowering image of God, from which it suffers remanded to Castellucci.

This Sunday there was an "artist talk" between Castellucci and the Vienna Cathedral Priest Toni Faber. Faber distanced himself from protesting Catholics, their displeasure which was expressed by booing against the insult of the divine persons. The Vienna daily Die Presse quoted the Parish Priest with the words: "I have respect for religious sensitivities, but we must not be too self-pitying." The public protests were, says Faber, "perhaps" through ignorance of Castellucci's play "excusable". An insulted Jesus caked with feces doesn't represent a problem for Vienna's Cathedral Rector. The question was raised "for artificial outrage".

It was a different issue altogether for Berlin Archbishop Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki, as the piece was performed in March 2012 in Berlin at the Theater Hebbel am Ufer. Cardinal Woelki described the piece as "indecent" because "what is important and holy to people is drawn from people's beliefs and dragged through the mud."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Sacred Palazzzi

Translation: Tancred

Link to katholisches...

Saudi Arabia: Woman Becomes Christian and Flees -- 6 Years and 300 Lashes For her Collaborator

2013-05-12T09:01:00.001-07:00

(Riyadh) A Saudi court has sentenced two men to several years of imprisonment and additional flogging, because they have helped a woman to become Christian and to escape from Saudi Arabia. The daily newspaper Al-Hayat has reported this . The criminal division of the city of Al Jabar has sentenced the Lebanese Christians to six years in prison and 300 lashes. The second man, a Saudi citizen, was sentenced to two years in prison and 200 lashes. Both were colleagues of the woman and announced to appeal against the judgment.

The case became known in 2012, as the media reported on the illegal departure of the Saudi woman, "the young woman from Al Jabar" is how she became known. Saudi women can not leave the country without the consent of their fathers, husbands or guardians. The young woman is believed to be currently in an unknown location, probably in Sweden.

The father of former Muslim woman from the area of Al-Khobar, which was converted to Christianity, had identified the two men. The charge was that they had convinced the woman to give up Islam and helped her with a fake passport to escape from Saudi Arabia.

In the Wahhabi Kingdom, one of the strictest Islamic countries of the world, the Sharia is Islamic law is applied in a particularly radical form. Muslims who convert to another religion can be sentenced to death. Therefore, the woman had left the country hastily.

According to press reports, the woman has taken refuge in Sweden, where she is protected by a charity. The young woman appeared last year in a video which was posted on YouTube in which she explained to profess Christ and to have accepted Christianity through baptism.

The father of the woman called the Saudi government to return his daughter in November 2012. The Saudi embassy in Sweden has been active in "diplomatic channels".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Asianews

The Enormous Crisis of the Catholic Church in Belgium -- There is Danger in a De-Christianized Land

2013-05-11T13:22:00.001-07:00

(Brussels) The Belgian church is facing financial collapse. The annual accounts of the dioceses have large losses in a country that was particularly affected by the pedophile abuse scandal. The Church of the ethnically divided land between Flemish and Walloons, which was a thriving Catholic landscape until half a century ago, is going through a serious crisis. The seminaries are largely empty, the number of practicing Catholics has shrunk to a loyal core. The bishops enjoy only a touch of prestige and weight in public life that they once had. Progressive bishops like Cardinal Leo Suenens, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and the like-minded bishops promoted by him have brought the secularization of the country and the alienation of the faithful of the Church.

At Cardinal Suenens liberal church de-Christianized society follows

Since the Second Vatican Council, when the Cardinal Suenens was included as part of the Rhenish alliance as one of the big "makers", propagated in Belgium even church leaders such as the Dominican theologian Edward Schillebeeckx a "rising in the modern" church. Pedophile child molesters, such as the former Bishop Roger Joseph Vangheluwe of Bruges, who abused his nephew even after his episcopal ordination, did the rest. Symptomatic high point culminated in June 2010 with the development of a scandalous desecration of the tomb of Cardinal Suenens in the Cathedral of St. Rumold Mechelen, worse copy than Dan Brown by a special unit of the Belgian police in search of incriminating material in connection with the pedophile scandal. Nothing was found. What the competent Belgian court did not prevent, later declared the desecration of the rest of the dead to be legal.

