October 2019

• Cardinal Robert Sarah: A Prophetic Voice for the Catholic Church
BOOK PICK: Reading the cardinal’s The Day Is Now Far Spent, one has the sense of encountering an Old Testament prophet. - October 16, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: Bp. Schneider’s talk at the presentation of the book: Christus Vincit
God has chosen all of us to live in a time of crisis in the Church unlike any other in history.  What an honor! - October 15, 2019

• Archbishop Viganò to Clergy: Do Not Flee the Wolves and Hide in Silence
Today, October 6, the XXVII Sunday after Pentecost and the memorial of St. Bruno, the Office of Readings offers pastors for their meditation the following passage from the “Pastoral Rule” of St. - October 6, 2019

• Buffalo diocese investigation ends, DiMarzio will send report to Vatican
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has completed his Apostolic Visitation of the Diocese of Buffalo.
A statement released by DiMarzio’s own Diocese of Brooklyn on Thursday confirmed that the visitation had concluded and he will submit a report to the Holy See. - October 31, 2019

• Cardinal Dolan on Biden communion denial: 'I wouldn't do it'
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York has responded to questions about the denial of Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden last Sunday. - October 31, 2019

• Italian bishops’ agency published prayer to Pachamama
Missio, the pastoral agency of the Italian Episcopal Conference, published a prayer to Pachamama in an April 2019 publication devoted to the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. - October 29, 2019

• Bishop Schneider Publishes Open Letter Condemning Pachamama Idolatry
In a new open letter published today, Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, invoking his “ordination as a Catholic bishop and successor to the Apostles,” condemns the use of the pagan “Pachamama” idols in the churches in Rome and praises the “courageous and praiseworthy act” of the “brave Christian gentlemen” who “expelled the wooden idolatrous statues from the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina in Rome, and threw them into the Tiber.” - October 26, 2019

• Pope Refers to Disputed Wooden Statues as “Pachamama” in Official Remarks
In official remarks made at the Vatican today, Pope Francis referred to the controversial wooden carvings of a naked, pregnant female that first appeared at a pre-synod ceremony in the Vatican gardens on October 4 as “statues of pachamama.” - October 25, 2019

• Aquila: Report on Colorado sexual abuse calls Church to vigilance and holiness
After the release of a report on sexual abuse in Colorado’s Catholic dioceses, the Archbishop of Denver said that the Church should learn from its past, and that spiritual renewal is an essential part of ensuring a safe environment in the Church. - October 24, 2019

• Florence Archdiocese in Talks to Sell Land to Muslims to Build Mosque
The facts are these: the Archdiocese of Florence is currently in talks to sell 8,000 square meters of its property in the municipality of Sesto Fiorentino to the local Islamic community so that it can build a mosque and an Islamic cultural center. - October 21, 2019

• Pro-Abortion Ford Foundation Major Funder of Key Synod Organizations
The Register has learned that organizations belonging to REPAM, which has held the primary role in organizing the synod’s proceedings, have received millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. foundation. - October 17, 2019

• Brazilian Bishop: Yes, Amazon People Can Understand Celibacy
Rather than abandoning celibacy, the bishop urged the Church to renew its prayers to Christ for strength to carry out his will. - October 17, 2019

• Vatican denies Indian nun's appeal of dismissal from religious life for disobedience
The Congregation for the Oriental Churches has rejected the appeal of Sister Lucy Kalapura, who was dismissed from religious life in August for several acts of disobedience, including a protest of the handling of another nun's accusation that a bishop serially raped her. - October 17, 2019

• Brazilian bishop: Lack of holiness among clerics an obstacle to vocations
 A bishop in Brazil who is a member of the Amazon synod said Wednesday he believes a major obstacle to increasing priestly vocations in the region is a lack of personal holiness among the ordained, rather than the discipline of celibacy. - October 16, 2019

• Cardinal Müller Discusses His Cinematic ‘Manifesto’
Arcadia Films released a documentary of the cardinal’s ‘Manifesto of Faith’ Oct. 1. - October 16, 2019

• Vatican Communications Official: Carved Figure at Amazon Synod Is Not Virgin Mary
Father Giacomo Costa said the wooden female image represents life. - October 16, 2019

