WASHINGTON DC 20017-1194 202-541-3100 FAX 202-541-3166
Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President
September 20, 2011
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I write with a growing sense of urgency about recent actions taken by your Administration that both escalate the threat to marriage and imperil the religious freedom of those who promote and defend marriage. This past spring the Justice Department announced that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court, a decision strongly opposed by the Catholic Bishops of the United States and many others. Now the Justice Department has shifted from not defending DOMA—which is problem enough, given the duty of the executive branch to enforce even laws it disfavors—to actively attacking DOMA‟s constitutionality. My predecessor, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, and I have expressed to you in the past our strong disappointment about the direction your Administration has been moving regarding DOMA. Unfortunately the only response to date has been the intensification of efforts to undermine DOMA and the institution of marriage.
The Justice Department‟s move, in addition to other troubling federal decisions occurring recently, prompts me yet again to register my grave concerns. The content of this letter reflects the strong sentiment expressed at a recent meeting by more than thirty of my brother Bishops who serve on the Administrative Committee of our episcopal conference. I know they are joined by hundreds of additional Catholic bishops throughout our nation. My observations are offered in the spirit of respectful, but frank dialogue.
The Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by you and your Administration to strengthen marriage and the family. We cannot be silent, however, when federal steps harmful to marriage, the laws defending it, and religious freedom continue apace. Attached you will find an analysis prepared by my staff detailing the various executive activities of late that warrant our increasing apprehension.
Mr. President, your Administration‟s actions against DOMA and the values it stands for contrast sharply with your excellent Mother‟s Day and Father‟s Day proclamations issued earlier this year, which are also referenced in the attached analysis. In these perceptive and heartening statements, you correctly emphasize the critical role played by both a mom and a dad in a child‟s life, and you rightly call upon society to do all it can to uphold both mothers and fathers.
I know that you treasure the importance that you and the First Lady, separately and as a couple, share in the lives of your children. The Mother‟s Day and Father‟s Day proclamations display a welcome conviction on your part that neither a mom nor a dad is expendable. I believe therefore that you would agree that every child has the right to be loved by both a mother and a father.
The institution of marriage is built on this truth, which goes to the core of what the Catholic Bishops of the United States, and the millions of citizens who stand with us on this issue, want for all children and for the common good of society. That is why it is particularly upsetting, Mr. President, when your Administration, through the various court documents, pronouncements and policies identified in the attached analysis, attributes to those who support DOMA a motivation rooted in prejudice and bias. It is especially wrong and unfair to equate opposition to redefining marriage with either intentional or willfully ignorant racial discrimination, as your Administration insists on doing.
We as Bishops of the Catholic Church recognize the immeasurable personal dignity and equal worth of all individuals, including those with same-sex attraction, and we reject all hatred and unjust treatment against any person. Our profound regard for marriage as the complementary and fruitful union of a man and a woman does not negate our concern for the well-being of all people but reinforces it. While all persons merit our full respect, no other relationships provide for the common good what marriage between husband and wife provides. The law should reflect this reality.
Mr. President, I respectfully urge you to push the reset button on your Administration‟s approach to DOMA. Our federal government should not be presuming ill intent or moral blindness on the part of the overwhelming majority of its citizens, millions of whom have gone to the polls to directly support DOMAs in their states and have thereby endorsed marriage as the union of man and woman. Nor should a policy disagreement over the meaning of marriage be treated by federal officials as a federal offense—but this will happen if the Justice Department‟s latest constitutional theory prevails in court. The Administration‟s failure to change course on this matter will, as the attached analysis indicates, precipitate a national conflict between Church and State of enormous proportions and to the detriment of both institutions.
Thus, on behalf of my brother Bishops, I urge yet again that your Administration end its campaign against DOMA, the institution of marriage it protects, and religious freedom. Please know that I am always ready to discuss with you the concerns raised here and to address any questions that you may have. I am convinced that the door to a dialogue that is strong enough to endure even serious and fundamental disagreements can and must remain open, and I believe that you desire the same. Also please know that you, your family, and your Administration continue to be in my prayers.
Faithfully in Christ,
Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Friday, September 23, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Latest from "The Cardinal Newman Society"
"Wow," I thought. "It's happening!"
The Vatican is cracking down on dissent.
Even the leftist National Catholic Reporter is complaining with great alarm: The Vatican aims to "weed out dissenting voices."
