Christmas isn't all about family

(Tridentine and Faith; SACNS Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

But I assure you, today is. Remember you still have to attend church today: Holy Family Sunday. The day we celebrate our families by loving and caring for them and Jesus' Family all the same.

Christmas is about sharing Christ. Today is about sharing family- his family first, then our own!

Christmas Eve: the Vigil Mass and Christmas itself

Article by Marc Aupiais


A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!

For those seeking to obey the church canon law and attend mass

Christmas Eve: the Vigil Mass and Christmas itself

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180723778622365

Christmas is quite a day usually, which is why we give this friendly reminder. It is acceptable to attend a vigil mass on the eve of Christmas, during the afternoon. I am personally going to a church at 5 or 6 pm tonight. That way you do mass and get a whole lot of time on Christmas for family!

Also remember SABC 3 is airing the pope's midnight mass from 11 PM to 1 AM tonight. This is an initiative of the SACBC to help those too ill or far from a parish to attend, however I like to watch it in addition to mass, especially as it does not fulfill the obligation should one only watch it and not be for grave reason such as distance or illness unable to attend mass. Yet, for me it is quite the spectacle and well worth the watch be it live or recorded.

You can also attend your local midnight mass whenever it is. Or attend with the crowds tomorrow morning!


Christmas is a day of Holy Obligation for Roman Catholics.


For more information on days of Holy Obligation in Southern Africa see:

http://sacns.scripturelink.net/2009/01/days-of-holy-obligation-in-south-africa.html

http://tridentinesa.scripturelink.net/2009/01/days-of-holy-obligation-in-south-africa.html

Or contact your local parish!

No need for killing foetuses at all- with new Stem cell treatment

Note by Marc Aupiais

In the past it has been claimed there is a need to harvest stem cells from abortions to compare with adult stem cells moved back. Embryonic stem cells often cause cancer, adult stem cells (not from aborted human beings) were seen as the safest. If it is confirmed, a new method which involves straight transfer from stem cells to needed cells may do away with that so-called not really need altogether:

"Canadian scientists have turned human skin cells directly into blood cells, the first time one kind of mature human cell has been converted into another, according to a study published last week in the journal Nature.

The transformation was completed without first rewinding the skin cells into the flexible pluripotent stem cells that have most frequently been used to grow tissues. By skipping the pluripotent step, the researchers believe they have skirted the risk that the replacement cells might form dangerous tumours.

The team created blood progenitor cells - mother cells that multiply to produce other blood cells - as well as mature blood cells, according to the report. Both types of cells could be useful in medical treatments, said study leader Mick Bhatia, a stem cell scientist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario."

in reference to: IOL Technology - A world first for stem cell research (view on Google Sidewiki)

Unprecedented

"Unprecedented
November 16, 2010 -
With an election without precedent Timothy Dolan has become the new president of the Bishops' Conference of the United States.

For the first time was not elected vice president, in this case Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson in Arizona, but his main "opponent", Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York."

(automatic translation from Italian.

in reference to:

"Unprecedented November 16, 2010 - With an election without precedent Timothy Dolan has become the new president of the Bishops' Conference of the United States. For the first time was not elected vice president, in this case Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson in Arizona, but his main "opponent", Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York."
- Palazzo Apostolico - Diario Vaticano Paul Rodari »Blog Archive» Unprecedented (view on Google Sidewiki)

Cardinal John Henry Newman Beatified

(SACNS Europe; Tridentine South And Southern Africa)

Update by Marc Aupiais

Our Great and Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, the human power, divinely ordained beyond other human power, hath Beatified the Great Theologian John Henry Newman.

Rather than setting the Feast day of this great Blessed on the date of his death and thus his possible entry into heaven, the Great and Wise Holy Father, hath instead chosen the date at which this great man, this leader of the Oxford Movement within the Anglican Separation entered into the Holy Flock of Rome, in pursuit of his great Conscience. The Great Man Benedict XVI has also decided to put aside for this memorable occasion: (the second visit of a pontiff to Great Britain since it rejected the Holy Faith, and the First Papal State Visit since that sad day:) the rule he had made that the Holy Pontiff at Rome should only canonize and not merely beatify the great men and women who are to be upheld one day as the saints of heaven.

While some thousand men and women did protest at the date of this momentous honour given an Englishman: most within the Island's famous population had had no real view of the great occasion for Great Britain and the World. Some objected to taxpayer funding of this great event- made all the more expensive given the much more real threat against the pope by Great Britain.

The Daily Mail attacked those opposing the state visit, saying simply enough: where exactly were the protests, and great indignation, and arrest threats when South African President Jacob Zuma landed in great Britain?