• Synod members call for greater role of women, laity in ministry
Synod participants offered several proposals to address the lack of priests in the Amazon region, including revising the formation program for candidates to the priesthood and instituting new ministries for lay men and women. - October 9, 2019

• Did Pope Francis say that Jesus isn't God? Don't believe the report, Vatican says
The Vatican said Wednesday that an Italian journalist it has previously corrected was not speaking accurately when he claimed that Pope Francis denied Christ’s divinity. - October 9, 2019

• Polish archbishop compares LGBT movement to communist regime
The Archbishop of Krakow has compared the LGBT rights movement in Poland to communism. Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski made the comparison in a pastoral letter to the archdiocese released on Sept. 28, as he announced a new initiative to encourage people to pray for Poland. - October 8, 2019

• Priestly celibacy discussed as Amazon synod gets underway
Some participants at the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops on the Amazon have responded critically to a proposal that the Church ordain married men - so called viri probati - in response to a shortage of priestly vocations in the Amazon region of South America. - October 8, 2019

• 'Undisguisedly indifferent': Bridgeport diocese issues report on its own abuse record
An investigative report on decades of clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Bridgeport was published on Tuesday, highlighting failures of past leadership, including by senior Churchmen. - October 2, 2019

• Five Vatican financial officials suspended after prosecutor’s raid
Five Vatican officials—including the director of the Financial Information Authority (AIF)—have been suspended in the wake of a stunning October 1 raid by Vatican prosecutors on the offices of the AIF and the Secretariat of State. - October 2, 2019

• After Vatican raid, 5 officials and employees suspended
An Italian news magazine has reported that five Vatican employees have been suspended following an Oct. 1 raid of offices within the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.​​​​​​​ - October 2, 2019

• Cardinal Urosa Affirms Attention to Amazon Region, Regrets Aspects of Synod Agenda
Venezuelan prelate discusses his hopes and concerns for the upcoming meeting and his nation’s continuing crisis. - October 1, 2019

• Vatican Prosecutors Conduct Raid on Secretariat of State Offices
Vatican prosecutors seized documents and electronic devices in a raid executed Tuesday at the offices of the most senior Curial department.​​​​​​​ - October 1, 2019

• VIDEO: Brazil and Infiltration of Amazon Synod w Bernardo Küster
Bernardo Küster is the biggest Catholic Commentator in the world (795,000 Youtube Subscribers). Today he and I discuss the history and role of Brazil at Vatican II, with the Traditional Movement (Bp Castro Mayer and SSPX), and the Amazon Synod. - October 31, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: Ritual bowl for demonic Pachamama placed on St. Peter’s altar at closing Mass of #AmazonSynod
Robert Moynihan is a long-time vaticanista.  In his latest “Letter #59, 2019: In plain sight“, he looks into the pagan element worked into the closing Mass of the Amazon Synod (“walking together”). - October 31, 2019

• READING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
The Church,” says Gaudium et spes, “has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.” A few paragraphs later, that duty is parsed in a positive way. - October 31, 2019

• Respecting Authority
I have a dear friend who is a liturgical Nazi.  This may not sound like a compliment, but I mean it affectionately. There is an old joke that begins:  “What is the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist?”  Answer: “You can negotiate with a terrorist.” - October 31, 2019

• Pan Amazon or Pistoia Synod?
Perhaps for fear of Cardinals Brandmüller, Müller, and Burke, and not to prove Bishop Athanasius Schneider right, the Vatican judged it prudent to remove the Pachamama statue from the closing Mass of the Special Assembly of the Synod for the Pan Amazon Region. - October 30, 2019

• What the Bishops Also Must Do
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will meet in Baltimore next month (November 11-13) for their general assembly. This will be their third meeting in Baltimore since the tsunami of the McCarrick case and the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report washed over the American Church last summer. The abuse crisis will undoubtedly loom over the conference once again, but the frantic urgency of the moment will be lessened. - October 30, 2019

• Keystone Crooks: the Vatican’s latest financial scandal
Ed Condon has done yeoman service, reporting on the latest financial scandal at the Vatican for CNA. It’s a complicated story, involving a series of imprudent and/or illicit transactions, and Condon chases down the details to provide the full picture. - October 30, 2019

• Requiem for a Synod: Female Deacons Rally Again
The Amazon Synod is finally over. Three weeks of nonsense, tree-hugging, and pagan idolatry was mixed in with the important issue of the supposed female diaconate. - October 30, 2019

