In it he precisely and accurately studies the Book Spat which erupted this week between Cardinal Sarah and Bergoglio, and shows what it means about Pope Benedict being totally under the power and control of the St Gallen Mafia Media Establishment.
His piece opens thus:
In one of his last speeches before abdicating in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI decried the liberalism that had seeped into the Church after Vatican II. To this liberalism, he traced “so many problems, so much misery, in reality: seminaries closed, convents closed, the liturgy was trivialized.” But he then proceeded to hand the Church to the very liberals responsible for these problems and to a successor set upon liberalizing the Church even more.
Not long after assuming power, Jorge Bergoglio took a veiled swipe at his predecessor. He told an interviewer that Vatican II had encouraged openness to “modern culture” but that “very little was done in that direction,” a shortcoming he promised to correct: “I have the humility and ambition to want to do something.”
To accelerate his liberal revolution in the Church, however, Pope Francis had to make sure that his predecessor was under control. He accomplished that by having Benedict live on the Vatican grounds — an arrangement designed to muzzle him that has amounted to turning Benedict into the prisoner of the Vatican.
And for comparisons, you may want to take a look at From Rome’s Article, The Imprisonment of Pope Benedict XVI, from July 8, 2019, where the events before and after the Renunciation of Feb. 11, 2013 where studied in chronological order to reveal the same reality. An article which was roundly mocked by Bergoglian apologists and Trad Inc. at the time, but which has been proven in the substance of its analysis by recent events.
Dear Friends of Stilum curiali, Mr. Big Shot went to Mass, and has returned. Imagine him with ears still ringing … he eats a quick light lunch, and sets to writing. Thus, he sends us this commentary, hot and spicy like an American hot-dog (you will understand the reference, shortly) … Have a good read and ponder what he is saying:
§§§
In his homily this morning at Mass, the priest gave a long description of the divisions which exist among religions (which according to him have the same god), among monotheistic religions (even worse), among Christians (worst of all) and finally among Catholics, where there are sects of Traditionalists which oppose the Roman Pontiff (the unforgivable sin).
Finally, he concluded, that we ought to understand and act accordingly. Not by converting, but by going forth, listening, understanding and opening up to others.
And so, I propose to you a simile, which I hope is able to make you understand, appreciate and put what he says into practice.
At Harvard University, they tell this tale to first year students studying for a M.B.A., to not act like know-it-alls as soon as they master the concept of strategic business planning.
So that they wake up to the fact that by erring in a strategic diagnosis and acting on that basis, they can provoke exactly the mistakes which they intended to avoid in the decision making process.
The lesson (spoiler alert!) for us Catholics is that, in erring about the moral diagnosis of how the world imagines itself to have evolved thanks to science and technology; in thinking that we should, therefore, relativize our own Faith so that it is no longer contradicted by the world or discords with other beliefs: we risk well not only to lose the Faith itself, but also to become worthless for anything, and not even serve a purpose for our fellow man.
With a greater risk, in consequence, of being despised even more by other religions which are presently conquering us. The tale to be reflected upon is this (I will give the shortest possible version):
We are back in the U.S.A. in the Fifties, and a smart European immigrant, with a great sense of entrepreneurship, having understood how to satisfy those in need of a lunch on Wall Street, starts a food service (on a moveable cart) which sells hot dogs.
He furnishes himself with the best quality products (sausage, bread and mustard), sets a more than adequate price and is courteous and kind to his clientel.
After about ten years he is the undisputed leader on Wall Street, with the longest lines of customers (though served quickly) at his already numerous food carts in the quarter.
One of his employes, who argued with him (over pay) begins a rival business to compete with him, but at low cost.
Another 10 years pass by, and our businessman has sent his own son to Harvard with the intention of developing a plan to grow the business and go public on the Stock Exchange (notwithstanding his low cost competitor).
His son having graduated from Harvard, the father asks him to make a strategic analysis and formulate a strategic plan for the family business, including how to deal with competitors and assure a future success. His son, six months later, calls his father and explains to him that their business will be unsustainable in the future, destined to failure. Wall Street has grown and changed. Their traditional clientele, according to the son’s diagnosis (mistaken), will have less money to spend, have lower expectations, and are presently receiving a quality way above the price they are paying. And not only that. The first low-cost competitor will continue to maintain his market share and will grow it into other lines by offering products which are increasingly edgy in quality. Other competitors, even at a lower cost will appear on every street corner.
According to the son, now is the time to change the business model and to adapt to the market, instead of leading it: lower quality ingredients and products, less service and hence lower prices, more competitive with competitors.
Having heeded his son’s advice, the conclusion becomes obvious six months later: the father is forced to close the business. And the son has the last word: “Dad, I told you that this business was unsustainable…”
I hope I have illustrated by this simile what will happen to our Church, which already endured the competition of the Protestant Reformation and yet never understood the challenges of the modern world, by adapting Herself instead of taking a leadership position by teaching that Catholic morality is the best, the truest and the one which is valid and indispensable in every time and circumstance. To adapt Herself to the supposed pretensions of the world means to admit that She is unable to form man to live in the world without becoming attached to the world; that She has not been able to convert him. But the present reality is only the consequence of bad doctrine and false teaching. To recognize that all the religions of the world are equal, means that one has not only lost the Faith and wants to lose mankind, but also that he wants broker at a discount with belief in a god of relativism, with beliefs without God, and with superstitions. This is why the present world, disillusioned with a Church which is thinking like this, looks with hope to a Ratzinger, who has woken from slumber, in his declaration of Faith with Cardinal Sarah, and in Viganò’s denunciations of corruption. And is exulting in them.
We continue our review of the Sacred Repertoire of Josquin de Prés, for the edification and religious and cultural education of our readers, with this performance of his Salve Regina, which was customarily sung at the end of Compline, the last hour of the Divine Office, from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Saturday before Advent.
These music videos will be published daily at 5 pm Rome Time, 11 AM New York city time, and 3 AM Sydney, Australia, time.
14 hrs · It looks like this is the year the “Benedict XVI is the real Pope” deception will find mainstream acceptance: It lets people rid themselves of Bergoglio without having to embrace the dreaded and hated Sedevacantism. The facts about Ratzinger will be ignored — too inconvenient!
What is a Sedevacantist?
Sedevacantists hold in general that there have been no true popes since Pius XII. They accept the error of Luther that there is no authority or unity in the Church except that which is given the individual by the virtue of Faith. Thus, holding themselves as purer than all others, after the manner of Jansenists, they judge nearly everyone a heretic and thus outside of the Church. Their special target is all who hold an office which comes down through Apostolic Succession, because that is the real threat to their error and their egos.
So when these guys say you are winning, its a great day indeed! Amen. Praise God.
In the end the truth wins out!
POSTCRIPT: The anonymous editor at Novus Ordo Watch read my editorial and pouted on Twitter, thus:
I would just point out that he has fallen into the same childish error of Steve Skojec of throwing around insulting epithets which have the characteristic of being logically contradictory of the position of whom they attempt to pin them to. In my case, I am not a Resignationist, Skojec is, because I hold that no resignation took place, and he does. I am also not a Bennyvacantist, because I do not hold that Pope Benedict vacated the Apostolic See, Skojec does. — I adjoin this postscript just to point out the level of maturity of my interlocutors. You make the judgement.
