An “Expanded Ministry” to the Papacy is Impossible
p/c CNS, Paul Haring Why can there be only one Pope at a time? Because Christ set up 12 Apostles but only one Pope. St. Peter is "mentioned 191 times (162 as Peter or Simon Peter, 23 as Simon and 6 as Cephas)." That is more than all the other Apostles combined. Thus, Peter's office (munus in Latin) is singular. The Pope is much more than "first among equals" as the New Testament clearly proves in the above numbers. On top of this, numerous Magisterial documents (and saints that stood against anti-popes in history) all insist: There can only be one valid Pope of Rome at any one time. Yet [...]
Saints Perpetua and Felicity: The Full Written Account
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, translated by W.H. Shewring, London, 1931. The Passion of the Saints Vibia Perpetua, was executed in the arena in Carthage on 7 March 203. The account of her martyrdom [technically a Passion] is apparently historical and has special interest as much of it was written, in Latin by Perpetua herself before her death. This makes it one of the earliest pieces of writing by a Christian woman. PROLOGUE. If ancient examples of faith kept, both testifying the grace of God and working the edification of man, have to this end been set in writing, that by their reading as though by the showing of [...]
The Left Is Right: Clericalism Is the Problem
p/c Remnant Magazine The leftists who hijacked the hierarchy since the 1960s (and especially since 2013) state that the main problem in the Catholic Church today is "clericalism." They condemn anything maintained by traditional Catholics that still delineates between the clerical state and the lay state. For example, they believe even something as innocent as the cassock must be deemed a sign of arrogance and "rigorism." Like Marxists have always done, their thrust is to blur the lines between Holy Orders and marriage... so as to destroy both sacraments. But it is precisely the leftists who believe they can replace God's own revelation of Himself in both dogma and liturgy. [...]
“God Will Not Stand In Awe of Any Man’s Greatness.”—Wis 6:8
For God will not except any man's person, neither will He stand in awe of any man's greatness. For He made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all.—Wis 6:8. Last week, I was in a desert in Africa. That desert is majestic and unforgiving, as seen in the picture I snapped above. In the desert, one realizes how insignificant he be before God. For example, if I wandered off into the desert and died, I would be the talk of Catholic Twitter for a day. Friends would say how great I was. Enemies would say how terrible I was. But within a week, only [...]
The Betrayal of the Catholic Church in China
Above: Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Zen, p/c New Liturgical Movement There is some historical evidence that suggests St. Thomas the Apostle went not only to India, but all the way to China. At the latest, we know there were Christians in China from AD 600 forward. Since then, they have been few in percentages but great in suffering for Jesus Christ. The persecution of Catholics in China peaked in the 20th century under the Boxer Rebellion and Mao's Red China. But in 1957, the Communists tried a new move in establishing the "Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association." This was an attempt to mimic the hierarchy of the true Catholic Church [...]
Is Catholic Charities of Texas Benefitting from Biden’s Open-Borders?
🚨QUESTION: How does the Revenue for the NGO the Catholic Charities nearly quadruple since the Biden Administration took over? In 2018 the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston only brought in $44 million In 2021. the revenue for NGO blossomed to $217 million. pic.twitter.com/m5mGfNY12l — Merissa Hansen⚡️ (@merissahansen17) September 9, 2024 In the above tweet, Merissa Hansen reveals from two different "990"s that before the 2020 coup, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Houston and Galveston brought in $44 million. However, by 2021, under Biden's unmerited Presidency, Houston's Catholic Charities revenue jumped to a whopping $217 million. The above tweet has had over 10M views after being retweeted by [...]
Single-Celibacy and Consecrated-Virginity Part 2
Above left is St. Mary of Egypt and above right is St. Benedict Labre. Both were single celibates wandering around without community who later became canonized. It is not the ideal to go through life without a family or convent, but it is possible to become a saint in such unusual circumstances. This article is a follow up to Single-Celibacy and Consecrated-Virginity Part 1 from earlier this week. Let's now look at what the Holy Spirit said through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:25-35. As always, words of Scripture will be in italics. My less-important commentary will be in orange bold. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command [...]
Single-Celibacy and Consecrated-Virginity Part 1
Most Catholics are called to be married folks or priests or nuns/sisters. But there are some other unusual vocations in the Church that good Catholics are talking about more and more. An infrequent but valid vocation is a single-celibate or consecrated-virgin living in the world. It is most certainly a real vocation if one takes private promises (or vows) through a permanent (or temporary) spiritual director (or mentor.) Sometimes these lay brothers or consecrated virgins living in the world refrain from wearing religious habits, but live in community. Sometimes, they refrain from both religious habits and communities. These people choose to live alone, or perhaps have no option based on [...]
The Innovation of the “Vocation Director.”
I went to a mainstream seminary that touted itself as conservative but not traditional. There, we had a Monsignor from South America who taught us canon law, and he was admittedly quite traditional. He told us one day in class that back in Peru, there were no vocation directors. Msgr. explained that good priests spiritually inspired young men to become priests. If a lazy parish priest did not get vocations from their parish, he got sent to the hinterlands. I liked this plan, but even in seminary I recognized that this sounded like the opposite of North America, namely, where good priests get sent to the hinterlands. In any case, [...]
The Fashion Warned Against at Fatima
Similar to the recent talk I gave at a women's conference called Restore Tradition, my article today is about the history of women's fashion, long before it is a statement on morality. Even non-traditional Catholic believe the miracle of Fatima was real. Thus, they should equally believe one of the seers, Bl. Jacinta of Fatima, who said before dying, “The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh.” Many modern Catholics have heard that scary claim, but most Western Catholics think she was talking about sins worse than theirs. Rather, the key to understanding this is that the Mother of God said [...]