Papal armies could do the jobs Americans won’t do?

                THE POPE NEEDS NINJAS

With the news that the Vatican is supportive of military strikes on ISIS, I return to a question I first raised around here almost 10 years ago (and which lives on in my occasional Twitter declarations of “The Pope Needs Ninjas”). I wrote in 2005:

Why shouldn’t the Catholic Church bring back its army?

Hold on, hold on. I’m serious — at least insofar as I’m seriously asking the question. I’m not saying they should use an army for crusades for new lands or for conversion or anything like that. But why shouldn’t the Catholic Church have peacekeepers of its own? The use of force isn’t forbidden by Catholic law, I know that much. And the Swiss Guards still have weapons even on Vatican property. Why couldn’t the Pope dispatch armed soldiers to restore order, open food supplies, secure humaintarian efforts etc? The benefits here are many. Normal nations have to answer to all sorts of political contituencies and considerations that would not apply to the Papal Peacekeepers. I’m sure unwanted and unwarranted violence would result at some point. But Church doctrine already covers this. Meanwhile the Church could do an immense amount of good in the world. It could establish clear-cut guidelines about how and when it would intervene and the soldiers would obvious be very motivated to behave in an ethical manner. Dishonorable discharges are one thing, excommunication is another.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

If memory serves, almost nobody really liked the idea — except for me — when I first raised it. There were plenty of valid objections. For starters, such a move would be interpreted by the Muslim world as validation of Jihadi’s paranoid rhetoric about crusades. I also recall a lot of talk about such a move would run counter to, well, a lot of what the Church wants to stand for. These are all perfectly valid and maybe dispositive objections. But I still like the idea.

 

Whenever I bring up the idea — and after people realize I’m not joking —  a lot of the negative reactions seem rather instinctive and knee-jerk. 

 

One obvious sort of discomfort, I think, stems from an understandable distaste for anything that smacks of mixing religion and violence.  This is a very rich topic (and for those of a philosophical and theological bent, I heartily recommend reading the work of William Cavanaugh, starting with his “Killing for the Telephone Company“). But let me just offer two points on this score. I no way, shape or form would want to see a Catholic version of Jihadi terror (nor do I think such a thing would be remotely plausible). But it’s worth keeping in mind that we are already in an era of armed transnational religious movements. The problem is that they are evil. What would be so terrible about leading by example? Papal peacekeepers could do incredibly valuable work in parts of Africa or South America, protecting persecuted populations, delivering aid etc. The teaching effect could be profound (and perhaps very good at getting people back in the pews). Democracies are often slow and reluctant to do such work. And, if present trends continue America is going to do less and less of such things. Papal armies could do the jobs Americans won’t do. 

 

Which brings me to a second reason I think people instinctively recoil at the idea. We take the Westphalian system of nation-states as not only a given, but a huge advance in human progress. Except when we don’t. Plenty of people want the United Nations to send peacekeepers into horrible places. The problems with this, off the top of my head, include: 1) The UN sucks 2) The UN has no peacekeepers. Frequently this means it needs rich countries to bribe poor countries to provide people to wear blue helmets. 3) The politics and structure of the UN lend themselves to all sorts of dysfunction and the capture of UN agencies by bad actors (See point #1). 

 

A transnational armed force would certainly run against the grain of the legal and political world order. But if international law says the Pope can’t send armed people in to stop mass murder or feed starving children held hostage by goons and terrorists then, to paraphrase Dickens, international law is an ass. 

 

There is one criticism of the idea that I think is very powerful. It’s never going to happen. But I think it’s worth noodling all the same. 

 

The Pope Needs Ninjas

 

Ten Things You Need to Know About ISIS

…Or is it ISIL? Our primer on the terrorist group seeks to sort it out.

 ISIS or ISIL? Islamic State or Caliphate?

The bunch that’s wreaking havoc across parts of Syria and Iraq has not only caused death and destruction, they’ve caused a lot of confusion as well.

In an attempt to clear up some of that, Aleteia reached out to members of its Board of Experts and others in order to compile this primer on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, to use one of its several names. We are grateful for the assistance of Father Elias D. Mallon, external Affairs Officer of the New York-based Catholic Near East Welfare Association; Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa of EWTN, and William Kilpatrick, author of Christianity,Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for The Soul of The West.

1. What or who is ISIS? How did it come to be?

ISIS consists of Sunni extremists, recruited from all over the Arab-speaking world and perhaps beyond. Its origins are connected with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a notorious terrorist born in Jordan.

“He ultimately went to Afghanistan as a jihadi in the late 1980’s,” Father Mallon says. “He founded the Organization for Tawhid (i.e. proclaiming the unity of God) and Jihad and ultimately in 2004 brought his organization under the leadership of al-Qaeda, where he declared total war on Shi’ites.”

