Monday, December 02, 2024

Archbishop Bentz: Believing in the future of the Church despite resignations

The new Archbishop of Paderborn, Udo Markus Bentz, has addressed the people of his archdiocese for the first time with a pastoral message. 

In the bishop's message "Courage to hope", published at the weekend, he calls on Catholics to believe in the future of the church despite dwindling membership numbers. 

"Even if we as a church are becoming smaller and fewer in number, I am not giving up hope that with the right attitude we can continue to be effective in the future. It is not the numbers that are decisive, but the attitude of wanting to give hope to as many people as possible."

During his visits to the archdiocese in recent months, many people have told him of their concerns about what is no longer possible in their local communities, said Bentz. 

"Frustration about the dwindling relevance of the church. Helplessness about how to deal with it." Added to this is uncertainty and fear in the face of political and social crises: Wars, economic worries, crumbling cohesion in society as well as populist will-o'-the-wisps with unspeakable messages. In this situation, it is important to take "courage to hope", said Bentz. "Even today, God will not abandon us. He still cares for us today."

Responsibility for the common good

"A hopeful person does not wait in the face of fate," said the archbishop. "The gap between reality as it is and hope as it could be from God should be our motivation to commit ourselves to living differently." Christian hope also includes a willingness to take responsibility for society, future generations and the common good. "Our place is not the sacristy, but the world."

Bentz also appealed to Catholics not to close their eyes to "where we actually stand in the Archdiocese of Paderborn". In view of the declining number of full-time chaplains and volunteers, the question must be: "What works and what has long been difficult or - if we are honest - no longer works at all." Now is the time for an inventory in the parishes, committees and associations. "But let's not numb the grief over the loss that comes with it."

Bentz, who comes from the diocese of Mainz, succeeded Hans-Josef Becker as Archbishop of Paderborn in March. 

Around 1.3 million Catholics live in the East Westphalian archdiocese.

Bishop Meier: Don't feel sorry for others, but encourage them

Under the motto "Believe in us - until we do!", the nationwide Christmas campaign of the Catholic aid organisation Adveniat was launched on Sunday. 

Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg called on his listeners to "become Advent people". 

In the face of current crises and hardships, Advent people do not simply believe "that everything will somehow be all right". 

Instead, they rolled up their sleeves where they were needed. The secret is not to feel sorry for others, but to encourage them.

"We all need Advent people who don't talk down to us, but believe in us," said Meier, explaining the campaign motto. "God thinks so highly of us that he makes himself small in order to give us a horizon that is greater than any despair." 

Meier spoke during a sermon in the Augsburg suburb of Königsbrunn.

Developing self-confidence

Adveniat campaign partners from Colombia took part in the service, including the German theologian Ulrike Purrer. She went to school in Königsbrunn and has been running a church youth centre in Tumaco, a city with a high crime rate, for ten years. 

The centre is "a place where children and young people can develop self-confidence through play and artistic and cultural projects and thus escape the spiral of violence and drugs through their own efforts", said the bishop.

The donations on 24 and 25 December at all Catholic Church services in Germany will benefit the Latin American aid organisation Adveniat

Its Christmas campaign also has a political thrust. 

Together with its partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, the aid organisation is calling on governments to respect the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This states that children have the right to education, schooling and social security. 

However, the reality for many young people in the region is very different.

Pressure mounts on UK Government to appoint a Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief

PRESSURE is mounting on the Government to appoint a Special Envoy to promote Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).

The Bill, introduced by Jim Shannon MP (Democratic Union Party), would, if passed, require the Government to continue making this appointment.

Mr Shannon’s FoRB Bill has received support from the former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who has suggested that the issue of religious freedom “does not seem to be particularly important to the new Labour government”.

He told the Church Times this week that he was “worried” that the Government was “deprioritising this issue, perhaps because it is not seen as politically correct to stand up for Christians”.

The UK, he said, by giving state aid, without challenge, to regimes with a poor FoRB record, risked leaving people who were persecuted for their faith vulnerable. “These are not wealthy white minorities but some of the poorest indigenous populations, who are being hounded for their beliefs by regimes who accept a lot of aid from the UK. If we want to do something about it, we can,” he said.

Mr Hunt, an Anglican, championed religious freedom when he was Foreign Secretary, commissioning, in 2018, an independent review of the persecution of Christians around the world. Earlier that year, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, had appointed a Foreign Office minister, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, an Ahmadi Muslim, as the first Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for FoRB.

The author of the review, published in 2021 (News, 5 November 2021), was the then Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, now Bishop of Winchester. He told the Church Times this week that the Government’s rhetoric on appointing someone to champion the issue was “wearing increasingly thin”.

He voiced concern that, without the appointment of a Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for FoRB, “the UK will lose the leading role internationally it has gained in recent years,” and “would be failing in its moral duty to stand up for some of the most vulnerable communities — of all faiths — worldwide.

“The Government’s much-repeated mantra that the FoRB special envoy role will be announced ‘in due course’ is wearing increasingly thin. It is now urgent, and I will continue to take every opportunity to raise this in the House of Lords.”

His review had found that, of all persecuted minorities globally, Christians were the most targeted faith group. It also found that the UK Government had been “more reluctant” to highlight the persecution of Christians if other interests were involved. The charity Open Doors estimates that about 365 million Christians experience persecution or discrimination for their faith.

Writing on the website CapX on Red Wednesday, last week — a day designated by Aid to the Church in Need to highlight religious persecution — Mr Hunt said that, since the publication of the review, the UK had used its positions on the UN Human Rights Council, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and in the G7 to advocate for FoRB. It had also, he said, co-founded the International Religion and Belief Alliance, which now had 38 members. The special envoy, Mr Hunt argued, was “an important driver” behind these achievements.

“The fact that the government has still not appointed a new Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is a cause of great concern,” he wrote. “Sadly, religious freedom does not seem to be particularly important to the new Labour government.”

Given that religious freedom was a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he wrote: “I would have expected Keir Starmer — as a human-rights lawyer with experience in Northern Ireland — to have made FoRB a major foreign-policy priority.”

David Burrowes, a former deputy special envoy for FoRB, echoed this. “It would be a great shame if the Government’s commemoration of the forthcoming Human Rights Day [10 December], when international human-rights advocates will come together at the FCDO, is marred by the continued delay in appointing a Special Envoy for FoRB.”

A government spokesperson said on Wednesday that the UK “champions, and remains strongly committed to, Freedom of Religion or Belief for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.

“Envoy appointments are under Ministerial consideration and will be decided upon in due course. We will continue to use the strength of our global diplomatic network and our position at the UN, G7, other forums to promote and protect Freedom of Religion or Belief around the world.”

