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• VATICAN II AT SIXTY

300 Years of Masonic Infiltration

 David L. Gray December 29, 2022 0 Comments

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There was such a dramatic change in the social and theological dispositions towards Freemasonry amongst many European, Argentinian, and North American Catholics immediately following the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, that, at minimum, should have provoked a reasonable and rational concern amongst the faithful.

Some have argued that this divergence from the traditional teaching about Freemasonry was just the fruit of an infiltration of Freemasons that began with the Carbonari’s 1859 Alta Vendita plot. However, this analysis is too simplistic.

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The Carbonari was an Italian political sect, whose membership was not exclusively composed of Freemasons. It was not a Masonic sect (i.e., beholden as an affiliate or appendant to the Grand Lodge). The fact the Catholic Church has never treated the Carbonari as a Masonic sect, but as a distinct secret society that plots against the Church, is affirmed by Pope Pius VII in his 1821 Ecclesiam a Jesu, and by Pope Leo XIII in his 1826 Quo Gaviora.

This is not the say that there have not been initiated Freemasons throughout the clergy, for that has certainly been true in the past and in the present. Rather, it is to say we can do better in analyzing and verifying those movements inside the Catholic Church which made it more friendly with Freemasons and more sympathetic toward some sects of Freemasonry. This first article will discuss some of the Masonic influences before Vatican II, stretching back some three hundred years. In the next article we will treat more specifically the claim of some to place the blame of infiltration solely on the plot of the Alta Vendita.

Vatican II Red Flags

Truly, smoke signals should have gone up in 1967 when the Scandinavian Bishop’s Conference (consisting of the countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland), following a four-year study into Freemasonry in their dioceses, decided to permit Catholics in their dioceses to retain their Masonic membership, “but only with the specific permission of that person’s bishop.”[1] This deference to the local ordinary on a matter, heretofore, considered to be immutable, was the Scandinavian’s Bishops interpretation of Paul VI’s Apostolic Letter Moto Proprio, De Episcoporum Muneribus, which, itself is an interpretative reading of para. 27 of Lumen Gentium, gave bishops more authority to be the final arbiters of Canon Law.

Truly, alarm bells should have gone off on March 16, 1968, The Tablet (a progressive Catholic international weekly review published in London) reported in their ‘The Church in the World’ news and noted section:

Go-ahead for Catholic Masons: Vatican sources have recently been quoted as saying that Catholics are now free to join the Masons in the United States, Britain and most other countries of the world. However, the European Grand Orient Lodge of Masons, established primarily in Italy and France, is still considered anti-Catholic or, at least, atheistic.

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Later that year, The Tablet would also take an Editorial stance in opposition to Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae vitae.

Truly, visible panic should have ensued on July 19, 1974, when Cardinal Franjo Seper, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote a letter, which was supposedly intended to be private correspondence, to Cardinal John Krol, the Archbishop of Philadelphia at the time, supporting the Scandinavian interpretation of De Episcoporum Muneribus concerning Canon Law No. 2335 (prohibiting membership into societies that plot against the Catholic Church), stating,

Many Bishops have asked this Sacred Congregation about the extent and interpretation of Canon 2335 of the Code of Canon Law which prohibits Catholics, under pain of excommunication, to join masonic associations, or similar associations… Taking particular cases into consideration, it is essential to remember that the penal law has to be interpreted in a restrictive sense. For this reason, one can certainly point out, and follow, the opinion of those writers who maintain that Canon 2335 affects only those Catholics who are members of associations which indeed conspire against the Church.

It was almost hilarious that men who were plotting against the Catholic Church themselves were then putting themselves in a position to tell us which sects of Freemasons were not plotting against the Catholic Church. But this was something that went back centuries.

Pre-Vatican II Efforts to Normalize Freemasonry

This scheme to differentiate the Anglo-sects of Freemasonry (those whose charters and warrants originate from the Mother Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, and Scotland) from the Continental-sects of Freemasonry (those whose constitutions and rites are based upon the Grand Orient Lodges of France and Italy) began in 1738, when on the eve of Pope Clement XII issuance of his Apostolic Constitution In Eminenti apostolatus specula (The High Watch) on April 28, 1738. This Pontiff in fact had to endure the efforts of his nephew, Neri Maria Cardinal Corsini, who attempted to prevail upon him that Freemasonry in England was merely an “innocent mirth.”[2]

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Indeed, perhaps Cardinal Neri revealed himself as a Freemason with his choice of those descriptive words, which is, curiously, are the exact instruction given to Freemasons in Article VI of the 1723 Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England (so-called Anderson’s Constitution) concerning how Freemasons ought to behave amongst each other after the official meeting of the lodge has concluded and the brethren are not, yet, gone; “You may enjoy yourself with innocent Mirth . . .”

Pius IX clearly taught in this 1873 Etsi Multa that Church teaching does not distinguish between sects of Freemasonry; “Teach them that these decrees refer not only to Masonic groups in Europe, but also those in America and in other regions of the world.” Nevertheless, Father John E. Burke of the Catholic Board of Negro Mission, reported to the United States Bishops the fact that one of the barriers in place that was preventing more Black Americans from becoming Catholic was that too many of them belonged to forbidden secret societies like the Freemasons. Therefore, he argued, permission should be obtained from the Holy See to allow prospective Black American converts to retain their membership in such societies for the sake of the financial benefits. Burke’s errant finding was that Black secret societies did not present the same threat to Catholics that the White societies did.[3]

The idea of their being a socially acceptable and theologically compatible version of Freemasonry is a myth. All sects of Freemasonry have always been prohibited because they all hold fast to the dogma of indifferentism and the belief that Freemasonry is man’s highest good (see my prior analysis here and here). Yet, to this day, this insane myth, first uttered by Cardinal Neri to Pope Clement XII, continues to be spread throughout the Catholic Church and made amazing strides in the neo-heterodox-praxis of the Catholic faith thanks to the liberal interpretation of para. 27 of Lumen Gentium that birthed De Episcoporum Muneribus in the wake of Vatican II.

World War II and Catholic-Freemasonry Rapprochement

The one thing that Catholics, Freemasons, and Jews had in common about eighty years ago was that each of them were equally hated by Communists and Nazis. From around 1917, until shortly after World War II, many activists in these alignments found that the circumstances of the day sometimes made tolerable bedfellows, despite having ideologically, philosophically, and theologically beliefs that were incompatible with each other.

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The machinations of the Third Reich against the Catholics and Freemasons are too numerous for the purposes of this essay, but it suffices to say that given the state of fallen the Catholic Church in Germany today, Hitler won. The remnant of the Catholic faithful that remains in Germany today is struggling mightily against the normalcy of the demonic spirit of homosexuality, while the remnant of the Anglo-sect of Freemasonry in Germany today is struggling mightily against the normalcy of female and co-gender lodges.

The plots of the Third Reich against the Catholic Church and Freemasonry both began the same way – a lie was spread by writing it down in a book. Against Catholicism, Alfred Rosenberg wrote his 1930 The Myth of the Twentieth Century, which among many other things posited that Catholic was Judaized and a spiritual swindle. In 1937, Adolph Hitler awarded Rosenberg the inaugural ‘State Prize for Art and Science’ for this book.Against the Freemasons, General Erich von Ludendorff, wrote his 1931 The Destruction of Freemasonry through the Disclosure of its Secrets, which among many other things posited that Freemasonry was Judaized – its rituals were of Jewish origin, Freemasons were agents of the Jews, when Freemasons talked about ‘brothers in the society’ they were referring to the Jews, and Freemasons wear aprons to cover up the fact that they are circumcised.[4]

From August 19, 1944, until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on August 25, 1944, many Catholics and Continental-sect Freemasons found themselves fighting side by side. People such as Freemason resistance leader Marc Rucart and Catholic resistance leader Henri Frenay, who would secretly meet after the battle, found much to agree on. Here, Godwin notes,

After the victory, the General Council of the Grand Orient wrote to General de Gaulle as they had written to Pétain in August 1940. They expressed their ‘profound admiration’ for de Gaulle’s actions ‘which have permitted France to recover her ideal of liberty’ and praised him for abolishing the illegal anti-masonic laws of Vichy. De Gaulle disliked Freemasons as much as other French generals did; like Pétain in 1940, he did not reply to the Grand Orient’s letter.[5]

It would not be long after the Second Vatican Council that hostilities of the Grand Orient Grand Lodges against the Catholic Church would resume; most notably through Propaganda Due (P2 Lodge) of the Grand Orient Italy, but for now, it was agreed that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Such a notion  of working together and meeting in secret was so far removed from the teachings Pope Clement XII in his 1732 papal bull In Eminenti apostolatus specula which taught us that not only can we not become Freemasons under any circumstances and under the pain of excommunication, but that we also cannot

receive them in their houses or dwellings or to hide them, be present with them, give power or permission for them to meet elsewhere, to help them in any way, give them in any way advice, encouragement or support either openly or in secret, directly or indirectly, on their own or through others; nor are they to urge others or tell them, or to be present or to assist them in any way . . .