Declining Inhibition of Hostility Toward the Church

To get out of this crisis is difficult. For this reason, Pope Benedict XVI appointed the Bishop of Namur, Andre-Joseph Leonard as the new Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and thus Primate of Belgium in 2010. Leonard was the only Bishop with significant growth in priestly vocations. With the appointment an anti-Church campaign was discharged with an unprecedented aggressiveness. Feminist extremists are only the most visible, but by no means the most important point. The cake attacks and recently, a scandalous attack by bare breasted FEMEN-activists against Archbishop Leonard, however, helps to undermine the reputation of the episcopal dignity and to reduce the threshold in dealing with the ecclesiastical dignitaries. The attacks against Archbishop Leonard are meaningful. The archbishop, who had nothing to do with the abuse scandal, except his energetic work for "maximum transparency", would have actually pleased indignant citizens. But he is, as a faithful representatives of the Church, an eyesore. This creates the bizarre situation that he of all people is the scapegoat of Church hostility, which is justified by the abuse scandal. The pedophile scandal seems to many only to serve as a welcome springboard to be preachy to rise above the Church and renounce her. Using the example of Belgium can be seen that a de-Christianized society is not "neutral" but is morally acidic and anti-Church.

Revenues decrease, expenses increase due to pain and suffering payments to abuse victims

The numbers posted by the Church center to address the abuse cases are interestin. 72 percent of reported cases involve Flanders and upwards of 80 percent of the men were born for the most part in the 50s and 60s. The data confirms that the "opening" of the Church to the world as it propagated the atmosphere during and after the Second Vatican Council, and the meeting with the contemporaneous "sexual revolution", has hurt the Church. However, a discussion of these correlations with possible conclusions did not take place. Meanwhile, the Church must pay abuse victims for pain and suffering, as revenues decline.

The study L'iris et le Croisssant by Professor Felice Dassetto of the Catholic University of Leuven, the Belgian Church also sees problems through rapid changes in society, which was rebuilt in many multicultural cities. The proportion of the native population and the proportion of Catholics has rapidly declined in many Belgian cities.

Multicultural reconstruction of society means loss of traditional identity and rapid growth of Islam

According to the ACS report, 25 percent of the inhabitants of Brussels are Muslims. It's a rapidly rising trend. In the Belgian capital, there are already 77 mosques.

In this climate of radical social reconstruction through the loss of local traditional cultural identity and different religious immigrants from other cultures, comes the new phenomenon of increasing violence against religious institutions. For example, the arson attack on the Church of Begijnendijk in Couvin in the diocese of Namur or damage to seven churches.

The attack against Archbishop Leonard during a discussion on the topic of all freedom of expression at the State University of Brussels by FEMEN activists has already been mentioned. The feminists have accused the church of "homophobia".

Way Out of Crisis Through Renewal of the Church in Faith and Discipline - Bishops against Euthanasia of Children and Alzheimer's Patients

The way out of the crisis is not easy, but there has been a change in the episcopate, since Andre-Joseph Leonard has been primate. The bishops expressed their solidarity with him in the assaults of FEMEN. In a statement, they said the violent and blasphemous feminists have lost "all credibility". They whose behavior stands to lead "stark contrast to the topic of discussion and the style with which the Catholic Church in its dialogue with pluralistic society".

Archbishop Leonard promotes faithful groups and communities. A work in silence, where the church is truly renewed. The bishops with Leonard at their head have entered the ring against a legislative bill. The capital, Brussels, Belgium as well as the ruling Socialist party under the Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo and avowed homosexuals would like to expand the legalized euthanasia in 2002 to children younger than 15 years old and Alzheimer's patients by law.

In Belgium, life is mortally threatened in many ways. This is also a product of de-Christianized society. It's no easy stand for the Catholic Church.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Sancte Pater

Translation: Tancred

Old Liberal Cardinal Just Won't Go Away

2013-05-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

Edit: there's almost complete silence on this, the Puerto Rican Archbishop who won't go away, either, among other things, but there is no shortage of senior clergy who won't do everyone a favor and step down. They seem to get passed over by the usual suspects, especially when there are real Catholics who can be attacked for not being in tune with today's "Church".

[La Times] The next day, a church spokesman said Mahony was "reducing his public profile" voluntarily. The cardinal had taken it upon himself to cancel appearances, including confirmations, the spokesman said.

But at the very same hour, Mahony was mounting a high-profile defense. In an extraordinary open letter to Gomez posted on his blog, the cardinal struck an aggrieved tone. "Not once over these past years did you ever raise any questions about our policies, practices, or procedures" for abuse cases, he wrote.