The Islamic State is the group that during the Iraq War was often referred to as “Al-Qaeda in Iraq,” says an info sheet from the Archdiocese of Toronto. The group claims it is an independent state with claims to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. It was established in the early years of the Iraq War… The group has targeted military and governments of Iraq and Syria, but has also claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians. According to a study compiled by U.S. intelligence agencies, the Islamic State has plans to seize power and turn the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state.”

Al-Zarqawi was killed by an American bomb in 2006.

“It appears that ISIS is an offshoot or development of al-Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda in Iraq,” says Father Mallon. “However, al-Qaeda has repudiated ISIS for being too indiscriminately violent and, hence, risking the loss of popular support.”

“As an offshoot from al-Qaeda, ISIS follows the theology of the Wahabi sect of Sunni Islam, which began in eastern Arabia in the 1740’s,” says Father Pacwa. “Their passion is the oneness of God and the elimination of all shirk, or association of anyone or anything with God. The early Wahabis were disgusted by the honors shown to the Prophet Muhammad at his tomb in Medina, so they completely destroyed it. … Their catechesis in Arabia emphasized the absolute oneness of God and summoned all Muslims to join them in enforcing this doctrine, or die.”

ISIS is now led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who declared himself “Caliph” on June 29. If you find ISIS’s constant name changes disconcerting, you’ll feel the same way about Al-Baghdadi. Originally called Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarra’i, al-Baghdadi took his nom de guerre after the name of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr.

“Recently he has started calling himself Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al Husseini al-Qurayshi, the last two names being attempts to link his lineage with that of the Prophet and his tribe the Quraysh,” Father Mallon says. “If he is really descended from the Prophet, one would think that it would have been obvious in his name all along. Most recently, he is using The Commander of the Faithful Caliph Ibrahim, using the traditional and oldest title of the Caliph—Commander of the Faithful.”

2. Why do they exist?

Father Mallon outlines two reasons why ISIS exists:

Ideological: to spread Islam and Islamic rule across the lands of the classical Abassid Caliphate and further even into the Iberian Peninsula. As such, ISIS shows little understanding of the very checkered history of the Caliphate. In this, ISIS tends to be a type of romantic movement but an incredibly brutal one.

Practical: Many Sunnis in Iraq (and Syria) feel disenfranchised by either the Alawite rule of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus or the Shi’ite rule of Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad. I think many Sunnis look upon ISIS as the only effective opposition to, especially, the regime in Baghdad. I am not sure but I suspect that the loyalty does not go much deeper.

3. What is their aim?  How likely are they to be able to accomplish it?

Their aim to re-establish the Caliphate and extend Islamic religious, political and military hegemony as far as they can, says Father Mallon. “To accomplish this they are prepared to violate traditional principles of Islamic warfare.”

4. Is this a global movement?

Yes and no, says Father Mallon. “It is global in that is appeals to a broad audience of Muslims who share the romantic idea of a Caliphate in which Muslims rule over everyone. It is not a global movement in that it is probably not sustainable in a number of ways. Not the least, opposition would come from an increasing desire for democracy in many Muslim countries. Democracy is the antithesis of the historically autocratic Caliphates. In addition, Shi’ites are in principle opposed to a Sunni Caliphate ruling over them.”

He adds: “Although ISIS uses the most brutal and savage methods, it would be a serious mistake to think of it as a primitive group. It has shown itself disturbingly sophisticated in its use of mass communications and social media. There are reports of a store in Istanbul and a website on which one can purchase t-shirts with the ISIS logo as well as the head band often seen on the foreheads of ISIS combatants as well as access ISIS propaganda.

“The New York Times estimates that ISIS is the wealthiest terrorist group in the world, having access to hundreds of millions of dollars,” Father Mallon says. “Most, if not all, ISIS’s wealth comes from plundered cities, banks and individuals. It seems it has carefully avoided becoming dependent on outside sources of financing which could easily be cut off.”

5. What is their attitude toward Christianity, particularly in the Middle East?

Father Mallon explains that ISIS’s attitude towards Christianity seems to be built on the belief that any positive references to Christians in the Qur’an (for example, 5:83, where Christians are called “those closest to you in love”) have been abrogated and take Christians as targets either for conversion, humiliation or annihilation. “This is not a position widely held among Muslims.”

Father Pacwa explains that Wahabis changed traditional Quranic teaching regarding other religions.

“The Qur’an teaches that Jews and Christians are ‘people of the book,’ since their Bible includes books by or about the ancient prophets that Islam accepts,” he explains. “Jews and Christians who submit to Islam and pay the jizya tax for protection by Muslims will be safe. However, the Wahabi teach that Jews and Christians today have fallen from their original forms and are no longer eligible for the status as ‘people of the book.’ Instead, they are infidels, or kufar in Arabic, whose choice is to convert or be killed, just as applies to pagans or atheists. Amazingly, they ascribe the status of infidel to the Shi’ites and all other sects, such as the Alawi who rule Syria. This explains why they attack Christians, Shiites, Alawi, Yezidi and anyone different than the Wahabis who teach the purest form of God’s oneness.”