The Liberal Years of Pius IX

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The idea that Catholics would be friends with Freemasons was not just a wartime sentiment but was an idea birthed by Pope Pius IX himself during his liberal years. In 1854, Pius IX donated a stone block of marble from the Temple of Concord in Rome to be used in the construction of the interior wall of George Washington’s Monument in Washington, D.C. The grave problem with the stone donation is that the Washington Monument is a Masonic edifice, whose ceremonial cornerstone was laid by Freemasons during their dedication ritual. Had not nine men from the Anti-Masonic Party stole that stone on the night of March 6, 1854, the Catholic Church would never have been able to shake the stain of that extended and accepted hand of friendship.

The number of prominent Catholics who ignored Church teaching and became more than friends, but brother Freemasons are also too extensive to list there, but they range from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Joseph Hayden, father of the symphony, to Edward Jenner, father of vaccinology, whom Pope Pius VII knighted as Chevalier of the Golden Spur, although he knew that Jenner was a Freemason.[6]

Conclusion: Infiltration?

I sympathize with Catholics who would like to explain all this away with the myth of some grand infiltration of some nefarious group. Such a Machiavellian scheme certain sounds sensational and it gives us an enemy to wag our victim finger at, but what is much closer to being the full truth, and most clearly verifiable, is that we Catholics have had a nearly 300 year history of giving allowances, brokering compromises, and deviating from the dogmatic teaching against Freemasonry. This is not to say that we have not had enemies from without who made their way within. Bella Dodd has woven together convincing proof and the evidence of a deep-state homosexual network today in the Catholic Church is undeniable.

On the contrary, the goal of this essay is merely to present the fact that the most penetrating infiltration of the Catholic Church did not come by the way of an organization, but an idea. The idea was that we faithful Catholics could be friends with the world and with those who want to destroy us. In this case, that idea did not begin at the Second Vatican Council. But that Council also did not resist the demonic spread of that lie. Quite the contrary.

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[1] “The Church in the World,” The Tablet, (March 30, 1968). 25 <Retrieved 9/12/2019>.

[2] Matthew Scanlan, “The Pope and the Spy,” Freemasonry Today (Issue 25, Summer 2003). “In a letter written in the wake of the bull, the Cardinal emphasizes that he found that Freemasonry in England was nothing more than an ‘innocent mirth/amusement,’ but that in Florence it had degenerated into a ‘school of atheism’ and clearly identified Stosch as the man responsible for such degeneration.” Baron Philip von Stosch was the trusted agent of King George II and worked as a spy paid by Holland. In 1720 he was sent by Britain to Rome to spy on the James Stuart of the exiled House of Stuart, and would eventually make his headquarters in Florence, Italy.

[3] Cyprian Davis, The History of Black Catholics in the United States (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1990), 195.

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[4] Ludendorff, Vernichtung der Freimaurerei durch Enthüllung ihrer Geheimnisse, 6, 14, 76.

[5] Jasper Godwin Ridley, The Freemasons: A History of the World’s Most Powerful Secret Society(Arcade), 219-220.

[6] Ibid., 241.

David L. Gray

David L. Gray is a 2006 convert to the Catholic Church from agnosticism and Freemasonry. He earned his Master of Arts Degree in Theology from Ohio Dominican University, and today is the President and Publisher of Saint Dominic’s Media. He is writing at OnePeterFive on the topic of the Catholic Church’s prohibition against Freemasonry and its Appendant Masonic Bodies; drawing from his book, The Catholic Catechism on Freemasonry. Learn more about him and his work at https://www.davidlgray.info/

Texas Governor Abbott Responds to President Biden’s Criticism of Bussing Migrants on Christmas Eve

 Mike Vance

 December 28, 2022

  News

After the White House spoke out against the busing of migrants to D.C. on Christmas Eve, calling it a “dangerous and shameful stunt,” Governor Abbott of Texas has fired back with a response.

Abbott’s spokesperson, Renae Eze, accused President Biden of being the “Hypocrite-in-Chief,” citing his criticism of Texas while allegedly “flying planeloads of migrants across the country and oftentimes in the cover of night.”

According to a statement given to Fox News Digital, Eze stated that “these migrants willingly chose to go to Washington, D.C., having signed a voluntary consent waiver available in multiple languages upon boarding that they agreed on the destination.”

“And they were processed and released by the federal government, who are dumping them at historic levels in Texas border towns like El Paso, which recently declared a state of emergency because of the Biden-made crisis.”

On Christmas Eve, three buses carrying migrants were dropped off in Washington D.C., with at least one of the buses leaving its passengers near the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Several Democrats across the country harshly criticized Abbott for the transportation of the migrants, with White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan calling it a “cruel, dangerous and shameful stunt.”

“Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below-freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any Federal or local authorities,” Hasan said in a statement earlier this week.

“As we have repeatedly said, we are willing to work with anyone – Republican or Democrat alike – on real solutions, like the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures President Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office, but these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger.”

When asked for a comment about the latest statement from Abbott’s office, the White House did not provide a response on Tuesday.

Since April, Texas has transported over 8,700 migrants to Washington D.C., in addition to 4,500 migrants to New York City, 1,500 migrants to Chicago, and 520 migrants to Philadelphia.

According to Texas Governor Abbott, the decision to transport migrants was made in order to alleviate the burden on border communities that were facing a crisis, and to draw attention to the situation. There were a record 2.3 million migrant encounters in the fiscal year 2022.

Frank Pavone Humbled by Outpouring of Support From Pro-Life People

National  |  Leslie Palma  |   Dec 27, 2022   |   12:10PM   |  Washington, DC

Pro-life Leader Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, issued the following statement today:

“To say that the expressions of total support from around the world for me and my work have been ‘over the top’ with enthusiastic encouragement would be an understatement. Thank you for that.

“I am an open book. I post videos summarizing what I do each day from morning to night. And the history of my relationship with the hierarchy is a public matter, with detailed documentation. And as I said the other day in a special video message, I am and will always be a son of the Church, following her directives.

“My ministry team and I are keeping our eyes on the prize, moving forward together in our work of saving lives, healing the wounds of abortion, helping those who have had abortions to share their stories, advocating for pro-life laws, organizing rallies, holding prayer campaigns, electing pro-life candidates, working with the Holy See in the international arena, preparing to lead various events in conjunction with the March for Life and Walk for Life (including leading the National Prayer Service), preparing to bring national pro-life leaders together in February for another, national strategy summit, our 2023 plan of state-by-state action, and much more.

“As we continue the mission full force, I will also continue answering the questions people have about what the Vatican has done. I will conduct live Q and A sessions regularly about this situation, and, of course, will continue with our educational and pastoral programming on abortion and the pro-life movement.

Please follow LifeNews.com on Gab for the latest pro-life news and info, free from social media censorship.

“We do all of this in a positive spirit, and ask everyone to join us in that spirit as well. In particular, I think of Pope Francis encouragement to “accompaniment” – in other words, come alongside one another, with an open mind, a listening ear, a heart filled with good will.

“Some have written articles pretending to know what happened, and even pretending to read my mind, heart, and motives, as if they, rather than I, have lived through this every day for the last 21 years. God bless them, but they’re just making fools of themselves.