This visit has been a catastrophe for Great Britain globally, which having invited a visit to Britain for the pope as Head of the Great Vatican State, then mocked his visit, in the Independent and The Guardian and other outlets. As Australian Broadcasting Corporation noted, Benedict XVI is the one who first requested powerfully in the Vatican that sex abuse cases be dealt with by the Vatican, and not complicit bishops, and that these cases be reported to authorities. It is also this pope who has decided to apologise to victims, and to appoint the exact traditionally inclined men into authority which should rid the Holy Body of this terrible blemish of sin!

An event more emotional and important to a nation than the Olympic games, while so far not a failure, has shown to Great Britain's Great Shame: that it is a country, where anything but righteousness is acceptable.

Fortunately Cardinal Kasper's comments and withdrawal, which Australian Broadcasting Corporation saw as a move by a political adversary of the pope, did not wreck the entire event. He called Great Britain a third world country, and a place of terrible secularism. Perhaps why it has taken the wait for Benedict XVI to have the Vatican put aside its view of Great Britain to honour a man notably British!


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Opus Dei, a sanctuary

(Tridentine South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais


I have always had the deepest of longings and desires: I have wanted to join Opus Dei for years, though God's answer to my prayers is no. As with the priestly life, God, it seems; has always said I am destined to marriage- to quite an important woman.

The force with which he replies, always suggests her importance to his plan. None the less, I admire Opus Dei, and listen to these stories with longing. The article in the Daily Mail concludes:

"‘I didn’t like the promiscuity I saw at university,’ she says. ‘I didn’t want that for me. I didn’t want that life. I rejected it as part of my lifestyle. I didn’t want to be part of it.’
I cannot get over the small matter of the cilice — surely it’s a seismic leap from eschewing promiscuity to self-harming in this way?
Sarah was 20 when she started wearing it. ‘The first time you do anything that’s not particularly pleasant, you don’t like it. But over time it’s just something that’s there. The result of doing it is that you should be a much nicer person afterwards.’
Eileen adds: ‘We live in such a materialistic, hedonistic society that people can’t understand you’d actually make yourself a little uncomfortable to help you be more mindful of God.
‘They’ll understand if you go jogging and pounding the streets — which I think is disgusting — just because you want to be thinner, but they won’t understand this.’
It’s a fair point. After all, which is more peculiar or ‘unnatural’: women who endure the agony of, say, Botox injections or leg-waxing, in order to be beautiful, and those Opus Dei devotees who strap on a cilice as a sign of spiritual devotion?
Still, I can’t help feeling that most women would consider it a strange God who requires them to do the washing up wearing a chain of barbed wire.
"

REBECCA HARDY writing for the Daily Mail (Based in the United Kingdom; Secular/General interests coverage; Independent of the state)

02 / 09 | September / 2010: "She's respectable and intelligent ... so why does Sarah attach a painful barbed chain to her leg for two hours a day?"; View other stories published on the same site by Rebecca Hardy

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Murmurs, lies, holocaust reduction check: but is a recent newsletter by SSPX Williamson, a hint that reunification with Rome is on the horizon for the infamous fraternity

(SACNS Europe; Tridentine South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

For our source quotes, analysis, and additional information, please see:

SACNS Quote Analysis:

Murmurs of a separatist - SSPX Bishop alleges that Rome will accept their schism back

A recent newsletter sent out by Bishop Richard Williamson, of the SSPX, has raised eyebrows, suggesting that he may be reacting to a possible coming reunification with Rome.

Some context

The SSPX is a group which broke off from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church through the consecration of four bishops, not authorized by the Holy See, including Williamson, by the late Archbishop Lefebvre, as the leaders of their Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX/SSPX) in 1988. The consecration saw Lefebvre, and his four bishops excommunicated. The SSPX believes that the Second Vatican Council, was not infallible in moral and doctrinal matters. It opposed the translation of the Catholic Latin Rite Mass into colloquial languages. According to the Vatican, all priests in the said priestly organisation, are in schism.

Recently, as part of negotiations with the fraternity, the Vatican official applicable, lifted the excommunications automatically incurred by the four leaders of what the Vatican sees as the SSPX schism. Just before this, an interview by a television station, conducted with Williamson was aired, in which he portrayed the Holocaust against Jews in World War II by the National Socialists of Germany, as much less than that believed to have occured by mainstream historians, and war records. In his view, the holocaust was only a minor event.

The bad publicity received by Rome, due to his interview, being released, caused an international storm, which Benedict XVI, was himself hit by, through choosing to take the full blame for the actions of the bishop, who lifted the excommunications, of the said SSPX four, as part of negotiations.

Traditionalist Catholic, and Latin Mass special interests coverage service, Rorate Caeli, has now released a copy of Williamson's recent newsletter, which besides its negative portrayal of the Vatican, suggests that seemingly because Benedict XVI will likely die soon, as the schismatic against Rome suggests, most popes do: that the Pope will pass over many doctrinal differences, and on condition the SSPX accept the Catechism of the Catholic Church, allow the group's members back into the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church. Williamson, like many SSPX members, believes that Vatican II, considered infallible on morals and doctrine by the mainstream Catholic Church and hierarchy, has no legitimacy, and is heresy.