Oh my… this couldn't be what Pope Benedict meant by "evangelical pruning"?
If so, then we're quite happy here at The Cardinal Newman Society!
We have worked more than 18 years to expose dissent at many Catholic universities, which are leading thousands of Catholic students astray.
And we are working toward faithful Catholic teaching on Catholic campuses, which depends primarily on strong college leadership but also on vigilant oversight from the Vatican and the U.S. bishops.
And it's happening!
You may recall that the Vatican quietly ousted Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese -- now a rabble-rouser at Georgetown University -- from the prominent Jesuit magazine America in 2005.
Now we've been able to confirm leaked reports that Rome is challenging heterodox material in the Jesuit journal Theological Studies, published at Marquette University.
The chairman of Boston College's Theology Department, Fr. Kenneth Himes, co-wrote an article arguing that Church teaching on the indissolubility of marriage should be changed.
And now the champions of dissent are crying foul. Why?
Because the Vatican has demanded that the journal's editor, Marquette theology professor Fr. David Schultenover, S.J., publish a rebuttal by Jesuit Father Peter Ryan and Germain Grisez.
Father Ryan and Dr. Grisez are serious Catholic theologians and both recent professors at Mount St. Mary's University -- one of only 20 colleges profiled in our Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College and the new home for our Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education.
The authors confirm that their rebuttal is backed by a "mandate from higher authority" -- and they make no apologies for it!
But that's just the latest news. The U.S. bishops have been cracking down on bad theology elsewhere.
Indeed, the problems with Theological Studies go back to 2006, when Archbishop Elden Curtiss of Omaha publicly challenged false teaching by Creighton University theologians Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler.
Lawler (now retired) and Salzman (who continues to teach theology at Creighton) claimed that "homosexual couples can engage in sexual acts that are natural, reasonable and therefore moral."
In 2007 the Cardinal Newman Society complained about Lawler's leadership of Creighton University's Center for Marriage and Family, after which Archbishop Curtiss cut ties with the Center.
And last year, the bishops' doctrine committee publicly condemned The Sexual Person by Salzman and Lawler as "harmful to one's moral and spiritual life."!
This is one of a series of public censures of work by wayward theology professors by the Vatican and the U.S. bishops! They include:
- Daniel Maguire of Marquette University (Wisconsin)
- Fr. Richard McBrien at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana)
- Fr. Peter Phan of Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
- Fr. Jon Sobrino, S.J., of the University of Central America
- Fr. Roger Haight, S.J., of the Union Theological Seminary (New York)
- Fr. Joseph Imbach of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure (Rome)
And just last year, the bishops censured a feminist theologian at Fordham University.
The bishops' doctrine committee publicly condemned a book by Sr. Elizabeth Johnson -- who has referred to God as "She Who Is" -- for "misrepresentations, ambiguities and errors" that do "not accord with authentic Catholic teaching on essential points."
This month we learned that the bishops' top administrative committee unanimously authorized the review of Sr. Johnson's work.
Why is this important? Catholic Culture found that Sister Johnson's book was used in theology courses at no fewer than 13 Catholic colleges and universities!
One solution that would address much of this problem is the mandatum for theology professors, by which the local bishop recognizes a theologian's commitment to teach authentic Catholic theology.
That's a requirement of Canon Law, and something The Cardinal Newman Society has advocated many times since Pope John Paul II issued Ex corde Ecclesiae in 1990. Recently the executive director for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat on Doctrine, Fr. Thomas Weinandy, strongly supported the mandatum.
You who have followed The Cardinal Newman Society's reports over the last several years know that we have worked hard to expose wayward professors.
And you can understand why we are so encouraged by the latest Vatican effort to rein in the Jesuits' journal from Marquette!
Faithful families and students have suffered a lot of heartache in recent decades, but today we are living in times very exciting to be Catholic! We're so glad that you're with The Cardinal Newman Society as we work for the renewal of Catholic higher education!
Thank You, our Father in Heaven, for good news.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Patrick J. Reilly
President
P.S. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and support our work with your contributions! With the Holy Spirit, all things are possible.
SHARE THIS EMAIL:
FacebookTwitterLinkedInDiggMySpace
To update your email address and other information, click here. Or you can click here to cancel your CNS online membership.
