This post is provided for those who would like to comment on stories that run on the ticker during March. Serious NEW subjects related to the ticker may be added as ‘comments,’ and might be moved to this post text if space allows.
Scroll down for more information, links and opinions on these current topics:
- Cardinal Pell,
- Yuca Threat,
- Scandalous Funding of CRS and CCHD, and
- Vaccinating using aborted cell lines.
Torture in Australian Prison?
When we attend Holy Mass,
let’s pray for Cardinal Pell.
In my opinion, what Cardinal Pell’s soul most needs is prayer, especially the supreme prayer which private celebration has not been taken from him by the Church, i.e. the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
Yes, torture is a strong word, but denying him the Mass is like suffocation or starvation. The government’s argument is absurd. Only a few drops of wine are needed. His case is still on appeal; this is cruel and unusual punishment for the situation, but a delight for Satan and his minions in the Australian prison system.
They know the powerful strengthening Cardinal Pell would receive from the Mass.
See Comments for discussion on guilt or innocence, fair or unfair sentencing.
Christian says: “There are certain crimes and sin which are committed which are so grievous, that I think one has ex-communicated themselves from the Church. Sexual abuse should be considered such a crime and sin.”
True Faith says: “Cardinal Pell should have been defrocked as a Cardinal and as a priest.”
RaymodfRice says: “We sometimes forget that all forms of abuse (physical, moral and psychological, sexual ) should be discovered and rooted out in our Catholic organization/culture , not just sexual abuse.”
The Yuca Threat
http://www.cleansingfire.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=47597&action=edit
I am very surprised to have had basically no response on the Yuca Threat ticker item from our readers.
The Catholic Church’s loss in Europe as a result of Protestantism would be as nothing compared to losing nearly 500 million South American Catholics if the Eucharist became formulated from a non-wheat substance, the yuca root, proposed by a Jesuit for discussion at next fall’s South American Synod in the Pan-Amazonian region. They may still “go to Church,” and even preach Catholicism and obey many tenets, but they will not have the Holy Eucharist. Without the Eucharist, there is no Church. And it would happen in a matter of “one fell swoop” were it to occur, as opposed to the medieval spread city by city, with push-back from the real Catholic Church. There is now an announcement from the Vatican that the subject will not be on the agenda. But we’ve heard that before.
It is not inconceivable that the Yuca proposal is the kind of thing that would destroy faith fast and on a major scale. Personally, and I will go out on the opinion limb here, I would not at all be surprised to find that a Yuca-invalidity is already underway in some places in South America. These ‘ideas’ for a synod agenda do not come out of nothingness. But, of course, after the disastrous Sex Summit, might not some in the Vatican feel it is too soon to start a new upheaval? And, so, we begin to better understand what Christ meant when He said:
Luke 18:8 — “…when the Son of man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
Follow-up: Matter is off the Table (for now)
Lifesite News, which carried the original Yuca story regarding the upcoming South American Synod, just published this one: “Vatican tamps down controversy, says no yuca for the Eucharist.” Did involvement of the laity just actually work? It wasn’t that long ago when the laity, priests and religious could brush off such a rumor as impossible to happen. Church ‘regulations’ and teaching were well known, no cleric would ever publicly propose any violation, and the laity could sleep soundly with “No worry here.” But teachings from Laudato Si to Amoris Laetitia changed that landscape. Prelates have debated unashamedly giving the Eucharist to non-Catholics, and the gendarmes have broken up a homosexual orgy in the Vatican. These and many more have rocked the trust of the laity. Speculation about changing the Our Father and the Catechism made anything seem possible. So it is understandable that when Yuca Eucharist was proposed, ‘people of faith’ might no longer have ‘faith in the people’ who run that show. Instead of shrugging off the possibility of invalid matter, it became considered as all too possible, and instead of waiting for the Proceedings of the Synod to be published, Catholic blogs. already have something to say about it. (No wonder Rev. Rosica wants blogs ‘certified’; i.e. neutralized.) By not waiting, but using resources at hand, the possible threat to the Holy Sacrament was revealed and the sandbags brought out.
I think we are seeing just a tiny leading edge of how lay involvement might actually be able to make a difference through immediate and adverse reactions being publicized. But, also, there are a few excerpts which whisper that the issue isn’t gone:
- “According to Vatican officials, there are no current plans to allow a change in the bread that is used as matter for the Eucharist.”