6. There have been many reports of atrocities carried out against Christians and other religious minorities, such as behead. What do we know for sure?

Father Mallon says there are “fairly reliable accounts of atrocities” perpetrated by ISIS against Christians, moderate Sunnis, Shi’ites and other religious groups. “Many have been executed—although there is no reliable report of a child being beheaded—women have been reduced to slaves, etc.”

Father Pacwa says that Wahabi ideology does not explain the crucifixions that have ben reported. “The decapitations of children is not normal Islamic practice, nor is the introduction of one’s young sons to treating human heads as trophies,” he says. “Were they madmen, the strong and definite military discipline would not be as good as it is. Apparently they have chosen such darkness in their souls that even Al Qaida rejects ISIS.”

7. Could the US/International Community have stopped them? Can we stop them now?

ISIS can be curtailed, damaged or driven underground by the United States and the international community, Father Mallon believes, “but I do not believe it can be stopped from the outside. It has to be stopped from inside Syrian and Iraqi society. When the overall populace was revolted by al-Zarqawi’s violence, the movement lost considerable strength.”

He continues: “The ideological/romantic supporters [of ISIS] seem to be little influenced by history, facts or even, it seems, Islamic morality. I believe, however, that the practical/political supporters are in the majority. The practical/political supporters are Sunnis with real and serious complaints against the governments in Damascus and Baghdad. I suspect that if the demands of these Sunnis were met in a fair, equitable and democratic way, ISIS would lose a great deal of support.”

It’s a reality he hopes western governments will realize.

8. Iraq is in the process of forming a new government. How crucial is the success of this venture?

Forming a new government is not enough, Father Mallon says; Iraq has to form a new type of government—a government free of corruption and cronyism, and free of denominational scores to settle, “a government of, by and for all Iraqis. Without such a new type of government, I do not believe Iraq is viable as a unified country.”

9. What role can the Churches play?

Father Mallon: “On the one hand, the Christian Churches in the Middle East are in a very weak state—perhaps the worst in centuries, if not ever. Nonetheless, the Churches can provide both material and spiritual assistance to those who are suffering. The Churches can be a powerful witness to the need for justice. The Churches have the ability to disseminate non-partisan information across the entire planet. The Churches could possibly even play a role as reconcilers. Arab Christians are often highly educated. They could provide the theoretical framework for the emergence of civil society and democratic structures in the region and function as agents of reconciliation. Whether such possibilities can be actualized is an open question and seems something far in the future. But the future is where hope lives.”

Ten Things You Need to Know About ISIS

Iraqi helicopter carrying aid to Yazidi refugees stranded on Sinjar mountain crashes killing pilot and injuring 20 evacuees!!!

• Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter crashed as too many tried to climb aboard
• Pilot killed and 20 injured in the crash on mountain in Sinjar, remote Iraq
• Yazidi Iraqi MP and a New York Times reporter among the injured
• Comes after Islamic State seized Sinjar, told residents: ‘convert or die’
• Yazidis follow ancient religion with connections to Zoroastrianism 

A rescue helicopter crashed yesterday when it tried to take off with too many Iraqi refugees on board. The pilot died and several children were injured in the drama on Mount Sinjar, where Yazidi and Christian civilians are besieged by Islamic State maniacs. The helicopter, which had been mobbed by desperate families, was brought down by sheer weight of numbers. Other aid flights – including one run by the RAF – have come under intense fire from the jihadi gunmen. 

Tears of relief: An Iraqi Air Force helicopter emergency aid delivery turned into a rescue mission today in northern Iraq

The RAF Hercules plane was shot at as it brought food and water to the refugees on Monday night.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who are helping the refugees escape the mountainside, said the small-arms fire missed the cargo plane. Thousands of people have been trapped for more than a week on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq in blistering 50C heat without shelter, food or water. They have fought to scramble aboard the few helicopters bringing humanitarian supplies. In one case, a father and a mother threw their two young daughters across a crowd on to a helicopter which took the children to safety, leaving the two parents behind. And a man clung desperately to the side of another helicopter before losing his grip and plunging to his death.

Desperate: A woman clings on to a departing aid helicopter

The dramatic footage shows the moment a desperate woman clung onto an aid flight as it departed Mount Sinjar following the delivery of aid

Special forces are believed to be on the mountain with British and American intelligence officers in direct contact with leaders of the refugees. Special phones were dropped from a Hercules in the first RAF mercy mission, on Saturday. When switched on, they connect directly to Kurdish-speaking British or US agents. A source said: ‘They are talking to the people on the mountain, and the questions they are asking are: Where are you? How long can you survive? How much water do you have? Where are the IS fighters?’ Mirza Dinnay, a UN relief worker, told the BBC yesterday: ‘It’s a genocide. You find what looks like hundreds of dead people.