I will confess that while I respect all priests, I love a priest who explains what Latin words mean. That is what attracted me to start reading Father Zuhlsdorf’s blog more than a decade ago, in the lost halls of memory….
But what makes a priest worthy of admiration by his own merit — not just his exalted status as an Ambassador of God Most High and Dispenser of the Mysteries of God — is that he knows when and how to employ the sword of truth to correct errant men.
And that is why you need to stop by Father Z’s blog and read his recent post entitled, Remember #UniteTheClans, where Fr. Z rants. For a good sermon deserves widespread public attention.
The topic Father Z takes in hand is the recent Acies Ordinata secret public protest in Munich, Bavaria, against Cardinal Marx’s fiendish plans to make the Catholic Church in Germany even less Christian than the NAZI party, if that is possible, but how Acies Ordinata has got the method all wrong.
Did I fail to mention that it is alleged that Archbishop Viganò was in attendance?
Take it from a man who as a priest, knows how the machinery of the Church works and when it is damaging or even useless to pour eau du toilette into the carburetor.
For a detailed report in Italian from someone who appears to have been to Munich, see Vik van Brantegem’s report at Korazym.org, from which the screen shot used as the Featured Image of this post comes.
In that article she recited the positions on both sides of the debate, regarding the Renunciation of Pope Benedict, whether it be valid or not. Her article inclined on the side which holds it is valid, or is to be presumed as valid. She interviewed Cardinals Burke and Brandmueller and Dr. de Mattei, along with Archbishop Gänswein.
But it seems her views have changed, or at least, she considers that it is professionally no longer a risk to manifest them:
For just 3 days ago, Diane Montagna tweeted this Meme from her personal twitter account.
And its import seems to signal that she has jumped ship and joined the PPBXVI Movement, which is the name From Rome gives to those Catholics who remain in communion with Pope Benedict, because the recognize that he is still the Pope according to the laws of the Church. (The Official site of the movement is ppbxvi.org)
Note, that Miss Montagna does not call Benedict, “Pope Emeritus”. Note how many like it but yet do not retweet it. The Non-Think is breaking and soon the growth rate of Catholics who accept Benedict as the only and true Pope will be growing at near infinite rates of acceleration! (Sarmaticus take note!)
She follows up that tweet with another, showing that she is thinking it through:
Contrary to the superstitions and smears of unbelievers, the Crusades were without a doubt the most glorious age of the Catholic Faith. Catholic men, in penance for their sins, at the call of Pope Bl. Urban II, while an Anti-pope ruled at Rome, sold all their possessions and went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to free Christians from imprisonment, slavery, torture, rape, murder, beheadings and forced conversions to Islam and to liberate the Holy Places which were Sanctified by the footsteps of Our Lord, risking their fame, fortune and very lives for the love of God Most High.
Dozens of Saints and Blesseds served on the Crusades. It was not an era be-plagued by the errors of anti-Christian ideologies, such as pacifism, quietism, pietism and sentimentalism. If you were a man, you showed you were a man by taking the pledge of the Cross and sacrificing everything in the greatest work of mercy conceivable, risking your own life for the life of a fellow brother in Christ, persecuted by a godless superstition.
In our own age, this spirit has inspired many a man to heroic deals and high ideals, even though we have not the opportunity to do what our Crusader forefathers did nor the kind of manly clergy which that age long past enjoyed in abundance.
But the need to defend persecuted Catholics goes on and on. And for this reason, we all have the need to share in the spirit of the Crusaders of old.
At the Ordo Militaris Catholicus, we are keenly aware of this need to provide opportunities for all Catholics to share in this heroic spirit of our forefathers, and to join in the effort to defend Christendom, even if they are not called to the military vocation.
And we have developed a plan to do this.
It is called Franchising the Spirit of the Crusades, and it involves the formation of a network of Catholic businesses which work together for their mutual benefit and to raise support for the defense of Christians.
If you are a Catholic Businessman or aim to be one, I invite you to learn more about this Franchise Network, see the OMC Franchise offer and request a prospectus.
Deus Vult!
Sincerely,
Br. Alexis Bugnolo
PRESIDENT
Ordo Militaris. Inc.
302 N. Last Chance Gulch, Suite 409
Helena, MT 59601
USA
In view of the Massive public interest in the welfare of Pope Benedict, the growing and soon to explode public consensus that He is still the true and only Pope and that Bergoglio is an uncanonical anomaly, From Rome wants to take the pulse of Christendom with a poll asking a very very impolitic question. Please share this on all social media, so we can get the best response:
[polldaddy poll=10492909]
This poll will remain open for 7 days.
+ + +
Disclaimer: The taking of this poll in no way implies any action, support or condoning of private military or armed action against the Vatican City State or anyone in its territories. It is merely a journalistic appeal to know what people are thinking and how strongly they feel it. Whether the USA or an Italian government in the future might take this action or not, is neither foreseen nor solicited by FromRome.info
I cannot remain silent, despite as much as I am loath to publicly correct someone with a Doctorate in History. I know I did it before, but it seems to have been of no help.
I speak of Dr. Roberto De Mattei, writing over at Correspondenza Romana (See original), here at Rome, in a piece which Rorate Caeli graciously published in English translation. (See Here), entitled, The Real Mess is the co-habitation of Two Popes.
And I quote,
This situation is the consequence of a grave theological error by Cardinal Ratzinger. By keeping the title Pope emeritus, as happens with bishops, he appears to believe that the rise to the Papacy imprints an indelible mark similar to that of the priesthood. In reality, the sacramental grades of the priesthood are three only: the diaconate, the priesthood and the episcopacy. The Papacy belongs to another hierarchy in the Church, the jurisdictional one, or the governmental one, wherein it is the apex. When a Pope is elected, he receives the office of supreme jurisdiction, not a sacrament with an indelible mark.
The priesthood can’t even be lost by death, because it subsists “in aternum” . The papacy, on the other hand, can be lost, not only by death, but also in the case of voluntary renunciation or of manifest, notorious heresy. If he renounces being pontiff, the Pope ceases to be such: he has no right to wear white nor impart the Apostolic Blessing. He, from a canonical point of view, is no longer even a cardinal, but goes back to being a simple bishop.* Unless his renunciation is invalid: but this, in the case of Benedict XVI, should be proven. Effectively, the title of Pope today is being given to both Francis and Benedict, but one is certainly abusive, as only one [man] can be Pope in the Church.
Emphasis in Red added, Asterisk added
In a piece, entitled, It’s all happening. Rorate Caeli is coming onside. Benedict is Pope, Ann Barnhardt is elated that De Mattei and hence Rorate Caeli by informed consent, has admitted that it is a theological error. And she is correct, that is at least one little baby step in the right direction. But that is all it is.
Because it is reduced to nothing, by the second thing worthy of note in De Mattei’s piece, that I highlighted in red.
Namely, as regards the correct legal presumption in acts of Renunciation, as in all legal acts which follow ius testimentarie as in Last Wills and Testiments and successions etc..
Lurking in the Comments, as Romanus sum, I wrote there:
Lou,
You got the legal presumption wrong.
A renunciation is presumed invalid unless it clearly renounces that which it is supposed to renounce.
Just like a last testament is invalid, unless it clearly says it is leaving something to someone.