Christian man wins right to correct religion on ID card after being victim of falsified conversion to Islam

A judge in Pakistan has overturned a verdict that denied a Christian man’s effort to correct his name and religion on his national identity card after he was a victim of fake conversion to Islam, his attorney said.

Ahmad Saeed, additional district judge of Pattoki Tehsil, Kasur District, Punjab Province, on Nov. 16 overturned the verdict of Pattoki Civil Judge Mian Usman Tariq, who had ruled that 24-year-old Sufyan Masih could not revert to Christianity after “converting” to Islam, said the Christian’s attorney, Sumera Shafique.

Attorney Shafique said the civil judge had failed to assess the merits of her client’s case, apparently under fear of backlash from Islamists.

“The civil judge’s order was surprising, given the fact that none of the witnesses, including the cleric, Hafiz Abdul Waheed, who allegedly prepared the fake Islamic conversion certificate, and the two Muslim men who proclaimed to have witnessed the alleged conversion, appeared in court to record their statements despite repeated notices,” Shafique told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Masih had definitively affirmed his Christian faith and had reiterated that declaration in his statement to the district judge, she added. He told the judge that Asif Ali, the brick kiln owner where Masih worked, had registered his name in the NADRA record as Muhammad Sufyan and his religion as Islam in a bid to enslave him.

“Being an illiterate person, Masih failed to read the form filled by the data entry operator on the directives of his employer,” Shafique said, noting that Masih had put his thumbprint on the form in ignorance.

In the May 18 ruling that has now been overturned, Judge Tariq had said, “Islam teaches that everyone is Muslim at birth, but [that] the parents and society cause one to deviate from the straight path. Therefore, when someone accepts Islam, he is considered to revert to his original condition.”

He added that, at the same time, Islam prohibits the use of force to convert anyone.

Shafique said the verdict overturning the May 18 ruling would be helpful in similar suits in civil courts.

“There are several cases in which the religion of Christians has been intentionally or mistakenly registered as Muslim in the national database,” she said. “A large number of the Christian population in Pakistan is unable to read or write, which is why they often tend to overlook the religion section in the form.”

NADRA officials are also responsible for the plight of impoverished petitioners as they do not follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in such matters, Shafique said. NADRA data operators are bound to obtain an undertaking from applicants at the time of registering their alleged conversion, but they are not implementing the procedure, she emphasized.

According to NADRA’s CNIC (Computerized National Identify Card) registration policy, any mistake by applicants to state their religion correctly due to illiteracy “may be handled in office fault category.” In Masih’s case, however, NADRA claimed that his name and religion could not be changed because at the time of registration he had verified his religion as Islam on the official form.

NADRA asserted that according to official policy, a Muslim cannot change his religious designation in the CNIC to any other religion, whereas people who convert to Islam from other faiths can get their CNICs amended.

Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy for Asia of legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, said the lower court’s failure to recognize Sufyan’s religious identity was a violation of both national and international laws.

“We welcome the Pattoki District court’s decision to protect Sufyan Masih’s right to live out his faith as a Christian,” Arora told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “This case highlights how Christians in Pakistan face discrimination at various levels.”

ADF International has supported Masih’s counsel in representing the impoverished Christian as well as raising awareness on this issue at global forums.

Elaborating on the challenges Christians face due to incorrect identity cards, Arora said that a simple typographical error in the religion category on the identity cards can be used to prevent Christians from freely practicing their faith.

“It also hinders their ability to apply for employment due to lack of valid identification documents,” she added.

Article 20 of Pakistan’s Constitution allows citizens the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion. This freedom is also assured in Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which establishes that “in those states in which ethnic religious or linguistic minorities exist, people belonging to such minorities have the right in community with other members of their group to enjoy their own culture to profess and practice their own religion or use their own language.”

Similarly, the 1992 United Nations declaration further establishes that persons belonging to minority groups have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion and to use their own language in private and in public freely, without any interference or any form of discrimination and provides for the effective participation of minorities in cultural, religious, social, economic, and public life, as well as in decision, making processes on matters affecting them.

Apostasy is considered a sin punishable by death under most schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Although there is no specific law in Pakistan to deny Muslims their right to change religion, apostasy may be punished under Section 295-A of the country’s blasphemy statutes, which imposes up to two years of prison for “outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens.”

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.

Biden Education Dept. accused of forcing ‘woke agenda’ on Christian schools

The United States Department of Education is being accused of unjustly targeting Christian colleges and universities, allegedly to advance a “woke agenda.”

The American Principles Project, a conservative think-tank, published a report earlier this month that cites the department’s Office of Enforcement actions against Christian schools.

According to the report, although Christian colleges and universities have fewer than 10% of students in the U.S., they make up around 70% of the penalties imposed by the Office of Enforcement.

Additionally, over the past 10 years, while the average fine against public and private academic institutions that violated federal law on campus crime was around $228,571, the average fine against a Christian school was $815,000.

The report also took issue with the record fines recently imposed on Grand Canyon University and Liberty University, two prominent Evangelical Christian academic institutions.

According to the APP, when the department issued punitive fines on Michigan State University and Penn State University for high-profile abuse scandals, they were several million dollars less.

APP Policy Director Jon Schweppe, author of the report, said in a statement released on Nov. 18 that he believed this was an example of the Biden administration “weaponizing every part of the federal government to target their opponents.”

“As our report details, the Biden-Harris Department of Education has been engaged in a long-running scheme to punish Christian colleges that are ideologically opposed to the left’s agenda. The unfair targeting of these institutions has been egregious, and it needs to stop immediately,” stated Schweppe.

The Christian Post reached out to the Department of Education, with a department spokesperson emailing a statement on Friday denying the allegations in the APP report.

“A school’s religious affiliation or nonprofit status has absolutely no bearing on our oversight and enforcement actions,” the spokesperson stated. “Our top priority is protecting safety and academic opportunity for all students at institutions of higher education. The data in the APP report itself pushes a false narrative by distorting information released publicly by the Department.”

The APP report comes as President-elect Donald Trump has expressed an interest in downsizing or even closing down the Education Department once he takes office next year.

“We want federal education dollars to follow the student, rather than propping up a bloated and radical bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” Trump said in October, as quoted by USA Today. “We want to close the federal Department of Education.”

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., introduced a bill to abolish the Education Department, although it requires a supermajority of the Senate to pass.

With Advent 2024, the odd-numbered liturgical Cycle C begins. What does this entail?

With the first Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins in the Catholic Church, with the readings corresponding to Cycle C of odd-numbered years. What does this liturgical practice entail?

The beginning and end of the liturgical year

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains on its website that the liturgical year is made up of six times or seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Sacred Paschal Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time.

