Catholic Voice 4th December 2020 Issue 305

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Issue 305

Appeal To The Irish Bishops From Faithful Catholics In Ireland

Use The Power of the Keys

Open Our Catholic Churches And Allow Us To Worship Almighty God

Open Our Catholic Churches pages 12 - 15

Keep up to date with CatholicVoice news and articles via The Lumen Fidei Website www.lumenfidei.ie

2 EDITORIAL

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

A HEARTFELT PLEA TO ALL IRISH BISHOPS: FEED US

Anthony Murphy There are many courageous priests in Ireland who continue to ignore the unjust Covid restrictions and offer the faithful in their care the sacraments. They must do so in secret because not only do they face the risk of heavy fines or even imprisonment but also the opposition of their bishop.

One of those priests, Fr P J Hughes of Mullahoran in County Cavan, said in a recent interview after gardaí told him and his parishioners that they were breaking the law by celebrating and attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on a Sunday in a Catholic Church: “I never thought in my wildest dreams that this was going to happen in a country where we have freedom to live and freedom to practice our faith. That the government would instruct, or give permission to the Garda Commissioner and the Gardaí, to arrest and prosecute a

CatholicVoice

Editor: Anthony Murphy editor@catholicvoice.ie Telephone: 059 8627268 ROI 00353 59 8627268 Outside ROI Keep up to date with news and articles via The Lumen Fidei website www.lumenfidei.ie

priest and to tell people not to go into Mass. I can’t believe that”

Water presents a danger to the health of the population?

The bishops of Ireland prefer to follow the unjust penal laws of the State rather than follow the Cross.

This must stop and so the Lumen Fidei Institute has written to every bishop in Ireland imploring him to restore access to the sacraments.

Minus such proof, why have you replaced a Church sacramental with a government directed man-made hand cleaner?

We hope and pray at least one of them will listen to this plea and we encourage readers to write in similar terms to their local bishop.

In this letter we call out the hypocrisy of the Irish bishops in similar terms to what is in John Lacken’s article on pages 12 - 15.

We also call out their hypocrisy regarding the banning of Holy Water as follows.

“Another example of your hypocrisy is that the Sacramental Holy Water is no longer available at our Churches.

The Catholic Church teaches that Holy Water can cure disease, that Holy Water remits venial sin, and that Holy Water is an effective repellent of demons.

Hand sanitiser, on the other hand, is completely ineffective in curing disease, does not remit venial sins and has no effect on demons. Yet you have replaced a Sacramental, blessed by God, which is spiritually efficacious, with a man-made liquid designed to kill germs. By your actions you have exalted the temporal needs of the faithful over and above our spiritual needs. In effect you have denied the power of one of the Catholic Church’s most powerful sacramentals to comply with a false government directive.

Has the Irish government provided you with proof that the use of Holy

Which do you believe, is more effective in nurturing the spiritual life of the faithful; the sacramental, Holy Water, which can cure disease, remits venial sin and keeps demons at bay, or hand sanitiser which cleans the hands?

The Catholic Church teaches us that Holy Water is good for our spiritual lives so in replacing this spiritual aid with a man-made chemical solution, you are endangering the souls of the faithful under your care.

Dear Bishop, be careful that the words of Jesus Christ spoken in response to the Pharisees objection that Christ’s disciples did not wash their hands “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.”

(Matthew 15:2) are not spoken to you at your particular judgement.

Christ’s response to the Pharisees was: “Hypocrites, well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: This people honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:7- 9) The removal of a sacramental from our Catholic Churches and your denial of access to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass clearly shows that you follow ‘the doctrines and commandments of men”.

We urge you once again to follow St Peter who refrained from his hypocrisy when challenged by St Paul, and to repent of your hypocrisy and to feed us by allowing us to

4th December 2020 Catholic Voice return to worshipping God at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without restrictions.

Be courageous like the Irish bishops who continued to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the faithful during the penal era in Ireland despite governmentimposed restrictions. Lift high the banner of Jesus Christ and call the Irish faithful back to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that we can progress further along the road to holiness.”

Our bishops need to follow the example of Fr P J Hughes who responded when a Garda Sargent accused him of breaking the law: “I have not broken the law; it is my Divine right to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and to give Jesus to the people as they come because that is why they come to Mass. They receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, they hear His Word,.”

Dear Catholic Voice reader, we urge you to write to your bishops pleading with them and insisting, politely but firmly, that they open the Catholic Churches built by our Catholic ancestors, and allow us to worship Almighty God at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without restrictions as is our God given right and duty.

God Bless you,

Anthony Murphy

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A bequest from you in your Last Will and Testament would help us to continue growing the publication of Catholic Voice and the dissemination of Catholic Truth If you are in a position to leave a bequest, however large or small, you are assured that it will be used to promote and strengthen Catholic teaching.

May God bless you for your generosity.

EDITORIAL 3

4 CHEAP GRACE

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

50 YEARS OF CHEAP GRACE Fr Richard Heilman

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German pastor, theologian, martyr, spy was asked in 1943 how it was possible for the Church to sit back and let Hitler seize absolute power. His firm answer: “It was the teaching of cheap grace.”

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer We live in a time and culture that not only teaches cheap grace but praises it. This is why so many are NOT “tuned in.” They have not entered into the “Divine Life.” They remain “out in the darkness.”

St. Paul wrote: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:14).

Fr. Peter Rookey, Miracle Prayer, and Healing Cloths

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen put it this way: “It is a characteristic of any decaying civilisation that the great masses of the people are unaware of the tragedy. Humanity in a crisis is generally insensitive to the gravity of the times in which it lives. Men do not want to believe their own times are wicked, partly because they have no standard outside of themselves by which to measure their times. If there is no fixed concept of justice, how shall men know it is violated?

Only those who live by faith really know what is happening in the world; the great masses without faith are unconscious of the destructive processes going on, because they have lost the vision of the heights from which they have fallen.”

Recently I told my parish council, that I was so very grateful that they were all “tuned in.” Why did I say this? Because grace is anything but “cheap” to them.

I have watched with eternal gratefulness as each and every one of them has, in essence, thrown themselves at the feet of Jesus and washed His feet with their tears and dried them with your hair.

They have torn through the veil into the Divine Life, and it has changed them. NOW, their “everything” is to please God out of sheer gratefulness.

YES! That means that striving to be the best version of yourself, filled with virtues and values and morals and ethics and principals, is the ONLY way you can live!!

You absolutely realise that you are powerless to do any of this without being filled to the brim – even overflowing – with God’s Amazing Grace!! You. Are. Children Of The Light!!

You Are, Now, A Part Of A “Movement Of Light” And, this we all know, full well … We cannot slumber!!

We must stay sober and alert!!

All Enquiries to Declan & Carmel 8 Coppingers Court Powerscourt Lawns Waterford X91 TEY0 Tel: 087-0553011

You are, now, a part of a “Movement of Light” rising up wherever souls have turned their lives completely over to God. As Children of Light, you are given a special illumination to, not only understand what pleases God, but to recognise the evil designs of the devil … you are “tuned in.”

This brings great responsibility: You must be VERY alert to all the ways the devil is trying to rip you and others from arms of our Lord; all the ways he is trying to “steal our grace” and set us out into the darkness, where he can easily “manipulate” us. We must stay sober and alert! We cannot slumber!

4th December 2020 Catholic Voice

CATHOLIC VOICE APPEAL 5

CATHOLIC VOICE ADVENT APPEAL Dear Reader As we approach the Advent season this year we especially ask you to consider Catholic Voice as a recipient of your Advent giving.

Your generosity of prayerful and financial support over the past long months has enabled us to continue spreading Catholic news and Truth. We have been able to continue reaching a wide audience of readers , not only in Ireland but in many different countries.

During this year we have all been challenged in many ways including the closing of churches and the absence of the sacraments. Many of you have become more aware that Catholic Voice is a not for profit organisation and neither we nor our contributors and promoters take a salary.

The ongoing effects of covid 19 plus the additional strain of Kim’s long hospitalization result in our need to appeal to you for your support of Catholic Voice so that we can continue our apostolic work into and beyond 2021.

If you are in a position to contribute financially to our Advent appeal you are assured that you are directly helping to spread our treasured Catholic faith.

Anthony Murphy HOW TO DONATE: 1. Online - Visit www.catholicvoice.ie click ‘Donate’ 2. By Telephone: Call 059 8627268 (00353 59 8627268 outside ROI) to pay by credit/ debit card - please leave your phone number and name and we shall return your call 3. Send a cheque or postal order (made payable to Catholic Voice) with the reply coupon to Catholic Voice, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchess South, Athy, Co Kildare, Eire

Dear Anthony & Kim, I/ We would like to donate towards the ongoing publication of Catholic Voice.

Donation enclosed. Please tick box or enter and individual amount €1,000  €500 €250 €100 €50 €10 Other € _____ Name:

________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________ Cheques & Postal Orders made payable to Catholic Voice Please send your cheque or postal order to Catholic Voice St. Michael’s House Castlemitchell South, Athy Co Kildare, Eire

6 THE SACRAMENTS

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

Making The Most Of The Sacraments An Essential Part Of Our Spiritual Life (Part 3) Canon Francis Altiere I.C.K.S.P.

The Seven Sacraments The outward sign of each sacrament represents the grace communicated in that sacrament. For example, water is used for cleansing, and in baptism the water symbolises the washing away of original sin, which is the purpose of this sacrament. But the sacraments are not just nice symbolic rituals or sentimental rites of passage: the sacraments actually cause the grace which they represent. This means that there is an objective value to the sacraments: we can perceive the outward sign with our senses and thus be certain that divine grace has been communicated to our souls when the sacrament is performed. As long as we are well disposed when we receive the sacraments (in other words, when we do not put up an obstacle), we may be certain that we are receiving God’s grace. The sacraments are effective signs of God’s grace; they are not magical tricks. That is why we need to have the proper spiritual dispositions when we receive them, so that they do not become merely an empty gesture.