Fleeing: The military helicopter crashed on a mountain as it tried to provide aid to the 500,000-strong Yazidi population in Sinjar (pictured), near the Syrian border, as they flee Sunni militants of the Islamic State

Horrific: The refugees are trying to find safety after Isil gave them the ultimatum: convert to Islam or die

‘Thousands of people are trying to save themselves. ‘You can imagine what it is like when you land among 5,000 people and can take only ten or 20, and everybody tries to get on the helicopter. ‘It’s a dangerous situation because everybody pushes each other. Many haven’t eaten for around nine days and they are living under the hot sun. ‘Three days ago one man tried to get into the helicopter but he couldn’t manage it. ‘He then clung to the side as we took off but we couldn’t help him get inside and within one or two minutes we were flying at around 100 metres, he fell down. Like in a Hollywood film, he died.’ On another aid flight, there were chaotic scenes as an Iraqi army helicopter pilot agreed to let a handful of refugees on board but then relented and let 50 people including young children rush on – even though the aircraft has a passenger capacity of 15. The weight was too great for the helicopter to take off, until five men got out. The pilot, Major General Ahmed Saadi, told ITV News: ‘I thought, God will be with us.’ The picture was the same elsewhere on the mountain when a helicopter delivered food, shoes, nappies and condensed milk to a group seen waving makeshift white flags. It took away just 20 refugees, many seen weeping for loved ones they were forced to abandon. Some of those fleeing spoke of dozens of unburied bodies of people on the mountain who lost their battle for survival. The second RAF aid drop, on Monday night, contained more phones and also GPS equipment to help organize future aid drops. The RAF and Americans have between them delivered 20,000 gallons of water and 85,000 meals, plus 1,000 solar lanterns that can also be used to recharge mobile phones. Last night a government source said ministers were ‘hardening up’ plans to evacuate Mount Sinjar: ‘We are working as fast as we can. It’s a complicated operation.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2723111/Iraqi-helicopter-carrying-aid-Yazidi-refugees-stranded-Sinjar-mountain-crashes-killing-pilot-injuring-20-evacuees.html#ixzz3AGDHBE5i 

“The jihadists are a danger to everyone, you Westerners, more than us. One day you will regret your policy…

The archbishop of Mosul: “There will come a time when you’ll have to repent of this policy. The boundary of these groups around the world: their goal is to convert by the sword or to kill all the others.

Archbishop of Mosul , said that on June 8 he can no longer return to the city, now in the hands of Islamic fanatics. “These people do not believe in dialogue – says Nona – people believe these people to be able to do what he wants: who does not agree with their thinking kill him. They released an edited that says you or converted to Islam, or pay the jeziah (tribute humiliating, ed), or go away. There was no mediation simply said that for Christians there were these three choices. “

THE TRUE VISION OF ISLAM. Nona uses words very clear to identify the root of the problem: “The base is the religion of Islam itself: in the Koran there are verses that say to kill Christians, all other infidels. The word “infidel” Islam is a very strong word: the infidel, for Islam has no more dignity, does not have a right. In an infidel you can do anything: to kill, enslave, all the infidel has, according to Islam, is a right of a Muslim. It is not a new ideology, an ideology based on the Koran itself. These people represent the true vision of Islam. “

A DANGER FOR ALL. ‘s advanced Caliphate is unstoppable, says Nona, “as long as the international community will continue to use the Muslims in politics. Islam is a religion different from all others. When using the Islamic ideology, the result are these fundamentalists. You can stop or war or hunting down where are the funds that finance these groups. You must completely rethink the international politics. For three years in Syria policy uses these groups are years that takes place in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Somalia, in Afghanistan. There are countries that finance in a very open these groups: the international community says nothing because these countries have oil resources. ”
The West and its politicians “do not understand what it means to Islam, they think that they are a danger only to our countries. It is not true: they are a danger to everyone, you Westerners even more than us. There will come a time when you’ll have to repent of this policy. The boundary of these groups around the world: their goal is to convert by the sword or to kill all the others. “

Leggi di Più: Iraq: «I Jihadisti colpiranno anche l’occidente» | Tempi.it

Chile’s Catholic Church Says Priest Stole Babies for Adoption!!

  A Roman Catholic faithful prays during Mass at Santiago Cathedral in Santiago, Chile. Ivan Alvarado/Reuters

Vigueras said Joannon will travel to Spain for “reflection” but would not be punished by the church as too much time had passed since the events in question.

Same old, same old in Newchurch Vatican II, too much time has passed and he would not be punished by the church!! I guess that makes everything okay?!

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s Catholic church confirmed on Tuesday that a priest was instrumental in the forced adoption of at least two babies without the knowledge of their mothers, and had also maintained an “inappropriate relationship” with one mother.

Gerardo Joannon is being investigated judicially for illegally handing over an undetermined number of babies for adoption in the 1970s and 1980s, born to single mothers who were told the infants had died.