“These words of Pope Francis express the spirit in which I invite people to approach me and my work:

“The invitation to “come and see”, which was part of those first moving encounters of Jesus with the disciples, is also the method for all authentic human communication. In order to tell the truth of life that becomes history, it is necessary to move beyond the complacent attitude that we “already know” certain things. Instead, we need to go and see them for ourselves, to spend time with people, to listen to their stories and to confront reality, which always in some way surprises us” (Jan. 23, 2021, Message for the 2021 World Communications Day)

“This action was taken by Pope Francis. Let’s follow his guidance on how to react to it.”

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What Will the FBI Not Do?

By: Victor Davis Hanson

December 26, 2022

The FBI on Wednesday finally broke its silence and responded to the revelations on Twitter of close ties between the bureau and the social media giant—ties that included efforts to suppress information and censor political speech.

“The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding, and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries,” the bureau said in a statement. “As evidenced in the correspondence, the FBI provides critical information to the private sector to allow them to protect themselves and their customers. The men and women of the FBI work every day to protect the American public. Unfortunately, conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”

Almost all of the FBI communique is untrue, except the phrase about the bureau’s “engagements which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries.”

Future disclosures will no doubt reveal similar FBI subcontracting with other social media concerns of Silicon Valley to stifle free expression and news deemed problematic to the FBI’s agenda.

The FBI did not merely engage in “correspondence” with Twitter to protect the company and its “customers.” Instead, it effectively hired Twitter to suppress the free expression of some of its users, as well as news stories deemed unhelpful to the Biden campaign and administration—to the degree that the bureau’s requests sometimes even exceeded those of Twitter’s own left-wing censors.

The FBI did not wish to help Twitter “to protect themselves [sic],” given the bureau’s Twitter liaisons were often surprised at the FBI’s bold requests to suppress the expression of those who had not violated Twitter’s own admittedly biased “terms of service” and “community standards.”

The FBI and its helpers on the Left now reboot the same boilerplate about “conspiracy theorists” and“misinformation” smears used against anyone who rejected the FBI-fed Russian collusion hoax and the bureau’s peddling of the “Russian disinformation” lie to suppress accurate pre-election news about the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop.

The FBI is now, tragically, in freefall. The public is at the point, first, of asking what improper or illegal behavior will the bureau not pursue, and what, if anything, must be done to reform or save a once great but now discredited agency.

Consider the last four directors, the public faces of the FBI for the last 22 years. Ex-director Robert Mueller testified before Congress that he simply would not or could not talk about the fraudulent Steele dossier. He claimed that it was not the catalyst for his special counsel investigation of Donald Trump’s alleged ties with the Russians when, of course, it was.

Mueller also testified that he was “not familiar” with Fusion GPS, although Glenn Simpson’s opposition research firm subsidized the dossier through various cutouts that led back to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. And the skullduggery in the FBI-subsidized dossier helped force the appointment of Mueller himself.

While under congressional oath, Mueller’s successor James Comey on some 245 occasions claimed that he “could not remember,” “could not recall,” or “did not know” when asked simple questions fundamental to his involvement with the Russian collusion hoax.

Comey, remember, memorialized a confidential conversation with President Trump on an FBI device and then used a third party to leak it to the New York Times. In his own words, the purpose was to force a special counsel appointment. The gambit worked, and his friend and predecessor Robert Mueller got the job. Twenty months and $40 million later, Mueller’s investigation tore the country apart but could find no evidence that Trump, as Steele alleged, colluded with the Russians to throw the 2016 election.

Comey also seems to have reassured the president that he was not the target of an ongoing FBI investigation, when in fact, Trump was.

Comey was never indicted for either misleading or lying to a congressional committee or leaking a document variously considered either confidential or classified.

While under oath, his interim successor, Andrew McCabe, on several occasions flat-out lied to federal investigators. Or as the office of the inspector general put it:

As detailed in this report, the OIG found that then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lacked candor, including under oath, on multiple occasions in connection with describing his role in connection with a disclosure to the WSJ and that this conduct violated FBI Offense Codes 2.5 and 2.6. The OIG also concluded that McCabe’s disclosure of the existence of an ongoing investigation in the manner described in this report violated the FBI’s and the Department’s media policy and constituted misconduct.

McCabe purportedly believed Trump was working with the Russians as a veritable spy—a false accusation based entirely on the FBI’s paid, incoherent prevaricator Christopher Steele. And so, McCabe discussed with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein methods to have the president’s conversations wiretapped via a Rosenstein-worn stealthy recording device, presumably without a warrant.

Note the FBI ruined the lives of General Michael Flynn and Carter Page with false allegations of criminal conduct or untruthful testimonies. Under current director Christopher Wray, the FBI has surveilled parents at school boards meetings—on the prompt of the National School Boards Association, whose president wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland alleging that bothersome parents upset over critical race indoctrination groups were supposedly violence-prone and veritable terrorists.

Under Wray, the FBI staged the psychodramatic Mar-a-Lago raid on an ex-president’s home. The FBI likely leaked the post facto myths that the seized documents contained “nuclear codes” or “nuclear secrets.”

Under Wray, the FBI perfected the performance-art, humiliating public arrests of former White House officials or Biden Administration opponents, whether it was the nocturnal rousting of Project Veritas muckraker James O’Keefe in his underwear or the arrest—with leg restraints—of former White House advisor Peter Navarro at Reagan National Airport for misdemeanor contempt of Congress charge or the detention of Trump election lawyer John Eastman at a restaurant with his family and the confiscation of his phone. Neither O’Keefe nor Eastman has yet been charged with any serious crimes.

The FBI arguably interfered in two presidential elections, and a presidential transition, and possibly determinatively so. In 2016, James Comey announced that his investigation had found that Hillary Clinton had improperly if not illegally used her private email server to conduct official State Department business, some of it confidential and classified, and likely intercepted by foreign governments. All that was a clear violation of federal statutes. Comey next, quite improperly as a combined FBI investigator and a de facto federal prosecutor, deduced that such violations did not merit prosecution.

Around the same time, the FBI had hired as a source the foreign national and political opposition hitman Christopher Steele. It helped Steele to spread among the media his fraudulent dossier and used its unverified and false contents to win FISA warrants against U.S. citizens on the bogus charges of colluding with the Russians to throw the election to Donald Trump. By the FBI’s admission, it would not have obtained warrants to surveil Trump campaign associates without the use of Steele’s dossier, which it also admittedly either knew was a fraud or could not corroborate.

Again, such allegations in the dossier were false and, apparently, the FBI soon knew they were bogus since one of its own lawyers—the now-convicted felon Kevin Clinesmith—found it necessary also to alter a court-submitted document to feign incriminatory information.

The FBI, on the prompt of lame-duck members of the Obama Justice Department, during a presidential transition, set up an entrapment ambush of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. It was an effort to lure Flynn into admitting to a violation of the Logan Act, a 223-year-old law that has led to only two indictments and zero convictions.

During the 2020 election, the FBI suppressed knowledge of its possession of Hunter Biden’s laptop. Early on, the bureau knew that the computer and its contents were authentic and yet kept its contents suppressed.

Moreover, the FBI sought to contract out Twitter (at roughly $3.5 million) as a veritable subsidiarity to suppress social media traffic about the laptop and speech the bureau deemed improper.

Again, although the FBI knew the laptop in its possession was likely genuine, it still sought to use Twitter employees to suppress pre-election mention of that reality. At the same time, bureau officials remained mum when 51 former “intelligence officials” misled the country by claiming that the laptop had all the hallmarks of “Russian disinformation.” Polls later revealed that had the public known the truth about the laptop, a significant number likely would have voted differently—perhaps enough to change the outcome of the election.

The media, Twitter, Facebook, and former intelligence operatives were all following the FBI’s preliminary warning bulletin that “Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Results”—even as the bureau knew the laptop in its possession was most certainly not Russian disinformation. And, of course, the FBI had helped spread the Russian collusion hoax in 2016.

In addition, the FBI-issued phones of agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page, along with members of Robert Mueller’s special counsel “dream team”—all under subpoena—had their data mysteriously wiped clean, purportedly “by accident.”

Apparently, the paramours Strzok and Page, in particular, had much more to hide, given how earlier they had frequently expressed their venom toward candidate Donald Trump. Strzok boasted to Page that the FBI in general, and Andrew McCabe in particular, had an “insurance policy”means of denying Trump the presidency:

I want to believe the path you threw out in Andy’s office—that there’s no way he gets elected—but I’m afraid we can’t take the risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.