For those who know Bellarmine, a doubtful pope is not a pope, it is the application of the same legal concept of interpretation to the opposite circumstances.
All this has to do with the concept of Cessation of power. In law, the cessation of power is not presumed. Thus, the cessation of right is not presumed. Contrariwise, in the election of a man to the papacy, we have the right and the Church is bound by law, not to regard it valid unless it meets all the necessary requirements of validity and or legitimacy.
Thus, a doubtfully resigned pope is still pope.
So, since I have corrected an Italian American in the USA, I guess there is no harm correcting an Italian at Rome, who spent years in Brazil.
So Dr. De Mattei, if I can be so bold — and I will be — though it is contrary to what a Franciscan should so in normal circumstances — but now is not normal. Since the Rule of Saint Francis obliges us to hold fast to Roman Pontiffs canonically elected, I would point out to you by a personal note, that THE INVALIDITY OF THE RENUNCIATION MADE BY POPE BENEDICT
DOES
NOT
NEED
TO
BE
PROVEN!
It does not need to be proven, because according to ius testimentarie, that is the genus of right which regards testaments, THE INVALIDLY IS PRESUMED unless it is proven otherwise by a clear and certain statement!
For the Record, Mr. Verrecchio holds that the Renunciation is invalid, as a conclusion. Dr. de Mattei holds that it is valid as a presumption. Each is a different error, and Verrecchio is a better thinker, in my judgement. But until everyone gets the legal principle right, the problem wont be solved.
As I replied again to Louie, in the same post,
Dear Mr. Verrechio,
I did read your comment, you said that you conclude that the resignation is invalid until proven otherwise.
I said, the legal presumption is that a resignation is invalid until proven otherwise.
The point seems to be a fine one, but it is not. A presumption of law is a principle, not a conclusion. It does not exist under certain circumstances and in certain minds or as derived from certain beliefs or not. It exists a priori to all of these on account of the very nature of the legal act.
You do not have to prove it (the invalidity). You do have to accept it (the legal principle), to be a sane rational person…
I could have more easily commented on Dr. de Mattei’s piece by simply saying:
THE INVALIDITY OF THE RESIGNATION HAS BEEN PROVEN!
13 MONTHS AGO!
If you would only read sources which are found outside of the clique of approved outlets you read! >>
And you do not need to take me at my word. Ask any attorney-at-law who practices Estate Law or simply peruse my notes from my meetings with 2 top Canon Lawyers at Rome:
* Just a short note on what happens to a pope who validly resigns. If he was a Cardinal beforehand, he returns to being a Cardinal. This is shown by the statement drawn up by Pope Pius XII in the case of an invasion of the Vatican by Axis forces during World War II. In the case of Pope Celestine V, he returned to being a hermit, because that is what he was before he was the Pope, though he remained a bishop, having been consecrated such after his election (Not all popes were consecrated Bishops). Unless of course, before one resigns, he makes other dispositions, as certainly is within his power to do so. Thus, Pope Benedict, if he really wanted ever to resign validly, could have first established the canonical status he would adopt after resignation, declare his resignation would take place on a certain date, resign on that date, and then assume that status which as Pope he had granted himself as the man who would be soon NOT the pope.
THIS ARTICLE has been published simultaneously in Italian at ChiesaRomna.Info
CREDITS: The featured image is by the author of this article.
Authorized English translation by Giuseppe Pellegrino
Dear readers of Stilum Curiae,
After the visit [on Friday evening, January 17] of Cardinal Robert Sarah to Benedict XVI, and his declarations [on Twitter], the same “Monsignor X” who wrote us a few days ago has offered us another intervention. He appears justly indignant at what is happening in the Vatican, and in particular among the journalists of the Vatican court. And he makes an interesting proposal….
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En raison des polémiques incessantes, nauséabondes et mensongères qui ne se sont jamais arrêtées depuis le début de la semaine, concernant le livre Des profondeurs de nos cœurs, j’ai rencontré ce soir le Pape Émérite Benoît XVI. (1) +RS
“Because of the incessant, nauseating, and untrue controversies that have never stopped since the beginning of the week concerning the book “From The Depths of Our Hearts,” this evening [Friday, January 17, 2020] I met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. +RS. With Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, we have been able to certify that there is no misunderstanding between us. I left very happy, full of peace and courage from this beautiful audience. +RS”
Friends of Stilum Curiae,
who was responsible for the this attempt to harm Cardinal Sarah and Benedict XVI? I pray you take note of the expression used by Cardinal Sarah to connote the facts:
“Incessant, nauseating and untrue.”
I realize that it will be a waste of time, as was true with the Dubia and the Correctio Filialis, but do we want to call for an investigation?
Shall we ask Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin to create an Investigative Commission that will shed light on an affair that has sought to defame the reputation of the Pope Emeritus and a most eminent Cardinal?
The expression of Sarah – “nauseating” – struck me. Something nauseating – that is, which provokes nausea and generates a sense of repulsion, disgust, and contempt – is attributed to an immoral person, who therefore arouses a feeling of repulsion.
Since we know how much Cardinal Sarah weighs his words, it is now indispensable to identify this immoral person who is going around in the Vatican, in the Catholic Church.
It will not be easy to find this exact “specific” immoral person, given the number and variety of immoral people who are behind the Sacred Walls of the Vatican, disguised as priests or as expert journalists of communications services, rather than experts in theology or liturgy.
But someone who has experience in such investigations ought to be able to identify him. They could entrust the oversight of this Investigative Commission to Cardinal Herranz, the former president of the Herranz Commission, which was convened by Benedict XVI to shed light on Vatileaks I, which in 2012 discovered intricacies and conspiracies, identified names and reported them secretly to Pope Benedict XVI, a few days prior to February 11, 2013. Then the Pope resigned.
And it was Don Georg Gänswein, first and personally, who hurried – surprisingly – to explain that the resignation was a decision that had been made by Pope Benedict for at least a year!!
I propose a hypothesis: that what has just happened in the matter of the Sarah – Benedict book is connected by an umbilical cord to what happened in 2012.
In short: Benedict XVI had to definitively disappear from history – and the same is true today. Because Benedict XVI was restoring the Church of Christ, which was instead destroyed, and continues to be destroyed.
Part and parcel of remaining a faithful Catholic, is learning to appreciate the treasures with which our Holy Faith has been enriched throughout the centuries by Faithful Catholics. Josquin de Prés, court composer for the Popes, was one of the first to experiment with polyphony. He lived and flourished at about the time of Christopher Columbus. In this beautiful but short piece, written for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Choir sings a capella, that is in the style of the Sistine Chapel, without instrumental accompaniment. The piece, Miserere mei Deus, is one of the penitential psalms.
According to Open Doors 260 Million Christians were persecuted for their faith last year. From the lands of Islam to North Korea violence and abuse of Christians. And in China they tear down Cross to make way for Video Surveillance Cameras.
January 15, 2020 Edition, p. 10: The persecutions are unending for Christians throughout the world, indeed, they are on the increase. The cries of alarm are being heard at Open Doors, a Christian Missionary Association which monitors the violence, the harassment and the discrimination suffered by the faithful, and which publishes each year the World Watch List, which classifies the top 50 countries where the oppression of Christians is the highest. The data reported from Nov. 1, 2018 to Oct. 31, 2019, speaks for itself: 260 million persecuted Christians in just the top 50 countries, up from 245 million in the previous year. In practice, 1 out of every 8 Christians is enduring “high” levels of persecution on account of their faith.
