One financial authority

VATICAN CITY, 24 OCT 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held to present a note from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace entitled: "Towards reforming the international financial and monetary systems in the context of a global public authority". The document was presented by Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson and Bishop Mario Toso S.D.B., respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and by Leonardo Becchetti, professor of political economy at the Roman University of "Tor Vergata".

Cardinal Turkson mentioned the sixth summit meeting of heads of government of the G-20 nations, due to take place in Cannes, France, on 3 and 4 November to discuss issues related to finance and the global economy. "The Holy Father and the Holy See", he said, "are following these matters with particular concern, constantly calling not just for 'joint action', but for 'examination of every facet of the problem: social, economic, cultural and spiritual'. It is in this spirit of discernment that the Holy See, with the note of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, wishes to make a contribution which might be useful to the deliberations of the G-20 meeting".  [what we have now is not only a failure to communicate, but a failure to see the immorality of doing business in today's capitalistic society!  Ever heard why we have "Occupy Wall Street", huh?]

Bishop Toso explained that the aim of the note is "suggest possible paths to follow, in line with the most recent social Magisterium, for the implementation of financial and monetary policies ... that are effective and representative at a global level, and which seek the authentic human development of all individuals and peoples". [No other religion or church made this stand.  I am pretty sure the Iglesia ni Cristo would not issue any statement about the global crisis, because they are practically running the pockets of their believers DRY!  Isn't that a form of capitalism?]

The Church does not wish to enter into the technical issues behind the current economic crisis, but remains within the ambit of her religious and ethical functions. [Which is where the Church always talks out loud.]  Thus she [She] highlights not just the moral causes of the crisis but, more specifically, the ideological causes. Old ideologies have been replaced by new ones, "neo-liberalist, neo-utilitarian, and technocratic which, by reducing the common good to economic, financial and technical questions, place the future of democratic institutions themselves at risk".

Bishop Toso spoke of the need to overcome these ideologies by "a new global humanism, open to transcendence, ... an ethic of brotherhood and solidarity, and by subordinating economy and finance to politics, which is responsible for the common good".  [The greed of modern day society perpetrated by Hollywood is what is causing all of this!]

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, drawing from the social Magisterium of recent Pontiffs particularly John XXIII and Benedict XVI, proposes "that globalisation be regulated by a global public authority", Bishop Toso explained. [The UN is doing that but they prioritize the killing of human babies first and the sterilization of the colored race!]  The council also suggests the reform of current international institutions. They "must become an expression of free and shared agreement among peoples; more representative, and with greater levels of participation and legitimacy. ... They must be 'super partes', at the service of the universal good, capable of offering effective guidance and, at the same time, of allowing each country to express and pursue its own common good, according to the principle of subsidiarity and in the context of the global common good. Only in this way will international institutions manage to favour effective monetary and financial systems; in other words, free and stable markets regulated by an appropriate legal framework and working towards sustainable development and social progress for everyone".

This global authority "must see its power to lead and to deicide - and to impose penalties on the basis of the law - as a form of service to the various members States, a way of ensuring that they possess efficient markets".

To this end, Bishop Toso concluded, "it is necessary to restore the primacy of ethics and, therewith, the primacy of politics, which is responsible for the common good".
CON-IP/ VIS 20111024 (610)

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In short, the World Bank should be doing this but what the WB is doing is to slowly kill smaller and poorer countries.

Holy Mother Church speaks on the moral and ethical side of economics.

And She will not be silenced.

Words of wisdom: The alleged spirit of Vatican II

"The truth is that this particular Council defined no dogma at all, and deliberately chose to remain on a modest level, as a merely pastoral council; and yet many treat it as though it had made itself into a sort of 'superdogma' which takes away the importance of all the rest."

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING THE SOCIETY OF ST. PIUS X

Seems like there is progress!

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VATICAN CITY, 14 SEP 2011 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy See Press Office released the following communique concerning the postion of the Society of St. Pius X:

"On 14 September at the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the congregation and president of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei'; Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer S.J., secretary of the congregation, and Msgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the pontifical commission, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, who was accompanied by Fr. Niklaus Pfluger and Fr. Alain-Marc Nely, respectively first and second assistant general to the society.

"Following the appeal of 15 December 2008, addressed by the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father decided to remove the excommunication against the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre. At the same time, he approved the opening of discussions with the society in order to clarify doctrinal problems and to heal the existing rift.

"In order to put the Holy Father's instructions into effect, a joint study commission was set up, composed of experts from the Society of St. Pius X and from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who met in Rome on eight occasions between October 2009 and April 2011. Their discussions, which aimed to identify and study the essential doctrinal difficulties in the controversial issues, had the result of clarifying the positions of the two sides and their respective motivations.

"While bearing in mind the concerns and demands presented by the Society of St. Pius X about protecting the integrity of the Catholic faith against Vatican Council II's 'hermeneutic of rupture' with Tradition (a theme addressed by Pope Benedict XVI in his address to the Roman Curia on 22 December 2005), the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith maintains that the fundamental basis for achieving full reconciliation with the Apostolic See is the acceptance of the text of the Doctrinal Preamble, which was handed over during a meeting on 14 September 2011. The Preamble defines certain doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation Catholic doctrine, which are necessary to ensure faithfulness to the Church Magisterium and 'sentire cum Ecclesia'. At the same time, it leaves open to legitimate discussion the examination and theological explanation of individual expressions and formulations contained in the documents of Vatican Council II and later Magisterium.