The priest has said the babies were removed mainly from middle-class women due to the stigma attached to unmarried mothers at that time in Chile’s Catholic society.

“The preliminary investigation has established the truth of the accusations…he always knew that both babies did not die,” said Alex Vigueras, a regional church head who is in charge of the probe into Joannon.

The priest even led masses for the supposedly dead children who he knew to still be living, Vigueras said.

He added that Joannon had also maintained an “inappropriate relation” with the mother of one of the adopted babies, without giving further details.

 Vigueras said Joannon will travel to Spain for “reflection” but would not be punished by the church as too much time had passed since the events in question.

Public prosecutors are continuing to investigate, and the country’s child welfare service has said that it has passed on information relating to at least eight cases.

http://www.newsweek.com/chiles-catholic-church-says-priest-stole-babies-adoption-264216

No reason to get worked up over Catholic bishop’s Mass for Protestant Tony Palmer. He was a bishop within his own jurisdiction and his orders were probably valid!!

       Pope Leo XIII declared all Anglican orders“absolutely null and utterly void.”

No reason to get worked up over Catholic bishop’s Mass for Protestant Tony Palmer. He was a bishop within his own jurisdiction and his orders were probably valid! Fr. Longnecker’s  Protestant views and how things should be in the Catholic Church!              

Notes on Tony Palmer’s Funeral…

It seems that there are some Catholics who are upset that the Pope’s friend Bishop Tony Palmer was given a Catholic Requiem. Go here and here.

They shouldn’t be.

We can pray for the repose of the soul of anyone, and a requiem Mass is simply the prayer of the church for the repose of someone’s soul.

To do so is an act of mercy and faith.

If the person is a family member of Catholics it is even more appropriate if they desire a requiem Mass for that person.

The only prohibition on a requiem Mass is found in Canon Law:

Can. 1184 §1 Church funeral rites are to be denied to the following, unless they gave some signs of repentance before death:

1° notorious apostates, heretics and schismatics;

2° those who for anti-christian motives chose that their bodies be cremated;

3° other manifest sinners to whom a Church funeral could not be granted without public scandal to the faithful.

2 If any doubt occurs, the local Ordinary is to be consulted and his judgement followed.

Was Tony Palmer a “notorious heretic, apostate and schismatic”? Of course not. 

A notorious apostate, heretic and schismatic is someone who publicly shakes his fist in the face of God and his church. Wild eyed atheists, fundamentalist Protestants and those who defy and disobey the church publicly are such.

Tony Palmer, by all accounts, was a sincere, good and zealous brother in Christ–albeit still separated from full communion with the Church. He may have formally been a heretic and schismatic, but notorious? No. On the contrary, he was full of affection, admiration and desire for the Catholic faith.

If he was like I was in the few years before I entered full communion he would have given whole hearted assent to every Catholic belief. Where he was still learning he was still affirming the faith not rejecting it.

If there was any doubt–which this witness at the funeral suggests–the local ordinary was consulted and gave consent. Everything therefore was just as it should be.

Then there is the question of him being “buried as a bishop”. No one seems to know what that means. There is no special funeral rite for a bishop. One or two different prayers perhaps, and was he in the coffin in episcopal miter and cope? Who knows.

There is also the question of whether Tony Palmer is a bishop at all. The history of his denomination–the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches recounts how, after they elected their first bishops they ensured that they were consecrated by bishops from the Old Catholic and Eastern Orthodox line of succession. It is very possible, therefore that Tony Palmer’s episcopal ordination was valid but irregular. This is the case with many bishops and clergy within the Anglican constellation of churches.

I remember when my friend Bishop Graham Leonard–the former Bishop of London told me about his meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger. Bishop Leonard explained how he and many other Anglican Bishops of an Anglo Catholic persuasion had received valid orders through the Old Catholic and Eastern Orthodox successions. He said Ratzinger smiled and said, “I will not say that you are not a bishop.” Graham Leonard then went on to receive conditional ordination as a Catholic priest.

While everyone admits that Tony Palmer was not a Catholic bishop, and he was not a mainstream Anglican bishop, we can at least say that he was a bishop within his own jurisdiction and that his orders were probably valid but irregular.

There is therefore no reason at all to get all worked up over the fact that he was granted a Catholic requiem Mass or that he was “buried as a bishop” whatever that curious phrase means.

           _____________________________________________

Pope Leo XIII’s Apostolicae Curae

APOSTOLICAE CURAE

This is the Papal Bull by Pope Leo XIII issued on September 18, 1896. It officially alerted the Catholic world and Anglicans that those ordained in Anglican rite of Holy Orders is not a true sacrament and therefore Anglican priests are not true priests, their Orders are null and void, and therefore no sacrament is confected, ergo NO True Presence on Anglican, Episcopal or Novus Ordo “altars” for His Holiness Leo XIII also referred to the nullity of episcopal consecrations (consecration of bishops). When one studies the Anglican rite and what the Magisterium of the Church rightly rejected, one is shocked that those Anglican rites are actually much more Catholic than newchurch’s revamped synthetic so-called sacrament of Holy Orders, fashioned illegally by Giovanni Montini in 1968 with his novel revolutionary New Order nonsense in the counterfeit church of conciliarism. If Leo, through thorough study, prayer, and consultation with the infallible perennial Magisterium of the Church, determined that the Anglican rite is null and void, then there is no doubt that the Novus Ordorite of Holy Orders and episcopal consecration since 1968 have to be NULL AND VOID as well.

