Secularism Is More Dangerous Than Radical Islam

(Catholic Insight) - In a meeting with various U.S. Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI said that the consensus which once existed in America supporting “ethical principles deriving from nature and nature’s God,” has faded. “Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such,” he said.

The Pope was emphatic in insisting that the threat posed by current trends threatens not only Christianity but “humanity itself.” He said: “To the extent that some current cultural trends contain elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths, whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God.”

The Pope used strong language to describe the grave situation he perceives in America. “(I)t is imperative, he said, “that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realise the grave threats to Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.” He continued, “The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life.”

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  Pope Benedict XVI has now warned Americans against the dangerous trend of militant Secularisation in the United States.  It is, in my own estimation, a trend far more dangerous to us than radical Islam, and threatens to do more harm to our Christian culture than Muslim jihadists could ever do on their best day.  Pope Benedict ought to know a thing or two about this.  He has lived his entire life in Europe, where he has watched first hand the horrors of Nazism, followed by the post-war Secularisation of European society.  Today, Europe is spiritually lost, just as Our Lady of Fatima warned the three seer children almost a century ago.  That once great Christian civilisation is no more.  The twentieth century killed it.  What was the cause of Europe's demise?  Was it Nazism?  Was it fascism?  Was it communism?  While all of these things certainly played a role in preparing Europe for her rapid apostasy, it was none of these things that finally brought it about.  No.  What caused Europeans to give up their faith was nothing more or less than Liberal Progressive Secularism!  With mind-blowing speed, Europe was returned to an era where practising Christianity occupied a percentage of the population so shockingly small, that numbers of this type haven't been seen since the days of the ancient Roman Empire.  Their embrace of the Secularist mindset brought about this immediate and dramatic decline of Christianity in Europe -- IN LESS THAN ONE GENERATION!!!  Radical Secularisation proved to be more effective at eliminating Christianity than Nazism, fascism and communism combined!!!

Now the Secularists have set their sights on North America.  They have infiltrated our schools, media, government and courts.  They occupy the highest offices in the land and sit on the United States Supreme Court.  They have been present among us for just as long as the European Secularists, if not longer, and their works are evident.  Many of them have ties to known hate-groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis.  Yes, some are in our federal government, and even some have sat on the United States Supreme Court.  I encourage you to listen to this short audio clip from Constitutional lawyer and radio talk-show host Mark Levin.  (I'm not his fan, but I give credit where credit is due.)  He will tell you where American Secularism came from and it will shock you.  The anti-Catholic bigots are still running America, and they have been for a very long time.  Think of it for just a moment.  While I am no fan of the former President John F. Kennedy, and he was certainly no paragon of Catholic virtue by any stretch of the imagination, he could not be elected president in this country without first RENOUNCING his faith in public life.  This is why I predict that Rick Santorum WILL NOT be nominated for president by the GOP.  While the man has many flaws, not as serious as Kennedy's but flaws nonetheless, he has refused to renounce the influence of his Catholic faith on his public life.  That killed his campaign right there.  Santorum will fizzle in the weeks ahead.  Mitt Romney, on the other hand, did renounce his Mormon faith in public life back in 2008.  So having bowed to the sterile gods of Secularism, just like J.F.K., he will get his party's nomination.  Whether or not he wins the presidency is another story.  That depends on different issues.

The Secularisation of the United States and Canada have now reached an unstoppable speed.  The Obama administration's recent HHS mandate is just a symptom of this much greater problem.  Word has it that another HHS mandate compromise is in the works.  We shall see what comes of that, but it changes nothing as far as I'm concerned.  Even if the U.S. Catholic Church wins this battle hands down, the fact that they had to fight that battle in the first place clearly signals that the United States of America, I was taught to believe in as a child, does not exist and clearly has not existed for a very long time.  The flags, the anthems, the mottos, the pledge, all of it; they are an illusion.  The religious freedom these things claim to represent does not exist.  Anti-Catholics have been running this federal Union for a very long time.  This is why I have joined the League of the South, an organisation heavily influenced by Catholic thinking in regards to freedom of religion, and have become a full-fledged secessionist and Dixie Nationalist.  Their Core Beliefs Statement and Statement on Racism were formulated with the help of Catholics and present a future vision of our homeland that no good Catholic can honestly object to.  The League's Statement on Obama's attack on Christians demonstrates a clear stand with the U.S. Catholic Church against the Obama administration's recent HHS mandate.  The biggest reason why I have joined the League of the South however, is its blatant and unapologetic stand against militant Secularism.  There is no other viable political organisation in the United States that takes such a strong stand against the Secularisation of our society.  Admittedly, the League of the South is a geographical organisation, representing mainly the sixteen Southern states of Dixie, thirteen of which seceded in 1860 - 61 to form their own nation.  One doesn't need to be a Southerner to join the League, but admittedly, the League's interest concerns the South.  Catholics in other parts of America are more than welcome to support the League, but I would also encourage them to form their own geographical organisations in opposition to the militant Secularism now promoted by the District of Columbia, otherwise known as 'The Columbian Empire' or 'Washington D.C.'  I would strongly encourage Catholic involvement in the Second Vermont Republic and the Third Palmetto Republic.  Both of these growing state secession movements will need strong Catholic influence to become successful and prevent an infestation of anti-Catholicism within their ranks.  Between the Second Vermont Republic and the Third Palmetto Republic, one will immediately observe two very different ways of addressing social problems, but both can be easily guided by the wisdom of Catholic teaching on Subsidiarity, each in its own way.  Catholics should also look into forming new state organisations in other parts of the United States.  Why?  Because in order to fight back effectively, we must bring into question the authority of Washington D.C. over us.  It's the Church's job to transform the faithful, and yes, the laity do have a role in that process.  However, when it comes to the political affairs of this world, it is not the Church's job to transform our political institutions.  That is specifically the job of the laity.  So if you think the Catholic Church is ever going to transform anti-Catholic Washington D.C., you can just get that silly notion out of your head right now.  IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!!!  Rick Santorum, for example, would transform Washington D.C. about as effectively as John F. Kennedy did -- which is nill.  The nation's capitol is un-reformable.  It's not just the District of Columbia that needs transformation, (a transformation that will never happen), but increasingly we are beginning to see anti-Catholic sentiments in many U.S. states as well.  Basically, wherever one sees a strong political push for homosexual 'marriage,' there one will also find a latent anti-Catholic bigotry just beneath the surface.  Again though, it's not homosexual 'marriage' that is the problem here, it's just another symptom.

THE PROBLEM IS MILITANT SECULARISM.  That's because Secularism and Christianity are two opposing world views, at odds in every way, having virtually nothing in common.  Indeed, Christianity and Islam have more in common than Christianity and Secularism.  If one believes that Christianity and Islam can never coexist in peace, an assumption sometimes accurate and sometimes not, than the dichotomy between Christianity and Secularism is even greater.  THE TWO SYSTEMS CANNOT COEXIST IN PEACE AT ALL.   One will always devour the other.  The only question is which one will pursue the more aggressive position.  For the last sixty-plus years, the more aggressive party has been Secularism.  It has destroyed Europe at a mind-blowing speed.  North America is next, and the Secularists are well on their way.  The momentum is gathering.  Christians in North America have this one last window of opportunity to make our last stand before the coming Chastisement of God.  We must break the hold that Secular institutions (governments) have upon us.  We must deny them their power to govern us.  We must make it crystal clear, beyond the shadow of a doubt, in no uncertain terms, that we will not submit to the sterile gods of Secularism any more.  They have no power over us.

Like it or not, America's Roman Catholics will play a central role in this struggle.  The Church has given her marching orders insofar as she is authorised to give them.  We, the Roman Catholics of the United States, have been instructed to disobey any government law or diktat that violates Catholic conscience.  Most recently, such an edict has manifested itself in Obama's HHS mandate on artificial contraception, sterilisation and abortion-inducing drugs.  What will become of this edict we cannot know right now but it does not matter.  Because even if the Catholic Church wins this battle, more will soon follow, and it won't just be against the federal government, but against state governments too.  Sadly, most of these state governments are in what is historically known as Yankee or Western territories.  So far, the Old South (Dixie) has been the only region that remains legally friendly to the Catholic Church.  Catholics must seize on this opportunity while it still lasts -- before this window closes and all is lost.