- “Bishop Fabio Fabene told Catholic News Agency on Friday that a change from the millennial formula of bread made from wheat alone as matter for the Eucharist does “not appear in the preparatory document for the special assembly next October and, therefore, is not a subject of the next synod.”
- Msgr. Charles Pope wrote at National Catholic Register: “Really, the discussion should end here — but, sadly, exotic and highly dubious ideas such as this one have become daily fare in this era of weaponized ambiguity.”
There is some satisfaction that ‘push back’ moved the boulder, but the matter calls for continued vigilance against a landslide. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see the item added to the agenda at the last moment.
Scandalous Funding of CRS and CCHD
For further discussion of the USCCB’s funding of CRS and CCHD, click here: http://www.cleansingfire.org/2019/03/if-i-fund-sin-i-should-confess-it-shouldnt-i/
The Vaccination Issue
http://www.cleansingfire.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=47597&action=edit
https://catholiccourier.com/articles/academy-for-life-encourages-parents-to-vaccinate-children
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/aborted-babies-are-still-being-used-in-todays-vaccine-production
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Regarding what the church needs right now is an elimination of arrogant narcissists (aka:clericalism) among the clergy !Most of the upheavals in the history of the church have been caused by the clergy!!
It starts at the top, with the Servant of the Servants of God.
Luke 22:26: “… let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.”
I am distressed and dismayed by the report of Pope Francis’ words against the purity of the Church. Has any other pope ever spoken of Holy Mother Church this way? Adultery against God?
See https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2019/03/francis-besmirches-and-humiliates-our.html
Diane -You may not like my response. I do think Cardinal Pell’s soul needs prayer, and it should include prayer of penance and reparation. I do not think he should be denied Mass and the sacraments, but as a lay faithful, not as a presider/officiant.
There are certain crimes and sin which are committed which are so grievous, that I think one has ex-communicated themselves from the Church. Sexual abuse should be considered such a crime and sin. Especially when clergy or religious commit sexual abuse, they should be defrocked and removed from their post in addition to being ex-communicated. Clergy and religious found guilty of credible sexual abuse should have to go through the same avenue as someone who has had an abortion, performed an abortion, or has helped someone get an abortion, -mediation of a bishop after confession and assigned penance.
I would think there would have to have been sufficient evidence of credible sexual abuse for Cardinal Pell to be convicted and sentenced to prison. He has already been convicted for the heinous sexual assault and abuse of 5 male minors, and another victim has come forward. The Vatican had already removed him from public ministry and prevented him from having any exposure to minors. The Vatican reportedly has been awaiting the legal outcome, including the cardinal’s appeal this June, in regard to beginning canonical proceedings.
To be able to vest as a cardinal, a clergy in higher office of the Church, in his prison cell, to conduct Mass, is a privilege that should not be afforded him. He should be allowed however, to have the same religious and spiritual privileges of all prisoners. He should be allowed to have a Bible, Missal, other holy books, and a rosary, and he should be allowed access to the sacraments, including holy communion at Mass.
Cardinal Pell should have been defrocked as a Cardinal and as a priest. He was convicted as a felon and sexual predator in a criminal court of law with testimony and evidence by his victims in real time. I learned that his sentencing will be made public on television.
The Roman Catholic Church has been guilty of ignoring the countless reports of sexual abuse/ sexual assault of minors, women, and at risk populations across Europe, Canada, Australia, the United States,the Caribbean and Mexico, for at least 100 years. This is what is documented and on record. I’m sure that there is more.
The Catholic Church sought to protect their priests, bishops, and cardinals, rather than protect children and other innocent, vulnerable victims. We are seeing the outcome of this in our Church today. Many have left The Roman catholic church because of this. This also reflects poorly on the many wonderful, devoted priests and prelates who commit themselves to their ministry and those under their care.
I know adults who continue to suffer the effects of sexual abuse which they experienced as children, by their parish priest. They were dismissed by their diocese and were disbelieved. They were victimized a second time.
Within the last twenty years, we have witnessed two prelates sent to do penance in private, after dodging justice for their decades of sexual abuse, by the courts and by the Vatican, for most of their lives.
In any other profession or ministry, those who have used their position of trust to sexually abuse minors or at risk adults, have had their license, their ministry, and their credentials stripped from them. It is rightfully perceived that gaining access and trust by merit of one’s profession or ministry to violate a vulnerable child or adult is heinous.