Pope Leo XIII, ora pro nobis.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2014/08/notes-on-tony-palmers-funeral.html

The ‘Pope Francis Effect’: The war on conservative Catholics in New York

The war on conservative Catholics in New York

When Cardinal Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, many traditional Catholics were wary. Recently, their pessimism is being justified as “The Francis Effect” makes itself felt across the world and in America, most notably in the Archdiocese of New York.

So-called “traditional” Catholics prefer to attend the Mass as it was celebrated before and during the Second Vatican Council (1962-5), before the liturgy was radically reformed in 1969.

The Tridentine Mass, which was the ordinary form of the Mass from 1570-1969, is said in Latin, often accompanied by Gregorian Chant and incense, and emphasizes the sacrificial aspect of the Mass.

I hope both Pope Francis and the New York Archdiocese will cease their attack on a community of people that mean no harm and who support the Church through thick and thin.

In contrast, the post-1969 Mass simplifies prayers, places more emphasis on the communal and removes language deemed to be an ecumenical barrier to Protestants. Many celebrations also use the vernacular instead of Latin, and have a more simplistic style and are frequently accompanied by modern music.

Although suppressed immediately after the reform, the older rite was legalized by Pope St. John Paul II in limited circumstances in 1988, and then freed up entirely by Pope Benedict XVI in his groundbreaking 2007 document “Summorum Pontificum,” in which he also expressed his desire that the solemn celebration of the traditional rite would consequently rub off on the way the new rite is celebrated.

Yet Pope Francis is having none of it. In his Archdiocese in Buenos Aires, the traditional rite was non-existent, and he was described by an Argentinian journalist as “a sworn enemy of the Traditional Mass.” Since he ascended to the papacy this has been shown to be true in a global sense.

Apart from his dive away from the traditional liturgical style of Benedict in papal masses, Pope Francis has dismissed Catholics who attend the older rites in Latin as ‘ideologizing’ and being guilty of ‘exploitation.’ He also banned the Franciscans of the Immaculate — a worldwide traditional Catholic order — from celebrating the old Mass freely. Apparently, the attitude of “Who am I to judge” does not apply here.

No wonder then that some bishops and cardinals are seeing the winds of change at the Vatican and are acting accordingly.

In New York, under the leadership of the once moderately conservative Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archdiocese was a place that allowed the traditional mass to be said without hassle after Summorum Pontificum.

However, since Pope Francis arrived, Dolan — commonly referred to as “America’s Pope” — has shifted to the left, so much so that even the New York Times has noticed. Dolan has become a spokesman for Francis’ view of capitalism, has softened on gay rights, been an even stauncher advocate of amnesty for illegal immigrants and incredibly — criticized ObamaCare because it didn’t provide free health care to illegals, putting him to the left of Nancy Pelosi. 

Now he’s turned on the traditionalists.

There are three churches in Manhattan that celebrate the Traditional Mass. One — Our Savior’s near Grand Central, had its pastor removed by Cardinal Dolan and replaced by a priest who could not say the old Mass, so it has been stopped.

Earlier this year, it was announced that the internationally-renowned Church of Holy Innocents, the well-attended hub of traditionalism in the city packed with masses, devotions, and regular confessions, all within one of the most beautiful churches in the archdiocese, has been recommended for closure by an archdiocesan commission.

The news shocked traditional Catholics all over the world and has become an international symbol especially as it is well attended and in good financial state. 

Church closures and consolidations should be about getting rid of churches that are losing money or have no one attending. Masses at Holy Innocents are frequently standing room only, and documents I was shown suggest that Holy Innocents has run a surplus for the last seven years, and has no debt. This is in contrast to some parishes with no threat of closure that have 6-figure deficits, while other parishes openly dissent from Church teaching free from any scrutiny from the once-conservative archdiocese.

Holy Innocents, devastated by this news that they are earmarked for closure, have organized petitions and are saying daily rosaries and novenas to pray for the preservation of their beloved church.

Consequently at a recent Mass, Rev. Justin Wylie, a priest from South Africa who worked at the U.N. for the Holy See and who said regular masses both at Holy Innocents and at the third place of traditional worship — St. Agnes — compared the situation for traditionalists in the archdiocese to Reformation England and Cromwellian Ireland. Wylie asked traditionalists “why are you scurrying about like ecclesiastical scavengers, hoping for a scrap or two to fall from the table for your very existence?” and called on them to peacefully assert their rights as baptized Catholics.

This was apparently too much in the era of Pope Francis.

Sources told me that a letter was immediately sent to the papal nuncio to the U.N. and, incredibly, to Wylie’s archdiocese in Johannesburg, scolding Wylie for his comments and threatening to recommend Wylie’s priestly faculties be removed — an extremely serious move that essentially prevents a priest from acting as one and is usually reserved for very serious accusations like sexual abuse, not upsetting a cardinal.

Sources say that after the letter was received, Rev. Wylie, in a move that sounds more like something from Inquisition-era Spain than from modern day New York, was then silenced,  forbidden from celebrating Mass publicly, and told to pack his bags and leave for South Africa as soon as possible.

Msgr. Edward Weber, head of the Priest Personnel office for the Archdiocese, who would normally be responsible for such a letter, denied that the letter existed when I spoke to him by phone, despite previously being reported on a traditional blog as saying the order came from the Cardinal’s office. Weber told me he had been misquoted.

Later, the archdiocese admitted in a statement that there had indeed been a letter, but said it did not come from the Cardinal’s desk, and it did not threaten to remove Wylie’s faculties. When I asked if they had threatened to recommend that he have his faculties removed, the archdiocese did not respond.

Wylie’s silencing and banishment is devastating for traditional Catholics. Not only is Wylie a renowned preacher, known for solemn celebration and exceptionally beautiful homilies that are so revered they are frequently uploaded to YouTube, he was an important priest both at Holy Innocents, and also at St. Agnes, where he celebrated three out of four traditional masses a month. His move consequently threatens the regularity of the ancient rites there too, as Rev. Wylie’s censuring has had a chilling effect on priests who would consider taking over his role.

This chilling effect has spread to non-clergy too. Many of those, clergy and lay people, with whom I spoke who provided me with information and documents on the situation first demanded anonymity in fear that they and the people with whom they are associated would be retaliated against by Cardinal Dolan’s administration.

“There will be retaliation if our names appear in your article,” one source told me. “We have already received hints of this [from the archdiocese].”

This it appears, is an all too real example of “The Francis Effect,” where dissenters are pandered to and enemies of the Church have their bellies scratched, while those who sacrifice for the Church, battle on the front lines, and just wish to pray at a good liturgy steeped in the traditional beauty of the Church are attacked, insulted, and if they dare so much emit a squeak of annoyance, find themselves cast out of the Church.

I hope both Pope Francis and the New York Archdiocese will cease their attack on a community of people that mean no harm and who support the Church through thick and thin.

Unfortunately however, I fear we may be seeing the latest in a long series of pernicious events under the banner of “The Francis Effect.” 

I hope I am wrong.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/08/12/pope-francis-effect-war-on-conservative-catholics-in-new-york/

Iraqi Refugee: People in Mosul Hailed ISIS, Drove Out Christians!

(CNSNews.com) – An Iraqi Christian who fled for his life from Mosul says that his Muslim neighbors welcomed the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) and told him “this land belongs to Islam.”

“We left Mosul because ISIS came to the city. The (Sunni) people of Mosul embraced ISIS, and drove the Christians out of the city,” the unnamed Christian refugee, who reportedly fled from Mosul to Lebanon, told Lebanese LBC/LDC TV in a July 30 interview translated by Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“When ISIS entered Mosul, the people hailed them and drove out the Christians,” he said in the video interview with a young child sitting on his lap. “Why did they expel just the Christians from Mosul? There are many sects in Mosul. Why just the Christians? ”he asked.

“This is nothing new,” he added. “Even before, the Christians could not go anywhere. The Christians have faced threats of murder, kidnapping, jizya (a tax imposed on non-Muslims).”

“This is nothing new,” the Iraqi man continued. “I was told to leave Mosul. They said that this was a Muslim country, not a Christian one. I am being very honest. They said that this land belongs to Islam and that Christians should not live there.”

The interviewer interrupted him. “Who told you that?”

“The people who embraced ISIS, the people who lived there with us,” he replied.

“Your neighbors?” she asked.

“Yes, my neighbors,” he said, “Our neighbors and other people threatened us. They said: ‘Leave before ISIS gets you.’ What does that mean? Where would we go?”

“Christians have no support in Iraq,” he said, “Whoever claims to be protecting the Christians is a liar, a liar.”

Al-Monitor reported last month that the Sunni inhabitants of Mosul “see the Iraqi army as a Shiite occupation army from Baghdad, and some (Sunni) civilians welcomed ISIS when they entered Mosul and removed all Iraqi army checkpoints.”

Video: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lauretta-brown/iraqi-refugee-people-mosul-hailed-isis-drove-out-christians

ISIS BOLDLY DECLARES THAT ‘WE WILL RAISE THE FLAG OF ALLAH IN THE WHITE HOUSE!’ – Video

And now they have threatened to raise their flag over the White House, according to a Vice documentary published on the same day that President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq if U.S. personnel are threatened.