Gomez subsequently released a statement he said was designed to clear up "confusion" in the media: "Cardinal Mahony has all the prerogatives and privileges of his standing as a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church." [Why?]

Link to LA Times...

Here's an article by Charles Coulombe, a longtime foe of Cardinal Mahony in an piece entitled Cardinal Unbound.

[New Oxford Review] All the world, Catholic and otherwise, was agog at the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI and is keen to find out where Pope Francis is going to lead us. His record as a Jesuit and Archbishop of Buenos Aires is being scoured, his every action carefully examined for clues. No doubt the forthcoming months and years will reveal all. But against the background music of that cosmic orchestra is heard the codetta of a tinny kazoo: the implicit criticisms of Benedict XVI made on Twitter by Roger Cardinal Mahony, Dowager Archbishop of Los Angeles. Here is a sampling from the cardinalatial bouquet:

“So long, Papal ermine and fancy lace! Welcome, simple cassock, and hopefully, ordinary black shoes! St. Francis must be overjoyed!”

“Mass with Pope Francis: moving from HIGH Church to LOW and humble Church! What a blessing that we are encountering Jesus without trappings!”
Link to NOR....

He didn't have the grace to stay home from the Conclave, despite calls to do some from senior Church officials, so he's unlikely to shut up now. For many, including Robert Keiser, the Cardinal is a possible sign for discontinuity, revolutionary change and adopting the sins of the modern age.

EWTN Personality Flies Into Anti-Semitic Tirade

2013-05-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Edit: people have been asking about what it is about EWTN that might make them anti-Semitic. We suspect that it has to do with certain EWTN personalitys' demonic hatred for fellow Catholics who truly are Semites. We shudder to think what these alleged champions of Catholicism at the Network Gone Wrong, would say of Arab Catholics who are not only Semites, but are suffering terribly in Palestine till this very day at the hands of the Israeli state.

Kevin O'Brien is an EWTN celebrity who is most well known for his portrayal of a profoundly disturbed fruitcake theology professor named Stanford Nutting who not only claims there is no truth, but is also deeply interested on punishing those students of his who believe there is.

Ironically, here he is in a real-time conversation on Facebook, seemingly his real self, Kevin O'Brien. Unless he's lost his grasp of reality, and we suspect he has, he presumably is not in character. Art imitates life. He has certainly taken it upon himself to defend a group of people that probably doesn't hold him in high regard (Israelis) and might be a little offended too at his misplaced zeal, but here he is. The following is a discussion between Paul Moeller and Kevin O'Brien which took place in mid-April in a public forum, where Mr. O'Brien loses his composure and became verbally abusive and frankly, slanderous, and worst of all, anti-Semitic.

We've censured his bloopers but felt it was necessary to portray the kind of person EWTN has working for them. Here he is denying the holocaust... of the Chinese at the hands of the Japanese during World War II:

Paul Martin Moeller Unnamed

Kevin O'Brien: Well, I just shared your Kissinger quote from your FB wall. Good one. What do you object to in Simcha's article?

Paul Martin Moeller: I think it is horrible.

Kevin O'Brien: Yes, it's horrible. But funny.

Paul Martin Moeller: I guess I'd ask what you like about it.

Kevin O'Brien: Everything. Spot on. Now, Paul, stalking your FB page to try to find out who you are, this is an interesting post ...
“On Holocaust Remembrence Day, please remember:
1. You are Catholic. You *are* Israel.
2. 2. Christ was "the Holocaust".”
Both 1 and 2 are true.

Paul Martin Moeller : Absolutely.

Kevin O'Brien: But ... WTF?

Paul Martin Moeller: wtf what?

Kevin O'Brien: I mean, is this not a way of denying the actual historical fact of the Holocaust of the Jews? On Holocaust Awareness Day? Of all days???

Paul Martin Moeller: Is there a Nanking awareness day?

April 12 at 1:51am · Edited · Like
Paul Martin Moeller Unnamed exFBfriend: "a Nanking" - what do you mean? Nanking?

Paul Martin Moeller: Well, this is where it helps to know your history. Why isn't there a Nanking awareness day?

Kevin O'Brien: F&^% you.

Paul Martin Moeller : I thought you were Catholic.

Kevin O'Brien : Jew hating bastard. You're out of here. I am Catholic, mother f*&^3er.

Paul Martin Moeller: Falsely accusing someone is a sin.