The Cardinal Newman Society
9415 West Street
Manassas, VA 20110
The Vatican is cracking down on dissent.
Even the leftist National Catholic Reporter is complaining with great alarm: The Vatican aims to "weed out dissenting voices."
Oh my… this couldn't be what Pope Benedict meant by "evangelical pruning"?
If so, then we're quite happy here at The Cardinal Newman Society!
We have worked more than 18 years to expose dissent at many Catholic universities, which are leading thousands of Catholic students astray.
And we are working toward faithful Catholic teaching on Catholic campuses, which depends primarily on strong college leadership but also on vigilant oversight from the Vatican and the U.S. bishops.
And it's happening!
You may recall that the Vatican quietly ousted Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese -- now a rabble-rouser at Georgetown University -- from the prominent Jesuit magazine America in 2005.
Now we've been able to confirm leaked reports that Rome is challenging heterodox material in the Jesuit journal Theological Studies, published at Marquette University.
The chairman of Boston College's Theology Department, Fr. Kenneth Himes, co-wrote an article arguing that Church teaching on the indissolubility of marriage should be changed.
And now the champions of dissent are crying foul. Why?
Because the Vatican has demanded that the journal's editor, Marquette theology professor Fr. David Schultenover, S.J., publish a rebuttal by Jesuit Father Peter Ryan and Germain Grisez.
Father Ryan and Dr. Grisez are serious Catholic theologians and both recent professors at Mount St. Mary's University -- one of only 20 colleges profiled in our Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College and the new home for our Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education.
The authors confirm that their rebuttal is backed by a "mandate from higher authority" -- and they make no apologies for it!
But that's just the latest news. The U.S. bishops have been cracking down on bad theology elsewhere.
Indeed, the problems with Theological Studies go back to 2006, when Archbishop Elden Curtiss of Omaha publicly challenged false teaching by Creighton University theologians Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler.
Lawler (now retired) and Salzman (who continues to teach theology at Creighton) claimed that "homosexual couples can engage in sexual acts that are natural, reasonable and therefore moral."
In 2007 the Cardinal Newman Society complained about Lawler's leadership of Creighton University's Center for Marriage and Family, after which Archbishop Curtiss cut ties with the Center.
And last year, the bishops' doctrine committee publicly condemned The Sexual Person by Salzman and Lawler as "harmful to one's moral and spiritual life."!
This is one of a series of public censures of work by wayward theology professors by the Vatican and the U.S. bishops! They include:
- Daniel Maguire of Marquette University (Wisconsin)
- Fr. Richard McBrien at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana)
- Fr. Peter Phan of Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
- Fr. Jon Sobrino, S.J., of the University of Central America
- Fr. Roger Haight, S.J., of the Union Theological Seminary (New York)
- Fr. Joseph Imbach of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure (Rome)
And just last year, the bishops censured a feminist theologian at Fordham University.
The bishops' doctrine committee publicly condemned a book by Sr. Elizabeth Johnson -- who has referred to God as "She Who Is" -- for "misrepresentations, ambiguities and errors" that do "not accord with authentic Catholic teaching on essential points."
This month we learned that the bishops' top administrative committee unanimously authorized the review of Sr. Johnson's work.
Why is this important? Catholic Culture found that Sister Johnson's book was used in theology courses at no fewer than 13 Catholic colleges and universities!
One solution that would address much of this problem is the mandatum for theology professors, by which the local bishop recognizes a theologian's commitment to teach authentic Catholic theology.
That's a requirement of Canon Law, and something The Cardinal Newman Society has advocated many times since Pope John Paul II issued Ex corde Ecclesiae in 1990. Recently the executive director for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat on Doctrine, Fr. Thomas Weinandy, strongly supported the mandatum.
You who have followed The Cardinal Newman Society's reports over the last several years know that we have worked hard to expose wayward professors.
And you can understand why we are so encouraged by the latest Vatican effort to rein in the Jesuits' journal from Marquette!
Faithful families and students have suffered a lot of heartache in recent decades, but today we are living in times very exciting to be Catholic! We're so glad that you're with The Cardinal Newman Society as we work for the renewal of Catholic higher education!
Thank You, our Father in Heaven, for good news.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Patrick J. Reilly
President
P.S. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and support our work with your contributions! With the Holy Spirit, all things are possible.