In addition to what the Catholic Church advocates, which amounts to limited civil disobedience against unjust laws, as a Catholic layman working in the political realm, I am advocating a counter punch against Secularism, which has not been seen since the advance of this evil since the middle twentieth century in Europe and North America.  Nobody thus far has called out militant Secularism for what it is -- EVIL.  Since it is evil, we must stand against it.  We are morally obligated to do so.  Thus we must also stand against those private and public institutions that promote it, and this includes not only various state governments, but the United States federal government itself.  After more than half a century, the time has finally come to fight back!  We are a Christian people, and WE WILL NOT voluntarily submit to a government that opposes our faith.  We cannot be expected to submit to militant Secular law any more than we can be expected to submit to Islamic shariah law.  Both of them oppose us and both of them are hell bent on devouring us.  Therefore, we will not voluntarily submit to them.  They must be forced upon us, and indeed they have been in various places, and we have had enough!  In the east Christians must deal with Islam, but in the west we must deal with Secularism, and in the west not only is Secularism more dangerous, but we still have a fighting chance against it.  This is why I advocate peaceful secession movements, not just in America but in Canada too, and the creation of benign Christian Republics that respect the rights of all without infringing upon our Christian faith or historic Christian culture.

My fellow Catholic readers, you cannot say that anything I've written here is untrue.  You know what is happening.  The signs are all around us.  You know the window of opportunity is closing, and if you stand idly by and do nothing, you have only yourselves to blame.  We are Christians, and we are bound by Christ's law of peaceful activism.  Let us exercise this law to its fullest extent.  Let us peacefully declare the reign of Secularism over!  Let us take back our land and our institutions where we can, and let us make our last bold stand as we wait for God to deliver us from evil.

Obama's War On The U.S. Catholic Church

Originally posted back on July 3, 2009. I brought it back from the archives to shed some light on Obama's recent HHS mandate....

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It is the opinion of this blogger that alleged President Barack Obama is actively working to do everything he can to crack and split the U.S. Catholic Church in half. His appointment of exclusively pro-abortion Cafeteria Catholics to key positions in the government, coupled with the statements below demonstrate this beyond the shadow of a doubt. Allow me to elaborate....

Obama has a pro-choice Liberation Theology (i.e. "Christian" Socialism) agenda, and the only thing standing in the way is the U.S. Catholic Church, which officially opposes both. Unfortunately, the U.S. Catholic Church has been considerably weakened in recent years, plagued by sex-scandals (which only affected 5% of the clergy), and other scandals related to associations of the USCCB, coupled with a general liturgical crisis and poor catechises over the past four decades. The U.S. Catholic Church is ripe for schism, and President Barack Obama knows if such a thing were to happen, it would only help clear the way to push his agenda through. Nothing would serve the Obama administration better than a U.S. Catholic Church torn by infighting and reorganization.

There is nothing new about this strategy. It's been successfully employed in the past by Marxist regimes in Central and South America, where Liberation Theology (i.e. "Christian" Socialism) was born and has pitted the Catholic clergy and laity against each other in that region. Obama is doing the exact same thing here in the USA, except he's just a bit more subtle about it. It all starts with the appointment of dissenting Cafeteria Catholics (who agree with his pro-abortion Marxist goals) to key positions in government. Obama has made it clear that Catholics who actually believe and practice what the Church teaches on abortion and socialism are not welcome in his administration. In other words, Catholics who oppose the teachings of the Church will be rewarded with high level cabinet positions, while Catholics who adhere to Church teaching need not apply.

Okay, so what does this do?

Well, the U.S. Catholic Church is already split on social issues about 50/50. Approximately 50% of U.S. Catholics are what we call "practicing Catholics" (actually the number may be a little less than that, but about 50% rise to the occasion when the bishops call them to on key issues). The other 50% are what we call Cafeteria Catholics, and these are the dissenting group who may (or may not) regularly go to mass, and like to "pick and choose" which teachings of the Church they will follow, and which they will not. It's sort of like a "salad bar" approach to the Catholic faith. According to the Vatican, and the U.S. Catholic bishops, this Cafeteria Catholicism is unacceptable, and in some cases it causes those who practice it to put their status in the Church in jeopardy. In other words, Cafeteria Catholics aren't really good Catholics, they just say they are.

By exclusively putting Cafeteria Catholics in key government positions, Obama is pandering to the Cafeteria Catholic community, and in the United States, that's about 50% of all U.S. Catholics. Simultaneously he shields himself from any criticism of anti-Catholicism, because he has plausible deniability. As soon as the accusation is made, he can simply say that such charges are ridiculous because he's appointed more "Catholics" to government positions than any other president in recent memory. He won't bother to point out, of course, that these are only Catholics who oppose the teachings of the Catholic Church. His most recent nomination of a Cafeteria Catholic to the U.S. Supreme Court was his crowning achievement in implementing phase one of his plan to crack and split the U.S. Catholic Church in two.

Phase two is now underway. Barack Obama will embark on a media campaign, directly engaging U.S. Catholics, via press interviews and photo ops with the pope and various Catholic leaders. This is where the propaganda war goes into effect. What Obama started in appointments, he now follows through with in commentary. On July 2nd, Obama met with a Catholic press conference ahead of his July 10th meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. In that interview he had the following to say, among many other things, but the trigger lines I have bolded for clear recognition....

“When I was first becoming interested in social justice issues, the American bishops were talking about nuclear freezes and sanctuary for illegal immigrants and protesting U.S. policy in Latin America, and there was, I think, a very different set of perspectives that were represented, arising out of the Second Vatican. And then there was a decided shift that I think took place within — among Church officials. And, in some ways, that tracked changes in American society at large, or at least American politics... I think responses to my administration mirror tensions within the Church as a whole. Cardinal Bernardin was strongly pro-life, never shrank away from talking about that issue, but was very consistent in talking about a ‘seamless garment’ and a range of issues that were part and parcel of what he considered to be pro-life, that meant that he was concerned about poverty; he was concerned about how children were treated; he was concerned about the death penalty; he was concerned about foreign policy... and that part of the Catholic tradition is something that continues to inspire me. And I think that there have been times over the last decade or two where that more holistic tradition feels like it’s gotten buried under the abortion debate. Now, as a non-Catholic, it’s not up to me to try to resolve those tensions... All I can do is to affirm how that other tradition has made me, a non-Catholic, I think reflect on how I can be a better person and has had a powerful influence on my life. And that tells me that it might be a powerful way to move a broader set of values forward in American life generally.”

Okay, notice how Obama is trying to pit one side of Catholic Social teaching against another, and thereby trying to pit Cafeteria Catholics against practicing Catholics. He's lecturing the U.S. Catholic bishops (and ultimately the pope) on how Catholic emphasis on the holocaust of abortion is clouding the "larger" social teaching of the Church. In effect, he's telling the U.S. Catholic bishops (and the pope) that they ought to tone it down a bit on the abortion issue, so more Catholic Americans can "recognize" how much he supposedly agrees with the other aspects of Catholic social teaching. But does he really expect the pope and bishops to take his advice? Of course not! He may be a narcissist, but he's not stupid. Obama knows perfectly well that his supposed "advice" will fall on deaf ears with the pope and bishops, and in fact, he's counting on it. The comments are not intended for the pope and bishops. They're designed for the 50% of U.S. Cafeteria Catholics who would be more inclined to agree with him on the matter. The point here is to come across as seeming "reasonable" and "open to dialog." The idea being that he wants to paint the pope and U.S. Catholic bishops as being "unreasonable" and "stubborn." His coming photo op with the pope will be his capstone on this phase of the plan.

Notice, however, that Obama let the cat out of the bag with the second bolded comment. He said "I think responses to my administration mirror tensions within the Church as a whole." This is the wedge people. He just pointed out the very thing he hopes to exacerbate by his actions and comments. In this one comment he has revealed that he is all too aware of the catechises problem within the U.S. Catholic Church. He is mindful of the sad fact that the U.S. Catholic bishops have nearly lost control of half of their flock, and indeed some of those bishops are contributing to the problem. Then he goes on to lament how the Catholic bishops "unreasonable and stubborn" emphasis on abortion has "obscured" the "larger message" of Catholic social teaching, of which he claims to be in agreement on. We can expect a lot more comments like this in the near future, as this is the strategy folks. He's trying to paint the leaders of the Catholic Church as intolerant and unreasonable. Simultaneously, he's trying to make himself out to have a greater understanding of Catholic social teaching than the Church does. It's designed to drive the wedge deeper between Practicing Catholics and Cafeteria Catholics. It's designed to pit as many Catholics as he can against the leadership of the U.S. Catholic Church. It's designed to create a full-blown and all-out schism in the U.S. Catholic Church, and thus neutralize the influence of U.S. Catholic bishops on the 2012 election, and any major issue of his agenda that comes up between now and then.