Cardinal Pell should be layman prisoner Pell and receive visits by a Catholic Chaplain and attend Mass celebrated by Catholic priest in a communal prison chapel or auditorium as any other convicted felon in that prison. We should be praying for his soul.
True Faith -I agree with your comments.
Dear True;
You have provided some very insightful comments but in my perception they were accurate but a bit short on their dimensions. What about the nuns ?? I have had some VERY saintly nuns in my educational “vita” but also some nuns who were not sexually abusive but certainly emotionally abusive and once in a while physically. My earliest exposure to this was when my first grade reading teacher singled me out in front of the whole class as being stupid because I did not read as quickly as others in the class. Other abuses that followed were even worse from a physical standpoint. Also I witnessed a sweet little girl in my class being spanked by the teacher in front of the whole class, thus normalizing physical abuse.
I have had friends who were in convents as nun/ novices and left after a few weeks because they were being propositioned by older nuns who wanted to be their “special” friends. This was the novices’s first exposure to lesbianism in a religious community.
We sometimes forget that all forms of abuse (physical, moral and psychological, sexual ) should be discovered and rooted out in our Catholic organization/culture , not just sexual abuse.
And of course we should be paying particular attention to its form in the Church, most of all the clericalism which is at its roots. Taking vows or any religious position should not be perceived as making one a part of the clerical aristocracy with special privileges but making one a servant of the laity and especially the poor!!!,
I can’t disagree with Christian or True Faith because they may well be right that Cardinal Pell is guilty and deserves onerous discipline, punishment and penalty for such sin. But — the powerful “but” — the case is not over; it is on appeal. And until it is over, I need to withhold judgment until I can accept it from a righteous court. One of the current ticker story links is to a First Things post by George Weigel (not my favorite opiner)and is commented on by the Remnant’s Matt. Personally, I do think there are things about the case that “smell” wrong. Perhaps they will be cleared up on appeal. Perhaps not. Read Weigel’s arguments in their entirety here:https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/02/the-pell-affair-australia-is-now-on-trial
Here are a number of the points Weigel makes that seem to me worth thinking about. All are quotes from Weigel in First Things:
“Has it occurred to anyone else debating the perverse verdict rendered against Cardinal George Pell, which convicted him of “historic sexual abuse”, that the cardinal did not have to return to his native Australia to face trial? … Were he guilty, he could have stayed put in the extraterritorial safety of the Vatican enclave, untouchable by the Australian authorities….”
“I have been appalled at the calumnies to which [Pell] has been subjected, in both the hyper-secularist Australian media and in Church circles determined to hang on to their dreams of post–Vatican II revolution.”
“… the first charge of sexual abuse was made against Cardinal Pell, [as] archbishop of Sydney [appointed] by Pope St. John Paul II… Pell voluntarily stepped aside from office until a judicial inquiry, led by a former Australian Supreme Court justice, cleared him completely….”
“… the case against Pell has been fraught with implausibility and worse from the outset. The Victoria police went on a fishing expedition against Pell, a year before any complaint had been received from an alleged victim.”
“The committal hearing, which dismissed many of the charges the police brought, ought to have dismissed all of them; but amidst a public atmosphere that bears comparison to Salem, Massachusetts,… a criminal trial was decreed…. after Pell’s defense demonstrated that it was physically impossible for the crimes with which he was charged to have occurred, a jury voted 10-2 to acquit him; but that meant a hung jury (several of whose members wept as their verdict was read), and the Crown decided to proceed with a re-trial. At the re-trial, Pell’s defense team demonstrated that ten implausible and improbable things would have had to have happened simultaneously for him to be guilty of the charges; there was no corroboration of the complainant’s charges; there was ample refutation of the very possibility of the vile acts with which Pell was charged having occurred by others present that day; the police were shown to have been grossly negligent in investigating the alleged crime scene—and yet the second jury voted 12-0 for conviction, after what can reasonably be supposed to have been their refusal to take seriously the trial judge’s instructions on how evidence was to be construed.”
“…when the media-suppression order that had banned Australian press coverage of these trials was lifted and the second verdict was revealed a Niagara of calumnies was poured over Cardinal Pell from both political and media circles, despite the fact that a few brave Australian journalists and Fr. Frank Brennan (a prominent Australian Jesuit on the other end of the ecclesiastical spectrum from Pell) pointed out the gross injustice of his conviction.”