SHARE THIS EMAIL:
FacebookTwitterLinkedInDiggMySpace
To update your email address and other information, click here. Or you can click here to cancel your CNS online membership.
The Cardinal Newman Society
9415 West Street
Manassas, VA 20110
Friday, September 2, 2011
Apostasy at work, where are we heading?
Apostasy, the destroyer that is inundating the Catholic Church today. Since 1960 when the VCII and their change of the Mass by their new interpretation of the mass, and the movement away from the accepted liturgy, and the Latin mass, have degraded our religion, to conform to other religions, mainly Protestant. To have a priest, dressed up like a clown, to have dancers prancing around the altar, has degraded the sacred mass into a carnival, and Circus. When the tail(the people) starts wagging the dog(the Vatican), as the Jews did when Moses went up to the mount to receive the 10 commandments, and made the idols such as the golden calf, you know that we are heading toward destruction, and Apostacy has taken hold.The mass is the eucharistic celebration and always includes the proclamation of the Word of God, thanksgiving to God for all he gives us, and above all for the gift of his Son Jesus, the consecration of bread and wine, the receiving of the Lords Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
Jesus Christ is present under the species of bread and wine, and who is offered in the Eurcharistic sacrifice. It is a celebration to be to be taken seriously, and to pay homage to our Lord, through whom we have been saved from eternal death.
Each religion, government, and system that allows apostacy to creep in, has been destroyed, through-out the ages. The more we feel we have progressed in our understanding and intelligence,
the more apostasy increases. why change the liturgy that has served our church so well , so many many years? Look around in the church, there is no more reverence at the mass. Has the modernization improved the mass? Has it made people more reverent to the sacrifice of Jesus?
Has it gained more respect for Jesus? An emphatic
NO is the answer. Respect has gone out the window,
and been replaced by self satisfaction, self
indulgence, and the quest for bigger and more.
I believe the return to the old liturgy may heal our church, and bring back respect, reverency, and love for God, Father ,Son, and Holy Spirit, and love for Jesus and his sacrifce to save us all.
JMHO
Jesus Christ is present under the species of bread and wine, and who is offered in the Eurcharistic sacrifice. It is a celebration to be to be taken seriously, and to pay homage to our Lord, through whom we have been saved from eternal death.
Each religion, government, and system that allows apostacy to creep in, has been destroyed, through-out the ages. The more we feel we have progressed in our understanding and intelligence,
the more apostasy increases. why change the liturgy that has served our church so well , so many many years? Look around in the church, there is no more reverence at the mass. Has the modernization improved the mass? Has it made people more reverent to the sacrifice of Jesus?
Has it gained more respect for Jesus? An emphatic
NO is the answer. Respect has gone out the window,
and been replaced by self satisfaction, self
indulgence, and the quest for bigger and more.
I believe the return to the old liturgy may heal our church, and bring back respect, reverency, and love for God, Father ,Son, and Holy Spirit, and love for Jesus and his sacrifce to save us all.
JMHO
Saturday, August 20, 2011
So they sow, so they reap. God have mercy on them.
CDC: Homosexual men account for 61% of new HIV infections but only 2% of population
by Patrick B. Craine
Thu Aug 18, 2011 19:22 EST
Comments (14)
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has estimated that homosexual men account for 61% of the new HIV infections in the United States while they only amount to about 2% of the country’s population.
Earlier this month, the CDC released estimates for HIV infections from 2006-2009 showing that new infections remained stable at around 50,000 for each of the four years.
Homosexual men accounted for 29,300 of the estimated 48,100 new infections in 2009, and homosexual men aged 13 to 29 accounted for 27% of the new cases.
The only group in which new HIV infections is increasing, they say, is young homosexual men – driven by an alarming increase in infections from African Americans. They estimated that the new infections among young black homosexual men increased 48 percent in the period of 2006-2009 (from 4,400 HIV infections in 2006 to 6,500 infections in 2009).
The study also revealed that almost 20% of homosexual men have HIV, while nearly half of those who do are unaware of it.
by Patrick B. Craine
Thu Aug 18, 2011 19:22 EST
Comments (14)
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has estimated that homosexual men account for 61% of the new HIV infections in the United States while they only amount to about 2% of the country’s population.
Earlier this month, the CDC released estimates for HIV infections from 2006-2009 showing that new infections remained stable at around 50,000 for each of the four years.