Of course, the last thing Obama will let us know is that he really doesn't agree with the Catholic Church on ANY of it's social teaching. That's the dirty little secret. You see, Catholic social teaching on poverty and fairness is based on the principle of SUBSIDIARITY. Essentially it's an anti-Marxist principle. The idea of subsidiarity is that it's immoral for larger government functions to take over and perform the roles of smaller entities (state, city, local, neighborhood, family, parish church, private charity, etc.) when those entities are perfectly capable of performing those functions for themselves. The larger government entities should instead refrain from direct interference (i.e. micro-management) and instead attempt to coordinate efforts between them, to help things run more smoothly. In other words, the American principles of limited government and federalism are consistent with the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, while the Marxist principles of huge government and micro-management are not. Unfortunately, the kind of Liberation Theology Obama believes in is Marxist in principle, and flies in the face of subsidiarity. The Social Teaching of the Catholic Church is very clear that all social principles are based on subsidiarity, and subsidiarity is the "hinge" upon which all Catholic Social Justice turns.

Religious Freedom LOST In the United States

(CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI warned today of a “grave threat” to religious liberty in the United States that requires American Catholics to respond with intelligence and courage.

“It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres,” he said Jan. 19 in an address to a group of American bishops visiting the Vatican.

The Pope said he was particularly concerned with “certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”..

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(Star-Telegram) - The United States is a nation founded on the principle of life, liberty and justice for all. Throughout the history of this great nation, the religious communities and those in posts of civil authority have recognized that free practice of religious belief is foundational to our country.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." But in recent days the latest salvo in the attack on religious freedom was fired by the Obama administration and, sadly, by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic.

On Jan. 20, Sebelius announced the administration's decision to mandate the inclusion of particular health services in insurance coverage that would result in Catholic institutions having to provide coverage that violates Catholic Church teaching and, therefore, Catholic conscience.

The HHS ruling requires that sterilization and contraception, including controversial abortifacients, be among the "preventive services" coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans, including health plans offered by religious organizations.

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(CNA/EWTN News) - Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, head of the U.S. bishops' conference, says the Obama administration has revoked the religious freedom of groups that do not regard women's fertility as as “disease.”

“The Catholic Church defends religious liberty, including freedom of conscience, for everyone,” the New York archbishop and conference president wrote in a Jan. 25 Wall Street Journal editorial, addressing the government's final decision to require contraception coverage in most new health plans.

With this decision, the cardinal-designate wrote, “the Obama administration has failed to show the same respect for the consciences of Catholics and others who object to treating pregnancy as a disease.”

On Jan. 20 the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed it would impose the contraception coverage mandate on most religious institutions, with a narrow exception for groups whose main purpose is the “inculcation of religious values” among people of the same faith.

“Even Jesus and his disciples would not qualify for the exemption,” Cardinal-designate Dolan noted, “because they were committed to serve those of other faiths.”

Health and Human Services finalized the contraceptive mandate just days before the annual March for Life, an event that mourns the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: In what is threatening to become the story of the 21st century, religious freedom is being lost (particularly for Catholics) in the United States of America. The culprit is in 'how' the courts and the legislatures interpret the term 'religious freedom.' In that, the judges and politicians are interpreting 'religious freedom' strictly in terms of religious worship, meaning freedom to engage in the ceremonial rites of one's choice. While religious conscience, the freedom to morally act according to one's beliefs, is being ignored. The latest case with the Obama administration and the HHS is just another link in a long chain of offences. This however, is Obama's second attempt to take what had been a state and local conflict to the national level.

Previously, Catholic Charities have been shut down in a few states throughout the Union, due to the Church's refusal to adopt children to homosexual couples. Furthermore, the City of San Francisco, one of the most homosexual-friendly cities in the nation, has openly condemned the Catholic Church in an official statement, calling upon Catholics to openly rebel against Church teaching. The United States Supreme Court has sanctioned this action, allowing the city statement to stand, without any fines or penalties.

Now, the Obama administration has made two direct attempts to undermine and attack the inner workings of religious institutions in America. The first was in the form of forcing churches to hire women and doctrinal dissenters to teaching positions within religious schools. Thankfully, the Supreme Court struck this down unanimously (9 to 0) in what was a humiliating defeat to the Obama administration. With that failure behind them, the Obama administration has pushed ahead full-speed toward forcing all religious institutions (especially the Catholic Church) to provide medical services that directly contradict religious conscience. The administration knows this and that is why it is doing this. By pushing forward in driving a wedge between religious worship and religious conscience, the administration knows it can make inroads into controlling religious institutions within the United States, with the long-term eventuality of defining 'orthodoxy' for them.

Catholic bishops across the United States are unifying against this clear threat to religious freedom that is presently under way. Catholics are being urged to contact their congressional representatives and demand a stop to this assault on religious liberty.  Non-Catholic Christians would be wise to join them.

The Ordinariate Rumour Mill

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  In the quiet that seems to fall in the interim period between the naming of the new U.S. ordinary for Anglicans and his consecration, there has arisen the customary worries and fears that have sadly become all to common to this process.  I'm sure our Anglo Catholic brethren in England could attest to similar experiences, and our Anglo Catholic brethren in Australia should take note of this, as it will inevitably come to their shores.

At the centre of the controversy is a concern that 'dark forces' have infiltrated the ordinariate structure (which as far as I know consists of only two people right now) and are conspiring to thwart the work of the Holy Father by keeping admission to the ordinariate limited so as to insure its failure.  The main concern right now seems to be the notion that the nominated Ordinary and his assistant will not allow Anglican Use Pastoral Provision parishes into the ordinariate.

Okay, I know I may have oversimplified things here, but I think I captured the essence of people's concerns.  So let's break this down and analyse it a bit in a logical and dispassionate way.

First and foremost, the fears are understandable.  I will not sit here at my keyboard and disparage those who come up with such worries.  Considering the history from which many of these people came, their paranoia is justified.  Many of the Anglo Catholics entering the Church through the ordinariate have been traumatised by liberal Modernism in the Anglican Communion.  In addition, some have dealt with endless politics, division and strife following their exit from the Communion and their stay in the Anglican Continuum bodies.  Anglicans have been fighting a long, hard and losing battle that has lasted a generation.  They are shell shocked.  It is what I can only compare to a type of spiritual post-traumatic stress syndrome.  They need healing.  That is not going to come until they've been safe within the Catholic Church for a number of years.  In addition to that, we have those Anglicans who entered the Catholic Church some years back.  They too still carry some scars left over from their experience in Anglicanism, plus some minor battles with Roman bishops hostile to the Anglican patrimony.  As the creation of the U.S. ordinariate for Anglicans gets under way, it is understandable that tensions would arise.  There is a lot at stake here, everyone knows it, and above all, people just want to make sure this thing works!  So it only makes sense that this period of silence might be interpreted in a negative way, especially when some have been told to remain silent, and others have been told to wait on their local bishop.

Second, let us accurately assess the situation.  Both Father Jeffrey Steenson (the nominated Ordinary) and Father Scott Hurd are former Episcopalian priests who entered the Catholic Church through the Pastoral Provision.  Granted, neither of them adopted the Anglican Use as their speciality, but neither of them were ever required to.  That doesn't mean they have a problem with the Anglican Use.  It only means that it didn't suit the type of ministry they pursued.  It should be noted however, that both men were nevertheless Pastoral Provision priests, and that alone PROVES that the ordinariate is open to priests from the Pastoral Provision.  It proves it beyond the shadow of a doubt actually.  For if the ordinariate is not open to Pastoral Provision priests, than neither Father Steenson nor Father Hurd can be a part of it.  Thus the ordinariate does not exist!  In fact, however, it does exist, because Pope Benedict XVI says so.  Therefore we must conclude that the notion that Pastoral Provision priests cannot be part of the ordinariate must be false.  The very existence of Father Steenson and Father Hurd in the ordinariate demonstrates this beyond any shadow of a doubt.  Furthermore, by nominating a Pastoral Provision priest as Ordinary, the Holy Father has himself set the precedence of admitting Pastoral Provision priests to the ordinariate first, before all others, and demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that the ordinariate is open to them.

Third, the headquarters for the U.S. Anglo Catholic Ordinariate has been selected.  It is Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in Houston Texas.  What is this parish?  Why it's an Anglican Use Pastoral Provision parish of course!   So if it is true, as some have suggested, that Anglican Use parishes will not be permitted into the ordinariate, are we then supposed to believe that the Ordinary has decided to set up headquarters in a parish that he cannot admit to the ordinariate?  Are we supposed to believe that the Ordinary will set up his cathedral in a parish not even owned or controlled by him?  Are we mad!?!  Of course Our Lady of Walsingham parish will become part of the ordinariate!  To think otherwise is insane!  Yet once again we have a precedence here.  The very first parish admitted to the ordinariate will be -- are you ready? -- an Anglican Use parish of course!  If this is the precedence, indeed if this is the pattern already established, than it looks to me like the Anglican Use parishes are first in line.