"At the same meeting, certain suggestions were made for a canonical solution to the position of the Society of St. Pius X, with a view to achieving the desired reconciliation"

Marriage is between a man and a woman only: German court says

BERLIN, June 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) Marriage can only be between one man and one woman, a German court has ruled in a case brought by two homosexual men who were “married” in Canada. The court ruled that a same-sex “marriage” contracted abroad is to be legally considered a civil partnership in Germany.

The decision is a setback for the homosexualist movement in Germany, which had hoped to use the courts to force the legalization of gay “marriage.”

Andreas Boettcher, a 37-year-old German event manager, went to Montreal with his Spanish partner and undertook a civil marriage ceremony in July 2006. The pair returned to Germany and went to a Berlin administrative court when local authorities refused to recognize their Canadian marriage certificate. The pair had already been to Spain, where same-sex "marriage" has been legal since 2005, and registered there as a family.

In August 2001, Germany passed legislation allowing registered partnerships but, despite being one of the most sexually “progressive” countries in Europe, declined to go so far as to include homosexual partnerings in the legal definition of marriage. [Huzzah!]

In general, however, the homosexualist movement has been highly successful in using the German courts to attain its goals. In a 2009 case involving a dispute over pension benefits for a homosexual man in a registered partnership, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that all the same rights and obligations of marriage be extended to same-sex registered partners.

The same court ruled in July 2008 that a married man suffering from gender confusion, and who had undergone “gender reassignment” surgery, could remain married to his wife while changing his legal gender to female. The court ordered the legislature to change the law to accommodate such cases in the future. [This is really getting too confusing...]

In March of this year, the Senate of Berlin announced that it will introduce a same-sex “marriage” bill in the Federal Council (Bundesrat) in accordance with the 2009 court decision.

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Gay marriage is not an issue of discrimination.  It is an issue of definition.  What really is marriage?

Catholic "Nun" vows obedience to Pope Barack

"Sister" Carol Keehan, [shown here gloating with the pen of death used to sign by Pope Barack to enact into law the Health Care Bill] CEO and President of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) openly acted in favor of President Obama’s health care reform and in opposition to persistent requests from the bishops, said Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), during their spring meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida.

During the bishops' executive session held Tuesday morning to address the fallout of CHA’s support for the health care legislation despite the bishop's opposition, Cardinal George recounted the events that took place prior to President Obama's signing of the health care reform. The prelate then concluded his remarks by criticizing CHA and Sr. Keehan, saying they have created the dangerous precedent of a parallel magisterium to the bishops.

In the events leading up to the final health care vote, the USCCB president presented arguments on how the bishops' conference “remained consistent to the two guiding principles throughout the whole process: number one, everyone should have access to health care; number two, no one should be killed.” [Are these hard to understand?  It is not about whose rights we are fighting for.  Just no deaths!]

The consistent moral position of the bishops, Cardinal George explained, centered around protecting life, conscience protections and the inclusion of immigrants.

“The Conference never backed down on these issues,” he forcefully stated.

According to the Archbishop of Chicago, when the Stupak Amendment was defeated in the Senate in December 2009, “everything went south.”

That is when “the Catholic Health Association and other so-called Catholic groups provided cover for those on the fence to support Obama and the administration.”

Cardinal George clearly remarked that “Sr. Carol and her colleagues are to blame” for the passage of the health care bill. He continued by revealing that the bishops repeatedly tried to reach out to Sr.  Keehan both before and after the vote. “I personally met with her in March to no avail,” the cardinal reported.

In April, three bishops of the USCCB ad hoc Health Care Concerns Committee, Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, also met with Sr. Keehan to try to make her understand the bishop's concerns and thus bring CHA back in line with Church teachings, however the meeting concluded with “the same frustrating results.”

The president of the USCCB reiterated the bishop's fundamental opposition to the health care reform. “The bill which was passed is fundamentally flawed. The Executive Order is meaningless. Sr. Carol is mistaken in thinking that this is pro-life legislation,” Cardinal George emphatically said. [Oh come on!  The woman is not thinking about pro-life.  Any nun who sheds her veil gives you an indication of his liberal feministic leanings.  And that is a fact!  I have heard one nun saying that they do not wear the veil because it is a symbol of the domination of males towards women.  What in the world?!?!]

The cardinal also expressed disappointment with CHA “and other co-called Catholic groups” because, “in the end, they have weakened the moral voice of the bishops in the U.S.” [Until the US bishops do something more decisive and forceful, and they have a Cardinal Mahony who looks the other way when confronted with his transfer of sex offenders, then their moral voice would continually be weakened]

In that regard, Cardinal George highlighted that the USCCB and CHA’s positions on Obama’s health care are not just “two equally valid conclusions inspired in the same Catholic teaching,” and reiterated that what the bishops said on May 21 in their statement “Setting the record Straight” is and will remain the official position of  the USCCB on the contentious issue.

The document, presented  by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Immigration, says: "As Bishops, we disagree that the divergence between the Catholic Conference and Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Health Association, represents merely a difference of analysis or strategy (Catholic Health World, April 15, 2010, “Now That Reform Has Passed”).  Rather, for whatever good will was intended, it represented a fundamental disagreement, not just with our staff as some maintain, but with the Bishops themselves.

“As such it has resulted in confusion and a wound to Catholic unity."

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Canon Law is specific about "Catholics" like "Sr." Carol

Can.  912 Any baptized person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to holy communion.

Can.  915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

Now...what would the bishops do about this?  Will this statement of Cardinal George be enough?

I think the trend is the same.  We saw it with how Archbishop Wuerl treated Sen. John Kerry, a "Catholic" who supports abortion.  He gave the senator Holy Communion.

I guess when it comes to upholding Catholic teaching, a bishop interprets it on his own and acts it on his own diocese, as if it were his own fiefdom.

Sounds Anglican, eh? Ain't that a happily disunited church.