Homosexual men accounted for 29,300 of the estimated 48,100 new infections in 2009, and homosexual men aged 13 to 29 accounted for 27% of the new cases.
The only group in which new HIV infections is increasing, they say, is young homosexual men – driven by an alarming increase in infections from African Americans. They estimated that the new infections among young black homosexual men increased 48 percent in the period of 2006-2009 (from 4,400 HIV infections in 2006 to 6,500 infections in 2009).
The study also revealed that almost 20% of homosexual men have HIV, while nearly half of those who do are unaware of it.
Friday, August 19, 2011
The final secret given to Sr.Lucie one of the children of Fatima
The final secret of Fatima, given to the three children, and written down to Sister Lucie(one of the three children), that was to have been reveal by 1960, and never has, shows the reasons why,by deduction of what was learned.
It appears that apostasy, is the destruction that was revealed. Apostasy, within the upper hierarchy of the Catholic Church. This warning would have seemed folly, many years ago, but today, the full meaning of this terrible warning given to Sister Lucie by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is all too clear. The APOSTASY, that has taken hold of our faith is insidious, and as such , can not be recognized until it is too late. Is it already too late? Here is a portion of what I had read as a warning, and you all decide for yourselves. For those that will not believe, nothing you say will convince them, for those that do believe, nothing more need said. God have mercy on us all.
The blog site: http://www.devilsfinalbattle.com/ch4.htm
Father Fuentes
On December 26, 1957, Father Fuentes interviewed Sister Lucy. The interview was published in 1958 with an imprimatur of his Archbishop, Archbishop Sanchez of Veracruz, Mexico. Among other things, Sister Lucy told Father Fuentes the following:
Father, the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way but without giving any importance to Her message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent.
Father, how much time is there before 1960 arrives? It will be very sad for everyone, not one person will rejoice at all if beforehand the world does not pray and do penance. I am not able to give any other details because it is still a secret. …
This is the Third part of the Message of Our Lady which will remain secret until 1960.
Tell them, Father, that many times, the most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth. She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the world if we do not obtain beforehand the conversion of that poor nation.
Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus, the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.
That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. … The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence.21
Father Alonso
Before his death in 1981, Father Joaquin Alonso, who for sixteen years was the official archivist of Fatima, testified as follows:
It is therefore completely probable that the text makes concrete references to the crisis of faith within the Church and to the negligence of the pastors themselves [and the] internal struggles in the very bosom of the Church and of grave pastoral negligence of the upper hierarchy.22
In the period preceding the great triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, terrible things are to happen. These form the content of the third part of the Secret. What are they? If ‘in Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved,’ ... it can be clearly deduced from this that in other parts of the Church these dogmas are going to become obscure or even lost altogether.23
Does the unpublished text speak of concrete circumstances? It is very possible that it speaks not only of a real crisis of the faith in the Church during this in-between period, but like the secret of La Salette, for example, there are more concrete references to the internal struggles of Catholics or to the fall of priests and religious. Perhaps it even refers to the failures of the upper hierarchy of the Church. For that matter, none of this is foreign to other communications Sister Lucy has had on this subject.24
Cardinal Ratzinger
On November 11, 1984, Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave an interview in Jesus magazine, a publication of the Pauline Sisters. The interview is entitled “Here is Why the Faith is in Crisis,” and was published with the Cardinal's explicit permission. In this interview Cardinal Ratzinger admits that a crisis of faith is affecting the Church around the world. In this context, he reveals that he has read the Third Secret and that the Secret refers to “dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian and therefore (the life) of the world.”
The Cardinal thus confirms Father Alonso's thesis that the Secret pertains to widespread apostasy in the Church. Cardinal Ratzinger says in the same interview that the Secret also refers to “the importance of the Novissimi [the Last Times/the Last Things]” and that “If it is not published, at least for now, it is to avoid confusing religious prophecy with sensationalism ...” The Cardinal further reveals that “the things contained in this ‘Third Secret’ correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions, first of all that of Fatima ...”25
Bishop Amaral
In complete accord with Cardinal Ratzinger is Bishop Amaral—the third Bishop of Fatima. In a speech in Vienna, Austria on September 10, 1984, he said the following:
Its content concerns only our faith. To identify the [Third] Secret with catastrophic announcements or with a nuclear holocaust is to deform the meaning of the message. The loss of faith of a continent is worse than the annihilation of a nation; and it is true that faith is continually diminishing in Europe.26 [Emphasis added]
Cardinal Oddi
On March 17, 1990 Cardinal Oddi gave the following testimony to Italian journalist Lucio Brunelli in the journal Il Sabato:
It [the Third Secret] has nothing to do with Gorbachev. The Blessed Virgin was alerting us against apostasy in the Church.