The conference notes that the new 2025 liturgical calendar will begin with the first Sunday of Advent on Dec. 1, 2024, and will conclude on the Saturday after the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, which will be Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

The three year cycle 

Perhaps less known is that the liturgical calendar has a three year cycle, repeating every three years, and which determines the biblical readings for Sunday Masses.

St. Paul VI, in his Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum, states that “all the Sunday readings are divided into a three-year cycle” and the Ordo Lectionum Missae (Order of Mass Readings, 1969) explains that each liturgical year will be designated “with the letters A, B, C.”

The Ordo of 1981 specifies that cycle C is designated as all years “that are multiples of 3.” Thus the 2025 Liturgical Calendar uses Cycle C.

In Cycle A, the Sunday Gospel is generally taken from Matthew, in Cycle B from Mark and in Cycle C from Luke, while the Gospel of John is read primarily at Easter.

During the Easter season, the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. But the second reading in Cycle A is mainly from the First Letter of St. Peter; in Cycle B, from the First Letter of St. John; and in Cycle C, from Revelation.

In Ordinary Time, the First Letter to the Corinthians is read in all three cycles. While the Letter to the Hebrews has been divided into two, with one part read in Cycle B and the other in Cycle C.

Why an odd year?

On weekdays, also called ferias, the readings of the Mass have a different order. Lent, Advent, Christmas, and Easter have their own texts.

In Ordinary Time, the Gospels are determined by a cycle of readings that is repeated every year. 

However, the first readings, which are generally from the Old Testament and the apostolic letters, have a double cycle, made up of an even and an odd year.

The Ordo of 1969 specifies that “Year I” is for “odd years” and “Year II” is for “even years.” 

Therefore, the 2025 Liturgical Calendar is Year I or an odd year.

The purpose of the cycles with even and odd numbers

This whole distribution of the readings by cycles and even or odd years has its source in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, where the Second Vatican Council asks that the “treasures of the Bible” be opened more to the faithful during Mass.

“In this way a more representative portion of the holy scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years.” the document states.

Thus after three cycles, one will have heard a large part of Sacred Scripture and if one goes to daily Mass for two years, he or she will have gone even further into the Bible.

‘Intergenerational healing’ has no basis in Catholic doctrine, Spanish bishops affirm

The Spanish Bishops’ Conference has published a doctrinal note criticizing the practice of so-called “intergenerational healing” or “healing of the family tree” promoted by some Catholic priests.

The doctrinal note was published in response to these practices “in some Spanish dioceses, especially in the area of ​​prayers and retreats organized by new religious movements of a charismatic nature.”

After receiving reports from various experts “in the fields of dogmatic theology, spiritual theology and psychology,” the conference’s Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith prepared the text that was approved for publication.

The doctrinal note identifies as originators of these practices Anglican missionary Kenneth McAll, Claretian religious John Hampsch and Catholic priest Robert DeGrandis of the Society of St. Joseph, “who has popularized the practice in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal due to his involvement in it.”

These authors teach “the intergenerational transmission of sin and, correlatively, the possibility of intergenerational healing.” The way to “cure” physical and mental illnesses resulting from the sins of ancestors consists of “identifying the sin in one’s own family tree” and breaking “the bond of sin” through “intercession, exorcisms and, especially, the celebration of a Eucharist,” which results in a supposed healing, the doctrinal note explains.

The bishops warn that “merging aspects proper to the Catholic faith with others that are foreign to it, results in a syncretism that appears Catholic with aspects that concern, explicitly or implicitly, questions of eschatology,” as well as ecclesiology, anthropology, and the theology of the sacraments.

The magisterium of the Catholic Church on sin

In the doctrinal note, the Spanish bishops emphasize some magisterial points to be taken into account on the question of “intergenerational healing.”

First, they state that “sin is always personal and requires a free decision of the will. The same is true of the punishment for sin. It always involved personal responsibility.”

In connection with this, they note that “the only sin that is transmitted from generation to generation is original sin,” but they also point out that this transmission occurs “in an analogous way,” that it does not have the character of personal guilt and that its punishment “does not pass on” to the next generation.

The prelates explain in the second instance that although in the Old Testament it is affirmed “that the sins of the fathers are visited on the children,” this conception of corporate responsibility, “which called into question the justice of God,” evolved “making man responsible for his own destiny”.

“In the New Testament Jesus rejected the concept of a hereditary transmission of sin, breaking with the logic of ‘personal and collective guilt-punishment’ in the well-known scene of the healing of the man born blind,” the bishops explain.

Baptism, Eucharist and intergenerational healing

The Spanish bishops also point out that it’s not possible to “maintain there is an intergenerational transmission of sin without contradicting the Catholic doctrine on Baptism,” the sacrament in which “the forgiveness of all sins occurs.”

Regarding the Eucharist, the prelates note that “the so-called ‘Masses of healing or deliverance,’ closely linked to the practice of intergenerational healing,” are not found in the Roman Ritual and therefore “the introduction of such intentions into the scope of the celebration of the Holy Mass seriously changes the nature of and distorts the Eucharistic celebration.”

The doctrinal note also refers to prayer meetings “whose purpose is to obtain from God the healing of the sick,” to reaffirm that, although “any member of the faithful can freely lift up prayers to God asking for healing,” when it comes to meetings “they must be subject to the supervision of the local Ordinary.”

“These prayers for healing, as well as prayers for exorcism, liturgical or non-liturgical, cannot be introduced into the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours,” they specify.

In conclusion, the Spanish bishops affirmed that “basing ourselves on the Word of God, we wish to affirm that you can’t be guilty of someone else’s sins you had nothing to do with nor can anyone be held responsible for the sins of previous generations, but that each person is responsible for his own life and his own sins.”

Medieval frescoes discovered in Slovak church

In a rare and unexpected discovery, medieval frescoes have been uncovered in the small Slovakian village of Sása, revealing a valuable part of the region’s artistic heritage. 

Found in the sacristy of the 13th-century Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the frescoes were hidden under layers of plaster that were removed during maintenance work in 2022.

Medievalists.net explains how the Banská Bystrica Regional Monuments Office moved quickly to preserve the fragile images, launching a restoration project in early 2023 under the direction of conservation expert Rudolf Boroš.

Initial work revealed intricate scenes, including a vivid depiction of the crucifixion, a detailed face of Christ, and symbols of the four evangelists. 

At the center of the arrangement is an image of the Maiestas Domini – Christ framed in a mandorla, a classic medieval representation of divine authority. 

Saints appear on either side, with high-quality craftsmanship suggesting the influence of Italian and Byzantine art styles. This unusual blend suggests that an artist from Italy may have worked on the frescoes, bringing a refined level of detail to the region’s medieval art.

The discovery is significant not only for the art it reveals, but also for what it reveals about the church’s architecture. 

During the restoration, experts uncovered structural features, such as a Gothic window arch, that show how the building evolved over time. 