When some of their embarrassing texts emerged, both were dismissed by the special counsel. But Mueller carefully did so by staggering Strozk and Pages’ departures, and not immediately releasing the reasons for their firings or reassignments.

To this day, the public has no idea what the FBI was doing on January 6, how many FBI informants and agents were among the rioters, and to what degree they knew in advance of the protests. The New York Times reporter most acquainted with the January 6 riot, Matthew Rosenberg, dismissed the buffoonish violence as “no big deal” and scoffed, “They were making this an organized thing that it wasn’t.”

“There were a ton of FBI informants among the people who attacked the Capitol,”  Rosenberg noted. We have never been told anything about that “ton”—a topic of zero interest to the January 6 select committee.

What are the people to do about a federal law enforcement agency whose directors either repeatedly lie under oath, mislead, or do not cooperate with congressional overseers? What should we do with a bureau that alters court documents, deceives the court with information the FBI had good reason to know was false, and leaks records of confidential presidential conversations to the media to prompt the appointment of a special prosecutor? What should be done with a government agency that pays social media corporations to warp the dissemination of the news and suppress free expression and communications? Or an agency that hires a foreign national to gather dirt on a presidential candidate and plots to ensure that there is “no way” a presidential candidate “gets elected” and destroys subpoenaed evidence?

What, if anything, should the people do about a once-respected law enforcement agency that repeatedly smears its critics, most recently as “conspiracy theorists”?

The current FBI leadership under Christopher Wray, in the tradition of recent FBI directors, has stonewalled congressional overseers about FBI activity during the Trump and Biden administrations. In “Après moi, le déluge” fashion, the bureau acts as if it assumes the next Republican administration in office will remove the current hierarchy. And thus, it assumes, for now, not cooperating with Republican investigations while Democrats hold control of the Senate and White House for a brief while longer ensures exemption.

Wray, most recently, cut short his Senate testimony on the pretext of an unspecified engagement, which turned out to be flying out on the FBI Gulfstream jet to his vacation home.

Yet the bureau’s lack of candor, contrition, and cooperation has only further alienated the public, especially traditional and conservative America, characteristically the chief source of support for the FBI.

There have been all sorts of remedies proposed for the bureau.

The three reforms most commonly suggested include: 

1) simply dissolve the FBI in the belief that its concentration of power in Washington has become uncontrollable and is increasingly put to partisan service, including but not limited to the warping of U.S. presidential elections; 

2) move the FBI headquarters out of the Washington D.C. nexus, preferably in the age of Zoom to a more convenient and central location in the United States, perhaps an urban site such as Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, or Oklahoma City; or 

3) break up and decentralize the FBI and redistribute its various divisions to different departments to ensure that the power of its $11 billion budget and 35,000 employees are no longer aggregated and put in service of particular political agendas.

The next two years are dangerous times for the FBI—and the country. The House will soon likely begin investigations of the agency’s improper behavior. Yet, simultaneously, the Biden Justice Department will escalate its use of the bureau as a partisan investigative service for political purposes.

The FBI’s former embattled, high-ranking administrators who have been fired or forced to leave the agency—Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Peter Strzok, James Baker, Lisa Page, and others—will continue to appear on the cable news stations and social media to inveigh against critics of the FBI, despite being all deeply involved in the Russia-collusion hoax.

Merrick Garland will continue to order the FBI to hound perceived enemies through surveillance and performance art arrests. And the people will only grow more convinced the bureau has become Stasi-like and cannot be reformed but must be broken up—even as in extremis a defiant and unapologetic FBI will, as its latest communique shows, attack its critics.

We are left with the dilemma of Quis custodiet Ipsos custodes. Who watches the watchers?

OPINION

A Letter to Father Pavone

Your case has provoked much commentary from many points of view. I can only say I sympathize with you.

• Msgr. Richard C. Antall

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I still call you “Father” because I believe the sacrament of Holy Orders gives an irrevocable, indelible character to your soul. You are a priest “forever, according to the order of Melchizedek,” as the words written in Latin on a stained-glass window in my seminary chapel said. 

I remember one of the good sisters in my Catholic grade school talking about a priest who had hung up his cassock being able to administer the sacrament of Penance to a dying man he encountered in an accident. Indeed, one of the most famous Catholic novels, The Diary of a Country Priest, by Georges Bernanos, has a dying priest who confesses to a classmate who has left the ministry. 

Your case has provoked much commentary from many points of view. I can only say I sympathize with you. It may be prejudice, but I have come to be skeptical of purported commitment to “due process” in the ecclesiastical bureaucracy. 

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Sign up to get Crisis articles delivered to your inbox dailySUBSCRIBEYour case has provoked much commentary from many points of view. I can only say I sympathize with you. It may be prejudice, but I have come to be skeptical of purported commitment to “due process” in the ecclesiastical bureaucracy. Tweet This

I wonder at your “laicization,” not only because it conflicts with sacramental theology but also because canonical-administrative decisions may not be appealable here on earth; but pure justice certainly resides in heaven alone. Think of St. Mary MacKillop, the Australian nun who was excommunicated by her bishop but eventually was canonized. Even Padre Pio had to navigate censure and all sorts of penalties on his own path to the altars. 

I do not know you and am not making you a saint. For what it is worth, I am just saying that I do not accept at face value what seem to me to be partial and not very clear declarations that have come from authority about your “case.” You have stated that your “blasphemous” remarks involved using a word that George Bernard Shaw has St. Joan call the English soldiers because they were always cursing the French. Catholic high schools put that play on, I am sure. 

I think the other colorful tweets cannot justify what some have called the “nuclear option” of laicization because a pastor who was a former Navy chaplain (RIP) would have been laicized several times a week if the chancery were counting what I call strong language that has nothing to do with blasphemy. 

I understand your thinking that the real issue was your outspoken and prophetic opposition to the horrendous sin of abortion. It is obvious that many opinion makers in the Church, and their bishop-hostages, are more worried about how things will play out on CNN or in the pages of The New York Times than God’s truth. 

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What some radical Catholic writers like Leon Bloy and Bernanos meant by the term bien-pensant would apply to some middle-class Catholics in America who are much more middle class than Catholics. Radical statements rock the boat, and you were unfortunately exceptionally good at a religious form of épater les bourgeois—upsetting the self-righteous and complacent who don’t want their religion to get in the way of their careers or their social relationships.  

A Catholic journalist told me that he could not “get over” when you had the body of an aborted fetus in an altar-like setting. I told him even though I was uncomfortable with the image, the fact of the abortion is much more repugnant than trying to make people face its ugliness. No doubt they would like to edit out the extreme language of St. Paul’s suggestion to the Galatians about those advocating circumcision (Galatians 5:12). Life is too messy for some people, and they take their revenge on those who keep reminding them of that. 

I am praying for you and would like to remind you of a few other cases of dissident priests punished by their higher-ups. Fr. Leonard Feeney, S.J., a chaplain at Harvard University at one point, was a media priest in his time—like the ubiquitous James Martin—and many of his poems were included in reading books used in Catholic schools back in the day. He ended up with an extreme interpretation of the extra Ecclesiam nulla salus that excluded even baptism of desire. The Vatican excommunicated him, which is much worse than your case, but he was clearly involved in a doctrinal matter. Post excommunication, he formed a religious community but eventually was restored to communion with the Church twenty years after the break. 

The other figure I think of is Fr. Charles Coughlin. Like you, he was close to some controversial political leaders and perhaps had even more of a public profile than you. His magazine Social Justice—a term he borrowed from Mussolini—was wide-ranging in its teaching and preaching about social issues. That included, before he was silenced, his criticism of the Roosevelt administration and its conduct in the Second World War. Coughlin’s isolationism had become increasingly anti-Semitic, and he had many enemies in Washington, chief among them the president, who wanted him prosecuted for sedition.  

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This led to a Grand Jury investigation. Eventually, Church and State worked together to silence Coughlin, who continued his ministry at the famous Shrine of the Little Flower as “The Ghost of Royal Oak” in the words of one biographer. Eventually, he was forced into early retirement by his bishop, but he never received suspension of his faculties, despite the FBI investigations (sound familiar?) and international pressure. 