• VIDEO: Joe Biden Rightly Refused Communion: St Thomas Aquinas and Canon 915
Fr Morey did the right thing. I'll explain why from Thomas Aquinas and Canon Law. Please Subscribe and also Share this video on Facebook and Twitter. - October 30, 2019

• VIDEO: Amazon Final Document: Taylor Marshall and John-Henry Westen (LifeSite) review Amazon Synod
Taylor Marshall and John-Henry Westen review Amazon Synod and the final Document. This will be live with the President of LifeSite News. - October 29, 2019

• Clerical secrets
Maybe this secret should not be disclosed, but a priest recites this prayer before he receives Holy Communion: “May the receiving of your Body and Blood, Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation….” The priest begs God to spare him from an unworthy or sacrilegious Communion. Although the graces of Holy Orders are abundant, the clergy squanders God’s grace with the same reckless abandon as the ordinary Catholic. - October 29, 2019

• Synod hopes and fears: The difference that matters
I hope that all serious Catholics who have begun reading about the results of the Amazon Synod are concerned about the outcome. But I want to caution against premature panic. I also want to clarify the issues. And I even want to help get everyone into the right Spirit. - October 29, 2019

• Is Francis the Pope?
It’s hard to imagine the Catholic Church being in worse shape than it currently is. We have a colossal and ongoing sex abuse scandal among the clergy and hierarchy that continues endlessly like some demonic global Chinese water torture. Due primarily to this scandal, the Church has lost all its moral authority in the world. Further, decades of cozying up to the culture has led to massive defections from the Church, as people no longer see her as an escape from our deadly culture, but instead as a religious blessing upon it. And then there’s Pope Francis. - October 29, 2019

• Quick Hits: After the Synod, praying for a miracle
The Amazon Synod has ended, with entirely predictable results, in terms of the propositions endorsed by the participating bishops. But bear in mind that the Synod is only an advisory body, and the final outcome depends on how Pope Francis responds to the bishops’ advice, in the apostolic exhortation that will conclude the work of the Synod. - October 28, 2019

VIDEO: Dr Marshall asks Pope Francis: Are you a heretic? Do you worship idols?
Dr Taylor Marshall addresses Pope Francis and asks: Do you, Francis, want me as a Catholic to worship a Pacha idol? Do you, Francis, want me to teach my daughters to revere Pacha? - October 28, 2019

• The Pompous and Pitiless
There is something comical about pride. It makes a man look ridiculous. Of course, it is primarily an offense against almighty God and a theological absurdity: the claim that the gifts of God are your own accomplishment. But in the Christian view, the absurdity of pride plays out as foolishness. - October 27, 2019

• VIDEO: Christ the King or Pacha Idol Queens? It's a Binary Decision w Dr Taylor Marshall
Clips from "Pope Francis says Pachamamas Retrieved from Tiber River - Taylor Struggles and Reflects (#323)" Dr Marshall breaks down some Bible verses on Idol worship. - October 27, 2019

• VIDEO: Pope Francis says Pachamamas Retrieved from Tiber River - Taylor Struggles and Reflects (#323)
Dr. Taylor Marshall opens his hearts about his struggle with Pope Francis as Francis announces the retrieval of Pachamama Idols from Tiber River. He calls them "pachamama". Taylor asks hard questions to Francis and to himself: Is he idolater? Is he a heretic? Is he a Pope? - October 25, 2019

• VIDEO: Effete and Compromising Bishops - Reaction from Fr Richard Heilman (Dr Taylor Marshall #322)
Father Richard Heilman reacts to DECADES of Effete and Compromising Bishops with Dr. Taylor Marshall and how it hurts not only laymen but also priests like himself. - October 25, 2019

• The Vatican is Gaslighting You. Again.
At the presser for the Amazon Synod today, Vaticanista Sandro Magister said the video of the ceremony in the Vatican gardens before the synod has now gone viral among evangelicals and Pentecostals. - October 25, 2019

• Bishop Barron and the ‘Unhappy’ Renewal of the ‘Trad’ Movement
In recent comments, His Excellency Bishop Robert Barron discussed the post-conciliar period and addressed the various historical movements before and after the Second Vatican Council. He makes reference to the “unhappy” renewal of the “trad” movement and heavily criticizes what he calls “pre-conciliar conservatism.” - October 24, 2019