Fourth, based on the rumours that I have heard, and I am open to correction here, it sounds as if the nominated ordinary is simply trying to engage in proper episcopal protocol.  Currently, Anglican Use parishes, missions and societies are owned by the bishops of the respective dioceses they find themselves in.  Therefore, the bishops of those dioceses are in control.  That means they must ask permission to become part of the ordinariate, and wait until such permission is given and the Ordinary (Father Steenson) invites them to become part of it.  This is nothing more than showing respect to those with authority, and it is a central part of being Catholic.  If you don't like episcopal authority than go be a Baptist!  This is how it works in the Catholic Church.  One need not worry about those bishops being unfriendly to Anglican Use groups, because if they were, such groups would not exist in their dioceses.  They would have forbidden them.  So here is the good news.  Cheer up!  If you're part of an Anglican Use parish, mission or society in your area, than chances are you already have a bishop who is friendly to the Anglican Use tradition and is more than likely willing to cooperate with the pope's Anglican ordinariate vision.  If you're a member of a traditional Anglican parish seeking the ordinariate, than have no fear, you were who this ordinariate was designed for.  As for those of you who have nothing, but have been 'watching from afar' as they say, than you might have to wait until an ordinariate mission is available in your area, or else you can apply to the ordinariate and request one.

Now while we are waiting is the time to talk to your pastors.  If you're part of an Anglican Use parish, mission or society, ask him to petition your bishop to be transferred to the ordinariate, assuming that's what you want.  That's really all there is to it.  Once the petition is made, you need to give a little time for episcopal procedures to take place.  Then wait and see what happens.

For now, let's put aside the rumour mill.  It hasn't even been a month since Fr. Steenson was named Ordinary.  He's still trying to put things together I'm sure.  He probably hasn't even finished moving his office yet.  Relax.  Give things a little time to work.

U.S. Anglican Ordinariate Plants Seeds for Anglican Rite And Renewal of Roman Rite

The mass according to the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  Today is the Feast of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, in the season of Christmastide.  On this first day of this first month, in the year of our Lord 2012, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, creates the United States ordinariate for Anglicans, which has been named the 'Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter' - see official website here. Former Episcopalian Bishop, now a Catholic priest, the Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Steenson, has been nominated for the position of the new Ordinary. 

Fr. Jeffrey Steenson

Fr. Steenson is married with three grown children.  The Catholic Church has been admitting married men into the Catholic priesthood for at least some thirty years now.  Fr. Steenson was received into the Catholic Church in 2007, and ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 2009.  Pope John Paul II created the 'Pastoral Provision' in 1980, which opened the door for married Protestant clergy to enter the Catholic Church and be ordained Catholic priests.  Currently, there are over one-hundred such men serving as priests in the United States, most of them came from The Episcopal Church USA (American Anglicanism), but some came from Lutheran and other Protestant traditions.  Because the Anglican Ordinary will likely be a married priest, he cannot be consecrated as a bishop at this time.  This is a tradition going back to the earliest days of Christianity.  However, the U.S. Anglican Ordinary, if he is not a bishop, is instead granted all the powers of a mitred abbot.  He will have the full authority of a bishop, except he cannot ordain men to the priesthood himself.  Instead regular Roman bishops may do this upon his request.  He may even wear episcopal vestments during liturgical events and carry a crosier, just as if he were a bishop.  That's because these are symbols of his shepherding role in the ordinariate.   The Ordinary will be given an equal seat with the other prelates at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

This condition of a non-episcopal Ordinary is in all likelihood a temporary one.  It is designed to prepare the way for something different later on.  Originally, when traditional Anglicans first opened communications with Rome, the idea was to create a whole new rite for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church, however, this proved impossible at this time because of the condition Anglicanism currently finds itself in. In order to have a full-fledged rite, there must be celibate bishops with real apostolic succession, an undisputed patrimony, and no ambiguity on the sacrament of holy orders.  Historically, Anglicanism has not possessed these things, in any clear fashion, even though it has demonstrated an certain affinity toward English Catholic liturgy and sacramental life.

So what the pope did was create an incubator called the 'Anglican Ordinariate.'  It is similar to the military ordinariate for Roman Catholics.  The idea of the Anglican Ordinariate is to create a 'space' (if you will) within the Catholic Church, wherein traditional high-church Anglicans (i.e. Anglo Catholics) can further develop their patrimony with absolute clarity, in an environment where holy orders are no longer in question. The position of Ordinary may be occupied by a married priest for as long as these Anglo Catholics require one. However, it is envisioned in the long run that there will be some celibate men ordained into the Anglo Catholic priesthood eventually. These men will eventually become candidates for the position of Ordinary when the time is right. When that day comes, a celibate bishop will be consecrated as the next ordinary (someday in the future). Once that happens, the ordinariate becomes a 'particular church,' a full-fledged diocese (if you will), and the Anglican patrimony is well on its way to become a full-fledged rite within the Catholic Church, just as soon as all the ordinariates worldwide are similarly prepared.

As for time frame, your guess is as good as mine. Speculatively, one would think one to two generations would be ample. However, that is not a job for this pope or this generation. This pope plants the seeds of a future Anglican Rite. Another pope, someday in the future, will harvest the crop, and actually make it happen. Just as Pope John Paul II cleared the field with the Anglican Use Pastoral Provision some thirty years ago, so this pope (Benedict XVI) is laying the foundation with the Anglican ordinariates. Other popes will help build the structure as Anglo Catholics supply the living materials, and someday the Anglican Rite within the Catholic Church will be completed.  Personally, I would think at least thirty to forty years will be required before this happens, perhaps longer, but you never know.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.

As for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church, the ONLY thing they need to do is just keep the Anglican Patrimony and be good Catholics.  As for a future Anglican Rite, that is a job best left to the Holy Spirit.

In the mean time, the Holy Father has a much broader plan for the Anglican ordinariates.  First and foremost, of course, they provide an easy point of entry for Anglicans (Episcopalians) into the Catholic Church.  They also provide a similarly easy point of entry for some Lutherans, as well as other traditional protestants.  Second, because the ordinariates will have their own traditional English liturgy, and their own rubrics in which that liturgy MUST be celebrated, they provide yet another means through which the Holy Father can further his liturgical "reform of the reform" of the Western Church.  Traditional Anglo Catholics are more than eager to help the pope in this regard, as it is primarily their love for liturgy that has driven them to the Catholic Church over the last two centuries.  Third and finally, the ordinariate structure, as provided for under the Apostolic Constitution for Anglicans, puts ordinariate members under Roman canon law, and for the time being anyway, considers the Anglican ordinariate patrimony a subdivision of the Roman Rite.  This allows clergy and laity to easily cross over between any Roman diocese and the Anglican ordinariate.  Thus, any ordinariate priest can fill in as a substitute guest priest in a diocesan parish.  The same is true vice versa.  Likewise, any Roman Catholic layman can take up membership in an Anglo Catholic parish.  The same is true vice versa.  This crossover is designed to alleviate some of the strain caused by the priest shortage, and to give traditionally-minded Roman Catholics some more liturgical options, as well as give some ordinariate Anglo Catholics easy access to diocesan life should they prefer it.  This allows for some regularisation and normalisation between the ordinariate and local dioceses as things get under way.  It also introduces Catholics from both groups to opportunities to help each other out.  With these Anglican ordinariates, the Holy Father has done nothing short of helping both Catholics and Anglicans, giving both groups more tools at their disposal to further nourish their spiritual needs during a period of dark times for Western Christianity.

Finally, I would like to offer a word of admonition to both Roman Catholics and Anglicans entering the Church through the ordinariate.

To Roman Catholics I say this.  DON'T BE STUPID.  The Holy Father has structured these ordinariates in such as way as to help struggling Roman dioceses in their time of need.  Make no mistake about it.  Dioceses that are accommodating to Anglican ordinariate parishes and groups will be blessed.  New vocations may arise from these communities, and those vocations will likely be of service to both the diocese as well as the ordinariate.  Anglo-Catholic priests are fully permitted to celebrate the Roman Rite liturgy as well as their own.  This means with your local bishop's permission, they can do a regular mass in any diocesan parish, and you can be sure they will celebrate the Roman liturgy with the highest level of respect and honour given to your traditional customs.  That can only serve to strengthen your local parish's Roman Catholic identity.  This is a win-win situation for Roman dioceses.  Don't pass the opportunity up when it arises.  Embrace the Anglican ordinariate, in the true spirit of Vatican II (a spirit of continuity not rupture), and your diocese will be blessed because of it.