The logic of the SSPX bishop is highly flawed, but given the fact his holocaust denial interview was aired just before the excommunications were lifted by the bishop in charge of negotiating with the SSPX (contrary to media reports, Benedict XVI is not the negotiator, it is a bishop assigned the task), it may be possible that the SSPX bishop, is attempting to stifle an agreement his fellow bishops have made with Rome.





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Passing of a Muslim friend

(Tridentine South Africa)

|Download Audio of Article|

Related: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2008

Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus ("Salus extra Ecclesiam non est" Saint Cyprian)- the duty was clearly set out by saint Cyprian of Carthage of salvaton on our garden of roses- Holy Mother Church

http://southafricancatholic.blogspot.com/2008/10/extra-ecclesiam-nulla-salus-salus-extra.html


Article by Marc Aupiais

My eyes sting as I write, I have been informed by the grapevine that a close friend of mine, Mariam, is dead. She was Muslim. Oddly, we often found ourselves discussing faith, both fascinated by the other's. I hope my friend is wrong, and she hasn't died, but I doubt it.

What is of good comfort to me is:

"16. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God.(18*) In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh.(125) On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues.(126) But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohammedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things,(127) and as Saviour wills that all men be saved.(128) Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19*) Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.(20*) She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life. But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator.(129) Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, "Preach the Gospel to every creature",(130) the Church fosters the missions with care and attention."

DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH
LUMEN GENTIUM
SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html



RIP Mariam [Surname excluded]




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Pope solidifies conservatives at the Vatican | "New Evangelization" Appointment isn't an endorsement of a softer view on abortion

(Tridentine South Africa; article includes files from VA-Browser)

Quick Note Article by Marc Aupiais

|Download Audio Version of this Article|


With the replacement of Cardinal Re, who supported the excommunication in the Recife incident, and the appointment of Fisichella to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, it may be suggested that Benedict XVI sided with Fisichella in their spat, where Fisichella was accused of seeming to support therapeutic abortion.

After all, Fisichella's statements prompted a clarification by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: saying that abortion in the case of rape was still immoral, when the former head of the Pontical Academy for life, Fisichella criticised a bishop for applying canon law against those practitioning therapeutic abortion in the case of rape.

However, Re's replacement is Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., Archbishop of Québec and Primate of Canada, an even more outspoken opponent of abortion, even in radically leftest French Quebec. In fact, he directly opposes abortion in the case of rape, the place where Re's nemesis, Fisichella was accused of dissidence. Ouellet is a staunch loyalist to Pope Benedict XVI's more conservative views. He said that the church will not baptise the adopted children of same-sex couples (gays), and holds many loyalist views which will insure that the pope's future bishops will be more compliant to his reformation of the church after the John Paul II papacy. Ouellet has also been appointed to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America: a post retiring Re held before him, in which Re was competent to speak of the Recife affair.

And, Fisichella was long expected to be quietly moved elsewhere, due to the loss of public confidence in his capacity to head the Pontifical Academy For Life. The Pontifical Council for New Evangelization, focusses on evanglising Europe, but is likely to be a small body, and any errors it makes could well be substituted by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Church's general evangelization body.

It seems that the church is acting much like the South African government, in appointing Fisichella to Europe where he fits in better with the groups the church wants to fight, and Ouellet to ensure loyal bishops, and to Latin America where his views will be welcome in fighting the socialist governments [corrected from "government"] there on abortion and gay marriage: while his views will be of great benefit to Benedict XVI.

Fisichella's replacement, in the Church's pro-life body is Mgr. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, a Spanish born member of loyalist group Opus Dei, who is a physician and moral theologian. Opus Dei is a loyalist organization, with a strong fidelity to the dogma of the church on all issues including abortion.



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Will lax, incompetent, dissident bishop head Pope's new body designed to re-Christianise the West?

______________________________
Article summary: Pope shows interest in defeating secularism; May appoint bishop who is out of favour with the (pro-life, orthodox Catholic church-going) public to head new diacastery for this; Bishop's fiasco in his last job may be seen as not incapacitating him for evangelisation, a different job where a perceived lack of loyalty to Canon Law is oft tolerated by the Church. Some see the possible appointment as a shelving of this bishop, without necessarily a shaming of him.
______________________________


(Tridentine South Africa)

|Download the Audio Version of this Article|

Article by Marc Aupiais

"Pope launches mission to re-evangelise the West" - Europe, World - The Independent:

"At one of the last vespers' service [sic: services] before the Vatican shuts down for the summer break, the Pope announced the creation of a Pontifical Council for the promotion of New Evangelisation which would be dedicated to what he described as 'a grave crisis in the sense of the Christian faith'.

The creation of the council is a stark reminder of just how far secularisation has progressed in an area that was once called Christendom and is a tacit admission that the Church's recent attempts to reinvigorate Christianity in Europe have not succeeded.