These architectural elements, combined with the artwork, provide a deeper understanding of the church’s historical role in the area.

As the restoration progresses, Medievalists.net goes on, conservators and historians are continuing their examination, piecing together insights into the techniques and influences that shaped these frescoes. 

The goal is to stabilize the frescoes for the long term and preserve them for future study and appreciation.

For now, the frescoes stand as a unique example of medieval Slovak art, with stylistic links to the broader European art landscape. 

This unexpected discovery adds a valuable chapter to the history of Slovak religious art, highlighting the craftsmanship and cultural exchange of the medieval period.

Laypeople should have a greater voice in choosing their bishop

Since the role of bishops in the Catholic Church is so important to the life of a local church, the process by which a bishop is chosen has tremendous consequences for ordinary Catholics, and yet, they currently have no say in choosing their bishop.

The members of the Synod on Synodality recognised that this is a problem and in their final document expressed the desire “that the People of God have a greater voice in choosing bishops.”

The current selection process is centralised in the Vatican, giving the Pope ultimate authority in the process.

It begins with the bishops of a province drawing up a list of priests they think could be candidates for the episcopacy. These names are given to the nuncio, the Pope’s representative in a country, who is responsible for drawing up a terna, a list of three candidates for a vacant see. He can nominate someone outside of these lists if he wants.

The nuncio writes a report on each candidate using any source available, including a confidential questionnaire that he sends to selected clergy and laypeople who know the candidate. This questionnaire has been revised in different papacies.

Normally, the nuncio also seeks the opinion of the bishops of the province, as well as officers of the bishops’ conference and other important prelates in the country.

The nuncio writes a report describing the diocese needing a new bishop. Pio Laghi, the Pope’s representative to the United States from 1980-1990, compared the process to an architect trying to find a statue of a saint to fit a niche in a cathedral.

For example, if the diocese had been rocked by sexual abuse, they would look for someone who has credibility in dealing with abuse. If the diocese was in financial straits, they would look for a fundraiser with financial skills. If the diocese was divided, they would look for a peacemaker.

Each pope also has criteria that he wants the nuncio to look for in candidates. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, many complained that the American bishops were more like bankers and builders than pastors. Paul VI wanted more pastoral bishops. John Paul II stressed the importance of unity with, and loyalty to, the papacy. Pope Francis wants bishops who are pastoral and close to the poor, “shepherds who smell like their sheep.”

The terna and reports are sent to the Dicastery for Bishops, where they are examined by the staff and submitted to the committee of cardinals and bishops in charge of the dicastery. If they don’t like the candidates, the nuncio is asked to submit another list. Ultimately, the committee votes on the candidates and submits its recommendation to the pope, who can accept or reject their suggestion.

There is very little room in the process for input from the clergy and laity of the diocese, except for the individuals who are sent questionnaires by the nuncio. The process does allow for consulting the local Church about the needs of the diocese and the type of bishop needed, but people usually want Jesus Christ with an MBA from Harvard, and he is not available. Under the current rules, there can be no public discussion of names, either for or against. The Vatican believes any public discussion of candidates would be divisive and lead to factions supporting and opposing candidates.

The central role of the pope in the selection of bishops is a modern phenomenon. In the early Church, when a bishop died, the people would gather in the cathedral and choose a new bishop, who could be a priest or layman. Eventually, the suffrage was limited to the clergy or a part of the clergy, for example, the cathedral chapter.

However this did not necessarily eliminate the laity from the process. Pope Leo the Great in the fifth century believed a true bishop should be elected by the clergy, accepted by the people and ordained by the bishops of the surrounding dioceses.

Sadly, as the Church grew rich and powerful, kings and nobles interfered in the process through threats or bribery. With the destruction of the monarchies in the 19th century, reformers saw the papacy as the institution that would appoint bishops who would serve the good of the Church rather than the political ends of the state.

Today, reformers would like to see the Church return to the more ancient practice of electing bishops at the local level, either by the laity or the clergy. While this might work in democratic countries that respect the independence of the Church, history warns us that political elites and dictators would likely interfere in the elections.

The Synod on Synodality is inviting us to a conversation about how to give the people a greater voice in the selection of bishops. This conversation should be done in a synodal fashion where we listen to all voices in determining where the Spirit is leading us today.

Diocesan consultative bodies (presbyteral councils, pastoral councils, synods) should be given a role since they are representative of the laity and priests. Could they nominate candidates or be given a consultative vote on the terna prepared by the nuncio? Should such participation be public or confidential?

The Catholic Church could also learn from other churches that use different methods of choosing their leaders.

All this discussion could lead to the development of several models of selecting bishops that could be tested in various situations at the discretion of a nuncio.

History shows us that bishops have been selected in many ways over the centuries, and each way had its problems. There is no perfect way of selecting bishops. Even Jesus got it wrong one out of 12 times.

Pope Leo was wise in proposing a system of checks and balances that involved the clergy, laity and the college of bishops. It is time to experiment with new ways of selecting bishops so “that the People of God have a greater voice in choosing bishops.”

Church of Greece publicized Bulgarian Patriarchate’s decision to defrock cleric

The Church of Greece has publicized the decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Patriarchate to defrock Presbyter Stanimir Georgiev Yanakiev due to canonical violations. 

As a result, he has been returned to the ranks of the laity.

This announcement was communicated to the Archdiocese of Athens and the Metropolises of the Church of Greece for their information and further action.

Below is the official circular issued by the Church of Greece:

By this document, and following the letter No. 745/18.11.2024 from Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria, we inform you that Presbyter Silvestros (Stanimir) Georgiev Yanakiev, a cleric of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, has been defrocked for canonical violations by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. He has been returned to the ranks of the laity.

We hereby communicate this canonical decision of the Bulgarian Patriarchate to you for your information and any necessary actions.

By the mandate and authority of the Holy Synod,

The Chief Secretary
Archimandrite Ioannis Karamouzis

Sunday, December 01, 2024

Churches carry huge crosses as they try to move on from mistakes of past (Opinion)t

A recent newspaper article claimed that King Charles and the Princess of Wales, who are both suffering from cancer, have found “strength in spirituality” in dealing with their illnesses. 

It is a sentiment which will be appreciated by people from all political and cultural backgrounds in these islands and further afield who would describe themselves as religious or spiritual, though these are not necessarily the same thing.

Many people nowadays would claim that “religion” is merely the structure of maintaining a Christian faith but that “spirituality” is the essence of faith itself, and not necessarily confined to Christianity alone.

On the other hand, many others who cannot accept these concepts may regard them as merely otherworldly escapism in our modern secular society where individuals seek their own “god” in other ways totally removed from what we would have once referred to as traditional religion.