At the top of the list of shame is the dictatorship of North Korea, where between 50,000 and 70,000 Catholics are currently being detained in concentration camps.
Even though the murders of Christians have diminished last year, from 4, 305 to 2,983 – on average 8 Christians a day – there has been a noticeable increase of “pressure” placed upon Christians, in the form of harassment, assaults, kidnappings, imprisonment without due process, churches closed or attacked, rapes and sexual abuse.
At the top of the World Watch list, since 2002, one finds North Korea where according to estimates there are between 50 and 70 thousand Christians being detained in concentration camps. The second or third place in list list of infamy go to Afghanistan and Somalia, followed by Libya, though in a different context from that of Pyongyang. The persecution in these three countries is in fact tied to their political instability and the absence of a central government. There, the faithful, especially when they convert from Islam, risk death if discovered.
In fifth place, is Pakistan, where 95% of the population is Muslim and discrimination against Christians begins in elementary school. This nation is infamous, among other things, for the case of Asia Bibi, the Christian mother of 5 daughters, who was accused in 2009 of blasphemy against Mohammad and condemned to death, from which she was spared thanks to clamorous international appeals, and who has now taken refuge in Canada after being threatened with death by the Islamic extremists of Tehreek-e-Labbaik who called for her execution, following her victory on appeal in 2008. Today, in her former homeland, there are more than 20 Christians detained on accusations of blasphemy.
We can omit to mention Sri Lanka, which is on the list for a singular incident, which raised its classification from 40th place to 30th: the mass terrorist attack on Easter Day, April 21, 2019, when 7 Jihadis from National Thowheeth jama-ath struck in a series of attacks 4 luxury hotels and a residential complex, killing 253 persons and injuring 500.
As much as regards Nigeria, the most recent slaughter of Christians occurred last month, when a group of Jihadis, affiliated with Isis, slaughtered 11 men in revenge for the death of the “caliph” of the so-called “Islamic State”, Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi, killed last October in Syria. The report from Open Doors shows, however, that the most lethal group in the country are the Muslim Fulani herdsmen: April 14th last, in the village of Numa, one of them made a disturbance during a celebration of Baptism by massacring all 17 participants. The group is defined in the report of Open Doors as six times more lethal than the throat-cutting Boko Haram.
The report affirms, in addition, on sexual violence. The data on sexual abuse and rape reveal, in the period in question, 8,537 cases, to which should be added at least 630 forced marriages. Moreover, the numbers are likely to be decidedly higher, seeing that persecution of this kind is usually perpetrated at home, rendering it difficult to quantify, as the Director of Open Doors, Cristian Nani explains: “Christian women raped and violated while parents or husbands are constrained to listen to their cries on a telephone. The brutality of the phenomenon of sexual abuse and of forced marriages is disheartening. And it is only the tip of the iceberg which is revealing itself little by little. If it can exist hidden away in a country like Italy, just imagine what it is like in countries where Christians are considered second class citizens.”
But the repression of Christians also occurs in regard to their places of worship. To get an idea, consider the statistic of surging church closures, attacks and of the destruction of church and church-related properties like schools and hospitals: 9,488 ( as compared to 1,847 in the preceding year), of which more than 5,500 were in China alone, where the number of faithful Christians is growing rapidly, as is already near to 90 million.
Peking has put into place a system to monitor believers in an ever more restrictive manner, by the use of biometric technologies and artificial intelligence: on top of forbidding anyone less than 18 years of age to frequent places of Christian worship, the Chinese authorities have imposed upon some churches the requirement of removing the Crosses in front of the buildings and of installing systems of facial recognition, to which all the faithful must subject themselves.
January 15, 20202 A. D., Aleppo, Syria: They died as martyrs, killed in December 2016 by a gang of militiamen who had held them hostage for years. This is apparently the fate of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, the Greek Orthodox Boulos Yazigi and the Orthodox Syrian Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, who disappeared on April 22 without leaving a trace, in the area between the Syrian metropolis and the border with Turkey. An investigation supports this theory carried out by an investigation team led by Mansur Salib, a Syrian researcher residing in the United States, and disseminated through the digital platform medium.com, a new social media connected to Twitter. According to the authors of the investigation, the militants of Nour al-Din al-Zenki, an independent group involved in the Syrian conflict, financed and armed during the conflict by both Saudi Arabia and the USA, killed the two.
The investigation traces the story, focusing on details considered useful to reconstruct its dynamics. According to the authors, on April 22, 2013 the two Archbishops had left Aleppo aboard a Toyota pick-up truck, driven by Fatha ‘Allah Kabboud, with the intention of going to deal with the release of two priests, Armenian Catholic Michael Kayyal and Greek Orthodox Maher Mahfouz, previously kidnapped by anti-Assad jihadist groups who then controlled the territories east of the Syrian metropolis. Mar Gregorios and Boulos Yazigi, dressed in civilian clothes, fell into what the reconstruction presents as a real trap. The car in which the two metropolitans of Aleppo were traveling was blocked by the group of kidnappers, and the driver Fatha’ Allah Kabboud, a Latin-rite Catholic, father of three children, was shot dead in the head. The kidnapping was not claimed by any group.
In the following months and years, rumors and announcements about their upcoming release were filtered around the case on several occasions, which then turned out to be unfounded.
The investigation now published on medium.com hints at the involvement in the kidnapping of characters linked to MIT (Turkish intelligence service), claiming that the kidnapping and detention occurred in areas that at that time became a “receptacle for foreign secret services”, where they could hardly have operated without the support of “ordinary terrorists”.
The issue of the disappearance of the two metropolitans was marked by misdirections and false and misleading information, such as that which a few days after their kidnapping had said they were released and were heading towards the Syrian Orthodox cathedral of Aleppo, where a multitude of Aleppo Christians gathered in vain to await them.
The reconstruction reports information already known, along with allegations exposed without objective findings, including the hint that George Sabra, a Christian leader who has always been close to opposition groups to the government of Damascus, is also involved in the kidnapping of the two Metropolitans. The hypothesis that the perpetrators of the kidnapping aimed to force the two metropolitans to convert to Islam, to fuel fears and despair among the local Christian communities, is also highlighted.
The most relevant witness among those mentioned in the report seems to be Yassir Muhdi, presented as one of the jailers of the two bishops, who was later captured by Syrian forces. “The official investigation” acknowledges the dossier “is not yet complete, because it was not possible to find the mortal remains of the two ecclesiastics”. Among other things, the reconstruction claims – by presenting blurred clues or by aggregating information without objective evidence – that the two Archbishops were tortured, and that one of them, in 2015, was in a health facility in Antioch, the Antakya Devlet Hastanesi, in the Turkish province of Hatay. In the final section, the investigation claims that the two bishops were allegedly killed and buried in an unspecified place in December 2016, while areas east of Aleppo were about to be recaptured by the Syrian army.
In conclusion, the investigation published on medium.com may be useful to clarify details of the dynamics of the kidnapping and the early stages of the segregation of the two metropolitans, but in many passages it does not seem to provide certain elements useful to definitively clarify what was the fate of Boulos Yazigi and Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, Archbishops of the martyred city of Aleppo. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 15/1/2020)
The members have been following this story for 3 years. And it is with great sadness that we learn this week that both priests and both Bishops have been slain by Islamic Jihadis. Our condolences with their families and religious communities.