“Something is very, very wrong here. No one doubts that the Catholic Church in Australia was terribly negligent in dealing with clerical sexual abuse for decades. No one who actually knows the history of Catholic reform in Australia can doubt that the man who turned that pattern of denial and cover-up around was George Pell— who also had the honesty and courage to apply the stringent standards he imposed on others accused of abuse to himself. If Pell is made the scapegoat for the very failures he worked hard to correct, the gravest question must be raised about Australian public opinion’s capacity for reason and elementary fairness—and about the blood lust of an aggressively secular media, determined to settle political and ecclesiastical scores with one of the country’s most internationally prominent citizens, who dared to challenge “progressive” shibboleths on everything ranging from the interpretation of Vatican II to abortion, climate change, and the war against jihadism.”
As the facts finally come out, reasonable people around the world are now coming to see that at virtually every point in this tawdry process, the justice system has failed Cardinal Pell, who freely returned home to defend himself. That system has also failed Australia. The cardinal’s attorneys will now appeal; the appellate panel of judges can, and should, agree with the appeal’s claim that the second jury could not have rationally reached a guilty verdict, given the complete refutation of the prosecution’s case by the defense. This was, in the technical terminology of Australian law, an ‘unsafe verdict.’ But the verdict was not ‘unsafe’ for Cardinal George Pell alone.”
“If it is not reversed on appeal, that false verdict will constitute a new indictment: the indictment of a legal system that could not bring itself to render justice in the face of public hysteria, political vendetta, and media aggression. Which means that Australia—or at least the State of Victoria, where this travesty has played out—is a place where no one is safe, citizen or visitor.”
[It should also be noted that the gag order against reporting on case proceedings worked against the public’s discovering any miscarriage of justice. The court went so far as to threaten Church Militant for even mentioning the trial!]
George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington, D.C.’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.) Now let us add one more incongruity — what does a man of George Weigel’s prominence and stature have to gain by writing such a defense of Cardinal Pell especially in this political climate?
I am content to pray for justice — whatever that may be — and for the soul of Cardinal Pell. But I do realize that others on CF may well differ in their opinion, and might apply different standards. And that is why CF is still here.
Here’s a look back at Cardinal Pell in 2016: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-pell-on-dubia-how-can-you-disagree-with-a-question
Lifesite also took a position on the conviction of Cardinal Pell. Here’s what they said:
“The conviction of Cardinal Pell on sex abuse charges in Australia is being questioned by almost everyone who has known the man and has followed what strongly appears to have been a kangaroo court conviction of the conservative cardinal. Of course, we all wish that justice be done on all abuse cases. Those who has been expressing grave concerns about this particular conviction have been among the most outspoken in calls for strong actions against clerical abusers. Still, there are far too many red flags in this case to be fully convinced of Pell’s guilt. A quick appeal is certainly in order.”
God Bless,
Steve Jalsevac
President and co-founder
LifeSite
On March 13 in Australia, the 6th anniversary of Pope Francis election, Cardinal Pell was given a 6-year prison sentence, with eligibility for parole after 3 years and 8 months. It is expected that his appeal will still go forward, but it is unknown if he will also appeal the sentence.
There is another factor to consider, a factor in which I hope to be totally wrong. But it needs to be said. As I read Judge Kidd’s verbal abuse of Cardinal Pell, I read him as suggesting (i.e. deliberately putting ideas into the head of prison inmates) to beat, torture or even kill Cardinal Pell in prison. All the judge had to do was hand down the sentence. He refused to allow media coverage of the trial and now he wants his own persona to be on media center stage. Here are some excerpts reported from the Judge’s rant, which I personally believe are intended to ‘set up’ Cardinal Pell and necessarily questions how Cardinal Pell could have had a fair trial in front of this man:
“Facing jail at your age in these circumstances must be an awful state of affairs for you,” the judge said. You “may not live to be released from prison,” he said.
“Some of this publicity has involved strong, trenchant and sometimes emotional criticism of you. Indeed, it is fair to say that in some sections of the community you are a publicly vilified figure,” he said.”
“We have witnessed, outside of this court and within our community, examples of a witch-hunt or a lynch mob mentality in relation to you, Cardinal Pell. I utterly condemn such behaviour.”
Prisons are not fair or unbiased. Father Geoghan was sentenced to prison for child abuse and was housed with a “lifer” who beat him to death.
My opinion: These “ticker post” stories are confusing as all get out, and do not lend themselves to constructive discussion (insofar as that’s possible on the internet.)
I would politely submit that the ticker be retired, and that a post with useful or interesting links be created an needed, providing a dedicated place for ONE topic.