In my recent book, Keeping the Faith, I set out to reflect on these and other issues which have helped to shape my values and career, during which I have spent more than 60 years as an author and journalist, and nearly 25 of those as the religion correspondent of the Belfast Telegraph.

Looking back to my childhood as a Presbyterian by accident of birth, I realise yet again how churchgoing was obligatory in the small model village of Bessbrook where I was brought up.

 Sunday worship was an important social occasion, and the Presbyterian Church was also known as the Meeting House because it gave everyone, including local farmers, an opportunity to meet one another and to catch up on local news and gossip. 

The same applied no doubt to the Anglican and Catholic Churches in our village, and smaller groups like the Quakers and Plymouth Brethren, but significantly each denomination kept strictly to its own beliefs and religious cultural practices.

The only inter-church service of the year was held in the local Methodist Church early on Christmas morning after we villagers walked around the dark streets with flash lamps while we awakened people with our medley of Christmas carols.

There was also a kind of cultural apartheid in death. People from the main denominations would express condolences to the bereaved but very few would dare to cross the threshold of a church belonging to “the other side”. 

Quite often it was regarded as respectful enough to stand silently outside the walls of the church, while the funeral service took place inside.

This, of course, was not exclusive to the “Black North”. That picture is mirrored in my colleague Patsy McGarry’s excellent new book, Well, Holy God, in which he forensically skewers the Catholic Church for its many sins of the flesh and spirit while prolonging the religious divisions in society. 

He and I were brought up as young country boys maybe 150-200 miles apart across the Border as the crow flies, but our experiences were uncannily similar.

There is no doubt the churches of all the main denominations singularly and collectively failed to lead their congregations across the man-made barriers and rules which were regarded at the time as the teachings of the Gospel – which they certainly were not – and which inevitably led to future scepticism and criticism when people felt free to make up their own minds about such important issues.

That said, I refer in my book to a number of individuals whose deep Christian faith made a difference to those around them. They included the Rev Dr Ray Davey, a former Presbyterian padre during the second World War who spent years in Italian and German prisoner-of-war camps, and returned to his native Ulster to establish the seminal inter-church Corrymeela Community.

I was also in awe of my first Belfast Telegraph editor, John E Sayers, a dedicated member of the Methodist Church who survived a Royal Navy shipwreck and worked in Churchill’s map room during the second World War. 

He then returned to Northern Ireland to try to drag stiff-necked unionism into the 20th century, thus incurring the baleful hostility of the Rev Ian Paisley, who was regarded by many of us as one of the people most responsible for the Troubles.

Sadly, Sayers and his supporters lost and Paisley won, and look what happened in the North over the next 40 years or so. 

Part of my motive in writing my book was to pay tribute to people such as Sayers and Davey and many, many other liberal and courageous bridge-builders who are now part of the forgotten undergrowth of Irish history. 

If they, and the thousands of others like them, had been successful, how much death, injury and heartache would have been avoided from 1968 onwards.

Today, there is talk of a possible Border poll which looks as if it will not come any time soon, and much less some kind of Irish unity on a very long finger. However the stark reality remains that you cannot successfully unite the island properly until you unite the people in the North.

Meanwhile, the churches still have their huge crosses to carry as they try to move on from the terrible mistakes of the past and strive to remain relevant in the face of advancing secularism.

Perhaps GK Chesterton was right after all when he claimed that “the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

Alf McCreary is an author and journalist. His book Keeping the Faith is published by Messenger, at €14.95 and £12.95, and is available from local bookshops and on Amazon

Hospital chaplain wins claim for double time on Sundays

A hospital chaplain who found out he was meant to be paid double time for working Sunday shifts after nearly a quarter of a century walking the wards has been awarded €2,600 in compensation for a breach of his employment rights.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has found St Vincent's University Hospital (SVUH) in Dublin to be in breach of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 in its failure to pay a Sunday premium to Reverend Liam Cuffe, who has been chaplain to the hospital since 1999.

The Fórsa trade union, appearing for Fr Cuffe, told the tribunal its client earned €5,431 a month in the post, which involved giving end-of-life spiritual support to patients, among other duties.

Although the contract of employment required the chaplain to work weekends, it was "silent in relation to the provision for Sunday premium", the trade union submitted.

The Fórsa rep pointed to a HSE guidance document on terms and conditions of employment in the health service which addressed Sunday work which stated: An employee who works a 5 over 7 roster and is scheduled to work on Sunday is entitled to single time extra for each hour worked."

Fr Cuffe wrote to the hospital management in June 2022 looking for clarification on various allowances, including Sunday premium pay.

His Fórsa rep said there had been a "lengthy engagement process" culminating in his client being told it had been "decided" after correspondence with the HSE that chaplains would "get single time extra", or double time, for Sundays, starting on 6 November 2023.

The hospital’s position was that the Sunday premium had been paid to the complainant since that date in "good faith" and there was "no pre-existing contractual entitlement" to it.

The extra pay had been provided for out of the hospital’s own funds rather than the HSE funding which usually covered payroll, an Ibec rep appearing for the hospital submitted.

A HSE circular addressing the provision of a chaplaincy service stated that it "shall include nights and weekends" and stated that "overtime is not payable", it was submitted. The language of the circular was "mirrored" in contracts signed by Fr Cuffe in 2001 and 2006, it was further submitted.

The Ibec rep argued that the clause "naturally included Sundays" and that a premium had been "incorporated into his contractual salary". 

It was submitted that Fr Cuffe "has been correctly paid throughout his employment, in line with his contract, national agreements and HSE pay scales".

A deputy HR director for the hospital said in evidence that the HSE guidance on a Sunday premium "had never been provided" prior to 21 October 2024. She said she "acted in good faith" and decided to apply a Sunday premium at double time from 6 November 2023 onward. She said there was "no funding" for back payments prior to that date.

Adjudicator Aideen Collard wrote that it was "incumbent" on the employer to make sure the chaplain was paid according to his contractual and statutory entitlements, but that it had been "guided by the HSE" in this regard.

She wrote that as the hospital started paying the Sunday premium after receiving guidance that a premium "may fall to be paid" she could not accept the contention that it had been a "good faith" payment and did not "constitute acknowledgement of a pre-existing contractual entitlement".

She also found that the email confirming to Fr Cuffe that he would be getting double time from 6 November onward was "unequivocal" as a matter of contract.

"Further consideration of the wording of the contracts is therefore unnecessary. It follows that the respondent was in contravention of Section 14 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997," Ms Collard wrote.

She directed St Vincent’s University Hospital to pay Fr Cuffe €2,627 for the breach.

Ms Collard wrote that she considered it "just and equitable" to limit the compensation to the priest’s economic loss in the six months up to 6 November 2023, when he lodged his statutory complaint.

