May all you dead of the First World War rest in peace! May your death not have been in vain! Unfortunately, I fear that it was. You lived in a globe that could not accept the fact that God’s Creation is something other than a jungle ruled by the war of all against all.

November 11^th marks the 96^th anniversary of the end of what was simultaneously one of the most pathetic and yet most predictable conflicts in mankind’s tragic history. It was pathetic in the patent absurdity of its unfounded enthusiasms and goals, the unfathomable physical pain it inflicted, as well as its final wretched outcome. But it was all too predictable due to the logical development of a myriad of irrational principles that were Protestant in their origin, naturalist-Enlightenment in their maturation, and nationalist, racist, and class conscious in their specific emphases upon the way in which violent struggle would have a gloriously purgative and perfecting influence upon life.

Vince Lombardi’s brilliance as a football coach was a direct result of his dedication to Catholicism

In the middle of winter, between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, a secular ritual of nearly fifty years has become part of the American cultural scene. It is called the Super Bowl, the championship game of the interminably long National Football League season. Two weeks of incessant television extravaganza lead up to the game itself, which ends with the winner being awarded the Lombardi Trophy named for a man now 44 years dead but still considered by many to be the greatest football coach in the history of the game.

LONDON 4 November 2014 – The International Una Voce Federation which seeks to promote the traditions, particularly the liturgical traditions, of the Roman Catholic Church, within the official structures of the Church, today questioned the legality of a “notification” dated 14 October 2014 of the Roman See of Albano, Italy, claiming to ex-communicate those who receive the sacraments from, or attend religious services of, the Society of St Pius X (SSPX).

The Federation questions the legality of a notification in similar terms of Bishop Óscar Sarlinga ofZárate-Campana in Argentina, issued on 3 November 2014.

From a Correspondent in Ireland...

Dear Mr. Matt:

Please find below a translation of the Italian SSPX District's response to Bishop Semeraro. This is not the same document published by sspx.org and Rorate Caeli a few days ago, but a translation of what the SSPX Italy website says here. This statement gives additional details than were contained in the statement posted by the other two websites.

Yours sincerely,
Peadar Walsh

In a notification from the 14^th October last, Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, who administers the Suburbican Diocese of Albano, thought himself able to declare that the SSPX is not “an institution of the Catholic Church” and that the faithful should not frequent it in order not to break communion with the Church.

This from a reader of The Remnant in England...

Thought I should share with The Remnant and its readership some liturgically historic news for the Catholic Church in England and, specifically, the Diocese of East Anglia.

Bishop Alan Hopes of the Diocese of East Anglia became the first bishop in England to celebrate a Pontifical High Mass at the throne in the Extraordinary Form since the introduction of the new rite.  The Mass was celebrated on the feast of All Saints (Nov. 1) in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Norwich, England.  It was also the first Pontifical High Mass celebrated by a bishop in his own cathedral in the Diocese of East Anglia since the Protestant Reformation.

Many of us were shocked to read the news headline, Mother Wins Case to Kill Her Disabled Daughter, which made the rounds just days ago. As LifeNews reported on October 29th:

Two and a half years ago, Dr. Phil advocated for the mercy killing of people with disabilities. Well, Dr. Phil would be happy to know that his dream has now become a reality — one mother successfully petitioned the court to kill her severely disabled daughter.

Nancy Fitzmaurice, born blind with hydrocephalus, meningitis and septicaemia, could not walk, talk, eat or drink, the Mirror reported.

Her health was so poor she required 24-hour care and was fed, watered and medicated by tube at London’s Great Ormand Street Hospital. Her health deteriorated and as she grew she would scream in agony for hours despite being given morphine and ketamine.

After posting a comment on The Remnant’s blog, Fetzen Fliegen, about singer/activist Elton John singing the praises of Pope Francis, his new ‘hero’, we garnered a few comments on The Remnant’s Facebook page accusing us of hating those with whom we disagree. One comment in particular provided an opening for us to address this issue of “hate” head on. Since hatemongering is the accusation du jour, leveled against anyone and everyone who would dare hold up the law of God to a world that is increasingly rejecting Him, we believe the following exchange may be useful.

COMMENT FROM HEATHER: Can't we just love all people for who they are? Doesn't your faith and religion teach you to cherish all life? Hate and meanness hurt all including those that spread it. Someone may not have the same beliefs as you but that doesn't mean you should put them down or bash their way of life. Put out hate and hate will spread...put out only love and love will be returned.

MJM RESPONDS: Agreed, Heather! Of course, our Church teaches that charity must always come first and that hatred of anyone is a mortal sin which, unrepentant, makes a person deserving of eternal damnation. And if you actually read the article you may be surprised to discover that it's something of an ironic defense of Elton John.

Catholics around the world need to know that the Vatican communications machine is still doing its best to manipulate the results of the Synod on the Family.  

As can be seen from the link here and below to the relevant page on the Vatican website, all the preliminary and more liberal documents of the Synod are up there in multiple languages, while the only one that matters de jure - the final and official relatio which did not even propose - much less approve - Communion for divorced-and remarrieds or "welcome" for homosexuals and their "gifts", is posted only in Italian.

God save the Pope from his enemies, as Cardinal Pell said. May he find a consistent vision to guide him as pastor of the Universal Church. Awake Francis/Peter! Be the man that Christ wants you to be!

(ROME) My good friend and colleague, Chris Ferrara, has rightly indicated that this is no time to mince words. We are reaping all of the final madness that logically had to emerge from the victory of the conscious cabal that took the Roman Catholic Church captive at the time of Second Vatican Council. No one can play semantic games with the horrible reality this has caused.

Dear Miss Erinyes

I'm just wondering what your opinion is. Do you think that Francis really is pope? I cannot imagine the real pope doing and saying the things that Francis is doing and saying.

Do you think that it is possible that the last conclave was rigged, making Francis' election illegitimate?

Fr. M
_

Dear Father,

The truth is that I have no idea. I am not a canonist; I have no training in theology or Church history and have no special ability to discern between the various arguments now being commonly bruited about the internet. I can see that we have a very large problem, one in the person of Francis that seems to equal the horrifying problems in the world. He seems to me to be, indeed, an intrinsic part of those external problems, a product of them, one might even say.

Sister Cristina Sings 'Like a Virgin'

When I first saw this quaint, old photograph of a Catholic nun, playfully teaching a couple of street urchins how to dance a jig, I was surprised by the tears that suddenly began to burn behind my eyes. It’s certainly nothing profound but it says much about what we have lost. Catholic nuns, the old habits, innocent children playing in the street—it’s all gone now, along with  most everything else good, true and beautiful about the world in which we live.

If you don’t understand why my tears somehow make sense then perhaps you never knew the old Catholic Church of which this photograph is a happy reminder. It wasn’t a system of oppressive rules, abusive nuns and holy fools as we’re constantly told it was. In fact, the reality of it bore little resemblance to the Catholic-bashing fairytale we see depicted in the movies and everywhere else with such intensity that even the history we ourselves lived through is in danger of being transformed in the image and likeness of a Godless modern age.