• VIDEO: Dr Taylor Marshall & Michael Voris Talk Amazon Synod Madness (Dr Marshall #321)
Dr Taylor Marshall and Michael Voris Talk Amazon Synod and that's come to pass today at 2pm Central time. Please Subscribe and share on Facebook using the Share button. - October 24, 2019

• Pachamama, Just a Symbol or Also an Idol?
“The removal from the Roman church of Santa Maria in Traspontina of three statues of a naked woman, in an advanced state of pregnancy, which were then thrown into the waters of the Tiber has caused a stir and the images of what happened have gone viral on social media. - October 23, 2019

• When “Consent” and “Control” Replace Morals and Virtue
Our nation has long given up teaching morality. Today the word “morals” is uttered sparingly, having been replaced with “values,” a word more subjective and pleasant-sounding than its predecessor, which evokes objective standards and prescribed behavior. The slip to “values” happened almost effortlessly after secular forces evicted God from our school systems and the public square. - October 23, 2019

• Marco Tosatti: A Refresher on Liberation Theology
Editor’s note: Today we are publishing a translation of the first part of the following essay from the website of our friend and colleague, Marco Tosatti. The essay itself is written by the pseudonymous “Super Ex” — a figure Tosatti refers to regularly on his blog — a figure who previously worked within the Church, with a good deal of insight an information. - October 23, 2019

• The SSPX, the Open Letter, and the Heresies of Pope Francis
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre distinguished himself during and after the Second Vatican Council by his public combat against the modernist heresies of the day, and by his willingness to publicly oppose the reigning popes when he considered that they were tolerating or even fostering these heresies. This opposition culminated in his ordination of four bishops in 1988, in defiance of the will of Pope John Paul II, an action that led to him dying excommunicate. - October 23, 2019

• Rules for Catholic Radicals
Early Monday morning in Rome, an anonymous group of men entered the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, removed the wooden “Pachamama” idols, and ceremoniously threw them into the Tiber river. Catholics the world over rejoiced, much to the chagrin of various papal sycophants, liberals, and Vatican representative Paolo Ruffini, who called the act “A theft. An act of bravado. A gesture, in my opinion, against the special dialogue that should always animate everybody.” - October 22, 2019

• Elementary Pastoral Sense Absent From Amazonian Statue Controversy
COMMENTARY: Since symbols convey so much more than words, Vatican officials should have clarified exactly what the statue means, before allowing it to be deployed in a paraliturgical context. - October 22, 2019

• The U.S. Bishops and Vatican Heartburn
I expect this will cause a bit of heartburn at the Civiltà Cattolica,” a man who writes about Church affairs recently remarked to a colleague. - October 21, 2019

• VIDEO: The Idols of Pachamama in Rome Are Destroyed and Cast Into the Tiber River
Dr Taylor Marshall explains how the Pachamama idols were thrown into the Tiber River and the history of Elijah, Saint Benedict, and Saint Boniface in destroying pagan idols. - October 21, 2019

• Pope’s Scalfari Message Is for Italians (Not for You)
People on various internet platforms are still expressing their dismay and confusion over the pope’s alleged denial of the divinity of Christ, as conveyed by the Italian journalist and former politician, Eugenio Scalfari. We are certainly at a disadvantage when trying to suss out what the pope “means” by the often strange things he says.  - October 21, 2019

• VIDEO: TnT: Liberation Theology 101, Jesuits, Francis, and Amazon Synod
TnT Talk about the Amazon Synod as a "Vatican 3" implementation of the Liberation Theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez. - October 18, 2019

• At the Synod, the blind lead the blind
Two noteworthy columns today by veteran Vatican-watchers covering the Amazon Synod: John Allen of Crux explains how German prelates have outsized influence in the discussions of the Amazon Synod—particularly when the subject is priestly celibacy. And Sandro Magister of  L’Espresso digs into the available statistics on religious affiliation in the Amazon region and discovers a stunning trend: Nearly half the region’s population has drifted away from the Catholic Church in the past 40 years! - October 18, 2019