The proper dispositions for receiving penance and communion will be described later on in considering these sacraments.

There are seven sacraments. Why seven? The short answer is: in his infinite wisdom, that is what God decided. But why, we might wonder, did God think it fitting to establish precisely seven sacraments? All of the sacraments give or augment God’s grace in our souls, but each of them gives its own, distinctive grace. That is the reason there are several different sacraments and not just one. The seven sacraments, in our supernatural, spiritual life, correspond to seven basic needs or stages from our natural, human life.

Consider the parallels between the human life and the spiritual development of the individual. First of all a person is born (baptism); then a person matures and takes on various adult responsibilities (confirmation).

We have need of nourishment to provide strength (the Eucharist). These sacraments concern the normal development of our spiritual life, but we also need sacraments to help us when that life is endangered. We need a remedy when our soul becomes ill through sin (penance), and ultimately we need to be strengthened against the lingering traces of sin, even after they have been forgiven – a sort of “physical therapy” for our soul (extreme unction). But then there are also the “social,” and not only individual, needs addressed by the sacraments. Human society has need of being replenished by new members (matrimony), as well as of figures who can exercise authority for the common good (holy orders). Thus we can see God’s wisdom in establishing the seven sacraments which he has given to us for our spiritual life, a sort of mirror image of our natural life, but on a higher plane.

Two of these sacraments are called the “sacraments of the dead” because they may be received by a person who is not in the state of grace, in other words, by a person who is spiritually (not physically!) dead. These two sacraments – baptism and penance – were instituted to give or to restore grace to sinners. The other sacraments are called “sacraments of the living” because they must be received by a person who is already in the state of grace, in other words, a person who is not in the state of serious sin. They presuppose and increase the life of grace. These five sacraments are: confirmation, the Eucharist, anointing of the sick, matrimony and holy orders. To receive a sacrament of the living in the state of sin would be a serious sacrilege. Two of the

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

sacraments were instituted not only to give grace to the individual receiving the sacrament but for the welfare of the whole Church: matrimony exists to create future citizens of heaven by increasing the membership of the Church through the life-giving union of mothers and fathers, and holy orders exists for the sake of the government of the Church by providing the ministers of the Church hierarchy.

Three of these sacraments may be received only once because they leave a permanent mark, called the character, upon the soul. These three sacraments which cannot be repeated are: baptism, confirmation and holy orders. Two other sacraments may, in principle, be received more than once, but only under certain circumstances. These two sacraments which are only received rarely, and generally only once, are: matrimony and the anointing of the sick. A person can only be committed in one valid marriage at a time: the bond of marriage lasts until one of the spouses dies (“till death do us part”). The sacrament of matrimony, therefore, can be received a second time only after the death of one’s spouse. Likewise, extreme unction (anointing of the sick) may be received once during each serious illness or danger of death. If a person receives this sacrament and then recovers, he may receive the sacrament again the next time he falls ill: but he may not receive the sacrament multiple times during the same illness.

THE SACRAMENTS 7

Question : Do you know your Father!

Everyone loves to get to really know their Father and that can take a lifetime.

But we also have Our wonderful Father in Heaven who created us and is waiting for us when we pass from this life.

The question is do we know Him! Have we tried to get to know Him! Of course it is never too late!

We can get to know Our Wonderful Father in Heaven Now, if we so wish.

Please contact Declan & Carmel 8 Coppingers Court Powerscourt Lawns Waterford X91 TEY0 085-8222430 for details.

8 BEHOLD HIS FACE

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

Time Without A Face Fr. Colm Mannion O.P.

In 1956 C. S. Lewis published a novel entitled ‘Till we have Faces’.

Based on Greek mythology, the novel is a retelling of the ancient story of Cupid and Psyche.

Although the book never gained the popularity of, say for example, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, Lewis believed that ‘Till we have Faces’ was his “greatest and most accomplished work”. This view was seconded by his close friend and fellow writer, J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hesitate to disagree with the analysis of two of the greatest writers of the 20th Century but I must confess that I found ‘Till we have Faces’ a difficult story to get into. Perhaps Greek mythology is just ‘not my thing’. But there is one thing about the book that I really like, and that’s simply the title: ‘Till we have Faces’.

The face has always been understood to be that which reveals a person’s identity. It’s very hard to recognise someone when all you can see is the back of their head, but there’s no mistaking a friend when you see them face to face. What’s more, if you’re really attentive, you can tell a lot about someone’s personality by taking a close look at their face. Of course we’d all like to think that we would never judge a person simply by appearances, but that’s not true. We do this all the time, instinctively, perhaps without

It’s frightening to think that we could stand before the God who created us and He would ‘not know’ us. What then could so distort our ‘face’ that on the day of judgement we would be unrecognisable even to our Heavenly Father? Well, the obvious answer is sin. Every sin we commit is not only an offense against God; sin also distorts our own identity. In philosophical terms we could say that sin is an ‘ontological lie’. In other words, sin is an ‘untruth’ against the nature of our being. The more we allow ourselves to be deceived by sin, the harder it becomes to see our face reflected. We become unrecognisable, even to ourselves. even knowing it. If, for example, a complete stranger were to come knocking on your front door, I bet your first instinct would be to look at their face and judge weather this is a person you should trust or not.

So how did C. S. Lewis come up with the title ‘Till we have Faces’ ?

It seems a strange name for a book, even for a book based on Greek mythology. It begs the question, could there be a time when we don’t have faces? In a way, Yes. Lewis, as a devout Christian, understood that it’s only ‘in Christ’ that we find our true identity. In coming to know Jesus, we not only enter into the mystery of God; we also come to understand the mystery of ourselves. Our ‘true face’, as it were, will be revealed when we stand before the Lord face to face. In the meantime, all the choices we make in this life - all the moral decisions big and small - are a preparation for that day when Jesus returns. Will we be like the five bridesmaids in a recent Sunday’s Gospel who were ready? Or will we be like the five who were told, ‘Go away, I do not know you’? (Mt 25:12).

These are strong words by Jesus in the parable of the 10 bridesmaids.

But as well as the obvious temptation to sin, there is another force lurking within the depths of every human soul: a force, if we’re not careful, can also deviate us from the right path. And that is Fear.

First of all, let me clarify that fear in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Life is good, and we have a natural instinct to preserve it. Fear is triggered whenever we’re confronted with a potential threat to our safety and well-being. But like all human emotions fear can sometimes get the better of us. We need to keep it in check. There are many things in the world that we should indeed be afraid of, but we also have to stand back from time to time and evaluate if our fears are justified.

Take for example the current pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Now, I don’t deny the reality of the coronavirus. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have suffered or died as a result of the virus. Especially this month of November we remember to pray for those who have died, particularly within the past year. We certainly should do all within reason to curtail the spread of the virus. But

4th December 2020 Catholic Voice that’s the problem: we no longer ask what’s within reason. Instead, we allow fear to dominate – if not fear of the virus itself, then fear of calling out the hypocrisy within the government lock-downs. We know that the virus is deadly, particularly for people over 70 with pre-existing conditions. But we’ve also learned over the months that this virus, thankfully, is not as dangerous to the general public as we initially believed. If you are under the age of 50 and in reasonably good health, you have little to fear. The total deaths worldwide from Covid-19 amounts to .00016%. But instead of finding a solution in due proportion to the threat of the virus, we continue to live in an atmosphere of fear.

We were told back in March that we had to lock-down for just 15 days in order to flatten the curve. Eight months later we hear little about ‘the curve’ but have to wait indefinitely until….well, nobody seems to know. In the meantime, we accepted the governments interference with our right to worship God. People have lost their businesses, alcohol and drug addiction is on the rise, not to mention the tragic number of suicides. We are slowly becoming a lifeless society, a society quite literally without a face. In this country we used to believe that the stranger was simply a friend you haven’t met yet. Now we see the stranger as a potential ‘bag of germs’ who could infect you if they come within two meters of your safe space. I haven’t lost hope for the soul of our country, but I think it’s time we start putting things back into proper perspective.

The people with power in this world know full well how to incite fear to their advantage.

The Church, on the other hand, proclaims a message of hope. This is not a false hope that simply says “trust in God and everything will be

BEHOLD HIS FACE 9

fine”. No. Christianity recognises that there are many things in the world - including viruses - that we should rightly be concerned about.

Christ doesn’t ask us to turn a blind eye to our fears, but to face them with courage. In an age gone wild with emotions, maybe it’s time we started to talk again about the virtues. St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that the essential virtue was that of prudence, i.e. the ability to make good judgements and act accordingly. The two cardinal virtues of prudence and fortitude always go hand in hand.

if you honestly believe that they are necessary. By all means, wear a mask in public if you genuinely believe it is the right thing to do. But don’t be afraid to think for yourself. Try to make sound judgements and follow through with conviction. It’s in living our lives with truth and integrity that we come to know Christ, and in coming to know Christ we discover our true face. Keep your lamps lit like the sensible bridesmaids and be ready to for that day when we stand before the Lord and see Him face to face.

I’m not going to encourage anyone to go against government guidelines

Fr Colm Mannion, O.P. Director of Dominican Vocations

The

Dominicans

Preaching Truth for the Salvation of Souls

"Showing the beauty of Truth not only draws people to the Truth; it makes believers happy."