This was because there had been a "lack of legal certainty" about the contractual provision for Sunday premium, because the issue was not raised with the employer earlier than 2022, and because payments began as soon as the entitlement was confirmed, she wrote.

Church of Scotland faces backlash over call for higher taxes

A new campaign is urging Scotland’s political leaders to take “bold action” on tax reform, warning that simply “tweaking” the current system will “fail our communities.” 

Over 50 organisations, including the Church of Scotland, have joined the Tax Justice Scotland group.

With Scotland’s finances “beyond breaking point,” the coalition says that small changes to the tax system aren’t enough. They are calling for an “overhaul” and believe Scotland can lead a global movement for progressive tax reform.

In a letter to Scotland's political leaders, the group urges them to “be bold, decisive, and willing to step up.”

The campaign comes ahead of Finance Secretary Shona Robison unveiling the 2025-26 budget on 4th December.

However, senior Tory politicians have criticised the Church of Scotland for joining the campaign, calling it “entirely unsuitable” for the Church to engage in politics. They accused the Kirk of ignoring the views of its congregations and of double standards, as churches are exempt from many taxes due to their charitable status.

A Church of Scotland spokesperson said: "The Church is committed to speaking into our political debate about compassion and justice, to support the development of public values which promote social cohesion and the common good.

“We work with, and alongside, people across Scotland, including those who live in some of the most deprived communities and struggle to make ends meet.

 “It’s in this context that we think now is the right time for civil society to start asking questions about the best way, we as a society, can raise and spend tax.

 “In adding our voice to this campaign, we are calling for a wider and deeper conversation which should involve everybody, not just the usual voices of thinktanks, politicians and commentators.

 “The Church is directly impacted as an employer by the increase to employers’ national insurance contributions and has members who are affected by tax and spend changes, including the recent UK announcements about inheritance tax affecting farmers and the cuts in winter fuel payments.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said that the budget will focus on priorities such as ending child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services, and supporting the path to net zero. They also argued that Scotland has the UK’s most progressive income tax system, which raised an additional £1.5 billion for public services in 2024-25.

Pope: Lack of respect for religious values leads to intolerance

Decrying discrimination "based on differences," which for many Pope Francis said, has become a "daily experience," he pointed to the sharing of “spiritual truths” and “values” among different faiths.

“The lack of respect for the noble teachings of religions is one of the causes of the troubled situation in which the world finds itself today,” the Pope said to faith leaders and representatives gathered in the Vatican to mark centenary celebrations of the all-religion conference organized by the “Sree Narayana Dharma Sanghom Trust”.

The Social Reform of Sree Narayana Guru

Upholding the legacy of Sree Narayana Guru, the Pope said the Hindu "spiritual guide" and "social reformer" dedicated his life to the promotion of "social and religious upliftment."

By opposing the caste system, he spread the message that "all human beings, regardless of their ethnicity or their religious and cultural traditions, are members of one single human family," he said, insisting that there should be no discrimination against anyone, at any level, or in any form.

"Religions Together for a Better Humanity"

A message that, one hundred years later, resonates at the "Conference of All Religions" organized with the support of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. The theme of the gathering, "Religions Together for a Better Humanity," is described by the Pope as "truly relevant and important for our times."

The "world today," Pope Francis noted, is indeed marked by "increasing cases of intolerance and hatred among peoples and nations."

Instances of "discrimination and exclusion, tension and violence" based on "differences in ethnic or social origin, race, colour, language, and religion," he said, have become "a daily experience for many individuals and communities", especially for the poor, the defenceless, and the voiceless.

Equal and fraternal human beings

The Holy Father recalled the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, signed during his Apostolic Journey to the United Arab Emirates in February 2019 with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb.

The document states that God has "created all human beings equal in rights, duties, and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters."

"Love and honour each other": A shared truth among religions

A "fundamental truth" shared by "all religions," Pope Francis emphasized, is their teaching that "as children of the one God, we must love and honour one another, respect diversity and differences in a spirit of fraternity and inclusion, and care for one another as well as for the Earth, our common home."

The Pope noted that ignoring such teachings is a cause of turmoil in the world.

However, he added, rediscovering them is possible "only if we all strive to live them and cultivate fraternal and friendly relationships with everyone, with the sole aim of strengthening unity in diversity, ensuring harmonious coexistence among differences, and being peacemakers, despite the difficulties and challenges we face".

Cooperation against individualism

Pope Francis expressed hope for cooperation among all "people of goodwill" to foster a culture of "respect, dignity, compassion, reconciliation, and fraternal solidarity."

This message echoed in the Joint Declaration of Istiqlal this past September, which serves as an antidote to the values of "individualism, exclusion, indifference, and violence."

By "drawing" from their shared traits, the Pope concluded, representatives of different religions can "walk and work together to build a better humanity," while remaining "firmly rooted" in their own "beliefs" and "religious convictions."

Archbishop Viganò: Secret letters shed new light on Benedict’s resignation, ‘pope emeritus’ title

The following is an essay written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò published November 30, 2024. 

THE ‘DISASSEMBLED’ PAPACY

Emeritus. munus, ministerium

The never-ending saga of the Resignation of Benedict XVI continues to fuel an increasingly bold and surreal narrative of the events we have witnessed in the last decade. Inconsistent theories not supported by any evidence have taken hold of many of the faithful and even some priests, increasing confusion and disorientation. But if this has been possible, it is also largely due to those who, knowing the truth, nonetheless are afraid to speak about it because of the consequences that the truth, once revealed, could have. In fact, there are those who believe it is preferable to shore up a castle of lies and deceit, rather than having to face questions about a past of connivance, silence, and complicity.

The exchange of letters

During a meeting at the Renaissance Mediterraneo Hotel in Naples with Catholics from the local Cœtus Fidelium held this past November 22 [2024], Msgr. Nicola Bux mentioned an exchange of letters with “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” dating back to the summer of 2014, which supposedly constitute the definitive denial of the various theories that are out there about the invalidity of Benedict’s Renunciation. The content of these letters – the first, written by Msgr. Bux on July 19, 2014 (three pages), and the second, by Benedict XVI, on August 21, 2014 (two pages) – was not released ten years ago, as would have been more than desirable. Instead, only today has their existence been barely mentioned. It so happens that I am aware of both this exchange of letters as well as their content.

Why did Msgr. Bux decide not to promptly disclose Benedict XVI’s response when Benedict was still alive and able to confirm and corroborate it, and instead to reveal only its existence, without disclosing its content, almost two years after his death? Why would he hide this authoritative and very important declaration from the Church and the world?