• VIDEO: TnT: Liberation Theology 101, Jesuits, Francis, and Amazon Synod
TnT Talk about the Amazon Synod as a "Vatican 3" implementation of the Liberation Theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez. - October 18, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: #AmazonSynod through a lens from St John Henry Newman
Corruptio optimi pessima… the corruption of the best thing is the worst sort of corruption. - October 17, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: ASK FATHER: Is Francis an Antipope because Cardinals conspired and the conclave was invalid?
From a reader… - October 17, 2019

• THE AMAZON SYNOD IS A SIGN OF THE TIMES
The Synod of the Amazon is a sign of the times. So its Instrumentum laboris says. Who could disagree? And what times these are! Some are saying hopefully that the Synod of the Amazon will change the Church forever, that the Church will never be the same again. - October 17, 2019

• Shepherds of a Wounded Flock
Eyes are turned to Rome these days, waiting to see what will come of the Amazonian Synod. The synod fathers, as everyone by now knows, have been flirting with the idea of ordaining married men so as to better serve the sacramental needs of the Amazonian people. - October 17, 2019

• The Pachamama or the Virgin: which does the Synod revere?
Questioned about the Pachamama icon that has become the most visible symbol of the Amazon Synod, Father Giacomo Costa told reporters that it was an image of “an indigenous woman who brings life.” The Synod spokesman added: “Nobody said it was the Virgin Mary.” - October 17, 2019

• ‘No One Ever Talked About McCarrick and the Boys’
A source with knowledge of the Vatica
n investigation said McCarrick is alleged to have regularly invited high school boys to accompany him on trips between 1971-1977, when he served as secretary to Cardinal Terrence Cooke in New York. - October 17, 2019

• VIDEO: Pantheism, Pope Pius X and the Amazon Synod w Matt Gaspers (Dr Taylor Marshall #317)
Dr Taylor Marshall and Matt Gaspers discuss Amazon Synd and Pantheism. What is Pantheism? From the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the subject: "in the strictest sense, i.e. as identifying God and the world, Pantheism is simply Atheism [St. Pius X discusses this in Pascendi]. - October 16, 2019

• Pagan Idols at the Amazon “walking together” Synod
More blah blah from the Holy See about the antics surrounding the Amazon (“walking together”) Synod… Amazoniana Synod… cha cha cha… - October 16, 2019

• The next Vatican scandal: don’t say I didn’t warn you
Back in June 2016 I made a prediction about the next Vatican scandal: This time the subject will not be sex, but that other rich lode of corruption: money. - October 16, 2019

• Analysis: A pink dolphin, a carved image, and inculturation at the Amazon synod
At a “moment of Amazon spirituality” Oct. 16, in a church just down the street from St. Peter’s Square, a woman told the Amazonian folk tale of a pink river dolphin who seduced a village girl. - October 16, 2019

• What Sixty Years of Synods Keep Missing
How long ago it seems now, after six and a half grueling, mind-bending years under Pope Francis, coupled with the shock, from which one will never recover, of Pope Benedict’s abdication. It was like transitioning from a post-doctoral theology seminar to a multicultural kindergarten. - October 16, 2019

• The Vatican’s Continuing Idolatry Problem
At a ceremony in the Vatican gardens leading up to the Amazon Synod, a very strange ritual unfolded. - October 16, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: PODCAzT 178: Fr. Weinandy and the possible “Internal Papal Schism”
Today I go back to 8 October 2019 and a piece by Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Cap., at The Catholic Thing: Pope Francis and Schism. This is important. - October 15, 2019

• VIDEO: #TnT: Pachamama and Bishop Robert Barron on Henri De Lubac
#TnT discuss the Pachamama image and how it relates ideologically with the ecumenical theology of Vatican 2. - October 15, 2019

• Missionary: Married priests in Amazon wouldn't get to the root of the problem
A South American missionary to Angola who is participating in the Amazon Synod at the invitation of the pope has said the proposal to ordain as priests married men to solve the lack of evangelization in the Amazon is “illusory”. - October 15, 2019

• Amazon Synod Reveals Vatican Bureaucracy Nightmare
We’ve heard it before: universities have changed. Professors no longer teach “Shakespeare 101,” but “Shakespeare and Gender in Multimedia” or “Elizabethan Bard Culture.” And poets like Milton and Crashaw have been “canceled.” The classics aren’t just too dead, too white, and too male — they’re too elitist now, too. To delight in the grandeur of their language is classist bigotry. Analyzing comic books is far nobler, a celebration of the proletarian spirit. - October 15, 2019

