While a stunned and confused Catholic audience is now watching the seeming papal takeover of the Order of Malta, there also arises now a kind of inner conflict within the ranks, especially from some more conservative or traditionalist Catholics. An introductory presentation of this manifold debate might thus be a way of bringing out more truth about the larger current situation. Part of that truth seems to be that the conflict within the Order of Malta reflects the ongoing larger struggle within the Catholic Church between “progressive” and “conservative-traditionalist” elements.
But, first we shall turn to the controversial debate among “conservative” Catholics concerning the crisis of the Maltese Order.
In an article published on 25 January 2017 in the conservative German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost, its Rome Correspondent Guido Horst has now turned to defend the controversial German Maltese Knight, Albrecht von Boeselager, and even now to accuse Professor Roberto de Mattei’s organization “Lepanto Foundation” and certain “English-speaking media” (perhaps Edward Pentin himself) of spreading in Rome a “Black Legend” concerning the current conflict in the Order. This alleged “Black Legend” effectively says, in Horst’s words:
The “liberal” camp of Boeselager and the German branch of the Order [of Malta] had looked on for a long time, noting how, in humanitarian projects of the Order, […] there took place in Asia and in Africa the distribution of contraceptives. The Grand Master [Fraʾ Matthew Festing] and the Cardinal Patron Raymond Burke had wished to preserve the moral integrity of the Order, and thus it came to a struggle with the Great Chancellor [von Boeselager] who finally had to leave. After his initial support for Burke, [Pope] Francis then made a volte-face and established a Vatican commission inclining with sympathy for von Boeselager and, with it, thus damaged the sovereignty of the Maltese [Order]. Now those “liberals” have won against the “conservatives.”
In Horst’s eyes, “this Black Legend was spread, not least of all, by English-speaking media outlets and organizations such as the ‘Lepanto Foundation’ which sharply criticize the pope with regard to Amoris Laetitia.” The German journalist then proceeds to defend von Boeselager himself:
Such a legend, however, does not correspond to reality. Boeselager himself had helped to end the condom cooperation. A liberal German branch of the Order does not exist, but, rather, only a financially strong German Association does exist, which has weight among the Maltese [Order]. [my emphasis]
Horst then proceeds to declare – he seems to like this peremptory tone of speech – that the Germans themselves had nothing to do with the fact that, in 2014, a new government of the Order (to include von Boeselager) had been elected which was not in accord with the Grand Master’s own ideas. Horst also affirms that the open conflict between Festing and von Boeselager then broke out, especially
when the German baron was told that the pope wanted him to retire from his office. That was false. Francis wanted a dialogue within the Order. So now the Grand Master has to go, too. Lies don’t travel far. The Order has now to resurrect itself out of the debris. [my emphasis]
What Horst implies here is that Cardinal Burke and Fraʾ Matthew Festing have been mendacious, and even lying to von Boeselager – since it was these two men themselves who had met with von Boeselager, in order to request his resignation. That is a serious claim. It would thus be helpful in this context if Cardinal Burke himself would now come out into the public and speak about the whole affair, stating at least the main facts.
Since Horst makes some grave charges against the so-called “conservative” camp (Festing and Burke) within the Order of Malta – as well as within the wider Catholic Church and the Catholic media – it might be useful now, for the sake of clarity, to quote another German journalist who has no ties or sympathies whatsoever with that same conservative camp. Here I speak of Julius Müller-Meiningen, the well-informed Rome Correspondent for the prominent German newspaper Die Zeit who, in spite of his very outspoken sympathies for the overall Francis reform, has a candor and willingness to speak truths even if they do not completely support Pope Francis and his followers.
