The publication of Hugo Klapproth’s work, Letters to a Protestant Friend (The Remnant Press, 2022), represents an editorial event that can help us acquire a deep understanding of the mentality and constellation of values of a pre-conciliar Catholic. And not just any Catholic, but a convert from Lutheranism who dedicated his life to defending and transmitting the truths of Christian Revelation. Klapproth’s book is not only a highly useful read but also a source of inspiration that urges us to follow in the author’s footsteps to rediscover an almost completely forgotten art today: apologetics. Specifically, I will develop some of the themes presented with clarity, rigor, and grace by this layperson devoted to the Church. For now, however, I want to emphasize the essence of his attitude, which, for all of us, can represent a school of faith. This essence lies in complete fidelity to the faith of the Church, which he loved passionately. Such a strong and ardent love could only have been born from a deepening of Christian faith truths with the goal of clarifying and strengthening one’s own convictions. This is something Hugo Klapproth did exemplarily, proving himself – above all else – a good connoisseur of the Holy Scriptures and the Catechism.
Throwback Thursday!
GOP CAVES ON LGBT (Thanks to Pope Francis)
OLYMPIC BLASPHEMY: A Diocesan Priest’s Unconditional Condemnation
Britain reeling from a taste of Keir Starmer’s medicine
Since the advent of Traditionis Custodes our Bishop has retained two locations in our diocese where parishioners can have access to the Tridentine Rite with committed priests who offer both liturgical forms each Sunday. This gracious gesture reflects the pastoral sense of a Good Shepherd who knows the smell of his sheep and continues to meet their spiritual needs, even in the face of an abusive governance from the Church out of Rome. I fully realize it is a challenging time to be Catholic, but I also recognize the gift of being one currently as well.
It is somewhat surprising that people still show up in St. Peter’s Square to hear Francis’s Angelus messages, but the Vatican reported that approximately twelve thousand pilgrims gathered for the August 11, 2024 message. As is usually the case, those who hoped to find Catholic wisdom, or at least avoid scandal, likely would have been disappointed by Francis’s message.
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“The truth is unchangeable; it is the bread of the soul, refreshing others, without diminution to itself; changing him who eats into itself, itself not changed. This truth is the Word of God, which put on flesh for our sakes, and lay hid; not meaning to bury itself, but only to defer its manifestation, till its suffering in the body, for the ransoming of the body of sin, had taken place.” (from St. Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea )
Some might remember that July is the month during which the encyclical Humanae Vitae was published in 1968. The encyclical describes, among other things, the intrinsically evil act of contraception; this includes “any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means.” (No. 14)
Undulating and picturesque landscapes of España Verde in Spain’s Asturias region greeted me once I was en route from the airport to the capital of Oviedo. As I had flown into the Asturian region all the way from concrete and urban Singapore, I found these mountainous views a welcome respite. Strikingly, the mist-shrouded Asturian mountains only served to add layers of mystery to the surrounding verdant foliage, the latter which was already dappled with bright sunlight and soaked with centuries of war-torn history centered around the Spanish Reconquista.
By now, the world is familiar with the controversy over the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony performance which bore similarities to Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. As much as Catholic objections to the perceived mockery of Christ’s sacred last meal before his Passion are valid, the performance demands confrontation with an even harsher reality than simply that of a staged show.
“What we have set our hopes on, brothers and sisters, is nothing in this age, nor in this world, nor anything to do with this kind of success that dazzles people who are forgetful of God. The first thing we have to realize and keep firmly in mind as Christians is that we did not become Christians in order to obtain the good things of this present life, but to obtain goodness knows what else, that God is already promising us, and that we human beings cannot yet grasp” ( 1 Corinthians 2:9).
“Ask Father” is a column exclusive to The Remnant Newspaper. If you would like to send questions to our resident priest, Fr. Wilson, send your query to [email protected] and put “Ask Father” in the subject line. Then, subscribe to The Remnant ( print or E-Edition ) to see your answer in future issues!
Probably one of the most well-known saints in the history of the Church is “the Little Flower of Jesus” – Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897). Besides her exceptional qualities, I have always been impressed by her family. So far, although only her parents Louis Martin (1823–1894) and Azélie-Marie Guérin Martin (1831–1877) have been declared saints, the canonization process has also begun for another sister of Saint Thérèse, Léonie Martin (1863–1941). Such a family can only make us wonder: “How was it possible?” Reading and rereading this small masterpiece of Christian spiritual theology written by Saint Thérèse, Histoire d’une âme ( Story of a Soul ), I have always sought the answer to this question.
In Southeast Asia, idyllic Laos belies a hostile anti-Christian atmosphere
The recent scandal of the Paris Olympics has brought all of this together in a blasphemous tableau. In it, we saw not only the LGBQT+ portrayal of the Last Supper but also the celebration of the French Revolution, complete with the decapitated head of Queen Marie-Antoinette singing along to a heavy metal song. But the most anti-Catholic touch of all has now been delivered by Francis’s Vatican, with its Communiqué about the opening ceremony.
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Christian belief in eternal life necessarily implies belief in the existence of souls in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. From this perspective, no literary work is truer than Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia. Controversy arises when addressing a difficult topic: is it possible for souls “from beyond” to manifest in our world? In short, do ghosts exist? While we must always discourage those eager to form teams like the Ghostbusters, we are nonetheless obligated to answer such challenging questions accurately.
There can be no dispute that the mission of the Church is to glorify God, to seek the Salvation of souls, to serve the poor, and to Evangelize – to spread the good news of the Gospel to all corners of the World: to build the Kingdom of Christ on earth. But among the chief duties of the Catholic Church is to hold the powerful in society to their duty to the welfare of the citizenry, to protect those human rights which derive from Divine Law, and to demand that governments uphold and protect those rights endowed by God Himself and not bestowed by temporal authority. It is the Church that calls the world to conversion.
I remember the evening. Three of us on our deck (including my roommate), pizza, beer––a dangerous amount of beer––just enough to believe fervently in the implausible and to begin executing it. What should we do? One of my friends yelled, ” A Midsummer Night’s Dream!” And since we were three quarters of the way to December, we all heartily concurred. We began the casting process on a pizza box, drawing up the list of characters paired with hapless friends who would be informed, when we felt like it, that their wit, flamboyance, elegance, shrewishness, or curves, had been duly noticed by the community.