Cardinal Ciappi
To these witnesses we must add the testimony of Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, who was nothing less than Pope John Paul II's own personal papal theologian. In a personal communication to a Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg, Cardinal Ciappi revealed that:
In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.27
All of these testimonies are consistent with the repeated remarks of Sister Lucy herself—not only to Fr. Fuentes, as quoted above, but to many other reliable witnesses. Although bound to secrecy concerning the precise contents of the Third Secret, her remarks to reliable witnesses are full of references to churchmen “being fooled by false doctrine”; to a “diabolical disorientation” afflicting “so many persons who occupy places of responsibility” in the Church; to “priests and consecrated souls” who “are so deceived and misled” because “the devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under cover of good … leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the place which they occupy … They are blind men guiding other blind men,” and so on.28
Pius XII Confirms
the Secret's Prediction of Apostasy
But perhaps the most remarkable testimony of all on this score, although it is of indirect relevance, is that of Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli, before he became Pope Pius XII and while he was still serving as Vatican Secretary of State during the reign of Pope Pius XI. Speaking even before Sister Lucy had committed the Third Secret to paper, the future Pius XII made an astonishing prophecy about a coming upheaval in the Church:
I am worried by the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church is a divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul. … I hear all around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past.
Pope Pius XII's biographer, Msgr. Roche, noted that at this moment in the conversation, according to a Count Galeazzi, “the gaze of the Pope, seen through the lenses of his glasses, became supernatural, and there emanated from his tall and slender body an irresistible mystical force.” Pius XII then said (in answer to an objection from a curial Cardinal):
A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has become God. In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them. Like Mary Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask, “Where have they taken Him?”29
It is quite remarkable that the future Pope would relate this apparently supernatural intuition of coming devastation in the Church specifically to “the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of Fatima” and “this persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church.” The prediction would be utterly senseless if it had been based on the first two parts of the Great Secret, which make no mention of such things as “the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul” or “innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past.” Nor is there any indication whatsoever in the first two parts that “In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them.”
How did the future Pope Pius XII know these things? If not by supernatural intuition, then by direct knowledge that some hitherto undisclosed portion of “the Blessed Virgin's messages to Sister Lucy of Fatima” revealed these future events in the Church.
In short, every single testimony pertaining to the contents of the Third Secret, from 1944 until at least 1984 (the date of the Ratzinger interview) confirms that it points to a catastrophic loss of faith and discipline in the Church, representing a breakthrough for the forces arrayed against Her for so long—the “innovators” that the future Pope Pius XII heard “all around me,” clamoring for the dismantling of the Sacred Chapel and changes in the liturgy and Catholic theology.
As we will show, that breakthrough began in 1960, precisely the year when (as Sister Lucy had insisted) the third part of the Secret should be revealed. But before we return to that fateful year, when the great crime we speak of first began, we must first discuss the motive that preceded the crime. This will we now endeavor to do.
It appears that apostasy, is the destruction that was revealed. Apostasy, within the upper hierarchy of the Catholic Church. This warning would have seemed folly, many years ago, but today, the full meaning of this terrible warning given to Sister Lucie by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is all too clear. The APOSTASY, that has taken hold of our faith is insidious, and as such , can not be recognized until it is too late. Is it already too late? Here is a portion of what I had read as a warning, and you all decide for yourselves. For those that will not believe, nothing you say will convince them, for those that do believe, nothing more need said. God have mercy on us all.
The blog site: http://www.devilsfinalbattle.com/ch4.htm
Father Fuentes
On December 26, 1957, Father Fuentes interviewed Sister Lucy. The interview was published in 1958 with an imprimatur of his Archbishop, Archbishop Sanchez of Veracruz, Mexico. Among other things, Sister Lucy told Father Fuentes the following:
Father, the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way but without giving any importance to Her message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent.