The 83-year-old pontiff admitted that while there were many areas of the world that were still ripe for missionaries, Europe and North America have suffered from an 'eclipse of a sense of God' and needed to be re-evangelised."

UK Independent (Secular and secularist; British; Independent) 30 / 06 | June / 2010

One unfortunate possibility for head of this body involves a bishop who criticized another bishop for upholding Canon Law, and the teaching of the Church:

"From French blog Osservatore Vaticano:
In the past year, the Pontifical Academy for Life has been under the spotlight - including the ambiguous support of its chairman, Archbishop "Rino" Fisichella, for "therapeutic" abortion, in the sordid and painful Recife affair (Brazil).

Increasingly persistent rumors tell us that Bishop Fisichella will soon leave his post. [Rorate adds: but perhaps moved upwards?... Hopefully not!]"

Rorate Caeli (Catholic; Independent; Traditional leaning) 23 / 06 | June / 2010

Archibishop Fisischella, is thought to be the bishop to get the nod, either today or on Thursday (What Does The Prayer Really Say? [Catholic; Independent; American; Conservative leaning] 28 / 06 | June / 2010 ). Our own service has noted how the Archbishop has been accused of blatant fiasco as regards his attacking of a bishop who upheld Canon law to the letter, by declaring the already active automatic excommunications of doctors and one adult who caused the elective abortion / artificial termination of pregnancy of a nine year old girl, who the adult's life-partner allegedly raped.

John L. Allen JR. a noted observer of the Vatican and writer for the very liberal USA National Catholic Reporter says of the appointment:

"Benedict did not give a formal name for the new office, but reports indicate it will be called "Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization." Its job, according to the pope, will be to resist an "eclipse of the sense of God" in secular cultures.

Though Benedict did not reveal his choice to lead the enterprise, it’s widely expected that the new Vatican department, known as a “dicastery,” will be entrusted to Italian Archbishop Rino Fisichella, currently President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a former chaplain to the Italian parliament.

If so, the move would amount to a papal vote of confidence for the embattled Fisichella, who has come under fire in his current post by pro-life groups for allegedly taking too soft a line on the question of excommunication for those involved in abortions [sic: Evangelisation and Abortion are two separate issues, the church often places liberals in positions involving evangelisation, and conservatives in place on social issues].

When Ratzinger was elected to the papacy five years ago, many cardinals at the time said they had turned to him because they regarded him as the figure best equipped to respond to the crisis of secularization in the West, especially in Europe. His choice of name, “Benedict,” was in part a reference to St. Benedict, the founder of European monasticism.

In the intervening five years, a series of controversies and scandals during Benedict’s pontificate – most recently, the global sexual abuse crisis swirling around the Catholic church – has often obscured that aim, and arguably made it far more difficult to realize, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, the creation of a new council suggests that Benedict has not thrown in the towel.

[...]

Aside from the overt logic of the new department, the creation of the new Council and Fisichella’s appointment to head it are striking for two other reasons.

First, the decision to create the new Pontifical Council is another indication of Benedict XVI’s fondness for the Communion and Liberation movement. The idea for a “Council for the New Evangelization” was first floated by Fr. Luigi Giussani, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, in the early 1980s, but was not taken up by Pope John Paul II. More recently, Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, himself close to the Communion and Liberation movement, represented the idea to Benedict XVI.

Benedict’s affinity for the movement is well known. Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger delivered the homily at Giussani’s funeral Mass in 2005, and a group of consecrated women who are part of the Memores Domini group within Communion and Liberation run Benedict’s papal household.

Second, if Fisichella indeed becomes the first president of the new council, it would be a show of papal support for compassion in pressing the church’s pro-life argument [sic: the appointment is to a role involving evangelisation after many rumours that the pope was soon to remove the bishop from his role heading the Pontifical Academy for Life]

[...]

Fisichella is also an ambivalent figure, however, for some of the church’s most staunchly pro-life forces, as a result of his role in a 2009 controversy from Brazil involving an abortion for a nine-year-old girl. The girl had become pregnant after reportedly being raped by her stepfather, and her mother arranged for an abortion. Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho of Olinda and Recife, upon learning of the case, announced that the mother, the doctor, and others involved in the abortion were excommunicated.

Sobrinho’s position aroused widespread protest in Brazil and around the world, but drew swift backing from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops. Fisichella, however, then penned a front-page essay in L’Osservatore Romano that appeared to criticize Sobrinho.

“Before giving thought to excommunication, it was necessary and urgent to safeguard the innocent life of this girl [sic: SACNS: noted at the time of the fiasco that the church had played an active role in attempting to aid the girl, and her parish priest went to great effort to attempt to assist her, and to give her dignity], and return her to a level of humanity of which we, men of the church, should be expert heralds and teachers,” Fisichella wrote.

What is needed now, he added, “is the sign of a testimony of closeness with the one suffering, an act of mercy that, even while firmly maintaining the principle, is able to look beyond the juridical sphere.”

That article brought protests both from bishops in Brazil and from pro-life activists all over the world, resulting in a July 10 “clarification” from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith indicating that church teaching on abortion has not changed and will not change.

Within the Pontifical Academy for Life, a group of members led by Belgian Monsignor Michel Schooyans wrote a lengthy letter calling for Fisichella’s removal, arguing that he had falsely invoked the concept of “compassion” to justify actions contrary to Christian morality.

Nonetheless, Fisichella has remained on the job … and now appears headed for a new one, obviously close to the pope’s heart."

28 / 06 | June / 2010

As I have noted on Va-Browser before: “referendarius” (formal expert advisor) to the Apostolic Signatura, which Thomas Peters of American Papist calls the highest court in the Catholic Church, Edward N. Peters JD JCD, states that the canonical plea of necessity, can only be mitigating at best when the oppressor has committed a delict which by its nature is intrinsically evil, such as the delict of abortion. He did this in referring to a case where doctors claimed a mother's life was in danger, although it is possibly uncertain whether her condition was related to her pregnancy. (Va-Browser Editorial 02 / 06 | June / 2010)

As the excommunication was automatic (i.e. had happened even without the statement of the Brazilian Bishop) in the case of those (other than the 9 year old) aiding in the abortion of the 9 year old, and as excommunication is designed to be pastoral: to call the person excommunicated to repentance and to prevent others from following their course:

The possible new head of a body designed to evangelize nations which increasingly endorse what the Church Dogma considers the mortal sin of masturbation (homosexual acts) and elective abortion (considered the worst form of murder by the church), is one who is not a touch enforcer of church rules, and caused a spread of pro-abortion sentiments during his position in a body which was set up to ensure the protection of human life from conception until natural death.

Vatican observers have noted that without a tough ally in the Congregation for Bishops, Benedict XVI may continue to find he must choose from different relative dissidents, or those he does not know well within the bishops of the church for many of his more important positions. While the Liberal American National Catholic Reporter suggests that the new body would be an endorsement of the bishop's de facto failure at combating abortion while heading the Pontifical Academy for Life, Benedict XVI is a pragmatist, and it is highly likely that any appointment would be because of any past experience the bishop in question has with Evangelization, a field where the church often puts its more liberal bishops and priests.




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What the Pope wants your annulment to look like

(Tridentine South Africa)

Analytical Article by Marc Aupiais

An issue which recently caused some concern, and which resulted in our service being contacted for comment, is the papacy's recent comments about annulments. The Pope believes tribunals have not been strict enough in applying the law. We were corresponded with due to concern over his comments and their effects on valid annulment cases.

Firstly, the pope's comments:

"JUSTICE, CHARITY AND TRUTH MUST GUIDE THE ROMAN ROTA

VATICAN CITY, 29 JAN 2010 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received the dean, judges, promoters of justice, defenders of the bond, officials and lawyers of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, for the occasion of the inauguration of the judicial year.

In his address the Holy Father focused his attention on the role of that institution, from the triple perspective of the justice, charity and truth which must inspire it.

"It is necessary to take account of the tendency - widespread and well-rooted though not always obvious - to contrast justice with charity, almost as if the one excluded the other", said the Pope. "Some people maintain that pastoral charity justifies any measures taken towards the declaration of nullity of the marriage bond. ... Truth itself ... would thus tend to be seen in a functional perspective, adapting itself to the different requirements that arise in each case".

"Your ministry", he continued, "is essentially a work of justice, a virtue ... of which it is more important than ever to rediscover the human and Christian value, also within the Church. Canon Law ... must always be considered in its essential relationship with justice, maintaining an awareness that the Church's juridical activity has as its goal the salvation of souls".

"In this perspective it must be borne in mind that, whatever the situation, trial and sentence are fundamentally linked to, and at the service of, justice", said Benedict XVI, and he went on: "Apart from this 'objective' dimension of justice, there exists another dimension ... which concerns the 'operators of the law'; that is, those who make law possible. ... They must be characterised by their exalted practice of human and Christian virtues, in particular those of prudence and justice, but also that of strength".

This latter virtue "becomes more important when injustice seems the easiest path to follow, in as much as it involves giving in to the desires and expectations of the parties involved, or to the conditioning of the social environment".

"Everyone who works in the field of the Law, each in his or her own role, must be guided by justice", said Pope Benedict. "I am thinking in particular of lawyers, who must not only take great care to respect the truth of the evidence, but also to avoid taking on ... cases which they know in their conscience to be objectively unsustainable.

"The action of those who administer justice cannot neglect charity", he added. "A charitable perspective and charitable measures will help us not to forget that those before us are always people marked by problems and suffering. The principle whereby 'charity goes beyond justice' also holds good in the specific field of the work of 'operators of justice'".

"Our dealings with people", the Pope explained, "must take account of each specific case in order, with delicacy and attentiveness, to facilitate the parties' contact with the tribunal". Likewise, "it is important that effective efforts be made, whenever there seems to be hope of a successful outcome, to encourage the spouses to convalidate their marriage and restore conjugal cohabitation. It is also vital not to stint efforts to establish a climate of human and Christian openness between the parties, founded on the search for truth".

The Holy Father then highlighted another important question, "that of avoiding pseudo-pastoral demands which place the issue on a merely horizontal plain, in which what counts is satisfying subjective requests in order to achieve a declaration of nullity at any cost, with the aim of overcoming, among other things, the obstacles to receiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. ... It would however be a false advantage", he said, "to ease the way towards receiving the Sacraments, at the risk of causing people to live in objective contrast with the truth of their own individual state".

"Both justice and charity require love for truth, and essentially involve the search for what is true. ... Without truth charity slides into sentimentalism. Love becomes an empty shell to be filled arbitrarily. This is the fatal risk of love in a culture without truth".

This can happen, the Pope went on, "not only in the practical activity of passing judgment, but also in theoretical studies which have such an influence on concrete judgements. The problem arises when the essence itself of marriage becomes more or less obscured. ... Examination of the conjugal bond in existential, personalist and relational terms must never be undertaken at the expense of indissolubility, an essential property which in Christian marriage has, with unity, a special firmness by virtue of the Sacrament".

"Marriage enjoys the favour of the law. Hence, in case of doubt, a marriage must be held to be valid until the contrary is proven. Otherwise we run the serious risk of remaining without an objective point of reference for pronouncements of nullity, transforming all conjugal difficulties into a symptom of a failed union whose essential nucleus of justice - the indissoluble bond - is thus effectively denied".
AC/.../ROMAN ROTA VIS 100129 (850)"

Having noted the comments of the Pope, we must note, he is talking about the case where Canon law is ignored out of empathy or sympathy for those seeking annulments. The Pope desires that marriages be presumed rebuttably to be valid first and foremost, and for annulments to only be granted when it is reasonable to believe there was not a valid marriage. His comments have no bearing on a valid claim. One must simply remember to argue correctly and to present the truth with the correct evidence if need be. I am not a canon lawyer, and one follows my advice at their own risk. I do not see any serious change in the way canon law should be viewed.














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The Pope explains that he plans to visit Scotland, to the Scottish Bishops

(Tridentine South Africa)

Article By Marc Aupiais

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, recently confirmed that he does plan to visit Scotland during his visit this year to the United Kingdom. He did so, during the Ad Limina visit of the Scottish Bishops to Rome. Ad Limina visits are compulsory visits of Bishops to Rome, in which they answer to and report back to the pope on matters in their jurisdiction. Following his recent pattern in which he attacked Venezuela, where the church is in danger, and more recently Great Britain, where he indirectly alleged human rights abuses by the Labour government against Catholics, the Pope warned against Euthanasia, as Scotland is preparing to mull over a controversial Euthanasia bill. He also told faithful Catholics to fight against secularism.

The Pope has, in his address to these same bishops in their Ad Limina visit, recently emphasized that faithful Catholics must obey the magisterium on every single point, much as Jesus said that not a mark would be taken from the law of God, the pope has emphasized that the Catholic morality, is about hope, and that the don't do's are in fact not simply sanctions, but a way to live the fullest life in Christ, gaining life through faith. He asked that the Scottish bishops focus on evangelism, and the position of the laity.

Once again playing the chess game Benedict XVI has become known for, he warned of a need to grapple with the secularist tide attempting to rise over Scotland. The Pope's efforts at outreach towards the SSPX, and Anglo-Catholic Anglicans, as well as his efforts to dialog with Islam, all show his emphasis of ridding the world of the secularist influence he sees as gripping much of Europe. While Ad Limina visits can tend to accompany papal statements against secular powers, the statements of the Pope about the United Kingdom, have certainly gotten more attention than other statements. One would get the impression that the papacy now views the small democracy, much as he does other parts of the world where the very foundation of religious freedom is at risk. He further asked the bishops to defend the right of Catholics to continue to practice their faith in Scotland.

Editorially, it does not seem that the serious rebukes of the Bishops of England and Wales were present in his speech to the Scottish Bishops, but without a source from Scotland, I cannot confirm there was no subtle message, though it seems less likely. Either way, the pope has noted Euthanasia suggestions by Scottish politicians as a serious threat to the gospel: once again seemingly believing it necessary to get directly involved in the politics of the United Kingdom. The Catholic principle of Subsidiarity, also present elsewhere in law and politics, demands that the local authority deals with an issue unless unable to do so. Papal interference, means that the United Kingdom's situation is viewed quite intently by the pope.











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The Pope, Labour, the English Bishops, and a traditionalist, conservative newspaper linked blog

(Tridentine South Africa)

Analytical short article by Marc Aupiais

Recently, it has been confirmed, that the pope does in fact plan to visit the United kingdom, an influential European country. The visit, will probably happen around September this year. What has caused a lot of attention in the public domain recently, is the pope's comments on the British government, considered by local media in Great Britain: to be a direct or indirect attack on Great Britain's ruling Labour Party.

Catholic media, has additionally noted Pope Benedict XVI's statements, which were made to the Bishops of England and Wales to be a rebuke of the Bishops themselves. The issue of concern is a clash between homosexualist interests and those of the church. Great Britain recently forced Catholic adoption agencies to choose between adhering to Catholic principles which put the interests of children first, by denying homosexual couples adoption rights: as a child preferably needs a father and mother: and closing down their operations, or allowing homosexuals to adopt children in Catholic orphanages, famous for the extra work they do for society. More recently, the Labour party has attempted to introduce a bill to force the Catholic church to allow homosexual and women priests and bishops, and to not discriminate against homosexuals as youth workers or school principles. The bill, due to ardent campaigning has failed as yet to pass.

The Pope firstly congratulated Great Britain on its pursuit of equality, as he claimed was perceived as its reputation among many in the world, and then claimed that Great Britain was violating the right to religious freedom. He claimed that pushes by the British legislators via equality legislation, in fact violated natural law. In context, all of this was said to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales: on their compulsory Ad Limina visit to the Vatican, in which they were to report to the pope and confer with him about their mission in Great Britain. In further context, while secular media has mostly focussed on the pope's attack on the Labour party, Catholic analysts specializing in these matters, have clearly noted the pope's statements in the context of an open public rebuke of the British bishops.

The Pope called efforts by the British Labour lead government violations of "natural law", which he noted as the basis for equality among men. Unlike secular services who have largely misunderstood the concept of natural law as used by Benedict XVI, as a foundation block of South Africa's common law, and of Catholic thinking, I might note that the pope was not simply calling British legislation against the church, or sin. He was in fact calling it against natural reason, and against basic human rights, and legal concepts. Natural law is not seen as a theological law, but rather as the law binding all men, essentially, as reason and reasonable behaviour. Natural law, is in fact, as the pope attests indirectly: the basis of human rights and we might separately note, it is a basis of the concept of the United Nations. The pope's attack on the legislative campaign of the Labour party, was in fact much more serious an attack than reported in press. He was essentially calling the legislative scheme criminal.

Labour recently caused the closure of many catholic adoption agencies, due to their refusal to give homosexual couples the children they had in their care. According to an editorial by a homosexual in the Daily Mail, the British Government adoption houses give homosexuals first pick of the children needing adoption, and there was no logical purpose in forcing religious specialist adoption agencies, known for their extra efforts, to close down. Labour, effectively made it illegal to discriminate against adoptive parents, due to their incompatibility with Catholic morality. The Bishops of England and Wales, however, did not put up a united front on the issue, as with many other issues. Many in Catholic media view the British bishops' conference, as one which is not entirely loyal to either the Vatican, or the magisteriam of the church. Some have seen many bishops as complicit in the campaign Labour has already launched against the Catholic Church and religion in general.


Damien Thompson, blogs editor of the telegraph group, and widely considered the best source on British Catholicism, despite his, or perhaps due to his conservative attitude, seems to believe that the pope in fact was noting the views one bishop in particular, who had criticized his fellow bishops. We at South African Catholic News Service, have often observed Benedict XVI directly or indirectly quoting local bishops in such circumstances, and think this may well be the case.

According to Damien, writing on his Telegraph Media group blog, the pope was basing much of his commentary on the views of Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue, who he says criticized the Bishops of England and Wales for failing to uphold orthodoxy. Their seemingly divided response on issues that the papacy considers non-negotiable, may well be partially the focus of an address which did praise the Bishops and Britain a bit, but not much, and which was unusually blatant for a papal address. Often these statements in general are veiled quite deeply, but the intentions of the pope are here quite clear.

Even the Guardian, known for its intense dislike for Catholic religion and morality, has published criticism of the British government, and much of the British press, believed to have turned on Gordon Brown, have come out opposing the recent attempt to even further limit freedom of religion in great Britain. The pope's statements on morals, which affect public life and politics have certainly also made a splash, perhaps one which will stifle the legislative attacks of Labour's leadership death throws before the next election. Determining how social activist or religious groups, societies for the common good and democracy govern themselves- so far as social issues are concerned, has been seen by some as a severe violation of freedom of association, and therefore of principles of freedom of thought and participation in democracy.