- John Mark L. Miravalle

www.irishdominicanvocations.com

10 APPEAL

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

Be Part Of The Miracle | China Church Solidarity

I

have been visiting China since 1979 and working systematically there since 2000. In 2014, we were able to open an Augustinian Sisters’ Active contemplative Monastery (pictures below). I unhesitatingly call this a wonder and a miracle in the context of Communist China.

The foundation of this monastery can be sourced to many, including the prayers and financial support of many in Ireland and Britain, but in a special way to the extraordinary faith of two people: the Mother Foundress, Sr Mary, who with her family lived through all the oppression of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s in China and the positive response of an elderly bishop despite his suffering during the same period.

I once asked Sr Mary’s Bishop how was it possible for him to say yes when asked to sponsor this Contemplative Monastery in his diocese in such difficulties for Christians in China. His reply was profound: “When Sister Mary told me her story and the dream of her contemplative vocation, my twenty years in prison, ten of these in solitary confinement, flashed to memory, painful as they were.

But in a moment I saw the point of it all. It was a grace that allowed me to recognise and understand her call to initiate a contemplative

monastery, as that was the only option available to me while in prison – Contemplation.”

The Monastery was formally opened in 2014. However, permission to open the Monastery was given by the government with a BIG CONDITION, namely, that a Nursing Home for the Aged would be attached to the monastery. This was acceptable to the sisters and would constitute the “active” part of their mission.

We expect the cost of the nursing home to be about one million, nine hundred thousand US dollars. The

Please print in block letters Name: ................................................................................ ............................................................................................

Address: ............................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................

Please send cheque made payable to CCS or cash FAO Fr Eamonn O’Brien ssc, China Church Solidarity, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath C15 AY2Y

Catholics of China have collected $500,000 to date and now I’m seeking support outside of China to raise another $1,000,000.

I am most grateful for your generosity to us over the past twenty year which has helped strengthen the Church of China in its mission of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Please continue to support the mission of the Monastery with your prayers. If you wish to support with a donation, please return the coupon on the lower left or donate via Paypal on our website: www. ccschina.co.uk.

4th December 2020

CATHOLIC WITNESS 11

Catholic Voice

Fr Jerzy Popieluszko - Polish Martyr (Image courtesy Andrzej Iwański wikimedia crative commons)

“It is not enough for a Christian to condemn evil, cowardice, lies, and use of force, hatred, and oppression. He must at all times be a witness to and defender of justice, goodness, truth, freedom, and love. He must never tire of claiming these values as a right both for himself and others.”

Blessed Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko Blessed Fr Jerzy Popieluszko, a vocal opponent of Communism, was beaten to death by three Polish Security Police officers on 19th October 1984.

He was beatified on 6th June 2010.

Catholic Voice Update Dear Reader, Since March when the pandemic first affected the publication of Catholic Voice we have been grateful for the support received to enable us to continue publishing.

As a not for profit organisation our income is from advertising, publication sales and donations. Both of the former have been seriously reduced for almost 6 months now due to the restrictions and closures of churches and therefore we are relying more heavily on your financial and prayerful support.

Many of you have kindly donated to Catholic Voice and we are most grateful however if you are in a position to send a further donation it would be most appreciated.

You are assured of our ongoing commitment to publish and spread Catholic truth.

HOW TO DONATE: 1. Online - Visit www.catholicvoice.ie click Donate 2. By Telephone call 059 8627268 - (00353 59 8627268 outside ROI) to pay by credit/debit card please leave your phone number and name and we shall return your call 3. Send a cheque or postal order (made payable to Catholic Voice) with the reply coupon to Catholic Voice, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, County Kildare, Eire

Anthony and Kim Murphy I/ We would like to donate towards the ongoing publication of Catholic Voice.

Donation enclosed. Please tick box or enter an individual amount

 €10 €25 €100 €250 €500 Other € _________ Name: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________ Cheques & postal orders made payable to Catholic Voice Please send your cheque or postal order to Catholic Voice, St. Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy ,Co Kildare

12 ALLOW US OUR HOLY MASS

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

To The Bishops of Ireland In The Name of Holy God - Open Our Churches For Holy Mass

John Lacken

Let us begin once again with a prayer for our Irish bishops begging God and Our Lady to give them the courage to restore the public worship that is due to Almighty God. Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen The Covid-19 madness continues in Ireland and the Irish people are being lied to, manipulated and subjected to psychological behavioural modification techniques designed to keep us under control. Many people are blind to what is going on and simply accept the government narrative that Ireland is experiencing a serious pandemic despite the lack of evidence for this.

For example, on the 18th November 2020, there were 173 patients on hospital trolleys in Irish hospitals.

This is less then the numbers on trolleys for four out of the last five years, 2019 - 400; 2018 - 230; 2016 - 296; 2015 - 354. If we are experiencing a deadly pandemic, then how come there are less people in hospital then in times when there was no pandemic?

Some will tell you that sick people are afraid to go to hospital, and that may be a part of the explanation.

Others will tell you that certain hospital services have been cancelled because of Covid-19, and that may also partly explain the numbers. However, the fact remains that there are less people in hospital when we are supposed to be experiencing a deadly pandemic.

The psychological behavioural modification techniques being used on the population involve the

implementation of Russian style propaganda and disinformation programmes. Our Lady at Fatima warned us about Russia spreading her errors.

We were told in October that we would be moving to level three but not to level five. Dr Tony Holohan, an unelected official, then tells us that we need to move to level five for six weeks. The government says ‘No, four weeks will do at a modified level three’. Unelected Tony repeats that it must be level five for six weeks. The elected government then moves to level five for six weeks just as unelected Tony told them to. It is easy to see who is in charge and one wonders from where unelected Tony gets his authority to command our elected representatives and why they so willingly obey this unelected man.

The citizens of Ireland are being subjected to psychological manipulation and a form of brain washing. All these media stunts which are broadcast on our national airwaves and published in media outlets, are deliberately designed to cause confusion, fear, and uncertainty in people’s minds to subtly coerce compliance with government directives. The purpose of these totalitarian directives, which cause unnecessary fear and isolation, is to control the population and to make them docile to an ever-encroaching dictatorial regime. The largely bogus threat of a killer virus is a clever technique to conceal what is really going on.

We are constantly being told different things about Christmas.

Restrictions will be lifted.

Restrictions will not be lifted. We are getting the virus numbers under control. The virus numbers are going out of control again. No wait, they’re back under control again.

Ooops, they are going out of control again. It was even suggested that we should postpone celebrating Christmas until the end of January.

This constant flip-flopping on the public airwaves is deliberate. The unelected Tony Holohan says that family members travelling home for Christmas is not essential travel. Visiting elderly relatives in nursing homes is not essential and is forbidden. We are being led to believe that family is not essential and this is a part of the great global plan to destroy Christianity.

If family is not essential then our society is history, it is finished. The fundamental unit group of civilised society is the family founded on the lifelong marriage of one man and one woman. We are now being told that family is not essential. It is OK to abandon elderly parents in nursing homes and to prevent family members and even priests from visiting them.

Another example of this propaganda concerns the public celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are told that a priest can be fined and put in prison for celebrating Holy Mass whilst allowing people to attend. The minister for health then tells us that priests will not be fined or put in prison as there is no provision in the legislation for this. Yet some priests have been contacted and visited by members of ‘An Gardaí’ telling them that they will be prosecuted if they do not stop allowing members of the faithful into the Church whilst Holy Mass is being celebrated. A classic good cop, bad cop routine.

Meanwhile Archbishop Eamon Martin issues a call for people to contact their TDs to tell them to lift some of the restrictions on Holy

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

ALLOW US OUR HOLY MASS 13

Mass. Whilst this may be an understandable request, it is seriously misguided because it avoids facing up to who exactly is responsible for keeping our Catholic Churches open.

The Irish government and Irish TDs have no authority over the Catholic Church. Writing to public representatives asking them to open the Churches is wrong because it implies that these public representatives have authority over Catholic Churches and over Catholic worship. It is very dangerous to set a precedent whereby the impression is given that our right to worship God comes from the State. It does not.

We have a sacred duty to worship God simply because He is God. The Catholic Churches in Ireland and elsewhere should never have been closed for public worship. But it is not the government that has closed the Churches in Ireland, it is the Irish bishops. I know of one diocese where at least two priests continued to allow members of the faithful to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass during lock-down. In both cases I know of, it was not the officers of the State who commanded these priests to stop allowing Catholics to worship Almighty God at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it was the bishop of the diocese who denied access to the Holy Sacrifice.

There are still a few priests in Ireland who allow faithful Catholics to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass but, just as in the penal times of old, these priests must now conduct these Holy Masses in secret and they are now being reported and harassed by Gardaí if they continue to allow Catholics to attend Holy Mass.

It is not a coincidence that the symbol of authority in the Catholic Church is two keys. The power of binding and loosing, the power to open and to close.

“And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.” (Isaiah 22:22) In the book of the Apocalypse St John is told to write to the church in Philadelphia.

“And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, write: These things saith the Holy One and the true one, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth:” (Apocalypse 3:7)

St Peter - Lippo Memmi (1291 - 1356) Since the time of Christ’s resurrection and the first Pentecost, the primary target of the evil one and of those who serve him is the Catholic Church founded by Christ to spread His teachings. Do not be surprised that Catholics worldwide were prevented from attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Easter Sunday this year.

Do not be surprised that most Catholics will be unable to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Christmas day this year. Our bishops will not lift the restrictions on public worship so that we can welcome the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ as we have done for centuries.

In St Matthews Gospel when Christ commissions St Peter as the first Pope He also mentions the keys.

Our bishops will limit the amount of people allowed to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and they will lay the blame for this on the Irish government even though the Irish government does not possess the keys of any Catholic Church.

“And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19)

We are witnessing the accelerated collapse of western civilisation. There are those who frown at such statements saying that we must be ‘positive’, as if being positive will prevent this collapse. Catholics are not called to be positive; we are called to be faithful witnesses to the Catholic Church, and we are called to live virtuous lives in Faith, Hope and Charity.

14 ALLOW US OUR HOLY MASS

Catholic Voice

We live in an era where child sacrifice has increased to a phenomenal scale. A report recently published about Ireland indicates that some children who have survived abortion under the new corrupt legislation, have been allowed to die without proper medical care.

Many world leaders, including the majority of our own elected representatives, voted to legislate in favour of this child sacrifice. Innocent children are sacrificed to the gods of convenience, choice, career, free sexual expression and so-called women’s rights.

Where is the campaign from our bishops to write to our TDs telling them to end this child sacrifice? Many more lives are lost to abortion in this country that are lost to the Covid-19 virus.

The real letter writing campaign that is needed is for ordinary Catholics to write to their bishops in their thousands calling on our bishops to use the keys given to them by Almighty God to open our Catholic Churches and to allow us our God given freedom to publicly worship Almighty God. When it comes to public worship we must join our voices to the voice of St Peter and the other apostles when they were brought before the council.

“We ought to obey God, rather than men. The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom you put to

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4th December 2020

death, hanging him upon a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. And we are witnesses of these things and the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to all that obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32) In Ireland, it seems that we are suffering from the effects of a comfortable Catholicism. A Catholicism which took for granted its exalted place in society and which became complacent and whose leaders eventually compromised on Catholic teaching in order to appease the secular state. How else can we explain the fact that there is virtually no opposition to the child corrupting sex education programmes that are being introduced into our Catholic schools? The World Health Organisation promotes teaching about masturbation to Catholic children under four years of age; our pulpits are silent; our bishops have not called for a letter writing campaign to stop this child abuse; and those Catholic parents who publicly object and who seek to alert their fellow Catholics are disparaged by our bishops and called names.

This Advent, let us look closely at how the lives of the apostles ended. All of the apostles were martyred for proclaiming the Catholic Faith although St John was miraculously delivered from death.

Let us deepen our commitment to our Catholic Faith and our commitment to bearing public witness to that faith. Let no-one tell you that your family cannot join you for Christmas or that you cannot attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Christmas day to welcome the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Those who say such things must be resisted publicly and we must call our bishops to account if they deny us the Sacraments on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ.

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The words of St Paul to St Peter when St Peter refused to eat with the gentiles on account of the circumcision party, must be spoken to our bishops.

“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

(Galatians 2:11-14) We must oppose our bishops to their faces because “their conduct is not in step with the truth of the

4th December 2020

ALLOW US OUR HOLY MASS 15

Catholic Voice

Gospel” when they deny us access to the heavenly banquet given to us by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

conducted in a spirit of humility and with the desire to worship Almighty God as He Himself has asked us to worship Him.

They are acting hypocritically by closing the Churches under the pretext of ensuring our safety and by telling us to write to our TDs.

To quote ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’

Do they really believe that Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar, and Eamon Ryan, all of whom voted for child sacrifice, have a better chance of protecting us from a deadly disease than Jesus Christ?

It is hypocritical to proclaim Jesus Christ as our Saviour whilst denying access to Him in the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at a time when our lives might be in danger, although, as I have stated before, there is no evidence to support the case that we are in the midst of a pandemic.

Such opposition to the bishops must not be conducted in an arrogant or haughty fashion but must be

“For it is the liturgy through which, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, “the work of our redemption is accomplished,” and it is through the liturgy, especially, that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.”

(Sacrosanctum Concilium 2) Catholics are being denied access to that through which “the work of our redemption is accomplished” and through which “we are enabled to express in our lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church”.

Such denials cannot possibly be from God and therefore they must be resisted by all people of Faith.

The Five First Saturdays

Let us urgently write to our bishops and encourage others to write as well so that on Christmas day we may unite our voices with the voices of the angels and saints in Heaven and sing loudly together in our Catholic churches: Adeste Fideles Laeti triumphantes, Venite, venite in Bethlehem.

Natum videte, Regem Angelorum; Venite adoremus, venite adoremus, venite adoremus, Dominum!

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold him Born the King of Angels: O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

May God bless you

There’s A Place For Us

This book is a collection of Rosary There’s a Place for Us meditations composed by the Homosexuality in the celebrated French Dominican, Father Divine Plan of Redemption Jacques Marie Louis Monsabré, which were translated into English in 1885. Although these were composed in before Our Lady visited Fatima, they are perfectly suitable for use with the Five First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation.

Jesus said to those who would stone her: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

The importance of the Five First Saturdays Devotion cannot be over emphasised, Our Lady specifically came from Heaven to Fatima to ask Catholics to honour her in this way. We would appreciate your help in getting this book to as many people as possible. The cost is €10.00 including post & packing to anywhere in Ireland and it would make a great Christmas present.

Jesus said to the woman: “Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?

Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee.”

“Go, And Now Sin No More.”

By John Cassidy

There’s A Place For Us: This testimony does not shirk away from difficult Catholic teachings but shows with piercing clarity why the Church teaches as she does the area of human sexuality. In our lives we are called to a lot more than sexual satisfaction. Rather, we are granted the privilege of living life on the highest possible plane in responding to the call of greatness of being the Sons and Daughters of God.

John Cassidy - Bio Ex-homosexual and New Man John Cassidy has been serving the Catholic Church as a full-time Lay-Man since his conversion in 2014. John has founded the Association of Believing Catholics which is a lay initiative to promote and defend the fullness of Catholic truth.

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16 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

The Dogma Of The Immaculate Conception On the eight of December 1854, Pope Pius IX issued the apostolic constitution ‘Ineffabilis Deus’ which defined the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of the Catholic Church which must be believed by all Catholics. The following extracts are taken from ‘Ineffabilis Deus’ .

would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds.[1]

God Ineffable — whose ways are mercy and truth, whose will is omnipotence itself, and whose wisdom The Catholic Church, directed by the Holy Spirit of “reaches from end to end mightily, and orders all God, is the pillar and base of truth and has ever held things sweetly” — having foreseen from all eternity as divinely revealed and as contained in the deposit the lamentable wretchedness of the entire human of heavenly revelation this doctrine concerning race which would result from the sin of the original innocence of the august Virgin Adam, decreed, by a plan hidden from the — a doctrine which is so perfectly in centuries, to complete the first work of harmony with her wonderful sanctity his goodness by a mystery yet more and pre-eminent dignity as Mother of wondrously sublime through the God — and thus has never ceased to Incarnation of the Word. This he explain, to teach and to foster this decreed in order that man who, doctrine age after age in many contrary to the plan of Divine ways and by solemn acts. From Mercy had been led into sin by this very doctrine, flourishing the cunning malice of Satan, and wondrously propagated should not perish; and in order in the Catholic world through that what had been lost in the the efforts and zeal of the first Adam would be gloriously bishops, was made very clear restored in the Second Adam. by the Church when she did From the very beginning, and not hesitate to present for the before time began, the eternal public devotion and veneration Father chose and prepared of the faithful the Feast of the for his only-begotten Son a Conception of the Blessed Mother in whom the Son of Virgin.

God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed By this most significant fact, fullness of time, he would be the Church made it clear indeed born into this world. Above all that the conception of Mary is creatures did God so loved her to be venerated as something that truly in her was the Father extraordinary, wonderful, well pleased with singular delight. eminently holy, and different from Therefore, far above all the angels the conception of all other human and all the saints so wondrously did beings — for the Church celebrates God endow her with the abundance only the feast days of the saints. of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, And hence the very words with which ever absolutely free of all Immaculate Conception - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696 - 1770) the Sacred Scriptures speak stain of sin, all fair and of Uncreated Wisdom and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence set forth his eternal origin, the Church, both in its and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even ecclesiastical offices and in its liturgy, has been wont imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, to apply likewise to the origin of the Blessed Virgin, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully. inasmuch as God, by one and the same decree, had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a Divine Wisdom. mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of These truths, so generally accepted and put into most sublime holiness and so completely free from all practice by the faithful, indicate how zealously the taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over Roman Church, mother and teacher of all Churches, the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give has continued to teach this doctrine of the Immaculate his only-begotten Son — the Son whom, equal to the Conception of the Virgin. Yet the more important Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his actions of the Church deserve to be mentioned in heart — and to give this Son in such a way that he detail. For such dignity and authority belong to the

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 17

Feast Day - December 8th Church that she alone is the centre of truth and of Catholic unity. It is the Church in which alone religion has been inviolably preserved and from which all other Churches must receive the tradition of the Faith.

The same Roman Church, therefore, desired nothing more than by the most persuasive means to state, to protect, to promote and to defend the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This fact is most clearly shown to the whole world by numerous and significant acts of the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors. To them, in the person of the Prince of the Apostles, were divinely entrusted by Christ our Lord, the charge and supreme care and the power of feeding the lambs and sheep; in particular, of confirming their brethren, and of ruling and governing the universal Church.

Our predecessors, indeed, by virtue of their apostolic authority, gloried in instituting the Feast of the Conception in the Roman Church. They did so to enhance its importance and dignity by a suitable Office and Mass, whereby the prerogative of the Virgin, her exception from the hereditary taint, was most distinctly affirmed. As to the homage already instituted, they spared no effort to promote and to extend it either by the granting of indulgences, or by allowing cities, provinces and kingdoms to choose as their patroness God’s own Mother, under the title of “The Immaculate Conception.”

Finally, in their desire to impress this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God upon the hearts of the faithful, and to intensify the people’s piety and enthusiasm for the homage and the veneration of the Virgin conceived without the stain of original sin, they delighted to grant, with the greatest pleasure, permission to proclaim the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin in the Litany of Loreto, and in the Preface of the Mass, so that the rule of prayer might thus serve to illustrate the rule of belief.

Therefore, we ourselves, following the procedure of our predecessors, have not only approved and accepted what had already been established, but bearing in mind, moreover, the decree of Sixtus IV, have confirmed by our authority a proper Office in honour of the Immaculate Conception, and have with exceeding joy extended its use to the universal Church...

Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honour of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own:

“We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular Again, our predecessors approved grace and privilege granted by Almighty confraternities, congregations and religious God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, communities founded in Immaculate Conception Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617 - 1682) the Saviour of the human honour of the Immaculate race, was preserved free from Conception, monasteries, hospitals, altars, or all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God churches; they praised persons who vowed to uphold and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by with all their ability the doctrine of the Immaculate all the faithful.”

Conception of the Mother of God. Besides, it afforded the greatest joy to our predecessors to ordain that the Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to Feast of the Conception should be celebrated in every think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him church with the very same honour as the Feast of the know and understand that he is condemned by his own Nativity; that it should be celebrated with an octave judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; by the whole Church; that it should be reverently that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and generally observed as a holy day of obligation; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the and that a pontifical Capella should be held in our penalties established by law if he should are to express Liberian pontifical basilica on the day dedicated to the in words or writing or by any other outward means the conception of the Virgin. errors he think in his heart.

18 SEEKING TRUTH

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

The Truth Shall Make You Free – Or Shall It? Christopher Monckton of Brenchley It is only under libertarian systems of government that the truth can safely be told. For totalitarians – Socialist, Fascist, Communist et hoc genus omne – there is no truth contrary to the Party Line.

Now that several vaccines under hasty development appear to show promise against the Chinese curse, governments and internet giants are banding together to see to it that those who oppose vaccination – the “anti-vaxxers” – are silenced, by force if necessary.

The Party Line on vaccines is that they work, they are generally safe and they are necessary to gain control over the pandemic and eventually to bring it to an end.

In your correspondent’s humble opinion, on this question the Party Line and the truth are at one.

However, there is no excuse for demanding that those who disagree with the Party Line should be forcibly silenced and punished for daring to dissent. Governments largely control the messages their peoples hear; and whatever media of communication they cannot reach are under the control of the internet monsters.

Therefore, they need not and should not deny to the anti-vaxxers “one jot or tittle of that ancient liberty of

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To Vaccinate Or Not to Vaccinate?

That is the Question

speech that our forefathers in this place won for themselves at the point of the sword,” as F.E. Smith said in the noble peroration of his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

If the case for universal vaccination is as strong as I think it is, then it is for those of us who take that view to argue for it against those who – for whatever reasons, good or bad – would like to argue against it. If we are confident in our position, we can be confident that we can out-argue our opponents. If we are not confident, then there is some likelihood that our opponents are correct, in which event to silence them would be to stifle the truth.

The Church would once have spoken out in defence of freedom of speech. For her message is – or, at any rate, used to be, until Communism captured the Vatican – one that runs counter to totalitarian governments everywhere.

It is no accident that the Chinese Communist Party has taken full advantage of the sharp Leftward lurch of the Holy See by inveigling the Pope – with remarkably little

pressure needed, one suspects – to sign away the freedom of the Church in China to appoint her own bishops. Instead, only those acceptable to the brutal regime – i.e., those who can be trusted never to exercise free speech on behalf of the multitudinous victims of Communism – will be appointed.

On a growing range of questions, the Left are increasingly demanding imprisonment or even execution for those who dare to dissent from the Party Line.

Greg Clarke, the chairman of the Football Association, lost his job last week because he described black people as “coloured”. That was at one time the adjective that black people themselves preferred.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in the USA in 1909, still calls itself the NAACP, and the phrase “people of color” is still in regular use by – well, let us call them non-Caucasians. It was plain from the context that Mr Clarke was not in any way expressing contempt for them: quite the opposite.

4th December 2020 Yet the artificial manufacturing of grievances and fake taking offence have long been part of the armoury of Communism. Mr Clarke also described homosexuality as a lifechoice. That, too, allowed the usual suspects to take gratuitous offence.

There is substantial evidence that homosexuality is usually a matter of choice rather than of genetic propensity, but these days no one is allowed to say so.

Likewise, one is no longer permitted to say, however politely, that – for instamce – male promiscuous homosexuality is at least as dangerous for its practitioners as smoking.

The unspeakable BBC – which talked of nothing else but Mr Clarke in the most libellous terms of pure hatred for a couple of days – no longer allows anyone on the air to say that torturing and dismembering babies and tearing them piecemeal from the womb of their mother, and without even giving the little ones their own anaesthetic first is wrong.

To question a woman’s right to torture, maim and kill is described by the BBC as “extremism”.

Even the Daily Telegraph, a onceconservative newspaper, has echoed the unspeakable BBC in saying that President Trump’s assertions that there was widespread voter fraud organized by the “Democrats” were “unfounded” or “unsubstantiated”.

In no mainstream news medium in the UK have I yet seen any report of the case in Pennsylvania in which the court found some of the Republicans’ assertions of voter fraud to have been substantiated.

James Hansen, a far-left academic at NASA, has said that anyone who dares to disagree with him on the imagined (and imaginary) threat of “global warming” or “global

SEEKING TRUTH 19

Catholic Voice heating” or “Thermageddon” should be put on trial for “crimes against humanity”. No freedom of speech there, then: for the penalty for crimes against humanity is death.

The hierarchy have been lamentably supine in failing to speak out against the Left’s increasingly insistent demands that no one may say anything contrary to the Party Line – now even on pain of death.

It was the Renaissance, followed by the Enlightenment, that encouraged freedom of speech. As Milton put it in the introduction to his Areopagitica, “This is true liberty, when freeborn men, Having to advise the public, may speak free: which he who can and will deserves high praise. Who neither can nor will may hold his peace. What can be juster in a state than this?”

In the Areopagitica, Milton argued that all taxes on printed books and newspapers should be done away with. Parliament agreed with the finest poet of the day, and books have been tax-free ever since.

Precisely because so much of the Church’s message was and is

downright unfashionable, she has more to lose than most institutions by the rapid and increasing pace at which the Left are sullenly throttling freedom of speech.

She had better find her voice soon, or the tide of ever-more-complex restrictions on the vocabulary one may use and the things one may say will altogether drown out her still, small voice of calm.

In Canada, the Government tried to pass a law obliging every citizen, on pain of fines or imprisonment, to use the “preferred pronouns” of those who do not wish to be addressed as directly as “you” or in the third person as “he” or “she”.

One man, Jordan Peterson, a professor of social psychology, spoke out against that nonsensical law, saying that it was for each individual to decide what words he chose to use, and not for his interlocutor to dictate them.

Where, then, is the Bishop who will have the courage to take on the cult of cancellation and silence? In the words of the marriage service, “Speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

FAKE NEWS

20 OUR CHURCHES ARE EMPTY

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

WHERE HAVE ALL THE CATHOLICS GONE? Mary Kearns

We should be in mourning for the loss of Mass. We should be deeply sorrowful and be ready to witness this publicly, perhaps by wearing a black arm-band or some other sign of bereavement. We should be prepared to tell anyone who asks, that we are suffering spiritually because we are prohibited from receiving our divine Lord in Holy Communion. How long we wonder, will we be prevented from offering the holy sacrifice of Jesus to the Father in union with the priest?

This is just one aspect of what has became a reality due to the government’s imposition of level 5 lock-down as an attempt to curtail the spread of the Covid 19 virus.

The other side of the story is that most churches, even when they cannot celebrate public Masses, are nonetheless still remaining open.

Where are all the Catholics who could be adoring Jesus present in the tabernacle? Why are there no people queuing outside every parish church waiting their turn to enter in

accordance with “social distancing” policy? Why is it rare to see men, women and children inside a church on their knees before the statue of Our Lady or the various saints?

Shrines remain empty of petitions and only a handful of candles are burning.

We are Catholics after all and this is part of how we worship, the way we have always done, with true reverence and piety.

Where are all the Catholics who came on pilgrimage especially on Sundays, to our national shrine at Knock? Although this beloved place is now desolate, it is still possible to pray at the scene of the Apparition as our ancestors did, often walking bare-foot many miles, from all over Ireland. Where are all those who always turn up for the blessing with a saint’s relic or to see a priest who is believed to have a special intercessory gift of healing? Why do we not see a long line of men and women waiting to make their Confession with a priest

“When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”

– St. Josemaria Escriva

who is willing to meet them out of doors while observing the required regulations?

Throughout the country we hear reports of priests who are making an effort to provide some alternative means of spiritual nourishment.

We can watch Mass on-line and additionally in many parishes and religious houses evening devotions have been introduced, including the Rosary and Evening Prayer of the Church. Some churches allow us to watch and pray with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. This is to be commended and is at least one means of maintaining a connection with the Faith. It is certainly of value but let us not be fooled into believing that we are actually present and therefore there is no need to physically make a visit to a church.

“All church services have gone online” we are told. This completely ignores the fact that it is impossible to avail of the sacraments via the internet. We can listen to the readings from scripture and make our spiritual communion but it is of far greater benefit to take ourselves off to the nearest place where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus is to be adored in the tabernacle and not just when the Host is exposed in the monstrance.

We are not alone. Other countries have suffered religious persecution in various ways but have nonetheless been able to preserve the Catholic Faith through all their difficulties. Those who had the privilege of meeting Bishop Athanasius Schneider on one of his visits to Ireland, will remember

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

OUR CHURCHES ARE EMPTY 21

how he spoke with the greatest reverence of the reality of Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

In his inspiring book, “Dominus Est” the bishop describes how growing up in the former Soviet Union, the Catholic people was deprived to a great extent of being able to worship and celebrate the sacraments.

The bishop recalls the profound reverence for Our Lord he saw in his family members and particularly for their love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during adoration. Their tremendous devotion was transmitted to him and others around him. For long periods it was not possible to attend Mass at all. There was some clandestine worship occasionally and this was an unforgettable experience.

“We longed every day for Holy Communion and often times made acts of contrition,” the bishop recalled in an interview with a Polish newspaper When a priest secretly and unexpectedly arrived to celebrate Mass, “it was a real feast, which gave us much strength and joy.” It had been possible to attend Mass at times but this was at a distance of sixty miles and children were not allowed to be present.

On these occasions the Schneider family took the first train in the morning, returning with the last train at night so the children could accompany their parents under the cover of darkness. This was something they could only afford to do once a month. Sister Teresa Schneider, the bishop’s oldest sibling remembered the example of the parents who referred to the Eucharist as the “greatest prayer.” She claimed the children fully grasped the sacred reality and believed the hearts of their parents were in the Eucharist.

In “Dominus Est,” his Excellency describes the role of “Eucharistic women” who in the absence of priests to offer Mass and administer the sacraments, managed nevertheless to preserve the flame of Faith by adoring Jesus in the Eucharist so as to be able to receive him at least spiritually. In a moving account the bishop relates how his own mother Maria Schneider, was allowed in an exceptional circumstance to administer Holy Communion. A priest in hiding gave this permission on condition that the action be carried out with the greatest reverence.

Maria Schneider brought an envelope containing the sacred Host. Wearing a pair of new white gloves and by means of tweezers, she gave Holy Communion to her ailing mother. This meant of course that she did not at any time allow her own hands to touch the sacred Host and afterwards the envelope was burned.

The Catholics of Bishop Schneider’s country did not disappear because of persecution or when they were simply bereft of supernatural nourishment due to there being no possibility of attending Mass or receiving the grace of the sacraments.

In common with many former “Iron Curtain” countries, they conserved their precious heritage and retained a deep faith to the present day, with particular reverence towards the sacred liturgy.

They frequently receive the sacrament of Penance and have a tremendous love of prayer and especially for Eucharistic adoration. Additionally, they have in general a clear sense of the sacred which includes love and reverence for their priests and bishops.

In years gone by, the people of Ireland also had a long history of deprivation and persecution and they too, longed for the day when they would be free to practice their Faith. Let us never lose what they have bequeathed us.

For catechesis and liturgical formation: marykeenankearns@gmail.com 087 7794687

22 THE REIGN OF CHRIST

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

A Reminder in Advent: Christ Reigns, Rules, and Conquers Monsignor Charles Pope

Advent is a season of waiting. Waiting for God to fulfil His promises. We know that most of His promises from the Old Testament were fulfilled magnificently by Jesus, but as St. Paul reminds, we have received but the first fruits of His work in our soul (Romans 8:23). The created world and our physical bodies still await the full implications of what He has done. We still await a new Heaven and a new earth where the justice of God will reside (2 Peter 3:13). We still wait for that time when God will renew and restore all things in Christ and will vanquish Satan and his followers so that they can no longer cause harm.

There are times — times like these — when many may be discouraged.

There are times when evil may seem to triumph and the victory of Christ seems far off. For indeed, we live in a fallen world, governed by a fallen angel, and we have fallen natures.

As Advent progresses, however, there comes a word of encouragement from Isaiah, who is the main prophet of reference during this season.

Addressed to the faint hearted, it is an unambiguous declaration that God is working His purposes out and that nothing in this world can prevent His plan from being fulfilled.

1. The Plan – In Heaven there is no panic, no puzzlement about what to do, just plans. God says that His plan will stand. The foolish and the selfdescribed “wise and learned” of this world may well scoff and think they have found something greater than God’s wisdom and knowledge. Many secular people dismiss God as a myth or as irrelevant. The wicked may think they can mock God forever, but God’s plan will stand. The works of evil are going nowhere. Scripture says in Psalm 2,

I am God there is no other. At the beginning I foretell the outcome; in advance, things not yet done. I say that my plan shall stand. I accomplish my every purpose. Yes, I have spoken, I will accomplish it; I have planned it and I will do it. Listen to me you faint hearted, you who seem far from the victory of justice: I am bringing on my justice, it is not far off, my salvation shall not tarry; I will put salvation within Zion, and give my glory to Israel (Isaiah 46:9-12).

The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, “Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.” … Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling give homage to his Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Consider three conclusions for us to take to heart.

Yes, God’s plan will stand, no matter the plans of man. Those who mock

It is God who speaks through Isaiah.

These words are highly worth reading out loud:

Him, or build Towers of Babel, or lead others to sin are going to be surprised; they will have to answer to God. 2. The Paradox – God speaks of the “faint hearted” as those who feel far from the victory of justice. He tells them that His justice is near and that it will not tarry.

God often accomplishes His purposes in paradoxical ways! Simply go to the foot of the cross to see that. What sort of King is this? What sort of triumph is this? Yet it is a masterful inversion of Satan’s scheme, a stealthy action.

Just as Satan is doing his victory dance, Christ is emptying out Sheol.

Christ conquers by refusing Satan’s terms, by refusing to seek to impress the world on its prideful and vengeful terms. For indeed, darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred; only love can do that. Pride cannot conquer pride; only humility can do that.

The world demands that Christ become merely a bigger version of Satan: bold, brash, arrogant, and disobedient. It demands that Jesus fight the fight on Satan’s terms,

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

using Satan’s techniques. Jesus will have none of it; He cancels Satan’s pride by humility and obedience.

To the proud, the disobedient, and the boastful, the message still goes forth today: My plan shall stand. I accomplish my every purpose!

To the faint hearted goes the message that God’s justice is near, but we must also learn that it comes, paradoxically, through the cross. Just as the first victory came on the Sunday after Good Friday, so the second and final victory will rise in the wake of the cross. It will come—not on the world’s terms and not by Satan’s tactics but by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. The Perspective – There are many today who like to announce that the age of faith is over, that God is but a myth and faith a superstition. People who speak like this know little of history.

For indeed, the Lord’s Church has been here for more than 2000

years, more than 5000 if you count the Old Testament years. During this time, empires have come and gone, nations have risen and fallen, heresies and philosophies have waxed and waned. Self-declared enemies have said that they would bury the Church, but the Church read the funeral rites over them.

Where is Caesar now? Where is Julian the Apostate? Where is Napoleon or Hitler or Stalin or the USSR? When the Muslims wiped out the North African cradle of the Church, Europe lit up with converts from the barbarians. Just when two million Europeans walked out of the Church during the Protestant revolt, nine million entered in Mexico following the apparition at Guadalupe. Today, when Europe is largely divorcing itself from Christ, Africa has lit up again like a great wedding feast with a 7000% increase in the number of Catholics over the last fifty years.

THE REIGN OF CHRIST 23 People who say that the age of faith is over or that the Church is doomed have not read history.

They lack perspective because they do not know God, whose plan will stand. That the powers of Hell will strive to destroy the Church is evident. That they will fail to prevail is revealed in Scripture (Matt 16:18) and has been shown through all these centuries now.

When the current scoffers are dead and gone, the Church will still be here preaching the Gospel. The Lord does not guarantee that we will always be numerous, but we will be here for as long as the sun shall shine and until the Lord comes again.

To the fainthearted, the Spirit says, “Be strong. God’s plan will stand.”

And so the Lord Jesus says, Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away (Lk 21:33). These are difficult days, even inside the Church, but the Lord is still the Head of His Body.

God’s plan will stand.

24 OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

Our Lady of Guadalupe and Her Image Brother John Samaha

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared four times to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, in 1531 at Tepeyac on the edge of Mexico City in the guise of a pregnant aztec princess and spoke to him in his native dialect. This occurred just one generation after the discovery of the new World by Christopher Columbus. Our Lady directed Juan Diego to ask the Bishop of Mexico City to erect a church in her honour on the hill of Tepeyac. When the Bishop requested that Juan Diego ask “the beautiful lady” for a sign, our Blessed Mother left her image on Juan Diego’s coarse fabric cloak and gave him vibrant roses to take to the Bishop in the dead of winter.

That cloak with her sacred image is preserved to this day in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and is visited by millions of pilgrims each year.

Under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mary was named patroness of New Spain in 1710, and of Latin America in 1910. in 1945, she was pronounced Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas, and in 1999 Patroness of the Americas. The feast of st. Juan Diego is observed on December 9.

Not Painted By A Human Hand In the past five centuries since 1531, each generation of scientific researchers has found the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma of St. Juan Diego an unsolvable puzzle. Our Blessed Mother left a portrait painted by a heavenly hand on material produced by human hands. Keep in mind that this happened only a handful of years after Columbus discovered the western hemisphere and the spaniards colonised what is now Mexico. Juan Diego was among the first converts of the Franciscan missionaries.

recognition, yet this image of Our Lady of Guadalupe remains intact and vibrant. For unexplainable reasons, its material is resistant to dust, insects, bacteria, and mold.

A tilma was the broad cloak worn by the early aztecs of Mexico. It was woven from the thick and coarse fibres of the agava plant and had the colour of raw linen. Anything made with these fibres generally disintegrates completely within two decades. Because of its coarse and uneven surface and its loose weave, the fabric is unsuitable as a canvas for a painting.

The perfect preservation of the fabric and its colours has elicited genuine wonder among scientific experts and art specialists. Some skeptics and rationalists confronted with the facts resulting from their studies of the holy image abandoned their unbelief and bowed before the mystery of God. In 1975, Ramirez Vasquez, the renowned Mexican architect entrusted with the design of the new Guadalupe Basilica, was permitted to scrutinise the holy image. The results of his study persuaded him both intellectually and spiritually to renounce agnosticism; he became an ardent Catholic.

Throughout its history, the image experienced numerous incidences of preservation from unfortunate circumstances. In 1791, a worker accidentally spilled an entire bottle of nitric acid on the image when cleaning its silver frame. during the 1920s, the Church in Mexico suffered bloody persecution under Plutarco Calles, and many met death because of their Catholic Faith. The atheistic Masonic regime closed all the churches in the country except the Guadalupe Basilica and planned to destroy Our Lady’s image, as well as to kill the members of the hierarchy.

Scientific studies verify that the Guadalupe tilma is formed from the fibres of the agava plant. After almost 500 years, no sign of any decay has been detected as it endures in its pristine condition.

This baffles modern science.

Amazing also is the freshness of colours in this incredible image.

Equally impressive is the absence of any indication of spoilage, even though the image hung unprotected over a hundred years and was exposed to a variety of pollutants like incense smoke, soot, perfumes, and the burning wax of innumerable votive candles.

The noted Mexican painter, Miguel Cabrera, reported that in 1753 he observed in a period of two hours the pilgrims touching the image about 500 times with a variety of objects.

Under similar conditions, any other image would be damaged beyond

Dr. Phillip Callahan, University of Florida, studied the Guadalupe image in 1979, and reported that one lighted votive candle emits over 600 micro-watts of light. In such enclosed premises and in the presence of hundreds of burning candles and thousands of pilgrims, one would expect the colours to fade and the image to suffer irreparable damage, but the image has been resistant to any harmful agent.

On November 14, 1921, government agents planted a powerful time

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE 25

bomb in a flower vase under the tilma. At 10:30 a.m., the bomb exploded as a pontifical Mass was being celebrated. The blast rocked the entire Basilica and destroyed the floor, altar, and stained glass windows. Some people suffered minor wounds but, miraculously, no one was killed. The miraculous image itself survived untouched.

Over the years, the Guadalupe image has undergone careful examination by many scientific researchers and art experts to determine if its preservation was the result of natural causes. Studies were conducted with the help of electron microscopes, infrared irradiation, and other methods. The conclusions were always the same: no human hand could have painted the image.

In 1936, Dr. Richard Kuhn, chemist and nobel prize laureate at the University of Heidelberg, ran meticulous tests on fibres of the tilma. His results concluded that the dyes used to produce the image are unknown to natural science, and are not of animal, plant, mineral, or synthetic origin.

Microscopic studies in 1946 showed that the image bears no trace of brush strokes or a preliminary sketch or an artist’s signature.

Additional studies in 1954 and 1966 by Dr. F. Camps Ribera and his associates reinforced these previous findings. Authorities have agreed that the greatest artist could not have painted the image of our lady of Guadalupe.

Professional photographer Alfonso Gonzales in 1929 enlarged Our Lady’s face many times and discovered that her eyes showed the clear reflection of a bearded man’s face. This prompted a series of detailed studies of her eyes from 1950 to 1990. The results of all researchers indicated that Mary’s eyes are like those of a living person. They exhibit extraordinary depth, the phenomenon of reflection that occurs only in living persons, and the best of painting

techniques cannot replicate this.

Scientists enlarged Mary’s eyes up to 2500 times, and this showed that 12 persons are reflected in her eyes -- the scene of Juan Diego’s meeting with Bishop Zumarraga and his associates. The scene is so lucid that it shows details such as tears of emotion, earrings, aztec sandal laces, a bald man with a white beard, another man with an aquiline nose and whiskers on his cheeks, and other details.

These scientific studies rule out any possibility that a human hand may have painted the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the

tilma of St. Juan Diego. Among the experts conducting these studies were some of the world’s leading scientists in the fields of optics and ophthalmology .

Only faith can tell us that the author of this image is God himself. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a sign calling all people to conversion.

Gazing on the miraculous image, we can experience the maternal love of the Mother of the Redeemer and our own spiritual mother, who is concerned about the salvation of all her children. This extraordinary sign reminds us that true happiness is found in God alone.

26 ISLAM AND JIHAD

Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

Gruesome New Muslim Attacks On Christians Prove Jihad Is Central To Islam William Kilpatrick

After a series of terror attacks in France, including one that left three people dead at a Catholic Church in Nice, Vatican Cardinal Robert Sarah said that the West must wake up to the threat of Islamism. “Islamism,” His Eminence said, “is a monstrous fanaticism which must be fought with force and determination.”

But you can’t fight something with determination unless you first believe it exists. Unfortunately, many authorities in the West, including many of Sarah’s fellow cardinals and bishops, refuse to acknowledge the existence of some obvious facts about Islam. Cardinal Sarah is one of a few prelates willing to break with the semi-official narrative about Islam now prevalent in the Church — The Grand Mosque In Paris namely, that terrorists who kill in the name of Islam both misunderstand distinguished by being the only sent a message to a contact saying and pervert their religion. religion that makes people more that he had “avenged the Prophet.” prone to violence the more religious Secular authorities, particularly one becomes.”

According to an AFP report, locals in Europe, have adopted a similar in the Normandy town where line. There’s nothing wrong with Indeed, the FBI used to list Anzorov lived remarked that he Islam, they maintain; jihadists “increased religiosity” as one of the had become increasingly religious have simply misunderstood their signs of potential terrorist activity. in recent years. Apparently so. In faith. Thus, government sponsored Then, in what might be considered his last message before being killed “deradicalization” programs are a sign of increased leftist activity, by police, Anzorov made a final based on the premise that learning the Obama administration purged request: “Brothers, pray that Allah more about Islam will cure the the FBI training programs of all accepts me as a martyr.” would-be jihadist of his extremism. materials that might be considered offensive to Islam. So, when The behaviour of the other two But that works only if authentic mild-mannered graduate student terrorists also suggests a religious Islam really is the religion of peace, Muhammad Jones suddenly starts motivation. Brahim Aoussaoui, justice, fraternity, and equality that growing a beard, wearing long a Tunisian migrant who killed secular and Church leaders hold it to robes and attending mosque five three people inside the Basilica of be. times a week, you’re not supposed Notre Dame in Nice on October to notice.

29, also tried to behead one of his In fact, the deradicalization programs victims — one of the punishments in France and other countries With this in mind, let’s look at the that is prescribed in the Koran for haven’t been very successful. Why? assailants in the recent attacks in blasphemers. Not coincidentally, Because, as a number of European France. All three were heard to shout Aoussaoui was carrying a Koran. studies have concluded, increased “Allahu akbar” as they attacked devotion among Muslims correlates their victims. One shouldn’t jump The other not-so-coincidental with increased radicalisation. After to conclusions, of course, but the feature of his attack was that he reviewing an extensive German invocation of Allah does suggest a targeted a Catholic Church. Why? study, Danish psychologist Nicolai religious motive, doesn’t it? After Well, quite possibly because the Sennels observed, “the many beheading a teacher for “insulting” Koran encourages Muslims to interviews showed that Islam is Muhammad, Abdullah Anzorov “kill [unbelievers] wherever you

4th December 2020

Catholic Voice

ISLAM AND JIHAD 27

find them” (2:191). To borrow a phrase from Senator Feinstein, one might say of Mr. Aoussaoui that “the dogma lives loudly” within him.

But, with a few exceptions, no one in the Church or the world wants to admit that Islamic dogma, not “a desire to divide us,” is what motivates young jihadis to commit murder. Take the case of the third jihadi, twenty-five-year-old Zaheer Mahmoud. On September 25th, he severely wounded two people with a meat cleaver outside the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical weekly that published the infamous Muhammad cartoons.

Before the attack, Mahmoud posted a video saying he wanted to avenge the Prophet Muhammad for the offence committed by the Charlie Hebdo staff. He must, one assumes, be a devout Muslim. Although Mahmoud was not killed in his subsequent encounter with police, he was, it seems, quite willing to die for the sake of Allah and Muhammad. By any standard that is a clear sign of devotion. His mother recounts that her son had told family members in Pakistan of his plans prior to the attack, and asked for their prayers.

So, the case of Zaheer Mahmoud seems to confirm the finding that devout Muslims may be more prone to jihad than their more lukewarm co-religionists.

Still, we are told incessantly that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful moderates. Surely, Mahmoud must have misunderstood his religion. N’est-ce pas?

Well, if that was the case, we would expect that Mahmoud’s mother would have rushed to the authorities the minute she heard of her son’s plans to massacre a bunch of people in Paris.

But she didn’t. Indeed, according to Roznama Ummat, a Pakistani newspaper, the whole family was quite proud of the son. Not only that, but “Zaheer Mahmoud is being considered a hero across all of Pakistan.” As Zaheer’s father explained, “Whatever Zaheer has done, it’s very good.

The punishment for committing blasphemy of the prophet is death, and the blasphemer deserves nothing less than death. The one who kills those who commit blasphemy against the prophet enters paradise and his entire family will go to paradise. This is the reason I feel very proud that my son has carried out such a good deed.”

So, Zaheer was not a rogue zealot. His deed reflected the sentiments of many in Pakistan. Indeed, this habit of honouring the avengers of Allah and Muhammad is widespread in the Muslim world. In Palestine, for instance, numerous streets, squares, parks, and schools are named in honour of “martyrs” — that is, Palestinians who have murdered innocent Israeli men, women, and

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28 ISLAM AND JIHAD

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4th December 2020

children. In the case of Israelis, it’s not even necessary that they utter a blasphemy. The mere fact that they are Jews is offensive to Allah and therefore sufficient justification for their execution.

sort of unhealthy development in an otherwise sound system. But that’s not the case. Killing blasphemers is sanctioned in the Koran, the hadith, and the Islamic law books.