DON’T BE LIKE THE 3 OUT OF 4 WHO READ THIS
AND NEVER SIGN THE PETITION!
Petition to President Trump to advocate for the protection of all the elderly, including POPE BENEDICT XVI!
TEXT OF THE PETITION
As recent events at the Vatican have shown, the elderly and frail Pope Benedict is being housed in a facility where the man responsible, Archbishop Gänswein, is attacking his collaborators and claiming he did not do or say or approve what he did approve and say and do. We are concerned that this elderly man is being manipulated for political reasons, which is elder abuse. We are also concerned because of his fidelity to Catholic teaching, that he might be further victimized in the near future by members of Bergoglio’s government. We therefore ask President Trump to raise concern about this issue by issuing one tweet:
“I am concerned for the welfare of all the elderly and that they not be abused or manipulated, including Pope Benedict XVI. I urge all to take effective steps for their care!”
LET US PRAY FOR OUR HOLY FATHER, POPE BENEDICT XVI!
By Br. Alexis Bugnolo
The Church has been there before. A despot ruling over the people of God who has imprisoned the Vicar of Christ.
I speak of Herod Agrippa I and Saint Peter the Apostle.
In those days the whole Church joined in prayer for the Pope and the Lord sent an Angel of Deliverance, Saint Michael the Archangel, who broke Peter out of prison.
Pope Benedict XVI is also imprisoned, in that he is manipulated and controlled by others who fear the power of the office which they know He still has, whether he realizes it or not. It is not for nothing, that Saint Michael the Archangel was appointed to be the Patron of the City of Rome. He has ever been active to defend the Pope, and even now summons God’s servants to the Eternal City to defend him. Let us join in prayer with this great Archangel for Pope Benedict’s liberty, safety and protection, against all the forces of darkness which are being conjured together at the Vatican.
And let us not only pray, but let us do something about it! For if we only pray, when we are able to do more than just pray, the Lord will condemn us for sloth.
As president of Ordo Militaris Inc., I personally ask each of you to join the Order by making a small monthly capital pledge or an investment. I want the Order to be able to offer Pope Benedict XVI our assistance in any need he has, but I cannot do that without your help!
And let us take confidence in the inspired word of God, which shows what happens to those who imprison Christ’s Vicar on Earth!
Saint Luke: Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 12
1] And at the same time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to afflict some of the church. [2] And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. [3] And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter also. Now it was in the days of the Azymes. [4] And when he had apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four files of soldiers to be kept, intending, after the pasch, to bring him forth to the people. [5] Peter therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him.
[3] “Azymes”: The festival of the unleavened bread, or the pasch, which answers to our Easter.
[6] And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. [7] And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him: and a light shined in the room: and he striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands. [8] And the angel said to him: Gird thyself, and put on thy sandals. And he did so. And he said to him: Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. [9] And going out, he followed him, and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel: but thought he saw a vision. [10] And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city, which of itself opened to them. And going out, they passed on through one street: and immediately the angel departed from him.
[11] And Peter coming to himself, said: Now I know in very deed, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. [12] And considering, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark, where many were gathered together and praying. [13] And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, whose name was Rhode. [14] And as soon as she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for joy, but running in she told that Peter stood before the gate. [15] But they said to her: Thou art mad. But she affirmed that it was so. Then said they: It is his angel.
[16] But Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened, they saw him, and were astonished. [17] But he beckoning to them with his hand to hold their peace, told how the Lord had brought him out of prison, and he said: Tell these things to James, and to the brethren. And going out, he went into another place. [18] Now when day was come, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. [19] And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not; having examined the keepers, he commanded they should be put to death; and going down from Judea to Caesarea, he abode there. [20] And he was angry with the Tyrians and the Sidonians. But they with one accord came to him, and having gained Blastus, who was the king’s chamberlain, they desired peace, because their countries were nourished by him.
[21] And upon a day appointed, Herod being arrayed in kingly apparel, sat in the judgment seat, and made an oration to them. [22] And the people made acclamation, saying: It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. [23] And forthwith an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given the honour to God: and being eaten up by worms, he gave up the ghost. [24] But the word of the Lord increased and multiplied. [25] And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having fulfilled their ministry, taking with them John, who was surnamed Mark.
After centuries of interference in the Election of the Roman Pontiff by the Emperors of Constantinople and of the Holy Roman Empire, by the military, by the Roman Nobility and by rogue Nobles of diverse parts of Italy, Pope Nicholas II decreed a historic Bull which restricted the right of election — which had from ancient times been vested by Saint Peter the Apostle in the whole Church of Rome, and subsequently to the clergy — to the Cardinal Bishops principally, and then to the other Cardinals, the rest of the Clergy and the Faithful of the Diocese of Rome. This Bull led to the formation of the institutions which we know of today as the College of Cardinals and the Conclave. Due to its crucial importance in the history of the regulation of the election of the Roman Pontiff, the From Rome Blog here presents its own English translation of the Latin Text (which can be download in PDF — the authenticity of which I have presumed from internal criteria). — Following the translation, I will give a commentary.
In Nomine Domini
In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Savior, in the One Thousand and Fifty-Ninth year from His Incarnation, in the month of April, in the twelfth indiction, with the sacrosant Gospels laid before Us, with the most Reverend and Blessed Pope Nicholas also presiding in the Patriarchàs Lateran Basilica, which is named the Constantinian: with the most Reverent Bishops, Abbots, Priests and Deacons sitting with him: the same Venerable Pontiff decreeing by Apostolic authority concerning the Election of the Supreme Pontiff, said:
Your Beatitude knows, most beloved Brother (Cardinals), and Co-Bishops, and it is also not hidden to inferior members ( of the clergy), that with the passing of Our predecessor, the divine Stephen, of good memory, how many adversities this Apostolic See, which I serve with God as my author, has born, and how many repeated hammers, and frequent blows, She has been subjected to through the brokers of simonaical heresy: so much, indeed, that the Column of the living God almost seemed to totter, and the net of the Fisherman, with the storms having swelled, would be driven into the depths of shipwreck to be submerged, wherefore if it please thy Brotherhood, We ought, with the God assisting, take care prudently that future cases do not occur, and this by Ecclesiastical statute, lest recurring — far be it — the evils prevail.
The Election of the Pope pertains, first of all, to the Cardinal Bishops, who serve also as Metropolitians, the to the Cardinal Clerics, and the rest of the Clergy, and the People, only proffer their consent to the election.
§1. On which account, having been instructed by Our predecessors, and by the authority of the other Holy Fathers, We decree, and establish, that with the passing of the Pontiff of this Catholic Roman Church, first of all, the Cardinal Bishops, treating most diligently together concerning the election, summon immediately the Cardinal Clerics of Christ; and in this manner let the rest of the Clergy, and the People approach to consent to the new election taking the greatest care beforehand, lest the deadly disease of venality insinuate itself by an occasion, and for that reason let the most religious men be the chief leaders in promoting the election of the Pontiff, but the rest be their followers. Moreover, the certain and even legitimate order here of the election is carefully considered, if it be gathered from having examined the diverse rules of the Fathers, or their deeds, and even that sentence of Blessed Leo, Our predecessor: “No reason permits, that there be had among Bishops, those who have neither been elected from the Clerics, nor requested by the common people, nor consecrated by the co-provincial Bishops with the judgement of the Metropolitans; but because the Apostolic See takes precedence to all other Churches throughout the earth, for that reason She also can have over Her no Metropolitan, the Cardinal Bishops with out doubt serve instead as Metropolitans, who namely, proceed to consecrate the apex of the Apostolic brow, once elected as Bishop“.