Paul Martin Moeller : When did I ever say I hated anyone? I don't. I have seven kids, a wife, and pray my Rosary every night. I say the chaplets of mercy every day.

Kevin O'Brien: I'll say one for your miserable rotting soul.

Kevin O'Brien: He's blocked.

Paul Martin Moeller: He's copied the whole convo.

Kevin O'Brien: This is a vile demon that stirs up this kind of stuff.

April 12 at 1:47am · Unlike · 1
Paul Martin Moeller Paul Martin Moeller: And I'm going to post it to my page

Kevin O'Brien: I thought you were blocked. Post it, s*&^% wad.

Vienna Elementary School Removes Crosses From Classrooms

2013-05-10T13:30:00.001-07:00

For the firs ttime since the time of the National Socialists the cross of Christ is being banned from class rooms.

The cross as a sign of God is an eyesore to National Socialists, Communists, anti-clericals,

Jacobins and Muslims.

Totalitarian systems have always fought it [Image: koptisch.wordpress.com]

The Cross is Hung in All Classrooms

The Vienna school law rules that in obligatory schools, in which the majority of the students belong to the Christian communion, a cross may hang in all classes.

What is not ruled is, what will happen to the cross if this majority is no longer present, respectively if this is not in the entire school, or if it is still in the individual classes.

Finally, in Vienna the mother of a female student has successfully appealed for the suspension of the cross. That was last seen during the time of the Nazis.

She feels "religiously imposed upon". Clearly she is unteachable and is still placed in grade school instruction.

The mother has been bullying the school for a long time, till it finally gave in.

The socialistically governed city of Vienna (at present through a coalition of Socialists and Leftist "greens") has already been noticeable through its abolition of St. Nicholas Feast in kindergartens.

Atheist Advance

The Jacobin Atheist-Association is pleased to say "religion is a private matter". Here is another indication that further action will be undertaken.

The president of this Association is Heinz Oberhummer, whipmaster and organizer of the soon to be complaining anti-Church-"people's" desire: "As a humanist I am for service to the humanity, not for service to God."

Counterposition of Freedom

The FPÖ- Education Speaker in the National Assembly was clear in his statement: "It is already astonishing, how an individual person with her minority opinion can boss around the majority. ... Normally such questions must be decided by the school council. That on the other hand a single person can force a silent majority, has nothing to do with civil courage, but with a failure of mature democracy. It doesn't mean that it is only his will what is imposed, who screams the loudest."

Parallel Case in Lower Austria

The attacks on Catholicism are not new.

Already in 2009 a "self-described" lower Austrian atheist demanded the removal of a cross in a kindergarten.

He wanted that his daughter, "be raised to religious maturity without a religious denomination, but committed to be open to the world and pluralism," he waffled.

He would have his human rights violated through this. Through Thanksgiving and the Feast of St. Nicholas, the atheistic upbringing of his daughter was made impossible, although the participation was not mandatory.

Therefore his daughter is really not "open to the world", but raised in anti-clericalism (and even preventing the acquisition of Catholicism by the other kindergartners). Perhaps he probably wouldn't have a problem, that his daughter also learns about Christian holidays.

ÖVP for the Installation of Crosses

At that time the standing ÖVP State representative Johanna Mikl-Leitner (now Interior Minister) in a positive statement for the installation of crosses explained: "It is a proposal which goes against the foundations of the West."

In March 2011 the Constitutional Court recognized the installation of crosses in a kindergarten as constitutional.

Initiative comes from publicly visible advertising?

If the Church haters are consistent, a referendum against advertising in public space may be expected in the near future - so that the children do not "patronized" but can be educated as "open to the world".

Link to kreuz.net...

Jesuits Have Also Newly Discovered the Old Mass

2013-05-09T00:59:00.001-07:00

(Washington) The Jesuits are, as elsewhere, shadow and light together. What matters is what prevails in a given time. There were Jesuits who exchanged the cross for a Kalashnikov. The Jesuit University Gonzaga University in Washington state recently denied a Catholic youth organization recognition, because it accepts only Catholics. There is complete silence about esoteric Zen-inspired and Eneagramm hunters among the Jesuits.