Both these cases were of men who did much more to upset the hierarchy and the powers that be than you did, one with what sounded like heresy and the other with partisan political stances outside of pastoral ministry. I see more of a parallel with Daniel Berrigan, S.J., an activist who went to prison because of breaking the law in his protests but was never sanctioned by clerical authority. I suppose he was fortunate to be a Jesuit and not under a diocesan bishop’s authority. Even now, some of his brothers get away with things that make your case scream “injustice!” 

“Life is not fair, and especially in the Church” an old curmudgeon pastor told me.  

It is easier said than done, especially for me, but the first letter of St. Peter should give you strength:  

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.  1 Peter 3:14-18

Finally, Brother, I share your optimism that your canonical status will be restored in the future. Meanwhile, let us pray for each other. 

• Msgr. Richard C. AntallMonsignor Antall is pastor of Holy Name Parish in the Diocese of Cleveland. He is the author of The X-Mass Files (Atmosphere Press, 2021), and The Wedding (Lambing Press, 2019). 

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Victims Are Everywhere December 27, 2022 Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the prevalence of victimhood: They’re everywhere. Everywhere you go there is a victim. It’s more than a pastime—it’s an industry. Racism, in particular, is a big draw. The Astros beat the Phillies this year in the World Series, but the big news, in some circles, was the absence of black baseball players on either team. To be sure, no one claimed that blacks were discriminated against in competing with whites playing professional baseball, probably due to the fact that there is no supporting evidence. Nonetheless, the lack of diversity, many commentators said, was indicative of a racial problem. No one seemed to complain about the lack of Asians playing hockey or whites playing basketball. Nor is anyone complaining about the number of Hispanic jockeys. Perhaps these are oversights. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently said that those who are talking about the crime issue are “playing the [race] card.” Michael Moore once observed that gun owners are basically racists. Some teachers and commentators like to use a whiteboard to make their points. Earlier this year, a community organizer and author from Seattle said, “Whiteboards can be racist.” She also declared that “the study of physics” has racist elements. The wife of newly elected senator John Fetterman, Gisele, said in late October that “swimming in America is very racist.” She did not comment on her husband when, in 2013, he tracked down an unarmed black jogger with his car, stopping him at gunpoint, simply because he heard some gunshots nearby. Last year in Portland, Oregon a newly renamed high school chose an evergreen tree to be its mascot, but the vote had to be delayed because some said that trees were used to lynch blacks and were therefore racist. Some contend that blacks who partake in bird watching may become victims of racism, and that is because white racists do not appreciate black bird watchers. “Systemic racism doesn’t stop at the park gates,” said the author of a book on this subject. Social Psychology Quarterly published a study this year showing that when people adopt dogs, it takes longer for dogs with black names to be adopted than dogs with white names. For example, pit bulls are “a breed that is stereotyped as dangerous and racialized as Black.” Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation, has often commented on the existence of racist highways, and says it is his job to fix it. No progress report has been made. A human rights expert at the U.N. said this fall that unless we first tackle racial injustice, the global climate crisis cannot be solved. Similarly, a few months ago a Penn State meteorologist said that racism was “inexorably” linked to climate change. Also, Mother Jones cited data that “people of color are exposed to 46% more nitrogen dioxide pollution each year than white people.” Blacks do far less homework than whites and Asians, but that apparently is not a factor in their poor test scores. Two years ago an academic journal concluded that higher temperatures account for their performance, citing the lack of air conditioning. The New York Times said this is “the latest evidence that the burdens of climate change fall disproportionately on people of color.” Not all victims are black. In June, pop star Lizzo changed the lyrics of her new song, “Grrrls,” after making what her critics said was an “ableist slur” when she sang, “I’m a spaz.” She said she understands the power of words “as a fat black woman in America.” A study was published at the end of last year showing that the temperature in offices was typically sexist: woman don’t like AC’s being too cold and because it makes them feel uncomfortable. Newsweek.com ran a piece titled, “Office Aircon Is Sexist to Women, Study Finds.” When Taylor Swift steps on her special bathroom scale, it may read “fat.” Her fans said this was an example of “fatphobia.” This same phenomenon, “fatphobia,” made a big splash on TikTok a few weeks ago when a fat woman said, “I’m a fat woman traveling.” She said she has a hard time fitting into an airline seat. This has discouraged fat people from flying, which, she said, was classic “fatphobia.” President Biden agrees. On October 26, he said it was unfair to charge more money for bigger seats because “they hit marginalized Americans the hardest, especially…people of color.” Talking about “people of color,” Yi-Fen Chou learned that his poem was selected for inclusion in the Best American Poetry anthology for the year 2015. He was delighted. However, his real name is Michael Derrick Hudson. Why the name change? When he submitted his poem for publication under his real name, he was rejected by 40 publishers, but when he adopted an Asian name, he struck gold! It seems victimhood has many faces.

Accusations against Father Pavone: analysis

 from the blog of Fr. George David Byers 

I’m guessing that later on Monday, 19 December 2022, or within the next couple of weeks, we’ll see both a *.pdf copy of the letter sent out to all the bishops on – what was it? – Tuesday, 13 December 2022 – stating that Father Frank Pavone was dismissed from the clerical state, and also a *.pdf copy of the surely much more lengthy and explicit proclamation from the Holy See of that same dismissal from the clerical state of Father Frank Pavone. As of this writing, in the wee hours of the morning on 19 December 2022, Father Pavone has not yet been officially contacted and therefore is not yet dismissed from the clerical state. That can change any moment.

Father Pavone himself has alluded to possible accusations at length in the video he did about this communications fiasco hours after it took place on Saturday, 17 December 2022.

1. The aborted baby on the table incident:

Years ago, Father Pavone, with heart-wrenching sadness, placed an aborted baby on a mere table that is sometimes used for Holy Mass, not during Holy Mass, nothing like that. Is it shocking? Yes. That’s the point. Well done. We have to be shocked into reality when we need this. America needs this. How is it that we’re not shocked by dumpsters filled with dead babies but we are shocked when a John the Baptist points this sin out to us, blaming the one reprimanding us for our own sin? Are cowardly, effeminate, Judases offended by the reality of their own politically correct policies that gain them 30 pieces of silver? Sure. They’re caught out by a real priest. Father Frank’s goodness is incriminating of their evil. Father Pavone is not wrong in his pastoral effectiveness. Great work, Father! We are also heart-wrenchingly sad with you.

But is Father Pavone’s theology wrong? No. As Saint Paul and Pope Pius XII in his encyclical letter Mystici Corporis point out, Jesus is the Head of the Mystical Body of Christ and we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. In Mt 25, Jesus, God, tells those going to hell that they are damned because of what they did sinfully to the least of the brethren or what they sinfully failed to do for the least of the brethren, because what they did sinfully or sinfully didn’t do for the least of the brethren they did sinfully or sinfully didn’t do for Him. There are no more “least” of the brethren than babies in the womb. Father Pavone should be entitled doctor of the church, the doctor of life.

2. The “bad-language” incident:

We’re still waiting for the exact wording, but, apparently, Father Pavone’s words were effectively as follows: Biden voters and Biden himself have no love for America and are g*dd***ed losers.

Ooo! Such theological language! The word “God” capitalized or not, is not a bad word. People think that to say the word God is a mortal sin because they are so entitled to their sinfulness that they don’t want God brought up in any context, particularly any context that is condemnatory of their sinfulness. To hurt their feelings, telling them that they are sinners is The Mortal Sin. Pfft. There is nothing more Catholic than to reprimand people and help them get to heaven. 

Also, the word “damn” is a biblical, technical, theological, juridic word. People think it’s a curse word because they don’t want to have their feelings hurt by being told that they are damning themselves, running as fast as they can into hell. Pfft. I’m not worried about hurting people’s feelings. I’d rather help people get to heaven, whatever it takes, and have them thank me in heaven for having taken them deadly seriously.

But what about the intent of Father Pavone? Umm… I think we don’t know anything about anyone’s intent, right? However, I’m going to guess that, actually, Father Pavone’s intent was to warn people of the objective sinfulness in which they are involved, what with their maniacally promoting murder of children as much as they possibly can. That is evil, objectively a mortal sin, which, objectively speaking, is having them risk being tossed directly into hell, damned by God forever. Let’s just say it in the colloquism that we hear so often: They are goddamned, a compound morpheme. But let’s repeat that with greater linguistic clarity, as two words, capitalizing the first: They are God damned. Yep. That’s the reality of it, unless they repent of their ways, turned to God by God Himself.