The permanent revolution

To answer these legitimate questions, we must put aside the fiction given us by the media. We must first understand that the antithetical vision of a “santo subito” [immediate saint] Ratzinger and an “ugly and bad” Bergoglio is convenient for many. This simplistic, artificial, and false approach avoids addressing the heart of the problem, that is, the perfect coherence of action of the “conciliar popes” from John XXIII and Paul VI to the self-styled Francis, including John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The goals are the same, even if pursued with different methods and language. The image of an elderly, elegant, and refined theologian, in a Roman chasuble and red shoes , who granted citizenship to the Tridentine Rite, contrasted with an intemperate globalist heresiarch who does not celebrate Mass and has nullified Summorum Pontificum, while promulgating the Mayan liturgy with thurifying females, is part of that operation of forced polarization that we have also seen adopted in the civil sphere, where a similar subversive project has been carried out by favoring ultra-progressive forces on the one hand and keeping the voices of dissent quiet on the other.

In reality, Ratzinger and Bergoglio – and this is precisely what conservatives do not want to recognize – constitute two moments of a revolutionary process that contemplates alternating phases that are only apparently opposed to one another, following the Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. A process that did not begin with Ratzinger and will not end with Bergoglio, but rather that goes back to Roncalli and seems destined to continue as long as the deep church continues to replace the Catholic Hierarchy by usurping its authority.

In the Ratzingerian vision, the thesis of the Vetus Ordo and the antithesis of the Novus Ordoare combined in the synthesis of Summorum Pontificum, thanks to the subterfuge of “a single rite in two forms. But this “peaceful coexistence” is the product of German idealism; and it is false because it is based on the denial of the incompatibility between two ways of conceiving the Church, one corresponding to two thousand years of Catholicism, the other imposed by the Second Vatican Council thanks to the work of heretics who until then had been condemned by the Roman Pontiffs.

The ‘redefinition’ of the papacy

We find the same modus operandi in the intention expressed first by Paul VI, then by John Paul II, and finally by Benedict XVI to “redefine” the Papacy in a collegial and ecumenical way, ad mentem Concilii, where the divine institution of the Church and the Papacy (thesis) and the heretical demands of the neo-modernists and the non-Catholic sects (antithesis) are combined in the synthesis of a redefinition of the Papacy in an ecumenical way, proposed by the encyclical Ut Unum Sint promulgated by John Paul II in 1995 and more recently formulated in the Study Document of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity issued this past June 13 [2024]: The Bishop of Rome. Primacy and Synodality in Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical ‘Ut Unum Sint’. It will not be surprising to learn – as Cardinal Walter Brandmüller confided to me in January 2020 in response to a specific question of mine – that Professor Joseph Ratzinger was developing the theory of the Pope Emeritus and a collegial [shared] Papacy with his colleague Karl Rahner in the 1970s when they were both “young theologians.”

We do not know for sure whether the solution theorized with Rahner by the young Ratzinger was still contemplated by the elderly Pontiff, nor whether the Papacy Emeritus was “resurrected” by those who wanted to keep Benedict in the Vatican, also by making use of external pressure on the Holy See that had materialized with the suspension of the Vatican from the SWIFT system, which, significantly, was restored immediately after the announcement of the Resignation. In fact, the Resignation has created immense confusion in the ecclesial body and has handed over the See of Peter to its destroyer, which in any case is something Joseph Ratzinger has been a part of.

Benedict thus resorted to the invention of the “Papacy Emeritus,” trying, in violation of canonical practice, to keep alive the image of the “fine theologian” and the defensor Traditionis that his entourage had constructed. Moreover, an analysis of the events that concern the epilogue of his Pontificate is extremely complex, both because of the peculiarities of Ratzinger’s intellect and character, and because of the opaqueness of the action both of his collaborators and of the Curia, and finally because of the absolute ἅπαξ of his Renunciation, as carried out by Benedict XVI, a completely new modality never seen before in the history of the Papacy.

On the other hand, this parenthesis of mozzettas and camauros was supposed to have been eclipsed with the handover to the already-selected Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who was nominated by the Saint Gallen Mafia to take Benedict’s place ever since the Conclave of 2005. The role of Benedict XVI as Emeritus had the function of supporting a sort of conservative Papacy (munus) that would keep watch over the progressive Papacy of Bergoglio (ministerium), so as to keep together the moderately conservative Ratzingerian component and the violently progressive Bergoglian component, thereby favoring the public perception of a supposed continuity between the “pope emeritus” and the “reigning pope.”

In essence, a way was found to keep Benedict in the Vatican, so that his presence within the Leonine Walls would appear as a form of approval of Bergoglio and the aberrations of his “pontificate.” For his part, the Argentine saw in this canonical monstrum – because this is what the “Papacy Emeritus” is – an instrument for the destructuring of the Papacy in a conciliar, synodal, and ecumenical way; which, as we know, was a desire shared by Benedict XVI himself.

The canonical ‘monstrum’ of the Pope Emeritus

It must be said that the institution of the Episcopate emeritus is also a canonical monstrum, because with it the diocesan Bishop sees his jurisdiction “frozen” on the basis of age (upon reaching the age of 75), contrary to the centuries-old practice of the Church. The institution of the category of emeritus, by making the Bishops lose their awareness of being Successors of the Apostles, has also had as an immediate consequence a total de-responsibility, relegating them to the role of mere officials and bureaucrats. The institutionalization of the Episcopal Conferences as organs of government that interfere with and hinder the exercise of the power (potestas) of individual Bishops has certainly constituted an attack on the divine constitution of the Catholic Church and its Apostolicity.

The Episcopate Emeritus, introduced just after the Council in 1966 with the Motu Proprio Ecclesiæ Sanctæ and then adopted by the Code of Canon Law of 1983 (can. 402, § 1), reveals a significant consistency with Ingravescentem Ætatem of 1970, which deprives seventy-five-year-old Cardinals of their Curia functions and eighty-year-old Cardinals of the right to elect the Pope in Conclave. Beyond the juridical formulation of these ecclesiastical laws, their mens [purpose] can only be understood in a perspective of deliberate exclusion of Bishops and senior Cardinals from the life of the Church, aimed at favoring the “generational change” – a real reset of the Catholic Hierarchy – with Prelates ideologically closer to the new requests promoted by Vatican II. This artificial purge of the most senior members of the Episcopate and of the College of Cardinals – and therefore presumably less inclined to innovation – has ended up distorting the internal balance of the Hierarchy, according to a worldly and secular approach already widely adopted in the civil sphere. And when, under the pontificate of John Paul II, the so-called “Montini widows” – that is, the cardinals who had reached the age limit in the 1980s – asked for the revocation of Ingravescentem ætatem so as not to be excluded from the Conclave, it became evident that the progressives of the 1970s were also destined in turn to fall victim to the norm they had invoked for others: Et incidit in foveam quam fecit (Ps 7:16) [he is fallen into the hole he made].