Müller-Meiningen just wrote, on 26 January 2017, an article for Die Zeit‘s section Christ&Welt in which he describes the conflict concerning the Order of Malta; the article is entitled: “The Crisis with Tradition” (“Die Krise mit Tradition”). In it, he describes this ongoing conflict as a conflict between, on the one hand, the progressive camp of von Boeselager and the German branch of the Order, and, on the other hand, the conservative camp of Cardinal Burke and Fraʾ Festing. The journalist says:
In the Order of Malta, there is taking place a clash of cultures. If one wants to put it this way, there is being fought here a battle on a smaller scale which is also happening, in a similar but larger fashion, in the whole Catholic Church. The struggle – fought with different means – is about almost everything: about the right balance and about the right understanding of Catholicity, Tradition, Doctrine, and Mercy. With special – yes, nearly decisive – participation of German Catholicism. [my emphasis]
Müller-Meiningen describes how, in 2014, the German branch of the Order of Malta had gained great influence at the election of the new government, to include the choice of von Boeselager as new Grand Chancellor. He says that this development within the Order analogously went along with the new orientation within the whole Catholic Church stemming from Pope Francis’s turning away from “seemingly cold dogma” towards a “more pastoral leniency toward the sinner.” Cardinal Burke – who has resisted Pope Francis in his attempts to promote Cardinal Walter Kasper’s ideas concerning the “remarried” divorcees – was then sent, according to Müller-Meiningen, to the Order of Malta. Here, says the journalist, Burke decided to take a “hyper-active” role in his new position.
Müller-Meiningen adds that von Boeselager – among “many other members of the Order” – was “not happy” with Burke’s appointment. Here, again, the Germans took a prominent resistant role, as Müller-Meiningen now explains: “Especially the German Maltese clique [“Seilschaft”] feared and demurred at the ultra-conservative [sic] approach of the U.S. Cardinal, who is himself one of the four signatories of the letter with doubts – the so-called dubia – concerning Francis’ Magisterium and which was published weeks ago.” During the same period, says the German journalist, in which the larger conflict over the “Kasper proposal” intensified, this smaller internal conflict with Burke grew, as well, in the Maltese Order. Müller-Meiningen then adds:
Especially the Grand Chancellor von Boeselager is said to have been very indignant about Burke’s nomination [as the Cardinal Patron] because he sensed that the cardinal would try to bring the Order into line [sic].
Following Burke’s formal appointment, von Boeselager increasingly was asked by his superiors to justify certain of his own actions as the coordinator of the international social services of the Order. There were internal investigations. Müller-Meiningen then quotes a German representative of the Order, Erich von Lobkowicz, who said that there was taking place a “battle between all that Pope Francis stands for and a tiny clique of ultraconservative fastidious old diehards in the Church — diehards that have missed the train in every conceivable respect.” The Zeit-journalist himself sees that Burke and his camp “wanted to preclude the danger that this Catholic Order – though sovereign – would now change into a charitable non-governmental organization [NGO],” while the progressive camp comparably feared that the Order would now be turned into “a traditionalist flagship.”
It is in this context that Müller-Meiningen draws a comparison with the German role in the larger Church with regard to the indulgent relaxing of some of the Church’s moral teaching. Here he explicitly mentions: Cardinal Kasper; the German-speaking group at the 2015 Synod on the Family; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn’s official presentation of Amoris Laetitia; as well as Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s own recent distancing of himself from the Four Cardinal’s dubia and because of his claim now that the doctrine of Amoris Laetitia is “very clear” – after which statement many “staunch Catholics did not understand any more the world.” Last but not least, Müller-Meiningen adds Cardinal Reinhard Marx to that progressive list “of the phalanx of pioneers of reform Catholicism” because Marx definitely has “a good connection” with the German Maltese Knights, especially with Erich von Lobkowicz, their President; and thus Marx is now said also “to have intervened in Rome in favor of von Boeselager.”
Müller-Meiningen himself is skeptical, however, as to whether Pope Francis’ decision to establish a Vatican commission for the purpose of investigating the Maltese Order case “was a good idea.” (His article was written before the retirement of Fraʾ Festing.)
Thus Müller-Meiningen’s presentation of this topic of the current conflict with – and within – the Order of Malta is quite helpful, inasmuch he gives an objective description of the major lines of conflict. He thus effectively contradicts – though most probably without entirely knowing it – Guido Horst’s own stern rejection of the “Black Legend” allegedly spread by the “English-speaking media” and the purportedly biased Lepanto Foundation.
Another German-speaking source should be quoted in this context, moreover. The conservative Austrian Catholic website, Kath.net, had investigated the incipient conflict within the Order already, even as early as 15 December 2016. It has several of its own well-informed sources within the Order and in the Vatican, so that it was able to gather and present facts that might not yet be well known, or known at all, to the English-speaking world.
For its own truthful reporting, Kath.net has consequently been now recently threatened with legal consequences by lawyers on behalf of Albrecht von Boeselager. Kath.net wrote about this “aggressive” litigious letter publicly and said that it essentially requested from the Austrian website that they be “silent on well-known matters of fact – for which there are renowned witnesses within the [highest ranks of the] Order and in the Vatican.” However, Kath.net did not rescind any of its own articles on the matter of the Order of Malta, and especially those specifically on von Boeselager himself.
Therefore, let us now consider more deeply two of those articles already published by Kath.net – which is neither an “English-speaking media” nor part of the “Lepanto Foundation.”
On 15 December, 2016, Kath.net reported on the incipient conflict between “two camps” within the Order of Malta. The website says:
A small circle from the German-speaking realm merely wants to preserve the advantages of exclusivity and sovereignty; but it wants to loosen the ties to the Catholic teaching and the connections with the pope which are, in their view, too strong. The far larger part [of the Order] is loyal to their founding mission of the defense of the Faith and wishes – after recent negligences – to strengthen this dimension [and ethos].
As Kath.net is able to show, moreover, it was no other than von Boeselager himself who opposed such a strengthening of the spiritual dimension of the Order:
For this [a strengthening of the spiritual dimension], a few years ago it happened that an internal commission was established which was to produce new guidelines for the lived-out spirituality among the members of the Order. After a year, Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager – who was then the Order’s Great Hospitaller – took these nearly finished guidelines and discarded them, favoring, instead, a more watered-down re-making of the old statutes and rules, which, consequently then disappeared into a drawer.
In addition to this more spiritual facet of von Boeselager’s dubious actions, Kath.net also shows how under von Boeselager’s authority – and for some years – certain putatively charitable programs (in collaboration with the UNHCR) took place in Africa which included the distribution of condoms. The Austrian website adds:
Von Boeselager and the German branch of the Order to which he belongs simply ignored the work of an investigatory commission concerning these allegations – which were established upon request from the Vatican – which showed that there were taking place violations against the teaching of the Church. Other problems were added in and by and through Germany which included direct interventions against the Great Master and the Order’s government in the Vatican – but nevertheless, the influence of the German Association continued to grow.
According to Kath.net, in 2008, the newly elected Grand Master Fraʾ Festing (it was still then during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI) “tried to follow the guidelines of the Vatican’s Secretary of State and thus especially proposed the election of [celibate] Knights with perpetual vows – so-called Professed Knights – for the four highest offices of the Order’s government.” This attempt failed, because three of the new positions were then filled by the Order with three Knights who were without perpetual vows.
Thus it seems that the original guidelines coming from the Vatican under Benedict XVI were not sufficiently heeded, in spite of Festing’s own attempts to do so and to implement them. This might explain why von Boeselager was later so indignant about Cardinal Burke’s appointment as Patron Cardinal, since Burke had been an important collaborator of Pope Benedict XVI, who had also appointed him in 2008 to be the official head of the Apostolic Signatura in Rome.
This further piece of evidence, as presented here by Kath.net, might give us an idea that this current conflict is, indeed, a conflict between Pope Benedict’s attempt to Catholicize the Order of Malta more fully, and Pope Francis’ collaboration with those other elements within the Order who did not want to go along with that kind of religious restoration.
In this context, it is also important to note that it was already Kath.net which had claimed – already on 28 December (i.e., even before Edward Pentin’s own reporting on Cardinal Marx’ role) and with reference to its own special sources – that it was Cardinal Reinhard Marx who had intervened with the pope in favor of von Boeselager. As we all know, Cardinal Marx represents that part of the Church’s hierarchy which wishes more leniently to allow Holy Communion for the “remarried” divorcees, according to Cardinal Kasper’s ethos – and against Pope Benedict XVI’s own final teaching in this matter.
Do we not likewise now effectively see here a continuation of a breach with Pope Benedict that has been subtly worked out by Pope Francis – and which has, even publicly, been quiescently tolerated and effectively ignored by Benedict himself?
It is, indeed, noteworthy that Julius Müller-Meiningen – in his own recent above-quoted article on the Order of Malta – ends his analysis with the following quite piercing – and yet truthful – comment:
The progressive wing of the Order [of Malta] sees Pope Francis as a pioneer for an updated and contemporary organization of the Maltese Order. For the others, he is a phenomenon that will pass away one day. Much like his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who retired four years ago. He was, in the eyes of the Catholic traditionalists, once an unswerving rock in the turmoil of the Zeitgeist. But, he was, after all, also a German who then became weak, who came down from the cross and who, with his retirement, thereby made the current disorder altogether possible in the first place. [my emphasis]
Does it, then, still astonish us – in light of these tragic changes since Benedict’s resignation – that Stephan Freiherr Spies von Büllesheim himself, the Chancellor of the German Association of the Order of Malta, at once rushed in to thank Pope Francis for his recent intervention (and unmistakable intrusion into the Order’s sovereign affairs) – as we see in his 27 January interview with the German Bishops’ website Katholisch.de? Von Spies speciously insisted in that interview that “a German clique [“Seilschaft” – interestingly exactly the expression used the day before by Julius Müller-Meiningen] does not exist” in Rome and that “we are utmost grateful that the Holy See has assisted the Order in this constitutional crisis so quickly and so safely [by requesting Fraʾ Festing’s abdication].”
Significantly, the German Bishops’s own website also asked von Spies the rhetorical question as to whether “Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke is now still tenable to be the Cardinal Patron of the Order of Malta?” [my emphasis]
Nonetheless, it seems that some of the important pieces of this complicated puzzle are now falling into place. And they do not appear to support – much less to argue in favor of – Guido Horst’s own ethereal claims and twofold thesis: namely, (1) there does not in fact exist any “liberal German branch of the Order of Malta”; and (2) there is no truth at all in the conservatives’ currently proposed “Black Legend” concerning the Order, as it is now purportedly also being circulated by them in Rome. Therefore, on the evidence of the varied above-quoted German and Austrian sources, Horst’s own claims appear not to correspond to reality.
Burke has effectively been deposed. Francis’ letter states his ‘delegate’ will be the sole spokesperson.
How powerful the lobby must be to be able to create such a tangled web!
http://www.barnhardt.biz/2017/01/26/in-overthrowing-and-destroying-the-sovereign-order-of-malta-bergoglio-is-intentionally-setting-up-the-vatican-for-exactly-the-same/
Also consider this. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/12/15/161215e.html
Georg and Albrecht are brothers. I understand this appointment happened before the creation of this “commission” to investigate Albrecht’s ouster.
Well .. if there was ever a time for Burke to express his usual disagreement with the HF, now would be it. So where is he? not a single word in defense of the KOM
Maybe you have him prisoner in Argentina?
Jaja good one Ana!! Hey so what do you know?You got your own peronisr President now! Like the Washington Post said.: the first US Latin American President.So..who knows Trump and Francis might just get along..
No creo. Just a few days ago, the day of the inauguration in fact, in response to a question in which Trump was mentioned by name, Francis launched into a disquisition about Hitler and his attainment of power in the 1930s. Usually when one widely recognized figure on the world’s stage attempts to “hitlerize” another, it doesn’t prefigure their getting along very well.
Yes I read that one . who knows? Opposites attract they say…the Caudillo ..
We don’t have a President. King Felipe IV is Head of State & Mariano Rajoy is Prime Minister in Spain. You sound like the monster in Vatican City.
Wow.. española..Thought you were american- The monster…impressive and sinful way of refering to the Vicar of Christ.
When Freemasonry cheered at his election he lost a lot of Traditional Catholics. His performance since has underlined why Freemasonry cheered. My conscience (which PF puts in primary position over Truth) is completely clear. Stop trolling here.
As for the rest… a well thought conspiracy theory to justify that somebody told and lied to this man Francis wanted him out. Simple as that
I had asked Carl Olson of the Catholic World Report if Grand Master Festing had any allies among the other nationalities of Knights of Malta who would support him in an effort to re-Catholicize the KoM. Instead of answering my comment, the comment was deleted. By CWR comment rules it must have been either an obscene, inflammatory or combative question. In any case, I asked Fr. RP the same question, here at 1Peter5. He said he didn’t know. Then your article appeared. It certainly gives insight into the Knights. but my question still stands, is there significant support among most of the KoM for Catholic Tradition in opposition to the secularizing influence of Boeslaeger? I look at the Knights as a counterveiling influence and possible aid in the ouster of Pope Francis. While the efforts of the Dubia Cardinals are to be encouaged and commended, I don’t see them as an “army”. An imperfect Council may simply be more target practice for Pope Francis.
The Knights have not been an influence, countervailing or otherwise, for a very long time. How sad but real that sometimes holy men are swept away because they have their eyes on eternity, and don’t realize how STRONG they must be here and now. Piety and holiness – why does it have to equate with weakness? Is it weakness in the guise of obedience? Is it weakness in the guise of love of the Pope? A mess.
St. Padre Pio, St. Joan of Arc, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Bernard, St. Norbert, St. Martin, St. Thomas More, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Theresa of Avila and most of all St. Joseph- some of my favorite saints. Some said nothing that we know of, others said plenty, some were silenced, some lived in only one place, many traveled and preached widely. All witnessed to the truth of Jesus Christ in challenging times, both in season and out of season. The Knights are called to do no less, no excuses.
Francis vengefully go after Dubia Cardinals especially Cardinal Burke.
Perhaps we should now come to expect Pope Francis’ volte-faces:
1) Cardinal Sarah and “the reform of the reform.”
2) PF: “I will go with the majority of the Synod Fathers”.
3) PF meeting secretly with Kim Davis and then when that comes to be known, releases photos of him meeting with a friend of his and his homosexual partner. And now:
*
Riddle me this: Knights of Malta: Pope writes to stress order’s sovereignty – http://wtop.com/world/2017/01/knights-of-malta-pope-writes-to-stress-orders-sovereignty/
Irrespective of all these interesting details (and this is a truly fascinating and informative article, thank you), the key point remains; unless I’m missing something, Francis had absolutely no right to intervene in what was an internal administrative matter for the Order. Full stop. Festing should have told him where to get off. Francis the Humble continues to deceive the world with stealth.
Albrecht von Boeselager. A man who views the moral law through a prism of expediency, compromise and modernist realpolitik. In short, a man after the pope’s own heart.
I have posted this comment under another subject but perhaps it is more relevant here:
“duty to promote the spiritual interests of the order and remove any affiliation with
groups or practices that run contrary to the moral law.”
“Pope Francis noted precisely that his Special Delegate will be operating on “the
spiritual renewal of the Order, specifically of its professed members.”
The above two sentences copied from above are beyond all irony to anyone familiar with the
story of the Knights of Malta in England.
I have said some of this before on this blog but let me say it again. All of this has
happened before in microcosm in the UK – now it is repeated at the international level.
The Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth was founded in London in the 1850s and put under
the protection of the Knights of Malta by Cardinal Wiseman. They also had their beautiful conventual chapel there. After the Sisters of Mercy left the Hospital in the 1980s problems began to arise with adherence to Catholic Teaching regarding contraceptives, abortion and
gender reassignment operations. A group of us – the Restituta Group – none of us knights – campaigned to restore Catholicity. Initially we had the support of Cardinal Basil Hume but unfortunately he died, misdiagnosed, at the Hospital shortly afterwards. His successor
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor ably assisted by his Director of Public Affairs, Austen Ivereigh, did everything to ignore us as things got worse.
We wrote to Albrecht von Boeselager as Grand Hospitaller to help us. All we got was a
reply to say that the Knights had no legal control over the Hospital and therefore they could do nothing. This was technically correct but the Chairman of the Hospital and several members of the Board were always Knights. Ethics was a matter for arbitration by the Cardinal. The Cardinal thought he could wash his hands of it by referring the matter to Rome. Fortunately a certain Cardinal Ratzinger suggested the setting up of a commission of inquiry to
include Professor John Finnis which came out in full support of us and required a revised Code of Ethics. At the same time we were able to prove to the Government regulators – the Charity Commission – that the Board was lying to them when they said they had done nothing to infringe the code of ethics. This led to the malefactors on the Board having to resign.
In England the Knights are divided into two sections – the lay members or British
Association – and the professed Knights or Grand Priory. Members of the Grand Priory including their eventual Grand Prior, Matthew Festing, backed us up to the hilt while members of the British Association or BASMOM tended to be lukewarm or worse.
Anyway once the malefactors had resigned the Board consisted of Knights and others
loyal to the teaching of the Church. So what did Cardinal Cormac O’Connor do aided by Austen Ivereigh? They asked the whole Board to resign and their placemen were put on the Board. The Cardinal had no legal right to do this but the Board caved in.
The new Board promptly gutted the Code of Ethics and put in a new Code with the blessing of
Cardinal Cormac which had no reference to any of the ethical problems mentioned above. After an appeal to the CDF the Code was amended slightly under the new Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols.
Unfortunately there was then a procedural error over a child protection matter – nothing
untoward actually happened – merely someone in their ignorance not following the correct procedure in an investigation. This developed into a scandalous series of totally untrue allegations against members of the Grand Priory and what was effectively a homophobic
manhunt, which the Archbishop lent credence to, by excluding the Knights from their own Chapel. Shades of the Knights Templar’sending? The new Board then removed any rights the Knights had inconnection with the Hospital. Again the Knights caved in.
Now we are told that the Professed Knights up to now led by Matthew Festing at the
international level are in need of spiritual renewal. One wonders what this means – perhaps educating them that abortion, contraception etc are really okay in this brave new Church?
And we all know of the connection between Cardinal Cormac, Austen Ivereigh and Pope Francis.
Thank you for telling the story. One question: what do yo mean by “homophobic manhunt”?
Anonymous letters with totally unfounded accusations of homosexual activity.
Horrible.
Thank you. Now I understand. May God bless you.
PF is very petty and vindictive, had jumped in and tried to overthrown this order’s sovereignty with a main, sole, hidden purpose to get rid of Cardinal Burke who is an obstacle on Francis’ way and opposing Francis’ evil agenda. Stop this pope, God. I pray.
What a horrible mess. This whole thing reeks of worldly priests, bishops and cardinals. The world does not hate them as it hated Jesus…that’s a clue.
I’m beginning to spot them by their smiles. The ones with the biggest grins seem to be the worst offenders.
A civilization of “million dollar smiles” and celebrity worship. I often wonder, for example looking at photos of former president, B H Obama, or observing his talk show participation, does he even attempt to be a statesman, or is it all entertainment for him? Just look at his official portraits! Then there are the unbelievable photos of Cardinal Dolan – had tilted backward, shaking with artificial laughter.
Of course, there is also the homosexual community. Those effeminate males always grin, attempting to seduce. (Aren’t they?) Some gaze into distance, like some damsels in a state of romantic expectation (like the author of Amoris Laetitia).
The fags politicising what they do in their bedrooms or championing the cause of the sexually oppressed has one goal. Advertisement.
I wonder to want extent the German government’s financial support of its country’s churches has lead to the undue empowerment of both the high-ranking German Catholic episcopacy and of its Order of Malta members. Perhaps the ‘extra’ financial resources that this state benefit confers is enabling the influence that we’re seeing exercised on many matters by well-connected German Catholics.
The financial resources of the German Church are extremely powerful. I can’t site source, but as I recall this was a major concern of Pope Benedict’s pontificate. He was very anxious for the reform of the relationship between the Church and the German state.
They are also terribly influential in the mission territories with their financial manipulation.
Here is name that I am sure is tied in with these worldly German members and prelates: George Soros.
Always follow the money.
Okay, I know this seems crazy, but it almost seems as if the Germans are still trying to get even for WWIl and the subtle defiance of Pius XIl. The Nazis hated the Catholic Church. At the least, their current self assumed superiority and authority is reminiscent of an attitude that has been seen before in that country. Both then and whatever is going on now is of the devil. Why so much of this attitude out of germany historically at least back to WW l? After WW II many Nazis went to South America, including Argentina. Maybe we need to look at all this so called reform in another way. These men are not stupid. They know full well what Jesus said and meant. They are deviously intelligent, though. And lust for power.
Yes, the Nazis hated the Catholic Church. I know it from personal expierence. Some of my German ancestors came from Danzig. I investigated the Kirkenbuch of St. Joseph’s church in Danzig looking for my grandfather’s baptismal certificate. I found more than I bargained for. The book had a big fat Nazi stamp in it, meaning I presume that the baptismal certificates from approximately 1920 on, were properly investigated for jews converting to the Catholic church – some of which I believe were my ancestors- one of whose baptismal certificates were hidden by the church secretary by filing it out of sequence to hide our jewish ancestry.
I believe your implications regarding possible nazi connections to the Pope are right on target. I was just reading about the nazi agents infiltration of Argentina during the Peron period. Peron tried to cover up his permissive welcoming of such agents by making a show of expelling some of the nazi agents and German businesses but I know for a fact that they formed a very large subgroup in Argentina. I’m sure they just went underground. When I was a college student I knew many people from South America. The Chileans had remarked to me that there were many Germans in Chile, and as a matter of fact I met one such family. The mother was German, the father Chilean and they attended the University of Buffalo. Their 4 year old daughter, was tri-lingual and VERY confused.
I don’t believe the efforts of Pius XII one way or another had anything to do with Nazi attitudes. I am convinced that the history of the 20th century must be completely reevaluated. History as it has been presented is filled with bald faced lies. We are discovering this through the internet…(to be continued)
Half of my ancestors were German speaking from Baden. Baden I believe had been independent but aligned with Austria. Because Austria lost a war, Baden was annexed as part of Germany. Then in the 1870s Von Bismarck, a protestant, began his Kulturkampf against the Catholics and my German speaking ancestors left for the United States. Their convents were closed, except those associated with hospital work, their schools had to have government approved teachers, and I believe they also had to have civil marriages in addition to their church marriages. This was all too much for these deeply devout Germans and they left in large numbers. Here in the United States my German born great grandmother wouldn’t even let my grandmother step into a public school to borrow a book. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, is of German heritage, perhaps one of the Volga Germans that left Germany for religious reasons. Don’t assume that all Germans are not faithful Catholics. I think they suffer much because they live in a country that had a protestant majority. We too suffer here in the United States for that reason and the most of the Church here is going in the same direction. The popes wrote of the heresy of Americanism. In Germany they are just a bit ahead of us. I don’t think there is anything inherently the matter with Germans that make them modernist Catholics. It is my German side of the family that was generally more devout than the Polish side. Btw, we saw many buses filled with young people from Kansas gathering at the Basilica for the March for Life. My friend from Kansas says there are many good and faithful Catholics of German descent living in Kansas. Don’t blame the ethnicity. Blame the secularization that was forced on Germans, the mixed society, and their affluence perhaps.
To clarify: Please note that my references mostly were to Nazis not Germans. My one reference to Germans actually was meant as a reference to those cardinals who are regularly identified on news items as German who are known to be supportive of the current papacy and what are being described as those who are causing what is referred to as confusion and ambiguity in the Church. The other commentator here who provided extensive background info is worth reading, I think.
I believe your distinction between Germans and Nazis is wise. The distinction between the modernists/marxists and true Catholic Germans is also accurate. I knew and grew up with many fleeing Nazi Germany both Catholics and Jews – in my own family. Some avoided the war altogether by immigrating before the war. Others weren’t so lucky. They had to survive allied bombing, the invasion of the Soviets, rapes and loss of everything they owned.
Since I have been on the internet and learned so much more, I am convinced that much of our history of these events is distorted and in some cases complete disinformation. There is a great deal more to the Nazis than we have been led to believe. It all starts with better research, objective independent research.
Let us not forget about the large Swiss Bank account that Edward Pentin reports about that is tied to von Boeselager and my guess to Marx, Kasper and the rest of the German contingent in the Order as well.
If I was a betting man I would wager that that large Swiss Account has George Soros fingerprints all over it.
Here is a sinister twist involving the perpetually troubled & mismanaged Vatican Bank.
From Rorate Caeli site:
Money Money Money! This explains Malta!
What a major coincidence!
Exactly one week before (Dec. 15, 2016) the naming of the illegitimate commission (Dec. 22, 2016) created by the Pope in the Vatican Secretariat of State to “investigate” the dismissal of the Condom-Chancellor Von Boeselager, his brother had been named by the same Pope, as a member of the Board of Superintendents of the Vatican Bank (the IOR, that carries the Vatican monies).
– See more at: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/01/money-money-money-this-explains-malta.html#sthash.xiw9HXxl.dpuf
So our Pope is publicly supportive of those spreading ‘contraception’ ? Is that not a intrinsic evil ?
I think that we have, unfortunately, almost seen the last of Cardinal Burke. Bergoglio has nearly maneuvered Burke out of his position at the Knights of Malta.
You can almost hear a voice roaring through the halls of the Vatican with an Argentine-Spanish accent, “Nobody – but NOBODY – ‘corrects’ Bergoglio!”
Today at Crux. Letter fro PF to the KOM:
“Pope Francis said he would appoint a special delegate who – in close collaboration with von Rumerstein – will “specifically take care of the spiritual and moral renewal of the order,” especially the 50 or so members who have taken religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
“The special delegate will have the task of being my exclusive spokesman during the period of your mandate for all that relates to the relationship of the order with the Holy See,” the pope wrote.
The pope’s letter did not clarify how the special delegate’s responsibilities would intersect with those of the current cardinal patron of the order, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke.”
Yeah, he’ll take care of their spiritual needs alright. He’ll make sure they are heretics, or apostates by the time he’s done with them. Mr. Soros little helper.