ENTER THE GREATEST PROPHET

I have written at great length on numerous occasions about insults being hurled against the most corrupt sinners by Jesus and his forerunner, the greatest of all the prophets, and by others in the Sacred Scriptures. These insults of Jesus and John and others have theological and juridic import, such as these sinners being liable to being damned by God to hell forever. But Jesus is God and none of the prophets are God, even if they are the voice for God Himself. Father Pavone is not God. So, let’s use as an example John the Baptist, another non-God. John is not being sinful in this example. He is not blaspheming. He is the voice of the Holy Spirit. I ask people not to blaspheme in saying that the Holy Spirit is sinful. Let’s get into this:

Let’s take a look at Mt 12:34 or 23:33 – γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν – John’s “brood of vipers” insult. Oops! Those are Jesus’ own words. Let’s see, how about Lk 3:7 and Mt 3:7 – γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν – indeed John’s “brood of vipers” insult. What’s that all about? It says that those he is thus insulting are willingly demon possessed blasphemers who will be, get this, they will be damned by God unless they repent. Let’s say it so that we can understand, the greatest of all prophets says that these sinners are God damned. Just like that. Yep.

• Who is brave enough to say that John the Baptist, and Jesus for that matter, are themselves blasphemers for the “brood of vipers” insult and are themselves God damned?
• Who among us is going to say that Jesus should be thrown out of His High Priesthood because He hurls “brood of vipers” insults?
• Who among us is going to say that a priest is to be thrown out of the priesthood for having the charity to reprimand those like ultra-abortion-pusher Joe Biden and his supporters, for there is no greater love than to assist a sinner to get to heaven?
• Who among us is going to be brave enough to say that “We have no King but Caesar”?
• Who among us is going to ask for thirty pieces of silver?

Father Pavone was effectively executed, just like John the Baptist, just like Jesus. As the Master, so the disciple, and blessed is the one who is not scandalized in Jesus.

Dearest Father Pavone, leap and shout for joy! Blessed are you!

• “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.” (Lk 6:22-23)

Now then, Father Pavone took down his comment long ago, and went to Sacramental Confession. Was that because of what he said? I would have reprimanded him if he had come to my confessional to confess the words that he said. His words were not wrong. His words were obligatory. I wish more laity and priests and bishops and popes would use his words. But if it was about not having given enough context for a wider audience, something like that? Yeah, well, maybe we would just put that before God as God sees it. We can always second-guess ourselves.

For instance, as for me, when I go to confession I want to give myself full condemnation to make sure I have made myself available for full forgiveness for that which was a sin or perhaps no sin at all. But I want to go to heaven.

I’m a believer, and I recognize in Father Pavone a believer, a giant amongst believers, a priest of priests, a priest specifically of our High Priest, Jesus Christ, Divine Son of the Immaculate Conception, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Prince of the Most Profound Peace, who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.

Jesus will bring souls to heaven, and Jesus will also say to the damned: You are God damned. And they will wish that they had heeded the super charitable reprimand of Father Frank Pavone whilst they were still upon this earth with all their cowardly, effeminate political correctness, with all their greed and clever lust, with all their screaming their blood curdling murderous screams: “We have no king but Caesar.” When they stand before Jesus, the King so majestic with His wounds still in His hands and feet and side and Heart, they will have nothing to say at all. They will simply run, damned as they are into hell, where the fire is never extinguished, where their writhing never dies.

Thank you, Father Povone, for trying to save them now. You are a great example for all of us, for us priests in particular.

As to whether this is a shot over the bow by the powers that be, ask those powers that be. For myself, I will continue to be a priest of Jesus Christ, Divine Son of the Immaculate Conception. I wasn’t ordained to a priest of political correctness, a priest of the powers that be. I am not scared because of what happened to Father Pavone. Instead, I am encouraged by this fellow priest to stay the course. Crux stat dum volvitur orbis. And Mary, God’s Mother, stands with the Cross.

Oh, and, by the way, here’s one of Father Pavone’s “Daily Diary” videos he’s always been doing for the sake of accountability. This covers a whole week. The entirety is must listening for the Pope, for all Roman Curia workers, for all bishops, all priests, all laity, the whole thing. Do it. And, wait for it, with some great humor Father Pavone mentions what happened on 17 December 2022. Hehehe. 🙂 

Let everyone know:

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8 Comments

Filed under Priesthood, Pro-Life, Vocations

Tagged as Fr Frank Pavone, Priesthood, Priests for Life, Pro-Life, Vocations

8 responses to “Accusations against Father Pavone: analysis”

1. nancyv2022-12-19 at 7:23 amGear up friends with the Armor of God (Eph.6) Love and pray for our holy priests (We thank God for you Fr. George David Byers!!) and love and pray for those who persecute. Love and pray in the arena as did the Christians of old.
   p.s. sending you a few more Rosaries for the road.Reply
2. Claire Dion2022-12-19 at 8:10 amLoved reading your comments on this Fr. Byers. Just when I think that things at the vatican cannot get any worse, it does. Wishing you a blessed Christmas.Reply
3. Jura Ashley2022-12-19 at 8:19 amYes !!! So glad to see this! What is wrong with the Dems ? Honestly I never heard such anti God rhetoric from a political party. It’s pathetic. It’s like everyone of them have been sprinkled with devil dust! So much anti family , anti marriage, anti God !!!
   This has infiltrated every family!
   Repeat of Sodom and Gomorrah? But we will destroy ourselves! Our Lady said , “Get back to the Beads” Keep holy water with you.
   Pray for the lost!Reply
4. Dianna2022-12-19 at 9:59 amIts awful that this “woke” pope and his henchmen tread on Godly priests teaching truth. God said he will say to some “I never knew you.” How arrogant to rearrange scripture, overlook some and twist the Holy word of God. God is not mocked. I am praying and seeking discernment. Thank you for your hard work Fr. George…Reply
5. James Anderson2022-12-19 at 11:00 amIt would have been appropriate to wait until the feast of the Holy Innocents to stab Fr. Pavone in the back.Reply
6. jdbangel2022-12-19 at 2:13 pmFather Pavone is one of the heroes that God is giving us to encourage and strengthen us in these awful, strange times we are living in. God bless him and God bless you too, Father.Reply
7. Gina Nakagawa2022-12-20 at 10:03 pmGod bless you, Father for posting this message. Father Pavone has spent many years in faithful service to God in protecting His most favored people…the little ones. Unless we become childlike (not childish) we are not worthy of a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. No less an authority that the Lord Himself has promised this, God bless Father Pavone for his constant faithful serviceReply
8. Gina Nakagawa2022-12-20 at 10:10 pmThank you, Father for this post. Father Pavone is a true alter Christus. He is spending his life championing the favorite of the Lord, the little ones. In this season of the Little One who came from on High, may you both receive God’s most abundant blessingsReply

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Abp. Vigano apparently in writing about the Laicization of Fr. Pavone said that Francis & his Friends may have a type of Paraniod Thinking called “a Persecutory Mind”

December 22, 2022

SCHIZOPHRENIA

Dealing With Persecutory Delusions

Paranoia, Persecution, and False BeliefsPrint 

What Are Persecutory Delusions?

Persecutory delusions occur when someone believes others are out to harm them despite evidence to the contrary.It’s a type of paranoid thinking that can be part of several different mental illnesses. – Verywell Mind [https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-persecutory-delusions-4586500]

In an interview Sunday with Catholic News Agency (CNA), canonist Father Gerald Murray, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and a regular contributor to EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noted that the Pope alone can issue a decision “against which there is no possible appeal.” 