• VIDEO: The Origin of Amazonian Liturgies by Xicão Xukuru (w Michael Hichborn and Taylor Marshall #315)
Dr Taylor Marshall and Michael Hichborn (of Lepanto Institute) discuss the origin and meaning of the Amazonian Liturgies that we are seeing being celebrated at the Vatican Amazonian Synod and how they relate to Xicão Xukuru. - October 14, 2019

• Who Needs an Ecological Conversion? – and a Canonization Note
We begin today – the delightfully incoherent “Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day” in the United States – with several questions. Where has environmental harm to rivers, air, and soil been most reversed? - October 14, 2019

• In Defense of Rigidity
Though it is one of the more prominent themes in the Holy Father’s preaching, “clericalism” can come across as a word without a clear definition. - October 14, 2019
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• This week: So what DID the Pope say about Christ’s divinity?
Yet again, an unexpected and unsettling news story snatched top billing from the Amazon Synod in the week’s Catholic World News coverage. Last week it was the police raid on the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. This week it was the stunning claim, by an influential Italian journalist, that “Pope Francis conceives of Christ as Jesus of Nazareth: a man, not an incarnate god.” - October 11, 2019

• The Evidence Suggests The Francis-Scalfari Connection is No Accident
Since the news broke early this week that the nonegenarian atheist socialist editor of Italy’s La Repubblica, Eugenio Scalfari, claimed that Pope Francis told him during one of their many conversations that he did not believe Jesus was God, the Catholic commentariat has been engaged in a rhetorical battle to the death over who to believe, whether it’s true, and what it all means. - October 11, 2019

• VIDEO: Dog Nursing Story & Cardinals in Rome with George Neumayr (Dr Taylor Marshall #314)
George Neumayr joins live from Rome with Dr Taylor Marshall to discuss his journalistic discoveries in Rome, beginning with meeting Cardinals on the street and also his finding of the odd "dog nursing" photo during the Amazonian Synod in the Vatican church of St Maria Trasportina. - October 11, 2019

• It’s Past Time for Theologians, Canonists, Bishops, and Cardinals to Weigh in on the Status of the Papacy
It was once the sort of question that was shared in hushed tones after a few drinks, back in the early days of the pontificate when only a few people seemed to be aware just how bad things were. - October 11, 2019

• VIDEO: Did Francis Deny Christ's Divinity? The Scalfari Interview (Dr Taylor Marshall #313)
Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari (who has previously interviewed Pope Francis regarding the existence of Hell) has reported that Pope Francis does not believe that Jesus Christ was God before the cross. - October 10, 2019

• Translation of Eugenio Scalfari’s ‘Latest Interview’
A quick working translation of the latest article “interview” article by Eugenio Scalfari in La Repubblica.​​​​​​​ - October 9, 2019

• Does Pope Francis profess the Nicene Creed?
Did Pope Francis really really say that Jesus is not God? - October 9, 2019

• Scalfari on the Pope, Translated
We have updated our original piece about Eugenio Scalfari’s latest bombshell, in which he claims that in his presence, Pope Francis denied the divinity of Jesus. - October 9, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: #AmazonSynod, optional celibacy, divorced and remarried priests, and Amoris Laetitia
Let’s think about “optional celibacy” which the Germans and other iconoclasts want in order to drive the Church towards becoming a well-connected NGO. - October 9, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: “Amazon rite” proposed at Amazon Synod: more condescension to follow
From Ed Pentin at the National Catholic Register about topics raised at the Amazon Synod: - October 9, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: A priest opines on the effect of optional priestly celibacy
I received this from a priest friend who, for reasons that are riotously obvious these days, desires anonymity. He reflects on the discussion of optional celibacy that the Amazon Synod is sure to push. - October 9, 2019

• WHAT KIND OF “BELIEVERS”?
This past June I was in the Munich area for four days, giving a public lecture on Evangelical Catholicism and doing a lot of media interviews. My hosts were exceptionally gracious, but it was also obvious that the Catholic Church in what was once Germany’s most intensely Catholic region is in terrible shape. The numbers tell the tale. - October 9, 2019

• LETTERS FROM THE SYNOD–2019: #2
REPORTS AND COMMENTARY, FROM ROME AND ELSEWHERE, ON THE SPECIAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS FOR THE PAN-AMAZON REGION: “NEW PATHS FOR THE CHURCH AND FOR AN INTEGRAL ECOLOGY” - October 9, 2019

• Steps from God. . .to the Religion of the Self
John Paul II famously celebrated the critical importance of Greek philosophy in rescuing the Church from falling into a species of superstition.  The fathers of the Church would recruit to their side the fathers of philosophy in order “to bring to light the link between reason and religion.” - October 9, 2019

• Dear Father: Less Social Justice, Please, and More Real-World Preaching
Dear Father N.,
Thank you for coming across town from your parish to ours to celebrate Mass for us as often as you do. As one of the few parish members (if not the only one) who doesn’t speak Japanese as a first language, I very much appreciate your written English translations of your homilies. - October 9, 2019

• Scalfari, Friend of Francis, Claims Pope Believes Jesus Was “Not a God At All”
Amidst the raging debate over what was at best a syncretistic (and at worst an overtly pagan) opening ceremony for the Amazon Synod, an early push for ending clerical celibacy from Cardinal Hummes, cringe-inducing virtue-signaling from members of the Catholic media, and the jaw-dropping brazenness of a key synod organizer — Bishop Erwin Kräutler — openly supporting women’s ordination, a bomb has been dropped that has overtaken even the wildly controversial opening days of the synod itself. - October 9, 2019

• Cardinal Urosa: Some Pastoral Suggestions for the Pan-Amazon Synod
COMMENTARY: The Synod for Amazonia: Comments Concerning the Instrumentum Laboris; Part 3 of a Series - October 9, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: Amazon Synod and deaconettes?
You know that the issue of deaconettes is going to be raised at the Synod (“walking together”) on the Amazon. - October 8, 2019

• VIDEO: #TnT: Amazon Paganism in Rome, and Pope Francis (and Dog Photo)
Taylor is back from Rome. He and Tim go live and talk about the Amazon pagan rites, idols, and symbols being displayed in Rome. - October 8, 2019

• Pope Francis and Schism
The Church, in her long history, has never been confronted with the situation like the one in which she now finds herself. - October 8, 2019 

• A serious theologian’s fear of schism
Father Thomas Weinandy has long been a perceptive and courageous analyst of the current confusion that is spreading from Rome. And he has paid a price for his honesty.  - October 8, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: #AmazonSynod -1st attack on the Priesthood: The Cassock
Throughout history, anti-Catholicism and anti-clericalism has specifically targeted the cassock for a great share of its fear and hatred. - October 7, 2019

• The Return of the King
Pope Francis is fond of saying that “synod” means “walking together.” In the right circumstances, it might mean that (though usually it just means a “meeting”). In the wrong circumstances, it can take on the less happy meanings of the original Greek synodos – like the “meeting” that happens when two parties face each other in a courtroom – or two armies clash. - October 7, 2019

• In the Buffalo diocese, the wrong sort of investigation?
Hat tip to Siobhan O’Connor, the Buffalo whistleblower, for calling attention to the fact that the Vatican’s apostolic visitation of that diocese is “not subject to the recent instruction of the Holy See, Vos Estis.” Here’s one more demonstration that the Vatican still has no credible plan to hold bishops accountable for covering up abuse. - October 7, 2019

• The ‘spirit of timidity’ that thwarts evangelization
Years ago, at an inter-religious conference, I was befriended by a Muslim cleric who, when he learned that I had never met my father-in-law, promised to do his best to bring us together. (He fulfilled that promise, to no avail.) However, he also felt obliged to give me a warning. - October 7, 2019

• Fr. Z's Blog: Freemasonic, Gnostic, Satanic influences, tactics
A thought…One can recognize that Freemasonry is the Anti-Church in the following astonishingly frank witness of Giuliano Di Bernardo, Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge Gran Loggia Regolare d’Italia, which he gave during his television appearance on April 11, 2001, on the Italian TV Channel, Rai 2. - October 6, 2019