The Pope ought to be elected from the womb of the Roman Church if one is found to be suitable, otherwise he is to be elected from another Church.
§2. Moreover, let him be elected from the very womb of the Church, if one is found to be suitable, and/or if one not be found in Her, let him be taken from another; with due honor being served, and reverence for Our beloved son, Henry, who is held as King at the present, and with God conceding hoped as the future Emperor, as We have already conceded to him, just as to the successors of him, who personally begged this right from this Apostolic See.
If the Pope cannot be elected in the City, because of obstacles,
he can be elected elsewhere by the Cardinals, and by others, though few, of whom (We spoke) above.
§3. Wherefore, if the perversity of depraved, and iniquitous men, so prevail, that a pure, sincere and free election cannot be held in the City, the Cardinal Bishops with the religious Clerics, and the Catholic laity, though few, obtain the right of power (ius potestatis) to elect the Pontiff of the Apostolic See, where it might be fitting.
If the elected Pope cannot be enthroned, by these men, here, on account of obstacles, nevertheless he is a true Pope, and can rule the Roman Church, and dispose of all Her faculties.
§4. Plainly, after the election has been completed, if there be a bellicose conflict, and/or if the struggle of any kind of men resists by the earnestness of wickedness, such that he, who has been elected, cannot prevail to be enthroned in the Apostolic See according to the custom, nevertheless, the elect obtains as the true Pope the authority to rule the Roman Church, and to dispose of all Her faculties, which Blessed Gregory, We know, did, before his own consecration.
The pope elected against the form of this Decree is to be punished, as this one was, with his supporters.
§5. On which account, if anyone has been elected, or even ordained, or enthroned, against this Decree of Ours promulgated by Synodal sentence, whether through sedition, and/or presumption, or any guile, let him be cast down by the Divine Authority, and that of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, by a perpetual anathema with his promoters and supporters and followers as one separated from the thresholds of the Holy Church, just as the Anti-Christ, both an invader and destroyer of the whole of Christendom, and let no audience be given him over this, but let him be deposed from every ecclesiastical grade unto whatever was before his, without any objection made, to whom if anyone whatsoever adheres, and/or exhibits any kind of reverence as to the Pontiff, or presumes to defend him in anything, let him be abandoned by equal sentence, which if anyone shows himself to be a violator of this sentence of Our Holy Decree, and has tried to confound the Roman Church by his presumption, and to raise disturbance against this Statute, let him be damned by perpetual anathema and excommunication, and let him be reputed among the impious, who shall not rise again in judgement, let him know the wrath of the Omnipotent One against him, and that of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, whose Church he has presumed to fool, let him know a ravaging madness in this life and in the future; let his dwelling become deserted, and let there be no one who dwells in his tents: let his sons be orphans, and his wife a widow, let him be shaken completely to madness, and may his sons go about begging, and be cast out of their dwellings, may the money-lender ravage all his substance, and may foreigner lay waste to his labors: Let the whole world fight against him, and let all the other elements be against him, and may the merits of all the Saints resting above confound him.
For the observers of this Decree, the Pope prays for the grace of God and pardon for their sins.
§6. Moreover, let the grace of the Omnipotent One protect the observers of this Our decree, and let the authority of the Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul absolve them from all the bonds of their sins.
COMMENTARY
Pope Nicholas II
Oh the faith and zeal of the men of God of ages past! How shining their nobility of mind, how forthright their speech, how determined their mind, how strong their justice against all wickedness, how prudent in particulars, how unbending in ideals and purpose. Many a Catholic reading of the Church in ages past has commented thus of our forebears in faith, who on account of the distance of the ages, we can assuredly count among some of our relatives of old.
What makes them so different from our own age, is that with the passing of time, and the corruption of men, the mystical body of the Antichrist has grown up inside the Church, pretending to be one of the faithful, but deceiving all, to such an extent, that the mass and number of the wicked in the Church has reached critical stage and the likeness of the monster of iniquity is taking form inside the members of the Church long dead and separated from the vital sap of Our Lord, the True Vine of the Father.
We can see openly how less a corrupt age it was, by the few precepts to be had to govern a papal election. This was not because the age knew nothing of Law. The great legal works of the Emperor Justinian and the Roman Jurist Ulpian had long before been written and studied. No, it was the rarity of the boldness of demonic impiety, which is now common day and an every day manifestation, which made this first Papal Decree on the Election of the Popes so simple and direct.
Yet, in its simplicity it shows forth several important legal institutions and principles which would characterize papal law on the election of the Roman Pontiff for the next nearly thousand years. Let us examine them in their order of appearance in the Decree.
Three Conditions for the man Elected
The Ancient and Apostolic custom of the Church of Rome was ever that three conditions prevail for the election of a Roman Pontiff: his selection by the Clergy of the City, his approval by the faithful of the city, his consecration by the Metropolitian, or what we call the suburbican Bishops, of the ecclesiastical province: the Bishop who oversaw the dioceses immediately adjacent to Rome.
This custom was the orderly application of the Apostolic Right by which the Roman Pontiff was elected from the time of the Apostle Peter’s death, and may have been suggested by the Apostle St. Paul, who ministered in the City for a year or more before his own decapitation and martyrdom.
Pope Nicholas II by this decree modifies the ancient custom and restricts the discernment and selection of the one to be elected to the Cardinal Bishops. They are then to summon the other Cardinal Clergy, the rest of the clergy of the City and all the Faithful and ask for their consent.
No Elections in secret
The wisdom of this institution prevented the usurpation of the Church by foreigners, the election of men who were unknown to the local clergy, and or who did not enjoy an honest reputation among the faithful of the city. It also prevented simony — the offering of money for votes — to some extent, since you cannot bribe everyone, and without any obligation of proceeding in secret, the motivation for voting for this one or that, would certainly come out and quickly become known to all.
Respect for Tradition
Pope Nicholas shows his respect for the Apostolic right by quoted Pope Leo the Great, who explains the manner in which the election was conducted in his age, some five centuries before, when all the clergy has the right to vote, not just the Cardinals.
Preference for a Roman
To prevent foreign influence and contro and to guarantee not only the independence of the Church of Rome but that She have a pastor who saw himself as Her shepherd by innate ties and bonds, Pope Nicholas urges the election of a man born at Rome and Roman. This hearkens back to the Old Testament where God required that the people select one of their own kin to rule over them.
Flexibility in non essentials
Pope Nicholas II shows the sanity of the medieval mind, by allowing the election under special circumstances of necessity to be conducted outside the city. There was no fixed or prescribed place for the election, and this prevented it being controlled from beforehand, as well as from being prevented or impeded in its execution.
A Man is made pope by Election, not consecration or enthronement.
Here there is a principle which comes down from at least the time of Pope Gregory the Great, namely, that the man elected Pope, from that moment becomes the pope, even if he has not yet been consecrated a Bishop and even before he is enthroned in the Lateran Basilica (the Cathedral of Rome prior to the 14th century).