“Only the Pope, who enjoys ‘full and supreme power in the Church’ (canon 332, 1), can issue such a decision against which there is no possible appeal,” Murray said. – LifeSite News [https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/fr-pavones-laicization-came-from-pope-francis-himself-canon-lawyer/]

Today, ArchbishopCarlo Maria Vigano apparently wrote that Francis and his “magic circle” friends (who according to canonist Fr. Gerald Murray laicized pro-life priest Fr. Frank Pavone) may have a type of paraniod thinking called “a persecutory mind”:

We find confirmation of this principle of ontology in the canonical sanctions recently imposed by the Holy See on Father Frank A. Pavone, a well-known and appreciated pro-life priest, who for decades has been committed to the battle against the horrible crime of abortion. If a Roman Dicastery decides to electrocute a priest with reduction to the lay state, accusing him of blasphemy and preventing him from having the ability to defend himself legally in a canonical trial; and if, at the same time, analogous decisions are not taken with regard to notorious heretical, corrupt, and fornicating clergy, it is not out of place to ask if such a persecutory action reveals a persecutory mind.[https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/6299-vigano-s-declaration-on-the-canonical-sanctions-imposed-on-father-frank-a-pavone]

Francis and his inner circle appear to have a history of persecutory paranoia-like thinking. Cardinal Gerhard Mueller in a 2017 interview revealed that Francis told him:

“They tell me you’re my enemy.”

Muller in the interview said the “magic circle” around Francis does “spying on alleged opponents” and tells him who are his friends or enemies.

It seems that Francis may be overly attached and surrounded by certain persons with unhealthy thought processes and strange conspiracy ideas.

The Vatican Insider usually a solid news source which has access to ranking Vatican insiders close to the Francis on October 19, 2016 wrote a tabloid like paranoid article.

It slandered anyone remotely criticizing the questionable prudential actions and non- infallible teachings of Francis.

The Insider claimed that those who question Francis are in a global conspiracy with Russian strongman Putin against the him.

Phil Lawler and his CatholicCulture.org which defends many of Francis’s teachings and even the Argentine norm of Amoris Laetitia when commenting on this article said:

It is “likely…people surrounding Pope Francis” have a “paranoid style” and have fallen into ‘conspiracy’ thinking that “see enemies wherever there is resistance to their agenda.” [https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?id=1367]

Francis like those who surround him appears to have fallen into paranoid and conspiracy thought processes as shown by his thinking the wishy-washy Muller is his “enemy.”

This is the namby-pamby Muller who while working in the Vatican attacked the Dubia Cardinals to the “bewilderment” of his staff at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith because he contradicted “everything he said… on the matter until now” according to Vatican expert Edward Pentin. (National Catholic Register, “Cardinal Muller TV Interview Causes Bewilderment,” January 9, 2017)

If Francis thinks the indecisive Muller is his “enemy,” who endorsed Amoris Laetitia and before said the divorce and remarried can’t receive Communion unless chaste, then it appears that the he may have a type of persecutory dementia.

Alzheimer experts say a symptom of dementia can be paranoia.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America says individuals “with dementia may become paranoid.”

The Every Day Health post “The Seven Stages of Dementia- Alzheimer’s Disease Center” says a sign of severe dementia is:

“Changes in personality or behavior, such as increased paranoia.” (Everydayhealth.com, By Madeline Vann, MPH)

Wikipedia says paranoia “is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety and fear…typically includes…beliefs of conspiracy.”

Even EWTN commentator Robert Royal of The Catholic Thing said in the 2014 article “Pope Francis Needs New Friends” that Francis appears to be surrounded by certain persons with strange non-rational conspiracy ideas:

“He’s clearly in a bubble” with Cardinals like the German Kasper who wants “God to repeal the Laws of Non-contradiction” and radicals like the Honduran Maraiaga who were leading Francis to “connect…global poverty-with a kind of conspiracy theory about arms sales and war is simply bizarre.”

Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis’s Amoris Laetitia.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Stop for a moment of silence, ask Jesus Christ what He wants you to do now and next. In this silence remember God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Three Divine Persons yet One God, has an ordered universe where you can know truth and falsehood as well as never forget that He wants you to have eternal happiness with Him as his son or daughter by grace. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet.

Francis Notes:

– Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

“[T]he Pope… WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See.”
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said “the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church.”
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

– “If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

– “Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?”: http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

– If Francis betrays Benedict XVI & the”Roman Rite Communities” like he betrayed the Chinese Catholics we must respond like St. Athanasius, the Saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste & “Eminent Canonists and Theologians” by “Resist[ing]” him: https://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/12/if-francis-betrays-benedict-xvi.html 

 –  LifeSiteNews, “Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers,” December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows “sexually active adulterous couples facing ‘complex circumstances’ to ‘access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'”

–  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

“The AAS statement… establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense.”

– On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

“Francis’ heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents.”

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes: 

– Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: “212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted…Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden” [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

– Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times “Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003”: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

– Tucker Carlson’s Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written” according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

– A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: “Anitfa ‘Agent Provocateurs‘”:
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God’s Will and to do it.

Pray an Our Father now for America.

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.SHARE

 Are Universities Doomed?

By: Victor Davis Hanson

December 22, 2022

“Gradually” and “suddenly” applies to higher education’s implosion.

During the 1990s “culture wars” universities were warned that their chronic tuition hikes above the rate of inflation were unsustainable.

Their growing manipulation of blanket federal student loan guarantees, and part-time faculty and graduate teaching assistants always was suicidal.

Left-wing indoctrination, administrative bloat, obsessions with racial preferences, arcane, jargon-filled research, and campus-wide intolerance of diverse thought short-changed students, further alienated the public—and often enraged alumni.

Over the last 30 years, enrollments in the humanities and history crashed. So did tenure-track faculty positions. Some $1.7 trillion in federally backed student loans have only greenlighted inflated tuition—and masked the contagion of political indoctrination and watered-down courses.

But “gradually” imploding has now become “suddenly.”Zoom courses, a declining pool of students, and soaring costs all prompt the public to question the college experience altogether.

Nationwide undergraduate enrollment has dropped by more than 650,000 students in a single year—or over 4 percent alone from spring 2021 to 2022, and some 14 percent in the last decade. Yet the U.S. population still increases by about 2 million people a year.

Men account for about 71 percent of the current shortfall of students. Women number almost 60 percent of all college students—an all-time high.

Monotonous professors hector students about “toxic masculinity,” as “gender” studies proliferate. If the plan was to drive males off campus, universities have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.

The number of history majors has collapsed by 50 percent in just the last 20 years. Tenured history positions have declined by one-third to half at major state universities.

In the last decade alone, English majors across the nation’s universities have fallen by a third.

At Yale University, administrative positions have soared over 150 percent in the last two decades. But the number of professors increased by just 10 percent. In a new low/high, Stanford recently enrolled 16,937 undergraduate and graduate students but lists 15,750 administrative staff—in a near one-to-one fashion.

In the past, such costly praetorian bloat would have sparked a faculty rebellion. Not now. The new six-figure salaried “diversity, equity, and inclusion” commissars are feared and exempt from criticism.

Since 2020, the old proportional-representation admissions quotas have expanded into weird “reparatory” admissions. Purported “marginalized populations” have often been admitted at levels greater than percentages in the general population.

Consequently, “problematic” standardized tests are damned as biased and antithetical to “diversity.”

To accommodate radical diversity reengineering, the only demographic deemed expendable is white males. Their plunging numbers on campus, especially from the working class, are now much less than their percentages in the general population—regardless of grades or test scores.

At Yale, the class of 2026 is listed as 50 percent white and 55 percent female. Fourteen percent were admitted as “legacies.” In sum, qualified but poor white males without privilege or connections seem mostly excluded.

Stanford’s published 2025 class profile claims a student body of “23 percent white.” Fewer than half of the class is male. Stanford mysteriously does not release the numbers of those successfully admitted without SATs—but recently conceded it rejects about 70 percent of those with perfect SAT scores.

In fact, universities are quietly junking test score requirements. Ironically, these time-honored standardized tests were originally designed to offer those from underprivileged backgrounds, or less competitive high schools, a meritocratic pathway into elite schools.

At Cornell, students push for pass/fail courses only and the abolition of all grades. At the New School in New York, students demand that everyone receives “A” grades. Dean’s lists and class and school rankings are equally suspect as counterrevolutionary. Even as courses are watered down, entitled students still assume that their admission must automatically guarantee graduation—or else!

Skeptical American employers, to remain globally competitive, will likely soon administer their own hiring tests. They already suspect that prestigious university degrees are hollow and certify very little.

Traditional colleges will seize the moment and expand by sticking to meritocratic criteria as proof of the competency of their prized graduates.