The Spread of the Caliphate: The Islamic State (Part 1)

The Vice News documentary, part one of five on the well-armed and battle-hardened group of extremists rampaging through northern Syria and Iraq, provides an unprecedented look at ISIS militants and converts in their de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=24175

Actor describes faith journey, commitment to serving nation’s veterans

Actor Gary Sinise smiles as he speaks Aug. 5 at the 132nd Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus held in Orlando, Fla. Sinise, who is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Dan in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump,” spoke about his support for disabled veterans and his own journey to the Catholic faith. (CNS photo/Tom Tracy)

(CNS) — His knowing smile and everyman disposition are instantly recognizable on screen.

Those qualities were not lost on some 2,000 Knights of Columbus, their families and Church leaders who were delighted by a surprise encounter with actor Gary Sinise during the fraternal organization’s Aug. 5-7 convention in Orlando.

He spoke at the States Dinner Aug. 5 about his love for wounded veterans and a new collaboration between the Knights and his own charitable foundation.

The Chicago native, a star of stage, film and television who is widely known for his portrayal of Lt. Dan in the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump,” also described his gradual move toward the Catholic faith and of his family’s decision to join the church.

Earlier this year, the Knights of Columbus partnered with the Gary Sinise Foundation to build a high-tech “smart home” for the disabled in Marietta, Ohio. The house was for a wounded veteran named Kyle Hockenberry and his wife, Ashley.

The former U.S. Army infantryman was serving in Afghanistan and on foot patrol when he lost both legs and his left arm in a roadside explosion in June 2011.

“When I think about the life and sufferings of Christ, when I think about the stories of the extreme hardships and heavy burdens that our military men and women and their families were willing to, and continue to bear, I can’t help but think about this verse: ‘For greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,’” Sinise, 59, told the gathering.

The smart-home collaboration between the Knights and the actor’s foundation is likely to be repeated because Sinise is attracted to the Knights’ depth of community ties nationwide and the organization’s standing commitments to the disabled, according to Peter Sonski, an education and outreach official with the Knights.

Today, in part because of their generosity, Sinise explained, “Kyle and Ashley are settled in their new smart home, surrounded by family and a community that loves and cares for them.”

Sinise traced the deepening of his own spirituality and faith in part to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, when he was invited, as a celebrity, to support first responders and later service men and women serving in Iraq.

He noted the example of Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, a chaplain for the New York Fire Department who died helping victims in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

“His simple prayer, ‘Lord, take me where you want me to go. Let me meet who you want me to meet. Tell me what you want me to say. And keep me out of your way, … is very special to my wife and I,” Sinise said.

“In his last homily given on Sept. 10 the day before he died, Father Mychal said … each of us has no idea what God is calling you to. But he needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us,’” the actor added. “Father Mychal would lay down his life for others the following morning. I have met so many selfless and courageous people who inspire me each day to carry on the mission.”

In the late 1990s, Sinise said his wife, Moira, was in Chicago performing in an Irish play set in a tavern when she started to reconnect with the Irish Catholic side of her family. Moira was not raised in a religious home but her mother was Catholic by birth and her father was Methodist, according to Sinise.

Soon after, Sinise said his family was in North Carolina where he was working at the time, when a hurricane approached.

“As we are racing down the highway in the rental car, trying to outrun the storm as lightning and wind and rain and thunder are chasing us … Moira, out of the blue, turns to me and says, ‘When we get back home I’m going to become a Catholic, and our kids are going to Catholic school,’” he said.

After two years of classes, on Easter Sunday in 2000, Sinise’s wife was confirmed in the Catholic Church “and my children and I were there by her side. We were so proud of her and how far she had come,” he said.

In 2010, on Christmas Eve, he told his wife and kids they were going out for a special dinner. Unbeknown to his family, he had been attending private sessions to be confirmed, he said.

So before their dinner the family stopped to see a priest, “and in a small quiet ceremony on Christmas Eve, surrounded by my family, who I love and cherish dearly … I was officially confirmed into the Catholic Church. It was a very special night in our lives.”

“The Church has been a rock for me and my family in some of our darkest and most difficult times,” Sinise told the Knights.

He said he never would have expected to be speaking at a Knights of Columbus convention, “but God has a way of guiding people to each other.”

The Knights’ “incredibly generous and voluminous charitable work and mission” and the work of his foundation’s RISE program — Restoring Independence and Supporting Empowerment — seem made for one another in their efforts “to make a difference in the lives of our veterans,” he said.

Sinise also performs with his Lt. Dan Band, entertaining the troops at home and abroad. He regularly travels to war zones to meet service members and visits U.S. military hospitals in Germany, San Antonio, San Diego and Bethesda, Maryland.

http://www.catholicsun.org/2014/08/11/actor-describes-faith-journey-commitment-to-serving-nations-veterans/