• VIDEO: Dr M LIVE in Rome: Amazon Paganism in the Vatican Gardens with Pope Francis
Dr Taylor Marshall from Rome discusses Amazon Religion in the Vatican Garden with Pope Francis. This is will be a LIVE Q&A.​​​​​​​ - October 6, 2019

• Blunting the Straightforward Tenets of the Faith
In a column a few weeks ago, I called upon the USCCB to drive a stake through the undead heart of the dreadful New American Bible – and the lectionary based upon it. - October 6, 2019

• This week: A curious media silence about a blockbuster Vatican story
This week’s most important CWN headline was not a big story. It was a huge story, a sensational story, a blockbuster. To be honest, I’m at a loss to explain why it hasn’t been given headline coverage throughout the media world.​​​​​​​ - October 4, 2019

• A Pre-Synod Brain Dump
I hope you’ll pardon me if I offer some commentary that is a bit more stream-of-consciousness  than usual. The storm is gathering, but life goes on. - October 4, 2019

• Revised: Non-ordination of women: Not a dogma?
One of the key drafters of the working document for the Amazon Synod, Bishop Erwin Kräutler, has solemnly declared that John Paul II’s statement that the Church cannot ordain women is not a dogma (see this story).  - October 4, 2019

• Sins against the Sixth Commandment at the root of clericalism
Pope Francis is well-known for his attacks against clericalism — the tendency for clergy to act as if they are better than the laity and deserving of special treatment. - October 3, 2019

• A Wise Child’s Guide to the Amazon Synod
A few days ago, Vaticannews.va, an official outlet, featured an article by a Brazilian Jesuit and theologian defending the mishmash of sociology and sophisms in the Amazon Synod’s Working Document using the most extreme terms imaginable. Father Adelson Araujo dos Santos called claims that the Synod was flirting with “theological errors and heresies” to be “a total distortion of the facts.” In his view, anyone making such claims is in “complete disobedience to the whole doctrine and magisterium of the church.” - October 3, 2019

• THE DARK SIDE OF THE DALLAS CHARTER
As we approach John Henry Newman’s canonization as a saint of the Catholic Church, it is a good time to invoke his considerable theological wisdom. - October 2, 2019

• THE MODEL NEW EVANGELIZATION BISHOP
Out on the Kansas plains, he was just turning 21 when the Second Vatican Council promulgated its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) and its Decree on the Pastoral Office of the Bishops in the Church (Christus Dominus).  - October 2, 2019

• A bid to understand the police raid at the Vatican
A shocking, unprecedented scene: Vatican police raiding the offices of the Vatican’s own Secretariat of State, seizing documents and electronic devices. - October 2, 2019

• A bid to understand the police raid at the Vatican
A shocking, unprecedented scene: Vatican police raiding the offices of the Vatican’s own Secretariat of State, seizing documents and electronic devices. - October 2, 2019

• James Martin and the Pope: Message Received
On Monday, September 30, Pope Francis — the first Jesuit pope — sat down in the library of the Apostolic Palace with fellow Jesuit Fr. James Martin for a half-hour private audience. Gerard O’Connell, writing for the Jesuit-run America magazine, says, “It was their third meeting but their first substantial conversation.” - October 1, 2019

• Bishop Barron, Taylor Marshall, and a Stonewalling on Hell
I recall arguing once with a Catholic friend of mine during our teenage years. He was from a big city far away and attended a publicly funded Catholic high school. I was a homeschooled boy from the country. The debate was on whether there were souls in Hell. I held the ideologically rigid belief that many souls go to Hell. - October 1, 2019

• What’s wrong with popular causes (and with clerics who ride them)?
Let me speak frankly. It is a symptom of flabby, secularized Christianity to witness primarily in favor of popular and prudential causes. Yet from Pope Francis on down, this symptom is widespread among Catholic leaders today. Five significant mistakes are made by Christians whose witness in favor of popular and prudential causes substantially exceeds their witness to unpopular and absolute truths.​​​​​​​ - October 1, 2019

• VIDEO: Ordination of Women and Amazon Synod (Dr Taylor Marshall #309)
#TnT discuss the possibility of women's ordination at the Amazon Synod and the anonymous Coetus Internationalis Patrum document.​​​​​​​ - October 1, 2019

• Pray for a Miracle — An Initial Reaction to the Close of the Synod
Pray for an apostolic exhortation that glorifies and lifts up Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. - October 27, 2019