Private and online venues will also fill a national need to teach Western civilization and humanities courses—by non-woke faculty who do not institutionalize bias.

More students will continue to seek vocational training alternatives. Some will get their degrees online for a fraction of the cost.

Alumni will either curb giving, put further restrictions on their gifting, or disconnect.

Eventually, even elite schools will lose their current veneer of prestige. Their costly cattle brands will be synonymous with equality-of-result, overpriced indoctrination echo chambers, where therapy replaced singular rigor and their tarnished degrees become irrelevant.

How ironic that universities are rushing to erode meritocratic standards—history’s answer to the age-old, pre-civilizational bane of tribal, racial, class, elite, and insider prejudices and bias that eventually ensure poverty and ruin for all.

OPINION

On the Necessity of Latin

Does the Catholic Church need Latin? Most Roman Catholics now worship in the vernacular, and some argue that with good translations available, Catholics do not need to acquaint themselves with it, outside of a few specialists. 

• Darrick Taylor

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Does the Catholic Church need Latin? I came across a comment by a priest on Twitter recently who, while admittedly trying to gently provoke his followers, stated that he didn’t think Latin was anything special or sacred. He was speaking about the Mass, but there are many who don’t see any purpose for that venerable tongue in the Church today. Most Roman Catholics now worship in the vernacular, and one could argue that with good translations available, Catholics do not need to acquaint themselves with it, outside of a few specialists.  

Now, as someone whose Latin is admittedly rudimentary, I am not the best candidate to defend the sacrality of the Latin tongue. But I do think the good priest (and those who think as he does) deserves an explanation as to why it is and should be sacred to Roman Catholics, even ordinary Catholics who are not theologians and translators. 

First, I think it should be clear that it is the Church’s Latin that is sacred and not Latin in general. No one thinks Catholics need to be able to read Cicero or fifteenth-century humanist poets (though Pius XII did once commission a translation of the psalter into classical Latin, which no one liked). It is the Latin of Western Church Fathers, of the Vulgate, the Roman Canon, the “Dies Irae” and many other ancient texts that is sacred to Catholics. If it is not obvious, this question of Latin is bound up with the Old Roman Rite, since it is one of the oldest expressions of this Latin, and one that has been hallowed by the many saints who worshiped in that rite down the ages. 

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Latin has been the vehicle for the Western Church’s theology since the third century A.D. From Sts. Augustine and Ambrose in late Antiquity, to Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus in the medieval period, to the scholastic thinkers of the early modern period and the Scholastic revival of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, its precision and clarity has shaped the Church’s teaching. At a minimum, there need to be experts in this subject so we can understand these holy men whose words are foundational for our own beliefs.  

Even more important than this is the fact that ecclesiastical Latin was the medium in which the earliest traditions of the Roman Church were recorded. For most of the Roman Church’s history, these traditions have been considered to be of apostolic origin. (I am aware that more skeptical theologians might say otherwise, but I heartily disagree.) Though St. Peter and the earliest apostles almost certainly did not speak this language, the traditions they passed on were, for the most part, only given written form in the Latin tongue when the Church became free from persecution in the fourth century.  

The Catholic faith, as it emerged after the conversion of Constantine, took shape in the Latin language. The Roman Canon is one of the oldest Eucharist prayers in existence, dating from the late fourth century or earlier, and it is a witness to early beliefs about the Eucharist. St. Jerome’s Vulgate was the first translation of the entire Christian Bible into a single language, and it was the version of the Bible in which later Catholic theologians encountered Scripture.  

When the Church of Rome began to determine the canon of the Bible in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, it identified which books were inspired by their use in its liturgy. Given that these traditions are the basis for so much that is distinctive about Catholic theology, (such as claims about Roman primacy, whose first detailed expressions date from the fourth century), it strikes me as insane to banish Latin from the Church’s life altogether. 

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The Latin of the Church is a living link to its ancient past, in other words. In a world that is radically changing, even chaotic, such links are not merely ornamental accoutrements. They ground the Church’s identity in an age of confusion. I sometimes think those outside the Church understand this better than Catholics themselves. Even today, in our secular society, horror films still inject Latin phrases into their dialogue to embody some sort of ancient power, good or evil. In the Middle Ages, Byzantine emperors would mumble a few Latin words at their coronation, long after it ceased to be a spoken language in Eastern Rome, to emphasize their connection to the Roman Empire of the Emperor Constantine the Great. 

Of course, there are many other reasons besides historical ones for Catholics to know at least some Latin, especially for liturgical or devotional purposes. The long development of Latin, honed by saints and countless ordinary faithful over the centuries, gives it a suppleness and expressiveness that is unique and irreplaceable.  

I am sensitive to two criticisms on this point. One is that expecting the laity to know Latin is elitist or somehow creates an inequality between those who can and cannot understand it. As to this alleged elitism, I don’t hear it as often as I used to, but I recall Catholics of a certain persuasion liked to proclaim that today’s Catholics represented “the most educated laity in history.” This being the case, surely it would not be “elitist” to expect Catholics to know a few Latin prayers, like the Pater Noster or the Ave Maria? (Though American Catholics tend to share their fellow citizens’ lack of proficiency or even interest with foreign languages, which might make this more difficult.)  

Another criticism I take more seriously is that Christian worship should be rational; that one should understand what one is saying when one prays to God. It is true that the worship of God should not resemble a pagan mystery cult, but one can take this in the wrong direction, making of prayer and liturgy a mere matter of transmitting information.  

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Something like 60 percent of human communication is non-verbal, not to mention tone, inflection, and other “non-rational” sources of meaning besides the contents of language. And, of course, for the Mass, dual language missals and booklets have long been available, so one can follow what’s going on at a Mass in Latin if that is the objection. In any case, the liturgy is expressive of the greatest mystery in the universe, and who can expect to “understand” all of it in any language? 

I suspect part of the objection to the use of Latin is peculiar to our age. Ever since the 1960s, the obsession with “multiculturalism” has made Catholics overly sensitive about their “triumphalist” past. There is some truth to this. Catholics in the past often touted Latin as if it were the universal language of the universal Church rather than the Western Church. The “Latinization” of several Eastern Churches in the past attests to this fact (though this phenomenon is more complicated than some would think). In any case, Latin is not the only sacred tongue of the universal Church, since most of its early definitions of faith are in Greek (and in the Roman liturgy in the form of the Kyrie).  I suspect part of the objection to the use of Latin is peculiar to our age. Ever since the 1960s, the obsession with “multiculturalism” has made Catholics overly sensitive about their “triumphalist” past.Tweet This

But the reaction against Latin, which seeks to completely replace Latin with the vernacular, perpetuates the errors of Latinizers by imposing an alien tradition on what is unique and valuable to another tradition, on one crucial aspect of its essential form. One can love one’s tradition, value its uniqueness, without disparaging that of others, imagining it is either totally meaningless or that it should absorb every other tradition in Borg-like fashion. The Western Church’s mother tongue is unique and invaluable, and failing to uphold it is like watching Notre Dame Cathedral burn down and thinking, “No big deal. It was old anyway.” 

One might not be convinced by all this and still think the Church Catholic can get along fine without Latin. One must admit that there is some truth to this. Latin is only a necessity for the Western Church. We have no promise from our Lord that there will always be a Western Church, only that the universal Church itself will be preserved.  

But then that is precisely what is at issue. Some today appear to want anything identifiable as “the Western Church” to disappear, perhaps because they view its past as irredeemably tainted by racism, colonialism, sexism, triumphalism, or other “isms.” The increasing efforts, even by the Vatican itself, to strip the Roman Church of its historical forms and create a generic Modern Church for Modern People, suggest such a motive.  

This would be a disaster, in my opinion. Stripping the Western Church of its most recognizable features will only hasten its demise because then it would become indistinguishable from any other institution. Catholics are supposed to believe that Christ founded a visible Church, one that is recognizably distinct from “the world.”  

That is why, as far as possible, the most ancient traditions of the universal Church should be preserved, including those of the Latin tradition. The Christian faith is not historically formless clay that can be reshaped at will without consequence. Only by maintaining its historic forms can it hope to survive and flourish; and in that sense, Latin is still very much necessary for Western Rite Catholics to know, and cherish. 

• Darrick TaylorDarrick Taylor teaches history at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.