Grave Sanctions for those who transgress
Finally, Pope Nicholas II imposes the most grave and extreme sanctions upon those who transgress his Law on Elections: anathema, excommunication, reduction to the state in which he was prior to the election or usurpation. And this punishment is extended to all his promoters, supporters and followers. A promoter is he who encouraged his candidacy, a supporter is he who voted for him, and a follower is he who joined his faction and vied that it prevail.
Just read n. 5 above, if you want to know how a usurper of the office of Pope should be treated for his crime. It makes you understand the moral gravity of the crime, a thing which a godless cleric has no understanding of.
Equity and Wisdom
In this Decree, one can see that Pope Nicholas II is trying to balance the different and disparate forces which were vying to control the election of the Roman Pontiff in his own age, and to place that election securely in the hands of those who could be more trusted to elect a man of God, without however, restricting the process so much as to prevent a man of God being elected. His emphasis that the holier members of the Church take a principle part in the election is a strong reminder to our own age of the folly of legislation which thinks that in the precise observance of minutiae one can guarantee holiness. For this reason, Nicholas II promulgated a law which was to have a lasting effect on papal legislation for a thousand years. May God grant the clergy of Rome a similar wisdom and courage to execute their duties before God.
Criticism
Pope Nicholas II has gone to his reward, so I will allow myself to make one criticism of his papal law, and that is this: by restricting the right to vote to Bishops alone he imposed on the Roman Church the practice which prevailed in the provinces and in the Eastern Churches. This ended up helping the papacy, in one sense, to have men who had experience in government and fiscal management, but, on the other hand, tended to restrict candidates to the class of the landed gentry. It would end the habit of popular candidates, who sometimes, not always, in the past had been men who corrected the wrongs and injustice of the landed class and returned the Apostolic See to a more evangelical road.
What if, God forbid, Pope Benedict XVI dies while the Cardinal Electors remain fast with the Antipope?
I get a lot of questions from the Catholic Faithful who hold that Benedict is still the Pope because they simply follow the norm of Canon Law, unlike the precipitous and rash College of Cardinals who did not even implement canons 40 and 41 following the Declaratio of Pope Benedicct XVI on Feb. 11, 2013. For that reason, the Cardinals are in de facto schism from Christ and His Church, because they have violated canon 359 and Universi Dominici Gregis, n. 37, by electing another Pope when there was no legal sede vacante.
For that reason many of the faithful worry that the Petrine Succession might be abolished or lost, if when Benedict dies, the Cardinals do not convene in Conclave to elect his successor. This is because, the current papal law, published in an age in which there has not be an Anti-pope for nearly 500 years, does not address what is to happen if it should be that all the Cardinal Electors who are canonically valid (appointed by Popes John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI) omit convening in Conclave after Benedict’s death.
In such a case, whatever Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Monsignori, Priests and Deacons, who are incardinated in the Diocese of Rome or at the Vatican, remain in communion with Benedict and assemble after his death, whomsoever they elect by a simply majority will be the Pope. In such an election the laity can also participate, since the Apostolic Right pertains to the whole Church. — If Arcibishop Vigano shows at such an assembly, he would probably be surely elected.
The Church desperately needs a popular candidate for the papacy, because, as in times prior to the law of Pope Nicholas II, In Nomine Domini, the Church is need of a dire correction in its pastoral objectives and needs a reformer who will return the Faith to Her rightful queenship of governance in the Church. Pope Benedict XVI by his evangelical prudence or by mistake, has providentially prepared, perhaps, the next papal election to proceed in just such a manner.
This report is disturbing and menacing. Just after FromRome.info published the invitation to join the Ordo Militaris Catholicus, this afternoon, Rome Time, a massive computer assault from Mainland China was launched against the server of the Order, at such a high level of sophistication, that it shut the server down physically.
Logs at the Order’s Website show numerous queries from dozens of cities in China in rapid succession doing a deep scan on the website.
The server physically turned itself off within 15 minutes of posting the Invitation article.
The company hosting the website said only the server on which the Order’s website was affected no others. The company hosts 10s of thousands of websites on shared and reserved servers.
The attack was not a Denial of Service, it was some sort of sophisticated back door hack.
FromRome.Info, earlier today, in its report about John Zmirak’s exposé of China’s control of the Bergoglian Regime, might have been the flash point. In that post, I discussed the ties of Chinese Intelligence to efforts to force the Resignation of Pope Benedict.
I think I can safely say that the vicious underhanded attack just proved everything I said in that report.
You are cordially invited to join the Catholic Military Order (Official Name: Ordo Militaris Catholicus), which is an International Association of Catholics dedicated to the defense of Christendom. To know more about the Order and the reasons to join, please read the following:
The Ordo Militaris Catholicus is a international defense and security initiative of Catholics for Catholics who are suffering persecution for their faith, where their defense and liberation requires military intervention or security actions, and this is allowed by local and/or international law. We were founded in the days following the martyrdom of Father Jacques Hamel, July 26, 2016 A.D., by Br. Alexis Bugnolo, a Franciscan hermit.
In the U.S.A., the Order has founded a Montana Corporation, with the legal name, Ordo Militaris, Inc., as a Private Military Corporation, to conduct the defense and security initiatives that the Association seeks to undertake.
The Order seeks to recruit chiefly Catholic Veterans who wish to put their military skills and knowledge to service in the defense of fellow Catholics, and this principally out of a desire of fraternal charity, not personal gain. As a religious association of Catholics we aim to combine the unique aspects of military and religious service as a work of mercy towards our fellow Catholics.
About our Private Military Coroporation: Ordo Militaris, Inc.
Following in the footsteps of the brave Catholics of old, who forsook family, home and nation to go overseas to the rescue of Christians being persecuted for their faith, we have begun this security and defense initiative of Catholics for Christians who are being persecuted, where their defense and security requires humanitarian aid and security solutions which only a private military corporation could lawfully provide.
We aim to be a non-political, transnational humanitarian effort with a distinctively Catholic ethos and spirit, providing a method of private collaboration and intervention separate from the national foreign policies of sovereign states, while working fully within the limitations of national and international laws and conventions.
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At present, throughout the western world, there exists no such particularly Christian effort which blends security and defense with humanitarian aid, in part because classical charities or non profits are excluded from security and defense activities and programs and in part because in recent centuries the concept of security and defense as a humanitarian activity has all but been forgotten.
As part of our transnational strategy, we are currently seeking to establish subsidiaries overseas so as to increase the multifaceted advantages of an international presence and to take advantage of the unique resources and talents of Catholics who participate in our effort from throughout the Catholic world.
As a Montana Corporation directed by Catholics with deeply held religious beliefs we hope to provide unique solutions with an extremely high ethical rigor, in an age which sees increasingly religion as a security problem not a solution. We are formed as a private military corporation, for profit, so that we might be capable in US law to apply for government defense contracts, fund the security and military needs of lawful Christian initiatives overseas and train and prepare volunteers who wish to serve with us on overseas missions. We are committed to being a corporation led by and employing principally US Military Veterans who see and wish to serve Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace. In this way, we hope to offer veterans an utterly unique way to put their skills and experience to work defending their innocent and helpless brothers in Christ the world over.
