Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz criticised the Vatican’s June 17 ruling upholding the ban on lay preaching at Mass as “not entirely coherent”. He noted that lay preaching has become common practice and said he would neither intervene nor impose canonical sanctions.
The Vatican's reasoning for the ban on lay preaching is "not entirely consistent," Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz told Katholisch.de on August 11. "The letter from the Prefect for Liturgy states that only the priest celebrating Mass may preach. But taken to its logical conclusion, that would mean a concelebrating priest or an assisting deacon shouldn't be allowed to preach either." Lay Preaching Is No Problem In the Diocese of Mainz, occasional lay preaching has become an established practice and Bishop Kohlgraf has no intention of changing that. In some parishes, "it is customary for laypeople to preach," he said. "If I hear about it, I won't take disciplinary action or impose canonical sanctions." "Denunciations" Are a Problem Bishop Kohlgraf is concerned that the directive from Rome could encourage "denunciations": "There are people who report liturgical violations straight to the bishop and write directly to me. That happened before too - individual people would complain to me - but …More
Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo plans the first diocesan synod in Oslo before the 2030 jubilee of St. Olaf. “A diocesan synod is not a democratic assembly,” Bishop Hansen wrote on August 6 on Katolsk.no, the website of the Catholic Church in Norway. “As bishop, I am also obliged to exclude from the synod anything that contradicts or calls into question the doctrine of the Church,” he added. “It is not for us to decide on matters of faith and morals.” The synod will arrive at plans and documents that are “presented to me as bishop and brought to a decision by me.” Bishop Hansen indicated that participation in the assemblies would probably resemble “a considerably expanded pastoral council.” He compared his diocesan synod with the synods held by St Archbishop Charles Borromeo of Milan “in accordance with the provisions of the Council of Trent.” However, his working method “will resemble that of the Second Vatican Council,” he threatened. Bishop Hansen recently extended permission for the …More
On 6 August, Italian journalist David Murgia published the results of a confidential 2016 consultation within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje on IlSegnoDiGiona.com. Two Thirds of the Congregation said Medjugorje was NOT Supernatural According to Murgia, 33 participants were asked to provide written opinions, or 'vota', on the Medjugorje phenomenon. Murgia reports the following results (17 September 2016): 21 participants chose 'constat de non supernaturalitate' (not of supernatural origin). 9 participants chose 'constat de supernaturalitate' (supernatural origin). 3 chose 'non constat de supernaturalitate' (the supernatural character has not been established). This corresponds to approximately 63.6 per cent for 'not supernatural', while only nine voted in favour. Ruini Commission, 2010-2014 This voting followed the work of the International Commission of Inquiry on Medjugorje, commonly known as the Ruini Commission. The …More
Nothing sensational! The authenticity of the apparitions remained unresolved, yet what mattered were the many confessions and fervent prayers. That is why it is an important place of prayer!
On 4 August, Peruvian essayist Santiago Roncagliolo, in a lengthy interview with Daniel Titinger, described Leo XIV's behind-the-scenes methods as Bishop Robert Prevost of Chiclayo, Peru. According to Roncagliolo, Prevost quietly built coalitions, divided opponents, managed information, and preferred discreet political action to public confrontation. Roncagliolo is broadly sympathetic to Leo XIV. "As a character to narrate he was a nightmare. He has no phrases, no scenes, no gestures. You ask the sources: 'What did Prevost say at that dramatic and crucial moment?' 'Nothing, I think'.'" Weakening Opus Dei from Within Interviewer Titinger described Prevost as "a Trojan horse": "He understands the adversary, doesn't confront him openly, but disables him from within. He's always quiet; that's why he wasn't well known." Roncagliolo does not reject the characterization and discusses Prevost in those terms. He also explains how Prevost weakened Opus Dei: "Prevost divided Opus Dei. He offered …More
The Rupnik case: 22 previously undisclosed letters from women who belonged to the Slovenian Loyola Community and described alleged abuse by the famed mosaic artist are part of the records of alleged abuse.
Twenty-two previously undisclosed letters by members of the former Loyola Community in Slovenia have been included in the Vatican's ongoing canonical criminal trial, according to OSVNews.com (August 6). The letters were written during Easter 2000 after the community's superior, Sister Ivanka Hosta, asked the 40 sisters to write directly to Rupnik about their relationship with him as part of the Jubilee Year. The sisters were instructed to describe what had happened and to offer forgiveness in a process of reconciliation. Twenty-two of the letters describe psychological, spiritual or sexual abuse. The letters are held in the archives of the Loyola Community, now in the custody of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana. Their full contents have not been made public. According to OSVNews, the letters describe alleged manipulation, coercion, abuse of authority, and physical and sexual assaults. Several sisters said Fr Rupnik used spiritual direction and religious language to pressure them into acts …More
The Archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela, Spain, has distanced itself on August 5 from comments by one of its priests after he called for the "reconquest of Morocco and its conversion to Christianity" following the invasion into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. In a statement, the archdiocese said Rev. Javier Aizpún's remarks were "strictly personal opinions" that "neither represent nor are shared in any way by this diocesan Church." The controversy stemmed from a post on X.com in which Aizpún, parish priest of San Juan Evangelista in Huarte and a canon of Pamplona Cathedral, wrote: "May Our Lady of Africa, patron saint of Ceuta, inspire the reconquest of Morocco and its conversion to Christianity. May we finish what Queen Isabella the Catholic left undone." In subsequent posts, he also called for Spain to "bombard Rabat" and "open fire if necessary" in response to the mass crossing of invaders into Ceuta. Archbishop Florencio Roselló sought an explanation from Rev. Aizpún, describing the …More
Priest says migrants who swarmed Spanish city are ‘saints’
In the Moroccan invasion of Ceuta, people with katanas, jihadists, and all kinds of criminals have entered, but for "Father Ángel," they are true "saints."
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to the Catholic bishops of Florida demanding that Catholic schools in the Sunshine State adopt religious exemptions to vaccine requirements
Fr. Winfried Abel condemned the Islamic terror attack on a Berlin ‘pride’ parade but said Christians should view it as a divine ‘call to repentance,’ drawing a rebuke from the local bishop.
The retired Catholic priest Rev. Winfried Abel, 87, of the Diocese of Fulda, Germany, has come under criticism after publishing a letter (article's picture) in a local newspaper criticizing comments made by Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch about the city's homosexual march. The letter was written in the aftermath of the Islamic terrorist attack in Berlin, in which a man drove a van into participants of the annual homosexual march, killing one woman and injuring dozens. Priest Against "Public Glorification of Perversion" Archbishop Koch had described the homosexual march as "a joyful and moving celebration." Rev. Abel replied: "A Catholic bishop therefore calls the parade of shamelessness and the public glorification of perversion a 'joyful and moving celebration'?" He asked: "Have the shepherds of the Church not been entrusted with the prophetic mission of interpreting such events in the light of the Gospel?" While unequivocally condemning the terrorist attack, Rev. Abel argued that Christians …More
"However, sources close to the dicastery have told The Pillar that Pope Leo respects Roche, especially for how he has approached liturgical controversies with the German bishops’ conference, and that it’s at least plausible that the cardinal’s remarks came from an informed perspective on the matter."
Meanwhile, organizers of the traditionalist Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage told The Pillar that they have asked permission to celebrate a TLM in Saint Peter’s Basilica this year, but haven’t received a response. One of Leo’s concrete gestures towards traditionalist communities last year was allowing the celebration of a TLM during the pilgrimage in Saint Peter’s Basilica after not being allowed to do so in 2023 and 2024. One source said organizers of the pilgrimage intend to ask again after the summer. “The problem is that in the pope’s close circle, they saw that the Mass helped a lot of people but was also used as propaganda and they didn’t like that,” the source said. If Pope Leo declines to allow the pilgrimage to celebrate the TLM in St. Peter’s, that could be seen by many observers as a sign that he has grown cold to the idea of abrogating, reforming or even loosening the application Traditiones custodes. However, it is also possible that the lack of a response is a matter of …More
Card. Sarah: "Man, even contemporary man, absolutely needs God, to hear talk of the Gospel, of eternal life, of spirituality. It is never permissible to reduce the Gospel to social and horizontal themes, however relevant, because it is a failure to fulfill Christ's very will, who sent us to preach eternal salvation, and not social redemption"
"The Church is, at least in the West, in a time of great difficulty, even of confusion, both at the doctrinal level and at the moral and disciplinary level", Cardinal Robert Sarah told IlFoglio.it on August 2. For Cardinal Sarah, it is "a tragedy, indeed a real and proper sin", that there is "a kind of war" and "fierce conflicts" over the liturgy. Main quote: "No one has authority over the rites, which arise from the centuries-long history of the Church. The rites cannot be arbitrarily abolished, and no one can say that a rite no longer exists from one day to the next." The Cardinal wants to return to Benedict XVI.'s Summorum Pontificum, which allows the Mass in the Roman rite alongside the Novus Ordo: "Over the decades, the holy people of God will be able to choose which form best corresponds to their need for faith, silence and spirituality." He added: "Some excesses on the part of those attached to the extraordinary form are, in part, justified by the dramatic and widespread abuses …More
"Preserving the precious treasure of the traditional liturgy is part of preserving the Deposit of Faith," Bishop Athanasius Schneider said in his homily on August 2 in Limerick, Ireland, at the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. He is currently celebrating Mass and delivering talks in various locations across Ireland, including Cobh, Leixlip, Monaghan and Ardee. Previously, he was in Africa. In July, he led the golden jubilee celebrations of the Congregation of the Mothers and Missionaries of the Holy Cross in Puma, Tanzania. Interfering with the Liturgy Destroys Religion In Sunday's homily, Bishop Schneider recalled that "history has proved a thousand times that there is nothing more dangerous for a religion - nothing more likely to result in discontent, unrest, division, and apostasy - than interference with the liturgy and, consequently, with religious sensibility." He recalled the apostolic rule: "Antiquity was retained. Novelty was rejected." Quoting Dom Prosper Guéranger …More
Eine Kirche, die mit ihrer Vergangenheit bricht, ist nicht mehr die katholische Kirche. Es gibt nur eine katholische Kirche, das ist die, die die Tradition fortsetzt (Mons. Lefebvre)
"Synodality is a neologism invented by Bergoglio to destroy the Catholic Church, to democratize and Protestantize it. Let's call things by their name, my dears, because I'm fed up with being taken for fools! The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Roman, not synodal. That's anti-Catholic. What can synodality possibly give us? Well, the Church was already full of foxes, and now it will be even more so. Jesus Christ founded a hierarchical, non-democratic Church. It's not that Catholicism isn't democratic, but rather that it's anti-democratic, because Jesus Christ was condemned to death democratically. All the Greek philosophers were anti-democratic. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and so on. Even Cicero (in ancient Rome) was."
Visit our Blog: pagina-catolica.blogspot.com Father Gabriel Calvo Zarraute condemns synodality: "Synodality is a neologism invented by Bergoglio to destroy the Catholic Church, to democratize and Protestantize it. Let's call things by their name, my dears, because I'm fed up with being taken for fools! The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Roman, not synodal. That's anti-Catholic. What can synodality possibly give us? Well, the Church was already full of foxes, and now it will be even more so. Jesus Christ founded a hierarchical, non-democratic Church. It's not that Catholicism isn't democratic, but rather that it's anti-democratic, because Jesus Christ was condemned to death democratically. All the Greek philosophers were anti-democratic. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and so on. Even Cicero (in ancient Rome) was. All the ancient sages, all the great Greco-Roman thinkers, were against what we now understand as modern liberal democracy. So enough of this nonsense, especially when Pope …More
Pope Leo XIV receives Patti Smith, the pro-abortion artist who sang "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine"
This morning the Pope received Patti Smith in the Vatican, originally from Chicago, like him. Last May she had inaugurated the Holy See Pavilion at the Biennale, while in 2014 she had sung for Pope Francis in the Vatican