Father, how much time is there before 1960 arrives? It will be very sad for everyone, not one person will rejoice at all if beforehand the world does not pray and do penance. I am not able to give any other details because it is still a secret. …
This is the Third part of the Message of Our Lady which will remain secret until 1960.
Tell them, Father, that many times, the most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth. She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the world if we do not obtain beforehand the conversion of that poor nation.
Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus, the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.
That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. … The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence.21
Father Alonso
Before his death in 1981, Father Joaquin Alonso, who for sixteen years was the official archivist of Fatima, testified as follows:
It is therefore completely probable that the text makes concrete references to the crisis of faith within the Church and to the negligence of the pastors themselves [and the] internal struggles in the very bosom of the Church and of grave pastoral negligence of the upper hierarchy.22
In the period preceding the great triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, terrible things are to happen. These form the content of the third part of the Secret. What are they? If ‘in Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved,’ ... it can be clearly deduced from this that in other parts of the Church these dogmas are going to become obscure or even lost altogether.23
Does the unpublished text speak of concrete circumstances? It is very possible that it speaks not only of a real crisis of the faith in the Church during this in-between period, but like the secret of La Salette, for example, there are more concrete references to the internal struggles of Catholics or to the fall of priests and religious. Perhaps it even refers to the failures of the upper hierarchy of the Church. For that matter, none of this is foreign to other communications Sister Lucy has had on this subject.24
Cardinal Ratzinger
On November 11, 1984, Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave an interview in Jesus magazine, a publication of the Pauline Sisters. The interview is entitled “Here is Why the Faith is in Crisis,” and was published with the Cardinal's explicit permission. In this interview Cardinal Ratzinger admits that a crisis of faith is affecting the Church around the world. In this context, he reveals that he has read the Third Secret and that the Secret refers to “dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian and therefore (the life) of the world.”
The Cardinal thus confirms Father Alonso's thesis that the Secret pertains to widespread apostasy in the Church. Cardinal Ratzinger says in the same interview that the Secret also refers to “the importance of the Novissimi [the Last Times/the Last Things]” and that “If it is not published, at least for now, it is to avoid confusing religious prophecy with sensationalism ...” The Cardinal further reveals that “the things contained in this ‘Third Secret’ correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions, first of all that of Fatima ...”25
Bishop Amaral
In complete accord with Cardinal Ratzinger is Bishop Amaral—the third Bishop of Fatima. In a speech in Vienna, Austria on September 10, 1984, he said the following:
Its content concerns only our faith. To identify the [Third] Secret with catastrophic announcements or with a nuclear holocaust is to deform the meaning of the message. The loss of faith of a continent is worse than the annihilation of a nation; and it is true that faith is continually diminishing in Europe.26 [Emphasis added]
Cardinal Oddi
On March 17, 1990 Cardinal Oddi gave the following testimony to Italian journalist Lucio Brunelli in the journal Il Sabato:
It [the Third Secret] has nothing to do with Gorbachev. The Blessed Virgin was alerting us against apostasy in the Church.
Cardinal Ciappi
To these witnesses we must add the testimony of Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, who was nothing less than Pope John Paul II's own personal papal theologian. In a personal communication to a Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg, Cardinal Ciappi revealed that:
In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.27
All of these testimonies are consistent with the repeated remarks of Sister Lucy herself—not only to Fr. Fuentes, as quoted above, but to many other reliable witnesses. Although bound to secrecy concerning the precise contents of the Third Secret, her remarks to reliable witnesses are full of references to churchmen “being fooled by false doctrine”; to a “diabolical disorientation” afflicting “so many persons who occupy places of responsibility” in the Church; to “priests and consecrated souls” who “are so deceived and misled” because “the devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under cover of good … leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the place which they occupy … They are blind men guiding other blind men,” and so on.28
Pius XII Confirms
the Secret's Prediction of Apostasy
But perhaps the most remarkable testimony of all on this score, although it is of indirect relevance, is that of Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli, before he became Pope Pius XII and while he was still serving as Vatican Secretary of State during the reign of Pope Pius XI. Speaking even before Sister Lucy had committed the Third Secret to paper, the future Pius XII made an astonishing prophecy about a coming upheaval in the Church:
I am worried by the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church is a divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul. … I hear all around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past.