To all those entering the Church through the ordinariate, most especially to Anglicans for whom these ordinariates are being created, I would like to admonish you to fully embrace the Catholic faith as well as the Anglican Patrimony.  Most especially, nurture the Anglican Patrimony, which is primarily liturgical of course, but can also include personal and family customs that are unique to Anglican history and English culture.  The Holy Father has made it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that he EXPECTS us to build something new and unique in the universal Church.  He does not want us to be absorbed into the Roman Rite as a community.  Granted, if individuals (or families) want to be absorbed into the general Roman Rite, than that is fine, and that is their choice.  As an Anglo Catholic community however, those of us who choose to remain part of that, should endeavour to be unique and distinct, keeping with our Anglican Patrimony and forging ahead in Traditional development.  Remember, it was our most conservative Anglican traditions that brought us INTO the Catholic Church, and it is those same conservative Anglican traditions that will help us move forward WITHIN the Catholic Church. As for today however, let us celebrate and give thanks to the Lord. Today history is made. Today marks a new beginning not only for Anglicans (Episcopalians) in the United States, but also for Roman Catholics as well, as we will both mutually benefit from this ordinariate arrangement.

U.S. Anglican Ordinary Named?

Father Jeffrey Steenson

(Virtue Online) -- "It is being noised Jeffrey Steenson, the former Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande in the Episcopal Church, who was received into the Catholic Church in 2007 and is now a priest, will be named Ordinary of the American Anglican Ordinariate on January 1, 2012," the Bovina Bloviator posted under an Ordinariate Buzz header.

Steenson's Anglo-Catholic pedigree comes from being an Episcopal priest for 24 years including stints as the curate and rector at two Pennsylvania parishes -- All Saints' Church in Wynnewood, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, before going on to St. Andrew's in Fort Worth, Texas. From there he was elected, in 2004, to be bishop coadjutor for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande under Bishop Terence Kelshaw. The former Rio Grande bishop has the distinction of being the 1000th Episcopal Church bishop consecrated with his "lappets" stretching all the way back to the first Bishop of Connecticut, Samuel Seabury who was consecrated in 1784. Steenson's consecrators included then Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, his predecessor Bishop Terence Kelshaw, Anglo-Catholic Bishop Clarence Pope, indigenous Bishop Mark McDonald, and ecumenical Bishop Anthony Burton from the Anglican Church of Canada. Steenson became the eighth diocesan bishop in 2005. He was an Episcopal bishop for two short years before swimming the Tiber.

The Anglo-Catholic Bishop of the Rio Grande shed the purple in December 2007 and was received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This was done in Rome, Italy, at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major during a private ceremony officiated by Bernard Cardinal Law, the former Catholic Cardinal of Boston and then archpriest at a Roman basilica.

The former Episcopal bishop embraced the Pastoral Provision that allows for former Anglican clergy to become Roman Catholics and eventually recoup their priesthood. The Pastoral Provision is the precursor to the unfolding Anglican Ordinariate and will operate along side of it for those converting priests who do not wish to become a part of the Ordinariate yet want to become Roman Catholic....

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I would like to remind my readers that this is all 'unofficial' at this time, as Rome has not actually made the official announcement yet. I provide it here only because the information has already been leaked onto the Internet. It should be considered a highly credible RUMOR. However this information is allegedly confirmed by multiple inside sources, and is being accepted as factual by some who are supposedly 'in the know.' I suppose we will all know for sure on January 1st.

Novena for the U.S. Anglican Ordinariate

Our Lady of the Atonement
Anglican devotion to Mary -- the Mother of God

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: On January 1st 2012, on the Feast of the Holy Mother of God, Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to create an ordinariate for Anglicans in the United States of America, and name an ordinary for its leadership. Let us pray a novena for the Holy Father, requesting of our Blessed Mother her intercession, that the Holy Father will receive the grace of strength and wisdom to complete this historic event.

The creation of the U.S. ordinariate for Anglicans will turn the restoration of authentic Anglo Catholicism into an international movement. This will demonstrate Pope Benedict's Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus is truly a prophetic document and now a permanent fixture of the Catholic Church -- literally an authentic fulfilment of the ecumenical vision of the Second Vatican Council according to how the conciliar fathers intended. (Not the liberal ideas of syncretism that developed after the council.)

The U.S. Catholic Church will benefit from the U.S. ordinariate in many ways, helping to coax U.S. Catholics into a more traditional way of viewing the liturgy and sacraments. A door will be opened not only for U.S. Anglicans/Episcopalians, leading to full unity with the Catholic Church, but also for U.S. Lutherans and other liturgically-minded Christians who may wish to be a part of this historic movement. An international means will have been created to preserve the Anglican patrimony, under Catholic orthodoxy, which will certainly outlast the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Continuum.

Please join The Catholic Knight in praying the following Novena December 23 through December 31 of 2011, as we await the historic announcement on January 1st.

This novena is to be said along with a daily rosary...

Our dearest Mother Mary, behold us, your children, in prayer at your feet. Accept this Holy Rosary, which we offer you in accordance with your requests at Fatima, as proof of our tender love for you, for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in atonement for the offences committed against your Immaculate Heart, and for this special favour which we earnestly request in this Rosary Novena: That the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, be aided with divine grace in the creation of the U.S. ordinariate for Anglicans.  Amen.

ALLELUIA !!! The New English Mass Is Here !!!

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The countdown is over, the new English mass is here!!! By now the last mass of the old "defective" English translation has been said in the United States, and it is permenantly suppressed -- gone forever! Tomorrow morning, we awake for mass with the new English translation, a better translation, one more faithful to the original Latin text. For the FIRST TIME in the United States, the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo) mass will be said in English PROPERLY, according to how it was intended to be said, way back when it was first released in 1970. For the FIRST TIME EVER, Catholic Americans will hear the REAL WORDS of the mass -- properly translated. An entire generation has passed -- literally -- and for the FIRST TIME EVER the post-conciliar youth (everyone under the age of 45) will hear the English mass as it was intended to be heard. This is an historic day indeed. Enjoy it!

I cannot begin to stress enough the momentous occasion this is. It marks the beginning. By that I mean the beginning of the end for bland Modernist innovation. I also mean the beginning of the beginning for the restoration of tradition. Yes, it's going to be a long road to reform ahead, but from now on we will see nothing but progress toward that end, sometimes a little progress, sometimes a lot, but always progress. The Modernist experiment has failed, resulting in the loss of souls and the gutting of the Church. Those days are now beginning to die out. The new English translation of the mass is here. The U.S. Anglican ordinariate is soon coming (in just 34 days from today). The Extraordinary Form (Tridentine) mass is here to stay. The generation of the 1970s priesthood officially begins its retirement in this decade. The Vatican is to start a new commission on sacred music, art and architecture with the authority to enforce their directives. The whole Modernist house of cards is all beginning to fall. The historic Catholic Church is beginning to rise. THIS IS IT!   IT HAS BEGUN !!!   We will be the first to witness the reforms of Vatican II as they were originally intended! 

That's not to say there won't be setbacks, scandals, and delays in the future. There will be. Overall however, the movement is in the direction of progress toward the traditional Church. As I said, the progress may be slow at times, and fast at other times, but always progress, always toward tradition.

It's over my readers! It's finally over. No the fight isn't over, but the unfair advantage is. I'm speaking of the unfair advantage the Modernists had over English-speaking parishes and dioceses, up until this evening. Now it's over. They are crippled now. What gave them the flexibility to innovate was the poor English translation of the Novus Ordo mass. That flexibility is gone now. Anything they do against the new translation, or the rubrics of the mass, will be seen as a gross violation and DISOBEDIENCE to the POPE !!! That's not to say it won't happen. (It probably will.) But their cover is blown. They no longer have anything to hide behind. It's the beginning of the end for them -- unless of course they reform their ways.  If they reform, even reluctantly, than they come over to our side, and we gain new allies.  Those who won't reform would do well to retire at the earliest opportunity.

From this night forward, the only place the old English translation of the mass can be heard is in a protestant or schismatic sect.  My understanding is that some Protestants are quite fond of it.

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has now given the English-speaking Church everything we need to reform ourselves. In time we will. This is inevitable. That however, doesn't mean he's finished. There is more reform coming, but I do not know when. Eventually, the Novus Ordo mass itself will be rewritten, so the second half of the liturgy will look more like the Tridentine mass, but you're guess is as good as mine as to when. For now expect big changes at your local parish unlike anything you've seen in 40 years! Slowly but surely, with relentless incrementalism, the Holy Father (Pope Benedict XVI) is turning this great ship around.  This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad!!!  DEO GRATIAS.

Pope Approves US Ordinariate for Anglicans

Cardinal Donald Wuerl addresses the U.S. Bishop's Conference
on November 15, 2011

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has just approved the creation of a U.S. Ordinariate for Anglicans seeking to enter the Catholic Church. The ordinariate will be erected on January 1st, 2012. The name of the ordinariate and the ordinary will be released at that time. Cardinal Wuerl made the announcement today at the USCCB Conference, though the pope had actually made the approval on October 28, 2011 in the presence of Cardinal Levada. Cardinal Wuerl was authorised to make the announcement today at the bishops conference. The full text of Cardinal Wuerl's report can be viewed HERE. Another blogger has prepared a general Q&A for Roman Catholics here.

BREAKING: Pope Beatifies Nun Who Gave Serious Prophecies On Coming Chastisement

Blessed Elena Aiello

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Today, September 14, 2011 the pope beatifies Sister Elena Aiello, a mystic and stigmatic, who reported visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prophecies concerning the coming Chastisement of God that will soon be poured out on the whole world. The prophecies she reported are closely related to the Third Secret of Fatima and concern many of the things reported on this blog.

In this act it would appear the pope is making a clear statement that the prophecies of Sister Elena are "worthy of belief" and the timing of this beatification is worthy of note as well.  It is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the fourth anniversary of the effective date for Summorum Pontificum, and the date on which a grand gesture was made on behalf of the Vatican to the SSPX, effectively reinforcing the pope's teaching that Vatican II was merely a "pastoral" council. 

The message of Sister Elena was one of repentance and parallels that of Fatima.  A fairly complete synopsis of her life story can be read here, while a fairly concise record of her prophecies, in relation to the prophecies of similar Church mystics, can be read here.

The Catholic Knight will provide some excerpts here....

On the state of world governments...
“Upon initiating the usual sufferings, about the hour of 1:00 p.m., Jesus appeared to me, covered with wounds and bleeding, saying to me: ‘Behold my child, see to what ends the sins of man have reduced me. The world has lowered itself in overflowing corruption. The governments of the people have risen like demons incarnated, and, while they speak of peace they prepare for war with the most devastating implements to destroy peoples and nations. Men have become ungrateful to My Sacred Heart, and abusing My Mercy, have transformed the earth into a scene of crime’.  - given on April 16, 1954

On the state of families and youth...
‘Numerous scandals are bringing souls to ruin particularly through the corruption of youth. Stirred up, and unrestrained in the enjoyment of the pleasures of the world, they have degraded their spirit in corruption and sin. The bad example of parents trains the family in scandal and infidelity, instead of virtue and prayer, which is almost dead on the lips of many. Stained and withered is the fountain of faith and sanctity the home’. - given on April 16, 1954

“The times are grievous. The whole world is in turmoil, because IT HAS BECOME WORSE THAN AT THE TIME OF THE DELUGE!”  “Everything is in suspense, like a thread; when this thread breaks, the justice of God will fall like a thunderbolt and will complete its terrible course of purification.” - given on December 8, 1956

On the state of the Church...
‘The Church is opposed, and the priests are despised because of the bad ones who give scandal. Help Me, by suffering, to repair for so many offenses, and thus save AT LEAST IN PART, humanity precipitated in a slough of corruption and death’.  - given on April 16, 1954

“My heart bleeds for Italy also, which will be safe only in part for the Pope! Oh!, what grief to see the representative of Christ on earth hated, persecuted, outraged!”  “He, who is the Spiritual Father of the people, the defender of the Faith and of truth, whose face, radiant with light, shines upon the world, is greatly hated.”  “He, who personifies Christ on earth, doing good for all, becomes thus outraged with impunity!”  “Many iniquitous and wicked leaders of the people, who live and drag along with them their people outside the laws of God, showing themselves in sheep’s’ clothing, while being rapacious wolves, have ruined society, stirring it up against God and His Church.”  “How can the world be saved, from the disaster that is about to crash down upon the misleading nations, if man does not repent of his errors and failings? The only salvation is a complete repentance and return to God, and a true devotion to my Immaculate Heart, particularly in the daily recitation of my Rosary.”  “Once there was the chastisement by water, but if there is not a returning to God, there will come the chastisement by fire, which will cover the streets of the world with blood.” - given on March 23, 1961

On the coming Chastisement of God...
“In so saying Our Lord God disappeared. Then the Madonna appeared to me. She was dressed in black, with seven swords piercing Her Immaculate Heart. Coming closer, with an expression of profound sorrow, and with tears on her cheeks, she spoke to me, saying: ‘Listen attentively, and reveal to all:  ‘My Heart is sad for so many sufferings in an impending world in ruin. The justice of Our Father is most offended. Men live in their obstinacy of sin. The wrath of God is near. Soon the world will be afflicted with great calamities, bloody revolutions, frightful hurricanes, and the overflowing of streams and the seas’.  ‘Cry out until the priests of God lend their ears to my voice, to advise men that the time is near at hand, and if men do not return to God with prayers and penances, the world will be overturned in a new and more terrible war. Arms most deadly will destroy peoples and nations! The dictators of the earth, specimens infernal, will demolish the churches and desecrate the Holy Eucharist, and will destroy things most dear. In this impious war, much will be destroyed of that which has been built by the hands of man’.  ‘CLOUDS WITH LIGHTNING FLASHES OF FIRE IN THE SKY AND A TEMPEST OF FIRE SHALL FALL UPON THE WORLD. THIS TERRIBLE SCOURGE, NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY, WILL LAST SEVENTY HOURS. GODLESS PERSONS WILL BE CRUSHED AND WIPED OUT. MANY WILL BE LOST BECAUSE THEY REMAIN IN THEIR OBSTINACY OF SIN. THEN SHALL BE SEEN THE POWER OF LIGHT OVER THE POWER OF DARKNESS’.  ‘Be not silent, my daughter, because the hours of darkness, of abandonment, are near. ‘I am bending over the world, holding in suspension the justice of God. OTHERWISE THESE THINGS WOULD ALREADY HAVE NOW COME TO PASS. Prayers and penances are necessary because men MUST RETURN TO GOD and to My Immaculate Heart—the Mediatrix of men to God, and thus THE WORLD WILL BE AT LEAST IN PART SAVED’.  ‘Cry out these things to all, like the very echo of my voice. Let this be known to all, because it will help save many souls, and prevent much destruction in the Church and in the world’. - given on April 16, 1954

‘If men do not amend their ways, a terrifying scourge of fire will come down from Heaven upon all the nations of the world, and men will be punished according to the debts contracted with Divine justice. There will be frightful moments for all, because Heaven will be joined with the earth, and all the un-Godly people will be destroyed, SOME NATIONS WILL BE PURIFIED, WHILE OTHERS WILL DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY’.  You are to transmit these warnings to all, in order that the new generation will know that men had been warned in time to turn to God by doing penance, and thus could have avoided these punishments’.  But when will all this come about?’ I asked Our Lady.” ‘My daughter,’ answered the Blessed Mother, ‘the time is not far off. When men least expect it, the course of Divine Justice will be accomplished’. - given on April 8, 1955

Sister Elena Aiello asked Our Blessed Mother: “What will become of Italy? Will Rome be saved?” “The Madonna answered:” ‘In part, by the Pope! The Church will be in travail, but the forces of Hell cannot prevail! You must suffer for the Pope and Christ, and thus Christ will be safe on earth; and the Pope, with his redemptive word, will, in part, save the world.’  “The Madonna then came closer, and with a sad expression, showed me the flames of Hell. She said:” ‘Satan reigns and triumphs on earth! See how the souls are falling into Hell. See how high the flames are, and the souls who fall into them like flakes of snow look like transparent embers! How many sparks! How many cries of hate, and of despair! How much pain!’  ‘See how many priestly souls! Look at the sign of their consecration in their transparent hands! (In the palms of their hands the sign of the cross, in more vivid fire, could clearly be seen!) What torture, my daughter, in my maternal Heart! Great is my sorrow to see that men do not change! The justice of the Father requires reparation — otherwise many will be lost!’   “See how Russia will burn!” Before my eyes there extended an immense field covered with flames and smoke, in which souls were submerged as if in a sea of fire!  “And all this fire,” concluded the Madonna, “is not that which will fall from the hands of men, but will be hurled directly from the Angels (at the time of the great chastisement or “housecleaning” that will come upon the earth). Therefore I ask prayers, penance and sacrifice, so I may act as Mediatrix for my Son in order to save souls.” - given on April 7, 1950

The Madonna speaks: “The hour of the justice of God is close, and will be terrible!”  “Tremendous scourges are impending over the world, and various nations are struck by epidemics, famines, great earthquakes, terrific hurricanes, with overflowing rivers and seas, which bring ruin and death.”  “If the people do not recognize in these scourges (of nature) the warnings of Divine Mercy, and do not return to God with truly Christian living, ANOTHER TERRIBLE WAR WILL COME FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST. RUSSIA WITH HER SECRET ARMIES WILL BATTLE AMERICA; WILL OVERRUN EUROPE.  The river Rhine will be overflowing with corpses and blood. Italy, also, will be harassed by a great revolution, and the Pope will suffer terribly.”  “Spread the devotion to my Immaculate Heart, in order that many souls maybe conquered by my love and that many sinners may return to my Maternal Heart. Do not fear, for I will accompany with my maternal protection my faithful ones, and all those who accept my urgent warnings, and they — especially by the recitations of my Rosary — will be saved.”  “Satan goes furiously through this disordered world, and soon will show all his might. But, because of my Immaculate Heart, the triumph of Light will not delay in its triumph over the power of darkness, and the world, finally, will have tranquility and peace.”  - given on August 22, 1960

Is Vatican II Optional?

The Second Vatican Council

(Rorate Caeli) - The great novelty comes from the Roman side. Le Figaro has learned that the Holy See could, for the first time, admit that these aspects fought by the "Integrists" are not considered as "essential" to the Catholic faith to the point of keeping outside the Church those who do not admit them. And that what has been foundational to the Catholic faith for twenty centuries is the sole [aspect] considered fundamental for communion with the Holy See, and not the interpretation from the last Council to this day.

Great autonomy of action

Another consequence: the Holy See, after it is verified tomorrow that Bishop Fellay and his faithful share the essence of the Catholic faith - which remains a demand and a sine qua non condition for Rome -, would propose to them a juridical solution so that the Fraternity of Saint Pius X is from this point forward considered a Catholic entity and not foreign to the ecclesial body anymore....

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: If the report is accurate, (and we must always question that when it comes to inside Vatican information), than in actuality this would not surprise me. Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Paul VI specifically said the Second Vatican Council was "pastoral" in nature, and by extension, it "remain[s] on a [more] modest level" than previous Church councils (read more here). Both popes openly stated the Council defined no dogma at all.

So if what we have in Vatican II are purely "pastoral" documents, which should of course be taken seriously, and nothing new was dogmatically defined by Vatican II, than by extension, any group of Catholics who choose to ignore the council, but instead cling to the pre-conciliar teaching of the Church, cannot be held liable for heresy. If they're not heretics, and they subscribe to all the pre-conciliar teachings of the Church, than by definition, they are Catholic, whether they chose to accept Vatican II or not.

I'm sorry but that's just how it has to be. If the Second Vatican Council bishops chose to attach a note of infallibility to any one of the documents produced, than we would have a whole different story. That would change everything. But in fact, they did not do this, and as Pope Paul VI pointed out, that was intentional. So if Vatican II taught nothing new, than technically speaking, Catholics don't have to accept it, or so it would seem. Or they can accept part of it. Or they can accept all of it. It seems almost arbitrary. Sorry, but that's the nature of pastoral teaching when it has no infallibility attached to it. Based on what Pope Paul VI said, echoed by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, it was as if Vatican II was more of a "Super Synod" than an actual "Church Council." As far as I know, no previous Church Council neglected to include an infallible document of some sort.

So what are we to make of Vatican II? I've read the documents and I personally see no problem with any of them, because you see it all depends on the context in which you read them. As Pope Benedict XVI pointed out, it's the difference between the "hermeneutic of continuity" verses the "hermeneutic of rupture." If the Vatican II documents are interpreted within the context and continuity of previous Church teaching, than they make fairly good sense. If however, one were to interject one's own fanciful context, or if one were to jettison all previous Church teaching, so as to interpret the Council in a vacuum, as a stand-alone catechism that is super-dogmatic, than we run into all kinds of problems. This is what Pope Benedict XVI has warned us against, and indeed it is this very "hermeneutic of rupture" that has caused so many problems in recent decades, in effect causing Archbishop Lefebvre (founder of the SSPX) to reject the Council outright. For Lefebvre, and the bishops he illicitly consecrated (including Fellay), the Second Vatican Council was to be judged on the fruit it produced, not necessarily by the intent of the Council fathers. They saw the dogmatic ambiguity of Vatican II documents as an open door to all the filth in the world, and so they challenged these documents on their face value, calling into question their very authority. Unfortunately, it looks like while their solution was extreme, and reckless, the premise of their basic argument may have been sound. If the SSPX takes up this offer, it will send shockwaves through the entire Catholic Church, because it will codify in action what Pope Benedict XVI has been saying all along, in continuity with what Pope Paul VI said. Namely that the Second Vatican Council is just pastoral, and that it cannot be interpreted authoritatively unless it is done so in context with all previous Church teaching, changing absolutely not one iota of it. In other words, if the SSPX accepts this offer, it will codify in action a joint Vatican-SSPX refutation of every Modernist heresy and innovation ever created over the last four decades! I guarantee, this will not go over well in the most liberal dioceses in Europe, and could cause some not-so-minor problems here in North America. It is for this reason I welcome it.

A Traditional Ordinariate ?

Bishop, priests and altar servers of the SSPX

(Vatican Insider) - Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Lefebvre, has been summoned to the Vatican next 14 September. It is the first summit after the doctrinal talks last year in Rome, where there were clashes between the Holy See and Lefebvrian delegations....

...Although the Pope, in a gesture of goodwill, nullified the excommunication of the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in January 2009, bishops and priests of St. Pius X still live in a state of canonical irregularity.

The proposal which has been studied by the Vatican, would allow Lefebvrists the establishment of an ordinariate similar to that offered by the Pope has to Anglicans who wanted to come into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. In this way, the Fraternity would depend on the Holy See (and specifically on the Ecclesia Dei Commission) and could retain its characteristics without having to answer to the diocesan bishops.

The meeting of 14 September, that Vatican Insider is able to confirm, therefore, represents a new step in the journey of these troubled years. But it is premature to provide conclusions: in fact, it is known that within the SSPX there coexist different sensitivities and some consider difficult to reach an agreement...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I wish to caution my readers against speculation as to what this September 14th meeting might entail. Predicted events regarding the SSPX have consistently backfired, as relations between the Vatican and the Fraternity have proved to be unpredictable since the lifting of the excommunications in January of 2009. The only thing we have learned from Bishop Bernard Fellay is that he is very skilled at giving lengthy interviews that tell us virtually nothing, and nobody in the Vatican is willing to talk on this at all. (That's probably a good thing.)

What I find interesting about this story is the proposal of an ordinariate structure for the SSPX. I had heard in the past the possibility of this, and also the possibility of a personal prelature, though I think this current pope prefers the ordinariate structure to a prelature, but who am I to guess the mind of Pope Benedict the Great.

If an ordinariate structure should ever be offered than it certainly would be a game changer for the Roman Rite. For starters, such a structure would instantly legitimize dozens of currently illicit (though perfectly valid) parishes here in the United States. Suddenly, your local SSPX chapter would instantly become a perfectly acceptable parish for any local Catholic to visit openly. The ordinariate structure would offer every traditional priest in every diocese and order the very thing they've been looking for, which is a chance to practice the Extraordinary Form in everything without having to worry about diocesan politics and stubborn bishops. In all likelihood, the FSSP and similar traditional orders, will be immediately absorbed into this new ordinariate structure, as these priests will likely seek entry as soon as possible. What we would be looking at is a total consolidation of all traditional Catholics into one structure, with the exception of those in dioceses where the bishop has been very accommodating to traditional Catholics. This is how I see it going down, IF such an ordinariate structure should be created, and that's a big "if."

First and foremost, traditional Catholics in dioceses where the bishops are already extremely accommodating to them will likely notice no change at all. They already have everything they could ever need or want in the diocese, so the Traditional Ordinariate would have nothing new to offer them. Now as for those traditional Catholics who find themselves in dioceses where the bishops have been less than accommodating, or have tried to be accommodating but they have been obstructed by modernist priests in the diocese who work against the traditionalists (bumping EF mass times, scheduling confirmations, etc.), than the ordinariate will have a lot to offer and will sound very appealing. The Traditional Ordinariate would be able to set up a parish in an area, with or without, episcopal approval from the diocesan bishop. (Of course diocesan bishops will always be consulted in advance in an attempt to work together.) Once the parish is set up, with or without diocesan cooperation, these parishes will be able to function fully under the care of the ordinary priest and his ordinary superior (presumably an ordinary bishop). At that point, virtually every traditional Catholic within reasonable distance will be attending mass at that parish. It will grow rapidly, and likely need to expand to create other parishes within the region. Do you see what is happening here? Between the emerging Anglican Ordinariate parishes, and the possibility of Traditional Ordinariate parishes, every tradition-loving Catholic, in every major city, and soon beyond, will have access to a tradition-loving parish either in Tudor English or Latin.  This leave local diocesan bishops with nothing left to do but clean up their Novus Ordo mess.

England Is The Key To Save Europe (and the West)

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: We are all familiar with the Fatima prophecies concerning the conversion of Russia, and the necessity of this in the restoration of the world after the godless hell of Marxist atheism and Secular humanism. However, Our Lady of Fatima specifically stated that the conversion of Russia is contingent upon the actions of the pope. Russia must be consecrated to Mary's Immaculate Heart, in union with all the bishops of the world, and then Russia will be converted. By "converted" it is generally assumed to mean the Russian Orthodox Church (and the state as well) will be reconciled to Rome. We do not know when, or exactly how, this will happen, but it is an action reserved almost exclusively for the pope. As for the rest of us, all we can do is pray, considering Our Lady's message to live holy and chaste lives. To show our love and obedience, we may practice the devotion of "the First Saturday" as well as pray the Fatima prayers of the Holy Rosary frequently. This however is all we can do for Russia at this time.

Our Lady of Walsingham

However, many Catholic mystics across the generations have pointed to another crusade much closer to home, and one in which we can do a whole lot more. The Nation of England, Great Britain, otherwise known as the United Kingdom (U.K.) is pointed out by the Catholic seers and mystics across multiple generations as the "key" or the "linchpin" to the reconversion of Europe (and the West) after the great Western apostasy of the 20th century. Once considered "Mary's Dowry" this great Catholic nation fell into the Protestant Reformation, quite unwillingly and brutally, due to the apostasy of a king who could no longer see beyond his own political assumptions. Because of this, England fell into a 500 year spiritual death spiral. Today it is barely recognizable as a Christian nation, ruled by godless secularism and moral relativism, while Islam threatens to become the dominant religion on the island. England is spiritually dead now. It has reached the end of it's long death spiral. Now it faces a striking and painful choice. Shall it rebuild it's Catholic heritage? Or give up! allowing the Muslims to rebuild England for them into an Islamic state? Yes, it really has come to that, and yes, now is the time for decision.

I will leave you with the following video in two parts. They are stirring to say the least. If you want to help, you can! If you speak English as your native tongue, than you are connected to the restoration of Catholic England by virtue of your heritage. I will leave links for you to explore just below the video...




THE WALSINGHAM PROJECT (website)
THE WALSINGHAM PROJECT (pdf download)
PRAYERS FOR ENGLAND OUTSIDE THE UK (pdf download)
PRAYERS FOR ENGLAND INSIDE THE UK (pdf download)
HENRY VIII's BOOK "Defense of the Sacraments" (website)
JOIN THE WALSINGHAM PRAYER CRUSADE (website)
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Anglicanism Implodes While Anglican Catholicism Rises

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams
No, I don't know what he's doing. 

(Telegraph) - Here’s the reality. The Anglican Communion has disintegrated on Rowan Williams’s watch, partly thanks to his habit of saying one thing to fundamentalist Africans and quite another to liberal Americans. His own bench of bishops is hopelessly divided on key moral issues, and Rowan’s hand-wringing isn’t uniting them.

Out of four bishops commissioned to look after traditionalist congregations, three have left the C of E to become Catholic monsignors. Over fifty Anglican ministers are being ordained RC priests this month.
You may or may not sympathise with their decision. But one thing’s for sure. When Pope Benedict is confronted by a major crisis in his Church, he doesn’t take time off to guest edit a secular magazine in the hope of impressing his mates...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Yes, Anglicanism is imploding around the world, not just in England, but the Anglican Communion is in good company. Lutheranism is on it's last leg too, as well as Methodism, Presbyterianism, etc. In fact, the only two Christian denominations that are growing right now are the Catholic Church and Evangelical/Pentecostal communities. Everything else is in decline. So Anglicans shouldn't feel too bad about that. It's nothing specific to their brand of Christianity. That being said however, Anglicanism does present an interesting microcosm of what is happening in the entire Protestant world.

Before I go on, let me say what this is NOT about. This is not about English Christianity or English Christians in general. It certainly has nothing to do with English heritage. So this is not an attack on Anglicanism in particular. What this is about is Protestantism in general, and specifically, it is about the very premise of what Protestantism is built on. It's taken about five-hundred years, but in that time we have witness the complete and total erosion of the Christian faith.

The problem goes right back to the Protestant Reformation itself (AD 1517 - 1648). It really begins with Martin Luther actually, and believe it or not, his Ninety-Five Thesis has little to do with it. It actually begins in 1520 with a declaration made by Martin Luther of Sola Scriptura or "Scripture Alone" which teaches that the Bible is the ONLY inspired word of God, that it is the ONLY source of Christian doctrine, and that the Bible requires no interpretation outside of itself, meaning that anyone may interpret it authoritatively. This is in direct contradiction to the historic teaching of Christianity that the Bible can only be authentically interpreted in the context of Apostolic Tradition and by the successors of the Apostles themselves. This idea of Sola Scriptura was later adopted by the Church of England in the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1646...

VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

So began a "hermeneutic of rupture" with historic Christianity in the Protestant world that began with Martin Luther, spread across all of Europe, and found it's way into the Church of England. Now the Church of England, and the broader Anglican Communion, has undergone many transformations over the centuries, and I don't propose to suggest the Westminster Confession captures the heart and soul of Anglicanism today. I simply mean to say this was one of the seeds that started it all.  By adopting Sola Scriptura, the Anglicans set themselves up for a train wreck in slow motion that would take hundreds of years to see it's final devastation.   If scripture, tradition and reason are all anyone needs, than by one man's reason, Scripture can be reinterpreted anyway one wants based on the tradition one chooses.  So began the formula of Anglicanism's demise.  In the Oxford Movement the Anglicans saw a brief reprieve of hope, in which for a moment, it looked as if things might turn around, but this hope was soon lost in the twentieth century with the Anglican adoption of artificial contraception, followed by liberal attitudes toward abortion, feminism and homosexuality.  The only thing the Oxford Movement provided was a way out for those Anglicans who wanted it -- a way to step off the train wreck before the final crunch -- a way that is seeing it's completion in Pope Benedict's personal ordinariate for Anglicans.

With the rise of the Anglican ordinariate in the UK, English Christians are now faced with a crystal clear choice.  Pope Benedict has effectively adopted the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (or 98% of it anyway) as an authentic Catholic liturgy.  He has created a means for Anglo-Catholics to govern themselves within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.  He has given English Christians everything that could possibly be given, and now the ball is squarely in their court.  Aesthetically, the ordinariates are in every way English.  They fully embrace the Anglican Patrimony of the last five-hundred years and beyond. The clergy of these ordinariates are autonomous, in the sense that they cannot be absorbed by the larger Roman Rite.  It is everything the Oxford Fathers could have imagined and then some.  So now, with that being said, what will English Christians choose?  That is a matter for history to decide.  The choice is no longer between English and Roman.  Rome has retreated, shall we say, at least liturgically, but it has done so with dignity, and the English ethos now permanently rules through the ordinariate.  Of course the general Roman Rite will always be available for those who want it, but no more will English Christians have to choose between Rome and their Anglican heritage.  Now, if they want it, they can have both.

The choice is no longer between Rome and Canterbury, but it is now simply a choice between Catholicism and Protestantism.  All the Church of England, and the broader Anglican Communion, has to offer now is a difference in doctrine.  Anglicans can no longer boast of a unique Christian culture, heritage and ethos.  All of this now exists in the ordinariates.  So the real choice is simply between doctrine and nothing more.  Is Scripture subject to one's own private interpretations, or is it part of a broader Christian Tradition that should be interpreted by the successors to the apostles?  Is Christ only spiritually present in the Eucharist, or is he really truly there in a physical sense?  Does moral relativism rule Christianity, or is there really such a thing as absolute right and wrong?  These are the questions that face English Christians now.  This is the choice they must now make.  It is no longer an issue of "being English."  That can be done within the ordinariates.  The question is now one of being Christian.  What would the apostles do?

As for the Church of England, and the broader Anglican Communion, I think we all know what it's future holds.  The Communion is now in the process of being shattered.  The Africans and Asians will go the way of the Evangelicals, breaking communion with Canterbury and England just as they already have with The Episcopal Church in the United States.  These Anglo-Evangelicals will follow the rest of the world's Evangelicals into their own discovery of the inadequacies of Sola Scriptura.  As for what remains of Anglo-Catholicism in England, North America, Australia and New Zealand, it will continue to follow the path of Liberal Modernism to it's ultimate conclusion -- which is total relativism and final apostasy -- creating an anti-church that in every way looks and sounds Catholic but in reality teaches an entirely different gospel.  Like all liberal churches, it will eventually shrink to practically nothing, and then rely on inter-communion with other liberal churches to shore up it's lost numbers.  The irony of the whole thing is this.  Liberal Anglicans make the accusation that Rome will eventually absorb the ordinariates into the Roman Rite, leaving nothing of the Anglican patrimony behind, even though Rome has already made such action impossible though canon law.  While at the same time, the Canterbury communion has itself consigned itself to it's own absorption of relativist syncretism through denominational inter-communion.