The information related by Mr. Zmirak here in this video raises serious questions about the Renunciation of Pope Benedict, as regards coercion prior to the act
Chinese Intelligence Involvement?
I say this not only on account of what Mr. Zimrak says, but on account of what I know that he does not know. Because, I have it from one of the business men who dined one evening in Shanghai with Cardinal Papalardo, of Palermo (may he rest in peace), heard from his own mouth that the Cardinal was convinced the health of Pope Benedict was so poor that he would die within a year. The news of this comment spread, and the MSM put out stories on Feb. 12, 2012, that there was a plot to assassinate Pope Benedict if he refused to resign within a year.
My question is, now that we know from Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong, that the Vatican Accord signed by Parolin was substantially the agreement of capitulation which Peking demanded Pope Benedict XVI to sign, though he refused: should we not consider it possible that Peking subborned Vatican representatives or connived with McCarrick to bribe Vatican officials (maybe even Gänswein?) to make the resignation happen?
After all, when the Italian businessmen joined the Cardinal in Shanghai for dinner in 2011, they were surprised to find him in China, and he said he was on official Vatican Business.
I find that hard to believe, because one of my sources who was the personal secretary of not a few Bishops in Italy, told me that Pope Benedict XVI sacked Cardinal Papalardo from the Congregation of Bishops because he was selling episcopal nominations for 100 thousand euros a pop! Once sacked, he bore a strong animus against Benedict til his dying days, it is said. And that means it might not have been an unintentional rumor, it might have been a carefully crafty psyop against Benedict by Chinese Intelligence, who somehow got Papalardo to cooperate.
So I think there is more than solid reasons to consider it possible that Pope Benedict XVI was not only urged out of power by the Obama Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, but also with the urging and perhaps financing of the Marxist government of China.
Is the Vatican still laundering money for the CIA?
Key to the Renunciation is the discrepancy of why Cardinal Bertone called Mr. Gotti to his offices on Feb. 7, 2013 to promise his reinstatement in his duties as financial officer at the Vatican — he was dismissed without Pope Benedict’s knowledge, said Bertone, and Benedict only learned of it while watching TV! — and just 4 days later Benedict decides to resign?
According to Gänswein, Benedict prepared for his resignation over many months. Yet the Latin text has more than 40 errors in the Latin and several canonical errors! And Vatican TV was not even notified to turn their cameras on to catch it all?
It does not add up.
I think another line of investigation regards what Gotti might have possibly discovered if reinstated. And I think it has to do with slush funds in the Vatican Bank used by foreign Intelligence Agencies to bribe foreign officials, including Vatican officials.
I base this observation on a very detailed report published in the USA on how Pope John Paul II cooperated with the CIA to fund the Solidarity Movement in Poland, which brought down the Communist Government there. The report said that the money was laundered through the Vatican Bank. Did accounts like this remain operative after 1988? And if so, for what purposes?
The internecine battle in September between the Vatican Financial Oversight authority and the Secretary of State’s foreign investments in London, through a Swiss Bank and a financier in Luxembourg may have to do with the same slush funds, because almost immediately the Italian press published information showing that the current Prime Minster of Italy was paid money, ostensibly as a salary, about the time he was chosen as Prime Minister, out of a life of political obscurity. Since that time, Conte has run Italy strictly for the political agendas of France and Germany. While at the same time the Bergoglian Regime has forcefully defended the antics of one ship in the Mediterranean Sea which imports illegals, which the European Press has unmasked as financed by Cardinal Marx and perhaps even German Intelligence.
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Following in the footsteps of the brave Catholics of old, who forsook family, home and nation to go overseas to the rescue of Christians being persecuted for their faith, we have begun this security and defense initiative of Catholics for Christians who are being persecuted, where their defense and security requires humanitarian aid and security solutions which only a private military corporation could lawfully provide.
Lou,
You got the legal presumption wrong.
A renunciation is presumed invalid unless it clearly renounces that which it is supposed to renounce.
Just like a last testament is invalid, unless it clearly says it is leaving something to someone.
For those who know Bellarmine, a doubtful pope is not a pope, it is the application of the same legal concept of interpretation to the opposite circumstances.
All this has to do with the concept of Cessation of power. In law, the cessation of power is not presumed. Thus, the cessation of right is not presumed. Contrariwise, in the election of a man to the papacy, we have the right and the Church is bound by law, not to regard it valid unless it meets all the necessary requirements of validity and or legitimacy.
Thus, a doubtfully resigned pope is still pope.
So, since I have corrected an Italian American in the USA, I guess there is no harm correcting an Italian at Rome, who spent years in Brazil.
So Dr. De Mattei, if I can be so bold — and I will be — though it is contrary to what a Franciscan should so in normal circumstances — but now is not normal. Since the Rule of Saint Francis obliges us to hold fast to Roman Pontiffs canonically elected, I would point out to you by a personal note, that THE INVALIDITY OF THE RENUNCIATION MADE BY POPE BENEDICT
DOES
NOT
NEED
TO
BE
PROVEN!
It does not need to be proven, because according to ius testimentarie, that is the genus of right which regards testaments, THE INVALIDLY IS PRESUMED unless it is proven otherwise by a clear and certain statement!
For the Record, Mr. Verrecchio holds that the Renunciation is invalid, as a conclusion. Dr. de Mattei holds that it is valid as a presumption. Each is a different error, and Verrecchio is a better thinker, in my judgement. But until everyone gets the legal principle right, the problem wont be solved.
As I replied again to Louie, in the same post,
Dear Mr. Verrechio,
I did read your comment, you said that you conclude that the resignation is invalid until proven otherwise.
I said, the legal presumption is that a resignation is invalid until proven otherwise.
The point seems to be a fine one, but it is not. A presumption of law is a principle, not a conclusion. It does not exist under certain circumstances and in certain minds or as derived from certain beliefs or not. It exists a priori to all of these on account of the very nature of the legal act.
You do not have to prove it (the invalidity). You do have to accept it (the legal principle), to be a sane rational person…
I could have more easily commented on Dr. de Mattei’s piece by simply saying:
THE INVALIDITY OF THE RESIGNATION HAS BEEN PROVEN!
13 MONTHS AGO!
If you would only read sources which are found outside of the clique of approved outlets you read! >>
VERICATHOLICI.WORDPRESS.COM
And you do not need to take me at my word. Ask any attorney-at-law who practices Estate Law or simply peruse my notes from my meetings with 2 top Canon Lawyers at Rome:
_________
* Just a short note on what happens to a pope who validly resigns. If he was a Cardinal beforehand, he returns to being a Cardinal. This is shown by the statement drawn up by Pope Pius XII in the case of an invasion of the Vatican by Axis forces during World War II. In the case of Pope Celestine V, he returned to being a hermit, because that is what he was before he was the Pope, though he remained a bishop, having been consecrated such after his election (Not all popes were consecrated Bishops). Unless of course, before one resigns, he makes other dispositions, as certainly is within his power to do so. Thus, Pope Benedict, if he really wanted ever to resign validly, could have first established the canonical status he would adopt after resignation, declare his resignation would take place on a certain date, resign on that date, and then assume that status which as Pope he had granted himself as the man who would be soon NOT the pope.
THIS ARTICLE has been published simultaneously in Italian at ChiesaRomna.Info
CREDITS: The featured image is by the author of this article.
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