Pope Pius XII's biographer, Msgr. Roche, noted that at this moment in the conversation, according to a Count Galeazzi, “the gaze of the Pope, seen through the lenses of his glasses, became supernatural, and there emanated from his tall and slender body an irresistible mystical force.” Pius XII then said (in answer to an objection from a curial Cardinal):
A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has become God. In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them. Like Mary Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask, “Where have they taken Him?”29
It is quite remarkable that the future Pope would relate this apparently supernatural intuition of coming devastation in the Church specifically to “the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of Fatima” and “this persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church.” The prediction would be utterly senseless if it had been based on the first two parts of the Great Secret, which make no mention of such things as “the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul” or “innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past.” Nor is there any indication whatsoever in the first two parts that “In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them.”
How did the future Pope Pius XII know these things? If not by supernatural intuition, then by direct knowledge that some hitherto undisclosed portion of “the Blessed Virgin's messages to Sister Lucy of Fatima” revealed these future events in the Church.
In short, every single testimony pertaining to the contents of the Third Secret, from 1944 until at least 1984 (the date of the Ratzinger interview) confirms that it points to a catastrophic loss of faith and discipline in the Church, representing a breakthrough for the forces arrayed against Her for so long—the “innovators” that the future Pope Pius XII heard “all around me,” clamoring for the dismantling of the Sacred Chapel and changes in the liturgy and Catholic theology.
As we will show, that breakthrough began in 1960, precisely the year when (as Sister Lucy had insisted) the third part of the Secret should be revealed. But before we return to that fateful year, when the great crime we speak of first began, we must first discuss the motive that preceded the crime. This will we now endeavor to do.
Show mercy for those in Purgatory
I pray every night for those in Purgatory, as they can not help themselves, and it is our duty to bring whatever spiritual help we can, to satisfy our Lords Justice,
and to help free them. It is a selfless and charitable act, that does not take that long to do. Those that wish to, can also say the " Eternal father, I offer you the Body,Blood,Soul,and Divinity, of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, in addition to all the masses said throughout the world today,for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners the universal church, sinners in my home, and within my family (here I add, "and myself"). Our beloved Blessed Mary had said to say this prayer, with much indulgence given for those poor souls in purgatory. As I have said before, the Divine Mercy Prayers, can be said every day, not just during the Passion of Easter.
"Today bring to Me the Souls who are in the prison of Purgatory,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice."
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Praise Almighty God and His Mercy, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and to help free them. It is a selfless and charitable act, that does not take that long to do. Those that wish to, can also say the " Eternal father, I offer you the Body,Blood,Soul,and Divinity, of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, in addition to all the masses said throughout the world today,for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners the universal church, sinners in my home, and within my family (here I add, "and myself"). Our beloved Blessed Mary had said to say this prayer, with much indulgence given for those poor souls in purgatory. As I have said before, the Divine Mercy Prayers, can be said every day, not just during the Passion of Easter.
"Today bring to Me the Souls who are in the prison of Purgatory,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice."
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Praise Almighty God and His Mercy, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Show mercy for those in Purgatory
I pray every night for those in Purgatory, as they can not help themselves, and it is our duty to bring whatever spiritual help we can, to satisfy our Lords Justice,
and to help free them. It is a selfless and charitable act, that does not take that long to do. Those that wish to, can also say the " Eternal father, I offer you the Body,Blood,Soul,and Divinity, of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, in addition to all the masses said throughout the world today,for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners the universal church, sinners in my home, and within my family (here I add, "and myself"). Our beloved Blessed Mary had said to say this prayer, with much indulgence given for those poor souls in purgatory. As I have said before, the Divine Mercy Prayers, can be said every day, not just during the Passion of Easter.
"Today bring to Me the Souls who are in the prison of Purgatory,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice."
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Praise Almighty God and His Mercy, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and to help free them. It is a selfless and charitable act, that does not take that long to do. Those that wish to, can also say the " Eternal father, I offer you the Body,Blood,Soul,and Divinity, of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, in addition to all the masses said throughout the world today,for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners the universal church, sinners in my home, and within my family (here I add, "and myself"). Our beloved Blessed Mary had said to say this prayer, with much indulgence given for those poor souls in purgatory. As I have said before, the Divine Mercy Prayers, can be said every day, not just during the Passion of Easter.
"Today bring to Me the Souls who are in the prison of Purgatory,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice."
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Praise Almighty God and His Mercy, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
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