In accordance with the concept of subsidiarity, it is unusual for the pope to directly intervene with legislative schemes. Abortionist, pro-homosexuality and feminist and secularist groups who were already going to protest the papal visit planned to Britain, are now noting even more so that they will be protesting. Included in the protests: films about Catholic sex abuse, which will certainly cheer up these sexual revolution protesters. Also being protested by secularists, is the bill for the papal visit. Not noted by the BBC and the like, is the fact that the pope is a head of a European state, due all pomp and ceremony. What is also not mentioned is that the pope has decided to cut back on what pomp and ceremony he is offered when he visits Britain.

As a front line between practical religious secularism, and secularists, Great Britain is certainly an important place to watch. In a world, where leadership is increasingly more important than mere titles and positions in governments, the Pope's statements have been able to reignite important debate in Great Britain. His rebuke of some of his bishops, who he has stated, he desires to united behind orthodoxy, and whom he has said must continue to debate public issues in a civilized and respectful manner will also not go unnoticed. We may well begin to see some thorough debate in the catholic Church in England and Wales, where it has often been reported that those desiring to better obey the Pope, are stifled by the local church hierarchy.














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A Catholic Funderal for Manto- abortion, AIDS denialism not enough to prevent it!

(Tridentine South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

Canon (Can.) 1184 ~3 of the Code of Canon law, for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, denies funerals for manifest sinners, who have not shown repentance, if the funeral could cause public scandal to the faithful- that is if it could cause them to sin. Despite this, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, former Health Minister, for the African National Congress (ANC), which has since 1994 had an official pro-abortion policy, and who herself denied HIV/AIDS drugs to millions, was this past December 22nd (2009), not only given a Roman Catholic funeral, but given it in the Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, of Pretoria Archdiocese (IOL [Independent; Secular; South African] 22 / Dec | 12 / 2009). Friends of the ANC loyalist, treated her as though a saint, for what they termed her obedience to ANC policy.

The former Archbishop of Pretoria, was not at that time in charge of the Archdiocese, which was being administered by another.

According to the Holy See Press Office:

"VATICAN CITY, 15 DEC 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Pretoria, South Africa, and from the office of military ordinary for South Africa, presented by Archbishop Paul Mandla Khumalo C.M.M., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. "

Archives 15 / 12 | December / 2009

Manto died the day after the Former Archbishop of Pretoria had resigned, and the former archbishop was not in charge of the Archdiocese any longer.

During the period when the funeral took place, Reverend Monsignor Abel Gabuza had been appointed as Apostolic Administrator, as the SACBC (Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference) had noted in a press release to our service:

"in conformity with Canon 401,2 of the Code of Canon Law. He [Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI] has appointed Reverend Monsignor Abel Gabuza as Apostolic Administrator, sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis, (The seat is vacant and the Administrator remains in authority at the pleasure of the Holy See)."

Archives 15 / 12 | December / 2009

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Confirmation, and forced, paid for camps in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg!

(Tridentine South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

The South African Catholic News Service (SACNS), has it on reliable sources, that it is practice in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg not to confirm children who are unable to go on one specific weekend retreat, even if their failure to attend is due to severe illness, or due to risk to health. Our service has in our possession, verified email correspondence between one former candidate, and a source high up in the ranks of the SACBC (Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference), who requested some sort of assistance or reprieve from the demand that they attend a camp, despite grave risk to their health, and previous incidence of this health hazard having caused danger of suffocation in the past.

The official spoken to by the candidate, as with the local parish priest concerned, of one of the more well known parishes in the Archdiocese, refused any allowance or assistance to the special need of the candidate, so far as the request, to skip the camp and still be confirmed. The candidate, as with another candidate, who was not confirmed, had high marks in tests conducted during the process. Confirmation officials, also stayed within what an inside source claimed to be a diocesan policy, which appears to be long-standing.

The Camp itself, reportedly involves learning about the mass, confession, which candidates are heavily encourages to partake in, singing, dancing, and a culmination of events in a mass carried out by candidates, in which they rewrite the mass, including the Our Father also called the Pater, and in which liturgical dancing is encouraged. Bread, made by candidates is then blessed, and the dirty-looking blessed bread is given to them after the mass, to do with as they will, according to a source.

The emails themselves, are of great concern to our service. At present we have kept names anonymous, due to a decision that the principle is more important than the individuals inside the system, however, our service has no problem proving any of these claims, nor any issue with giving out full details, should we once again face any form of malicious threat or blackmail from within the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, as we experienced after our report on the use of money collected in parishes by a certain global Catholic organization, when we were monitored from a Vatican based computer, as well as on twitter, and were threatened. We may also pursue legal action.

Our service, which is loyal to the papacy, and to the local church as far as is permitted by Canon law, and conscience is regularly visited from the Vatican in any case, though the page requests in that case proved, that those events were related.

It appears as though this practice, involving the requirement of this retreat, which is paid for by Candidates or their parents, is long-standing. It has been claimed, that many Catholics leave after, or due to the process of confirmation, in the archdiocese, our service also understands that only about 10% of Catholics in the mentioned archdiocese attend mass regularly.













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