It will not escape notice that, in a perspective of “redefinition” of the Papacy in a synodal key, where the Bishop of Rome is considered primus inter pares [the first among equals], the institution of the Episcopate emeritus and the norms that limit the exercise of the Episcopate and the Cardinalate to the attainment of a certain age, constitute the premise for the institutionalization of the Papacy emeritus and the jubilation of the elderly Pope.

The false problem of munus and ministerium

From the thesis of the Papacy (I am Pope) in conflict with the antithesis of Renunciation (I am no longer Pope) there emerges a concept in continuous evolution – just as becoming is the absolute for Hegel – that is, the synthesis of the Papacy emeritus (I am still Pope but I do not act as Pope). This philosophical aspect of Joseph Ratzinger’s thought, which is principal and recurrent to him, should not be overlooked: the synthesis is in itself provisional, in view of its mutation into a thesis which will be opposed by a new antithesis that will give rise to a further synthesis, in turn provisional. This incessant becoming is the ideological, philosophical, and doctrinal basis of the permanent revolution inaugurated by the Second Vatican Council on the ecclesial front and by the global Left on the political front.

We have therefore witnessed a sort of artificial separation of the Papacy: on the one hand the Pope renounced the Papacy and on the other the persona Papæ, Joseph Ratzinger, tried to maintain some aspects of it that would guarantee him protection and prestige. Since the removal from the Apostolic See could appear as a form of disapproval of the line of governance of the Church imposed by the Bergoglian deep church, both the Personal Secretary and the Secretary of State put strong pressure on Ratzinger to remain “part-time” so to speak, playing on the fictitious separation between munus and ministerium – which moreover was vigorously denied in the Emeritus’ response to Mons. Bux.

Prof. Enrico Maria Radaelli has highlighted in his in-depth studies that this arbitrary bipartition of the Petrine mandate between munus and ministerium renders the Renunciation invalid. Since the Petrine Primacy cannot be broken down into munus and ministerium, since it is a potestas that Christ the King and High Priest confers on the one who has been elected to be Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter, Ratzinger’s denial (in the cited letter) stating that he did not want to separate munus and ministerium is in contradiction with Benedict’s own admission that he has based the Papacy emeritus on the model of the Episcopate emeritus, which is precisely based on this artificial and impossible split between being and doing the Pope, between being and doing the Bishop. The absurdum of this division is evident: if it were possible to possess the munus without exercising the ministerium, it would also be possible to exercise the ministerium without possessing the munus, that is, to carry out the functions of Pope without being one: which is an aberration such as to radically invalidate the consent to the assumption of the Papacy itself. And in a certain sense we saw this surreal dichotomy between munus and ministerium realized, when the Emeritus was Pope but did not exercise the Papacy, while Bergoglio acted as Pope without being Pope.

The desacralization of the papacy

On the other hand, the process of desacralization of the Papacy that began with Paul VI (think of the scenic deposition of the tiara) continued without interruption even under the pontificate of Benedict XVI (who also removed the tiara from the papal coat of arms). This is to be attributed principally to the new heretical ecclesiology of Vatican II, which made its own the demands of secularized and “democratic” society by welcoming into the bosom of the Church concepts such as collegiality and synodality that are ontologically alien to her, thus distorting the monarchical nature of the Church willed by her divine Founder. It certainly leaves one bewildered and immensely saddened to see how zealously the Conciliar and Synodal Hierarchy has promoted subversion within the Catholic Church. A sequence of reforms, norms, and pastoral practices for over sixty years have systematically demolished what until before Vatican II was considered intangible and unreformable.

It should also be remembered that Benedict XVI’s Resignation was not followed by a normal Conclave, in which the Electors serenely chose the candidate to succeed the Throne of Peter; but by a real coup d’état carried out ex professo by the Saint Gallen Mafia – that is, by the subversive component that has infiltrated the Church during the preceding decades – through the tampering with and violation of the regular elective process and the recourse to blackmail and pressure on the College of Cardinals. Let us not forget that an eminent Prelate confided to acquaintances that what he had personally witnessed in the Conclave could jeopardize the validity of the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Also in this case, incomprehensibly, the good of the Church and the salvation of souls have been set aside, in the name of a pharisaical observance of the pontifical secret, perhaps not entirely free from blackmail and threats.

There is an obvious contradiction between the goal Benedict set for himself (i.e., to renounce the Papacy) and the means he chose to do so (based on the invention of the Papacy Emeritus). This contradiction, in which Benedict subjectively resigned but objectivelyproduced a canonical monstrum, constitutes an act so subversive as to render the Renunciation null and void. In due time, this contradiction will have to be remedied by an authoritative pronouncement, but the inescapable fact remains that the form in which the Renunciation was placed does not remove the subsequent irregularities that led Bergoglio to usurp the Throne of Peter with the complicity of the deep church and the deep state. Nor is it possible to think that the Renunciation should not be read in the light of the subversive plan that aimed to oust Benedict XVI and replace him with an emissary of the globalist élite.

The castle of lies in which lay people, priests, and prelates cooperate, even in good faith, remains a cage in which they have imprisoned themselves. In the media dramatization, the actors Ratzinger and Bergoglio have been presented to us as bearers of antithetical theologies, when in reality they represent two successive stages of the same revolutionary process. But appearance, the simulacrum on which mass communication is based, cannot replace the substance of Truth to which the Catholic Church is indefectibly bound by divine mandate.

Conclusion

To the many scandalized faithful, to the many confused and indignant priests and religious, to the few – at least for now – who raise their voices to denounce the coup perpetrated against the Holy Church by Her own Ministers, I address my encouragement to persevere in fidelity to Our Lord, the Eternal High Priest, the Head of the Mystical Body. Resist strong in faith, the Prince of the Apostles admonishes us (1 Peter 5:9), knowing that your brothers scattered throughout the world are undergoing the same sufferings as you. The sleep in which the Savior seems to ignore us while the Barque of Peter is tossed by the storm, must be for us a spur to invoke His help all the more, because only when we turn to Him, leaving aside human respect, inconsistent theories, and political calculations, will we see Him awaken and command the winds and the sea to calm down. Resisting in faith calls for the struggle to remain faithful to what the Lord has taught and commanded, precisely at the moment in which many, especially at the top of the Hierarchy, abandon Him, deny Him and betray Him. Resisting in faith implies not fainting in the moment of trial, knowing how to draw from Him the strength to overcome it victoriously. Resisting in faith ultimately means knowing how to look straight into the face of the reality of the passio Ecclesiæ and the mysterium iniquitatis, without trying to conceal the deception behind which the enemies of Christ hide. This is the meaning of the words of the Savior: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (Jn 8:32).

+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop