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October 2024 Contents
Open Borders, Closed Churches: How Mass Immigration Threatens the Church and the West
By Stephen Kokx
At a certain point, you have to wonder if Klaus Schwab is writing Pope Francis’ speeches.
In 2016, after receiving the Charlemagne Prize — an award given to those who bring about European “unification” — Francis said, “I dream of a new European humanism” where “being a migrant is not a crime.”
Francis repeated his “dream” a year later while addressing 27 European heads of state at the Vatican.
“What kind of culture does Europe propose today?” he asked. A fear of migrants “has its root cause in the loss of ideals.”
Two years earlier, in 2014, he called on the European Parliament to rediscover its memory, its courage, and “a sound and humane utopian vision.”
Last month, during a Wednesday audience at St. Peter’s Square, Francis quintupled down on his open borders messaging.
While apparently condemning the Tunisian government’s treatment of persons who enter its country illegally, Francis said “those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants” are committing a “grave sin.”
He then urged his audience to “pray for migrants” while calling for “migration based on justice, fraternity, and solidarity.”
Just days later, while on the papal airplane for his trip back from Oceania, Francis compared denying migrants admission into a country with the grave sin of abortion. “Both are against life,” he claimed.
US bishops have amplified Francis’ open borders ideology
After 11 years of listening to these Bilderberg talking points, Catholics have grown tired of being lectured about the need to “welcome the other.”
They’re already aware that it is a duty of their faith to care for the stranger. They understand it is incumbent upon wealthier nations to share their resources with those that lack them. American Bishops were relentless in browbeating Catholics with this rhetoric during Donald Trump’s first term in office.
In 2019, the USCCB released a letter rebuking Trump for daring to build a wall across the porous, MS-13 infested, cartel-controlled U.S.-Mexico border.
“We remain steadfast and resolute in the vision articulated by Pope Francis that at this time we need to be building bridges and not walls,” they absurdly said at the time.
Their reference was to a comment made by Francis in 2016 when, on a flight to Rome from Mexico, he snidely quipped, “a person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
The remark was a clear swipe at Donald Trump.
Interestingly enough, neither Francis nor the USCCB said a word about the duty of the Mexican government — which was not at war and is not a failed state (two situations that would justify granting refugees legal status) — to ensure that its population is able to live in domestic peace so they don’t have to flee to another country in the first place.
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Fire from the Sky: Unveiling the Third Secret of Fatima
By Anthony Stine, Ph.D
The 107th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Portugal, is just a few days away. This key event in the history of the Church especially in the 20th century, was the culmination of the highest-profile Marian apparition in Catholic history. In the months leading to the Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. She was preceded by an apparition of an angel, who appeared to the same children. The message the Virgin Mary brought to the children was a message of penance, prayer, the need to pray the Rosary, and the reality of sin and its consequences. One of the children, Lucia dos Santos, was given a private message that would later be written down and given to the pope, to be released to the world in the year 1960. That message was not released, at least at that time.
The Third Secret of Fatima, as it would be called, would become the subject of inquiry, research, and speculation. In 2000, the Vatican purportedly released the Third Secret of Fatima. The veracity of the Third Secret of Fatima has been highly contested. At the very least, research indicates that the Third Secret was only partially released by the Vatican, with the Virgin’s interpretative message for the vision experienced by Lucia dos Santos never revealed. Others deny the real Third Secret was ever released by the Vatican, with implications that what was released was a fabrication.
There is a surprisingly underutilized method of examining the Third Secret of Fatima. An in-depth examination of the Third Secret that reveals the substance of the Third Secret, if not its precise contents, can be achieved by simply examining the messages of previous and subsequent Marian apparitions that have been at least approved by the local ordinary. Such an undertaking would be extensive, but even a cursory examination of those messages could be synthesized into one message that reveals the substance of the Third Secret.
This is feasible for two reasons. First, the Virgin Mary who appeared at Fatima is the same Virgin Mary who later appeared at Akita, Japan, and previously in La Salette, France, and Quito, Ecuador, as well as in various places in Germany. The authentic messages of the Virgin Mary have been very consistent since Quito, Ecuador in the early 17th century. Each has called for the laity to do acts of penance and reparation for sins that offend God, and that a chastisement would come following a period of corruption in the Church and the loss of morality in the world. Unfortunately, such an extensive undertaking is beyond the scope of this article and would be better suited for a book-length study.. Still, here, it is possible to examine one aspect of those messages consistently presented in the major Marian apparitions of the past several centuries: sin and the chastisement that is the consequence of sin. The following is an attempt to synthesize that basic aspect of the Messages of the Virgin Mary.
Beginning with the apparition of the Virgin Mary, which appeared less than a century after the events in Mexico City under the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary appeared to a nun in Quito, Ecuador. For reasons that are unclear, in English, this Marian apparition is often called Our Lady of Good Success despite its name in Spanish being Maria Santissima del Buen Suceso de la Purificacion. That name is more accurately translated as Our Lady of the Good Event of the Purification, which has a double meaning: the feast day associated with this apparition is the Feast of the Purification, which is February 2nd. The other meaning references the warnings of corruption in the Church and society and the eventual purification of the Church and the world that in the future, apparitions would be given greater voice when the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart is mentioned by Our Lady and Sr Lucia.
A hint of this is seen in the following excerpt from the message of Our Lady of the Good Event of the Purification:
The Sacred Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed and despised. …The demon will try to persecute the Ministers of the Lord in every possible way and he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation, corrupting many of them. These corrupted priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will incite the hatred of the bad Christians and the enemies of the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church to fall upon all priests. This apparent triumph of Satan will bring enormous sufferings to the good Pastors of the Church…….the secular Clergy will leave much to be desired because priests will become careless in their sacred duties. Lacking the divine compass, they will stray from the road traced by God for the priestly ministry, and they will become attached to wealth and riches, which they will unduly strive to obtain. How the Church will suffer during this dark night! Lacking a Prelate and Father to guide them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, wisdom and prudence, many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger. This will mark the arrival of My hour.
Clearly a message is conveyed about the state of the clergy, which elsewhere in the message specifies is the 20th century. Also hinted at is the arrival of “My hour,” which can be interpreted to mean the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. The message from Quito continues, describing a prelate who would restore the spirit of ministry and sanctity to the priests of the Church. In another message to the seer at Quito, Our Blessed Lord conveyed a message for the price of sin: “Know, moreover, that Divine Justice releases terrible chastisements on entire nations, not only for the sins of the people, but for those of priests and religious persons. For the latter are called, by the perfection of their state, to be the salt of the earth, the masters of truth, and the deflectors of Divine Wrath. Straying from their divine mission, they degrade themselves in such a way that, before the eyes of God they quicken the rigor of the punishments…”The remedy for this, according to Our Lady at Quito, is to make frequent use of the sacrament of penance, to engage in acts of reparation and to pray. But with that message, clearly, we see linked sin and the consequences of sin, which is not only eternal damnation (which should be enough) but also calamities in the world.
The Manufactured Man: An Examination of Tim Walz’s Progressive Politics
By Murray Rundus
The operations of the Democratic Party during the 2024 elections have been anything but ordinary. Beginning with a deceptive effort to portray an obviously senile and extremely unpopular incumbent president as the man to lead us through four more years of foreign and domestic crises, the campaign and the hopes and dreams of Joe Biden ended with what many consider to be the most disastrous debate performance of all time. In its wake was a spree of Democrat elites coming together to form a plan to save their party from what seemed to be an inevitable landslide defeat to Donald Trump in the general election. This party of democracy chose the route of avoiding the democratic process altogether and put up the sitting Vice President Kamala Harris as the new candidate, with zero votes to her name. This sudden turn of events left a new vacancy for the vice presidential spot, and while many were expecting the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, or the astronaut and social media influencer Mark Kelly of Arizona to be the pick, a new dark horse emerged: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was selected.
A Progressive in Camouflage Clothing
The strategy of the Democratic Party has been to emphasize the normalcy of the current ticket, highlighted by an unusually patriotic DNC. We saw a waving of flags, a playing down of progressive policies on immigration and trade, and the mass production of a Harris-Walz camouflage hat, signaling this fact. To many, the selection of Walz was an attempt to emphasize normalcy, in contrast to Trump’s VP pick, Silicon Valley businessman and Yale lawyer J.D. Vance, whom the Harris campaign has desperately tried to brand as ‘weird’. On the surface, Tim Walz would be a great selection for this aim. He was a high school football coach, a school teacher, a national guardsman, and a graduate from a state college, all perfect for the appearances of the campaign. But when we examine what is under those appearances, we begin to raise some serious questions about how normal Tim Walz really is.
Many of Tim Walz’s statements have suggested that he was born and raised as a Minnesota Lutheran. In reality, Tim Walz was born to a family of generational Nebraskan Catholics (a detail we will return to). Walz’s immediate family was also a military family, his father having served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. This seemed to influence the decisions of Walz as he joined the National Guard in 1981. This would not be a negligible event for Walz, and by the time he entered politics, he would be the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer to ever serve in the U.S. Congress. This wouldn’t occupy all of Walz’s time, however, as after graduating from Chadron State College in 1989, Walz took up a new position with WorldTeach in China.
Walz in China
WorldTeach (1986-2019) on the surface was a non-governmental organization that focused on teaching in “developing countries”. It was founded by a group of Harvard students, most prominently Jewish economist Michael Kremer, who focuses on a Malthusian view of population growth and is heavily involved in vaccine research, including his Accelerating Health Technologies Group which advised the US Government during Operation Warp Speed. WorldTeach operated in a very similar way to the PeaceCorps, a humanitarian organization founded by JFK with certain unique protections from being exploited and used by the CIA or other government agencies (though it is often asserted that PeaceCorps is a front for CIA operatives). It should be noted here that WorldTeach did not have that same level of protection, and the fact that Tim Walz was already involved in the military should cause a few to raise their eyebrows. But what is more confusing is what Tim Walz actually did in China. In an early article talking about Walz’s time in China, he is reported to have “always been fascinated with Communist China” and that after a year of teaching he “spent three months traveling through China by bus.” I find it unlikely that an asset for either WorldTeach but most especially the US Government would be aimlessly wandering around China for three months. Regardless of what Walz did during this time, he most certainly cemented his ties there and would go back and forth from China, even spending his honeymoon there.
The regions of China and Minnesota on the surface might seem to have nothing to do with one another, but if we delve a bit deeper we find something that might show a relationship: Fresh water. China is currently undergoing a crisis in obtaining fresh water sources for its people who make up over 20% of the world’s population. Minnesota on the other hand is part of what is now termed the “Blue Belt” known for having more fresh water sources than nearly anywhere else on Earth. It is also interesting to note that Minnesota has consistently been one of China’s most reliable trading partners, even rivaling some countries. It stands to reason that the American ‘deep state’ or American intelligence agencies would benefit from having someone close to the Chinese occupy the governance of a state with increasing ties to China itself. Alternatively, it would also benefit China itself to have an asset of its own operating the state. While we cannot conclusively determine if Tim Walz is either one, too many factors are at play to rule it out entirely and it remains a relevant connection to better understand Walz’s political journey.
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The Problem with Modern Ecumenism
By John Vennari
Editor’s Note: We are happy to reprint this excellent article from one of the first editions of Catholic Family News in 1995 from our previous Editor-in-Chief, John Vennari (RIP)
In the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia, the word “Ecumenism” does not appear. It goes straight through from Ecuador to Ecumenical Council to Edde. The heading Ecumenical Council contains this and nothing more:
ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, SEE COUNCILS, GENERAL
In the 1965 Catholic Encyclopedia, however, no less than seven pages are devoted to the “Ecumenical Movement”.
Ecumenism is, therefore, a twentieth century phenomenon. In the short span of sixty years, ecumenism as we know it today, has come from a state of non-existence, to being the integral fabric of the “New Theology of the Church”.
Definition of Ecumenism
The Ecumenical Movement is basically the movement toward reunion of all Churches, one in body, but not necessarily holding the same religious tenets … spot-lighting things we have in common, hush-hushing those things which divide us.
Should you ask, however, ten different theologians of ten denominations for a definition of ecumenism, chances are you would receive ten slightly different replies. This is the greatest weakness of ecumenism, it is a slippery, sloppy expression devoid of any solid orthodox definition. It thus avails itself of ambiguity and double talk – as do subversive movements in general.
The Second Vatican Council had a great deal to say about ecumenism, without ever giving a definition of the word!
Prior to 1960, the Catholic Church had always kept the Ecumenical Movement at arms length from the mystical Body of Christ, now and then touching it with the proverbial ten-foot pole, but never taking an active part.
Any student of ecclesiastical history will tell you that the Roman Catholic Church’s particular charism was to clarify the truth in times of confusion and to counter what was novel or erroneous by clinging to and defining what she has always believed since the time of the Apostles. Thus when Martin Luther denied so much of what the Roman Church held true, she took care of this problem at the Council of Trent … defining in detail each one of the Seven Sacraments, indulgences, justification, etc. The Councils of the past took the Church and the world from a time of confusion, into a period of theological stability.
Unfortunately, Vatican II is the first council in the history of the Church that did not help in this regard. As a matter of fact, we must regretfully admit that al-levidence clearly shows it only made things far worse.
Origin of Ecumenism
The ecumenical movement as it exists today owes its origin to a conference of Protestant missionaries at Edinburgh in 1910. Its original purpose was among Protestant missionaries of different denominations to promote a spirit of collaboration in order to “evangelize” the pagan world. Doctrinal differences were to be played down … unity of action and what was held in common by all was to be exalted.
It was during this time that Charles Brent, an American Episcopal Bishop of the Philippines conceived the idea of assembling a great conference of delegates from all Christian confessions. A second conference was formed shortly after by Brent called the “Conference on Faith and Order”.
In 1919, the Holy See being invited to send delegates, politely declined. Pope Benedict XV explained that although his earnest desire was one fold and one shepherd, it would be impossible for the Catholic Church to join with others in search of unity. As for the Church of Christ, it is already one and could not give the appearance of searching for itself or for its own unity.
It is reported that the Holy Father did not disapprove of the movement as something outside the Catholic Church, but by his own words it is obvious he knew it was not only futile, but dangerous and even scandalous to the Catholic Faithful to participate in seeking unity in such a manner.
It was through this movement that the World Council of Churches was born.
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America’s Founding Documents: The First Documents of Vatican II
Brian M. McCall
Broadly speaking there are two problems with the documents produced by the Second Vatican Council. In a handful of cases, the texts contain explicit errors. In a large number of cases the texts contain highly ambiguous statements—ones that can be explained and interpreted in an orthodox manner, but which are equally capable of being understood in an erroneous or heretical manner. Finally, there are statements that if taken individually out of the context of the document are statements of the truth. It is also true that many of the authors of the texts (and the compromises in the texts) subjectively intended the erroneous meaning of the ambiguous statements but were content to let the Council Fathers think the ambiguous statements were meant in the orthodox meaning to secure their votes.
This above summary of Vatican II does not describe a new process of set of techniques. Essentially the same techniques were used approximately two hundred years previously at the American Founding. We will examine some aspects of the two foundational documents—The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—to see how this same combination of texts was used to obtain their approval. Like Vatican II, after achieving their acceptance, the errors and ambiguities were exploited to advance an error ridden Liberal Agenda. We will conclude with some thoughts on what we are to do about such documents that lie at the root of our institutions.
The Audience that Received the Texts
Before delving into aspects of the texts, it is important to say a few words about the population that received them. In the late seventeenth century, the original thirteen colonies were primarily populated by British (primarily English but a significant number of Scots were among them) who were overwhelmingly Protestant (a mixture of official Church of England and non-conformist sects). They were generally sincere and devout, albeit in their heretical sects. Throughout American history waves of revitalized Christian devotion would sweep the country (Great Awakenings). They were generally familiar with the expanse of English history but had absorbed the bias that the most important things in that history began with the Tudors. The philosophy of Aristotle and even Aquinas were generally known by the educated classes; however, this philosophy was usually received through the filter of Enlightenment thinkers (and their errors) such as Hobbes and Locke. They were also generally familiar with, and admiring of, ancient Roman history. There were certainly exceptions to all of these generalizations. There were a significant number of colonists of Dutch descent in places like New York. There were pockets of German immigrants and there were a handful of Catholics primarily in Maryland and a few Southern states. There was also a minority of intellectual elites who drew a logical conclusion from the contradictory nature of the various Protestant sects. There must be no one truth among them. These elites (often called Deists) essentially abandoned Christianity for a form of agnosticism that essentially was not hostile to using the language of God and a Creator but which shunned any precise theological doctrines and essentially considered this vague God irrelevant other than perhaps being a symbol to inspire the common people. This belief dovetailed nicely with the program of Freemasonry to which most of the leaders (intellectually and politically) belonged.
The New Iron Curtain: Western Censorship in the Digital Age
By Angeline Tan
The globalist West’s assault on dissenting narratives is becoming more blatant day by day. Recent high-profile clashes between Western governments, tech bosses, and conservative media outlets reveal that the globalist West’s assault on dissenting parties and narratives is getting more ferocious as the days go by. Instead of adequately addressing British citizens’ concerns about the perils of unbridled immigration and declining standards of living following the deadly riots in Southport, the new leftist government of Keir Starmer has taken a draconian move in favor of harsh government repression of voices that challenge his government’s version of events.
As I previously wrote in a commentary for The Remnant, rather than answering queries about the state of immigration in Britain, Starmer accused initial rioters in Southport of being right-wing “thugs,” purporting:
“Let me turn now to the actions of a tiny, mindless minority in our society. Because in the aftermath of this attack, the community of Southport had to suffer twice. A gang of thugs, got on trains and buses… went to a community that is not their own… A community grieving the most horrific tragedy… And then proceeded to throw bricks at police officers.”
Starmer also disclosed that he was considering more law enforcement measures to suppress protesters. These new measures include “a ‘standing army’ of specialist officers” to be deployed nationwide, as well as identifying people taking part in protests “as soon as possible”.
Eerily, Stephen Parkinson, Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions, stated:
“We have dedicated police officers whose sole task is to scour the internet, scour social media. This is what they’re focusing on. So, if you retweet or you reshare those communications, you will be picked up and you may expect a visit from the police, so please don’t do it.”
Nearby Germany’s interior ministry under the left-wing Social Democrat Nancy Faeser banned the government-critical Compact Magazine. Unsurprisingly, mainstream media outlets conspiring with the leftist German government called Compact a “right-wing” and “extremist” publication, implying that such an unconstitutional ban was nevertheless justified. Fortunately for the magazine, a federal administrative court in Germany temporarily lifted the government ban on it, declaring that its move to overturn the government ban was mainly prompted by the desire to ensure a free press in Germany.
The recent arrest of Telegram’s CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov at a French airport on August 24 due to his alleged failure to moderate “a wide range of crimes” on Telegram is another case study on encroaching government censorship of anti-establishment voices. Following Durov’s detention, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučic lashed out at the “upside-down” West, in comments cited by Russia Today (RT):
“Back in 2018, when Russia put some mild legal pressure on him, some twenty-six groups from the West signed a petition to the Russian state to stop violating his freedom. Fast forward five or six years, and it’s perfectly normal [for them] to have him arrested and want to shut down Telegram in the West. Everything has gone topsy-turvy, reality itself has been changed to fit their interests.”
Vučic likened Durov to Julian Assange or Edward Snowden as the Telegram co-founder has become a target of Western governments to quell and silence due to his refusal to submit to their diktats. While Durov has since been freed on bail, he has been banned from leaving France altogether.
Durov’s lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, castigated Paris’ move to detain his client, saying:
“It’s totally absurd to think that the head of a social network could be involved in criminal acts that do not concern him, either directly or indirectly.”
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The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Series
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by Father Michael Mueller:
Further Wonderful Manifestations of the Real Presence
By Matthew Plese
In the Tiny Host All Power Is Present, Even If Not Seen by the Eyes
After having devoted the prior two chapters to the astounding miracles wrought through Nicola Aubry, chapter seven of “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” by Father Michael Mueller enumerates further manifestations of the Real Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Father Mueller begins the seventh chapter of his inspiring work on the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar with the following remarks:
“What has been said in the preceding chapters is certainly sufficient to establish the most solemn truth of the Real Presence. But our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament has often been pleased to manifest His Real Presence in wonderful ways. Even when Jesus was loaded with infamy and tortured with pain, when He had almost lost the semblance of man, He knew how to prove to the world His divinity; it was then that He made all nature speak and testify to His innocence. The earth shrouded itself with the dark pall of mourning; the rocks burst asunder; the sun veiled its face, and even the very dead arose from their graves to bear witness to the divinity of the dying Jesus…
“So, when we look upon the Sacred Host it is true, we see there no mark of His Majesty, no token of His Sacred Presence, no vestige of His perfections, not a single ray of His Divinity. Yet, for all that, Jesus does not lack the power and means to manifest Himself in the Sacred Host as the Lord of Heaven and earth and the Redeemer of the world. Our dear Savior has indeed been pleased on hundreds of occasions to manifest His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament in a most striking manner.”
The Testimony of Eucharistic Miracles
As Catholics, we believe in transubstantiation where the bread and wine actually become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ at Mass. After this has taken place, the only thing remaining of the bread and wine is the accidents. This philosophical and theological term refers to the sight, taste, smell – those items which concern the senses. There, however, have been occasions where even the accidents have vanished and the Eucharistic Host has visibly changed into human flesh and blood, proving that at Mass, even though our senses deceive us, that the bread and wine actually become the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Several times through history the divinity of Christ in this Supreme Sacrament has shown through miraculous events. These Eucharistic miracles not only confirm the Real Presence but also that Jesus Christ remains with us. The Miracle of Lanciano, Italy (700s), Cascia, Italy (1300s), Turin, Italy (1453), and Sienna, Italy (1730) are just a few of these miraculous events. Others have occurred even within the past few decades.
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