What’s more, the Palestinian government’s “pay for slay” program — the awarding of lifelong stipends to the families of the “martyrs” — acts as an incentive to ensure that more “good” sons will make their parents proud, and earn them a ticket to paradise to boot.

As Islam scholar Raymond Ibrahim observes, Westerners have fallen for the notion that “killing blasphemers is somehow strange or ‘extreme’ for Islam, when it is and always has been standard.”

Meanwhile, back in France, the delusion that the Allah of the Koran and the God worshipped by Christians and Jews is one and the same continues. In a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Paris, Archbishop Aupetit said he was “stunned by this murderous madness in the name of God.” Don’t the Muslims know that Allah is a God of love?

At the same time, the bishops of France issued a statement suggesting that they too subscribe to the belief that when Muslims murder in the name of Allah, it is because they misunderstand the peaceful nature of their faith. Thus, “it is urgent that this gangrene be stopped, as it is urgent that we find the indispensable fraternity which will hold us all upright in the face of these threats.”

The use of the term “gangrene” suggests that the bishops believe that the death penalty for blasphemy is some

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The fact that numerous Muslim leaders all over the world have expressed more concern over the blasphemy than the beheadings suggests that it is the bishops, not the jihadists, who have misunderstood Islam. They seem to have created in their imaginations a fantasy Islam, one that bears little relation to the real one.

This habit of wishful thinking is confirmed in the clause immediately following the one that describes the prescribed sharia penalty for blasphemy as a “gangrene.” “It is urgent,” the bishops write, “that we find the indispensable fraternity which will hold us all upright in the face of these threats.”

Fraternity? Muslims and Christians do share a common fraternity, and it’s important to keep that in mind.

However, movements to base a workable society on simple human fraternity, like the French Revolution, always end up in totalitarian regimes. The brotherhood of man without the fatherhood of God is a formula for disaster. The trouble with trying to create a fraternity with Islam is that Muslims and Christians do not share a common theology. For starters, Muslims don’t believe that God is a father. In fact, it’s blasphemy to say that he is.

Catholics are deeply confused about Islam. Because there are surface similarities between the two faiths, many have jumped to the conclusion that fellowship with Islam is just a step away. The latest example of this overly optimistic assessment of Islam is the recent encyclical Fratelli Tutti (“Brothers All”). After reading Fratelli Tutti, one could easily come away with the impression that Islam is a humanistic religion.

Fratelli Tutti contains a reminder from the “Human Fraternity” document signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb that religious violence is “the consequence of a deviation from religious teachings.”

That may be true of some religions, but it is becoming increasingly clear that Islamic violence is very often a direct consequence of following the teachings of Islam.

Catholic leaders and Catholic scholars (such as Thomas Aquinas) once knew that and taught it.

The bishops of France say “it is urgent we find the indispensable fraternity which will hold us all upright.”

It seems much more urgent that they locate copies of the Koran and The Life of Muhammad, and acquaint themselves with the teachings of Islam.

4th December 2020 Catholic Voice

NEW TOTALITARIANISM 29

Benedict XVI Warns of a New Totalitarianism Antonio Socci (Extracts from an article First published at Libero, 15 November 2020)

Last May there was controversy over the anticipation of some statements made by Benedict XVI to Peter Seewald published in his biography that was about to be published in Germany. This work has now been translated into Italian with the title Benedetto XVI. Una vita (Garzanti), and so we are now able to better understand the pope’s words.

The crucial question placed by Seewald to Ratzinger is this: One phrase from your first homily as pope has remained particularly impressed in our memory: “Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” Had you perhaps foreseen what awaited you?

The pope replies that this was not an allusion to the problems of the Vatican (such as Vatileaks), as many thought. Benedict XVI explains: The true threat for the Church, and thus for the Petrine service, does not come from this sort of episode: it comes instead from the universal dictatorship of apparently humanistic ideologies. Anyone who contradicts this dictatorship is excluded from the basic consensus of society. One hundred years ago, anyone would have thought it absurd to speak of homosexual matrimony.

Today those who oppose it are socially excommunicated. The same holds true for abortion and the production of human beings in the laboratory. Modern society intends to formulate an anti-Christian creed: whoever contests it is punished with social excommunication.

Being afraid of this spiritual power of the Antichrist is all too natural, and what is truly needed is that the prayers of entire dioceses and of the world Church come to the rescue to resist it.

The media have simplified everything superficially by sparking controversy over these examples.

But this is not the center of Benedict XVI’s reasoning, which has a very different inspiration. He speaks of the “threat” represented “by the universal dictatorship of apparently humanistic ideologies.”

Even a secular intellectual who is on the other end of the spectrum from Ratzinger’s thought, like the Frenchman Michel Onfray, has published the book Teoria della dittatura [The Theory of Dictatorship] in which he sees on the horizon “a new type of totalitarianism.”

Here is the point. That a man of great culture, profound spirituality, and recognized authority would speak of the “threat” of a “universal dictatorship” cannot leave anyone indifferent.

Ratzinger speaks of the “dictatorship of apparently humanistic ideologies” and adds that “modern society intends to formulate an antiChristian creed” and that “being afraid of this spiritual power of the Antichrist is all too natural.”

One may object, but in fact this theme has already emerged in public debate. Even secular intellectuals have shown themselves to be worried about the evident imposition of an “aligned thought” and even MicroMega [an Italian news magazine] has called out “the new season of excesses by politically correct ideology which has led to the rediscovery of censorship by “progressives.”

Not only this. Authoritative thinkers – such as Giorgio Agamben – have sounded the alarm in recent months over “the state of exception” during “the health emergency,” but more generally over politics becoming bio-politics.

Here Benedict XVI’s reflection meets – for example – the thought of one of the greatest philosophers of our time: René Girard. Just like Ratzinger, Girard too invokes the New Testament figure of the Antichrist, that is, the one who “imitates Christ in an ever better way and even claims to surpass him.”

“The Antichrist,” writes Girard, “boasts of bringing people peace and tolerance,” while in fact “he brings with him the effective return to all sorts of pagan practices” (Girard, like Ratzinger cites abortion and other modern situations).

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CLASSIFIEDS 31

4th December 2020 Catholic Voice

CLASSIFIEDS From Our Lady of Fatima Do you want peace in the world?

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Say the Rosary every day.

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REGULAR TRADITIONAL LATIN MASSES IN IRELAND (LISTED BY DIOCESE)

DAILY & WEEKLY Armagh: New Mellifont Abbey, Collon, Co. Louth; Every Sunday 3pm.

Cork & Ross: Ss Peter’s & Paul’s, Cork: Sundays 12.00 noon Mon -Sat 10.00am.

Dromore: St.Mary’s, Newry: Sundays and Holydays 09.00.

Dublin: St. Kevin’s, Harrington Street: Sundays & non working Holy Days: 10.30; Mon - Fri 08.00; Sat 09.00.

Working Holidays & First Fridays; 08.00 and 19.00.

Dublin: St. Joseph’s, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow; Sat 11.00 Limerick: Sacred Heart, The Crescent (ICKSP); Sun10.30; Mon-Thurs 08.00 and 19.00; Friday 19.00; Saturday 08.00 & 12.00 noon.

Meath: Silverstream Priory (Benedictine monks) Stamullen: Sunday 10.00 preceded by Terce, other days 11.00.

Meath: Johnstown, Navan: Sundays 13.00; Holydays as announced.

Ossory: St. Patrick’s, College Rd, Kilkenny; Sundays 17.00.

Raphoe: St. Patrick’s, Drumkeen, Co. Donegal Sundays 11.00am.

Down & Connor: St. Therese of Lisieux, Somerton Rd, Belfast :Sundays at 4pm TWICE MONTHLY Ferns: St. Alphonsus, Barntown, Co Wexford: Second Sunday 17.00 and occasional Third Sundays Derry: St. Columba’s , Longtower: First and Third Sunday 14.00.

Waterford: St. John’s Church, Parnell Street, Waterford City - 1pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the Month.

MONTHLY Armagh: St. Patrick’s, Dungannon, Co Tyrone: First Saturday 14.00.

Cork & Ross: St. Francis , Liberty St. Cork : First Saturday 13.00.

Derry: St. Marys, Aughabrack, Co Tyrone: Fourth Sunday 12.45 Elphin: St. John’s, carraoe, Co Sligo ; Last Sunday 15.00.

Killaloe: St. Joseph’s, Ennis, Co Clare: First Sunday 17.30.

Tuam: St. John the Baptist, (Old Parish Church), Knock, Co Mayo; Second Sunday 17.30.

Every effort has been made to ensure this list is up to date. Please contact the Latin Mass Society of Ireland of any changes or errors. email president@latinmassireland.com

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Catholic Voice

4th December 2020

The Knock Apparition August 21st 1879 Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland, in the name of your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who is really, truly and substantially present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar please intervene, with immediate effect, and create an inviolable pathway for the inauguration on the 20th of January 2021 of a Pro Life and Pro Family President. May he then carry out God’s Holy Will as Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America.

Also, please continuously protect and enlighten him, his family, his administration and his supporters against all enemies both foreign and domestic, spiritual and corporeal. Thank You. E.C. Published by: Catholic Voice Newspapers, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, County Kildare. Tel 059-8627268 ROI / 00353 - 59 8627268 Publisher: Anthony Murphy.

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