In the Jesuit Order’s Church of Santo Stefano in San Remo (Liguria) end of 2007, the rector of the Church, himself a Jesuit, celebrated Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite according to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, was forbidden by the Order Provincial Father Francesco Tata SJ to say any more Masses. The Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI. will not be implemented in all of the churches in Italy assisted by the Jesuit Order, said the Provincial. At the end of 2012, the American Jesuit Father Bill Brennan was suspended and prohibited the exercise of his priesthood, after the 92-year-old “concelebrated Mass" with a self-proclaimed Catholic "priestess" woman "concelebrated Mass”.

But there are good initiatives that ensure a future for the Order. In the German-speaking area there also emerged from the Jesuit Order, a New Order called The Servants of Jesus et Mariae (Servi Jesus et Mariae, SJM), which has been founded for the celebration of the Mass of Saint Pius V and its founder, Father Andreas Hönisch himself was a Jesuit. We have already reported on the conversion of the chapel of the Jesuit High School of Tampa in Florida. In July 2012, Father William V. Blazek SJ of the Chicago-Detroit Province of the Order is one of 12 new priests of the Jesuit Order in the U.S. who has celebrated his first Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite.

Last Sunday, Father Robert John Araujo, SJ celebrated Holy Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite at the convent's Loyola University of Chicago, as reported by New Liturgical Movement.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: New Liturgical Movement

Link to katholisches...

Church Desecration in France -- Consecrated Hosts stolen from the Tabernacle in Vienne

2013-05-08T23:30:00.001-07:00

(Vienne) in the French city of Vienne, there was a sacrilege. The parish of Naintré the tabernacle was broken into during the night from Sunday to Monday. The perpetrator or perpetrators forced entry into the Church and stole two consecrated Hosts from the tabernacle which served for Eucharistic adoration. The perpetrators broke most of the radial parts of the monstrance. They then set off in search of other consecrated hosts in another tabernacle in a side chapel, in which, however, no Most Holy Sacrament of the altar was reserved.

The pastor lamented that the media have not even taken note of the blasphemous sacrilege. "If someone had laid hands on a mosque, all would have been screaming for a media scandal. But what of it when it happens to a Catholic Church? ", As L'Observatoire de la Christianophobia reported. Satanists are suspected as the perpetrators.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: L'Observatoire de la Christianophobia\
Translated: Tancred

Link to Katholisches...

Holy Mass of Pius V in the Cathedral of Bologna -- Icon of Saint Luke

2013-05-08T17:15:00.002-07:00

(Bologna) Every year in the northern Italian city of Bologna, the miraculous image of Our Lady is seen all over the city from near and far during a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of St. Luke in the city's cathedral. The statue dates from the middle of the 12th Century. Since that time, this devotion is located at Colle della Guardia, on which now stands the great pilgrimage church.

The local tradition attributes the miraculous image to the evangelist Luke, whose remains are located in the nearby city of Padua in part. According to tradition, a pilgrim had called Theocles get the icon in Constantinople by the monks of St. Sophia, to bring them up to the Colle della Guardia. In Italy he learned that this hill is located near Bologna. He handed over the icon to the local bishop, who entrusted it to two sisters who lived in a small monastery on the hill. In 1732 an imposing sanctuary was built on the hill.

The miraculous image corresponds to the representation of Maria Hodegetria, the Mother of God with Baby Jesus is shown as Guide. The Byzantine original was attributed to the evangelist Luke, however, was lost in 1453 when the city was conquered by the Turks. There are numerous other images of Mary modeled after the original, the Roman miraculous image Salus Populi Romani in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in front of which Pope Francis has already prayed twice, as the Black Madonna of Czestochowa and the no less famous Mother of God of Kazan, but also the miraculous image of Bologna.

The veneration of the image intensified from 1433. As a long-lasting rainfall endangered the harvest, people determined to bring the picture of grace in the city. On the day of the transfer, the rain stopped. Since then, the transfer takes place annually. In the 17th/18th Centuries there was a 3.7 kilometer long arcade to allow for its dry passage.

The stay in St. Peter Cathedral of the Archdiocese runs from the eve of the Sixth Sunday after Easter (the fifth Sunday according to the old Liturgical Calendar) to the Solemnity of the Ascension which is celebrated in Italy on the following Sunday.

The week in which the miraculous image is located in the Cathedral, is always rich in liturgical events. Since 2011, one of the Holy Sacrifices of the Mass has been celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. It is celebrated by the priests Cardinal Archbishop Carlo Caffarra has entrusted with the care of the Mass location according to Summorum Pontificum.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Wikicommons / Archdiocese of Bologna

Translation: Tancred

Link to katholisches...