On December 30, the Feast of the Holy Family, three bishops from Kazakhstan — Tomash Peta, Metropolitan Archbishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Jan Pawel Lenga, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Karaganda, and Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana — issued a statement saying any change in sacramental discipline that would allow Catholic divorcees in new sexual unions to receive Holy Communion is “alien to the entire Tradition of the Catholic and Apostolic faith”. The statement was made public on January 2nd.
In the intervening three days, three additional prelates have added their voices to the bishops of Kazakhstan.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who formerly served as apostolic Nuncio to the United States, along with Archbishop Luigi Negri, endorsed the Kazakhstani bishops’ statement on the day of its release. In a January 4 interview with La Nuova bussola (translated here by LifeSiteNews), Archbishop Negri explained why he signed the document: “There is confusion. It exists, and it’s serious. No reasonable person can deny this.”
The Italian prelate took the matter further:
Faced with the grave confusion in the Church regarding the issue of marriage, I believe it is necessary to put forward again the clarity of the traditional position. It seemed right to me to sign because the content of the [document’s] position is what I have widely presented over the past years — not only in recent months – at every step of the efforts I dedicated to the theme of the family, life, procreation, and the responsibility to educate and form young people. These are issues of absolute importance which the Catholic world as a whole does not seem to be very aware of.
Today, news broke that Cardinal Janis Pujats, Archbishop Metropolitan of Riga, Latvia, has also placed his support behind the statement.
The number of episcopal signatories of the statement now stands at six names, and it remains an open question whether more will join them in the coming days.
Steve Skojec is the Founding Publisher of OnePeterFive.com. He received his BA in Communications and Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, Huffington Post Live, The Fox News Channel, Foreign Policy, and the BBC. Steve and his wife Jamie have eight children. You can find more of his writing at his Substack, The Skojec File.
Pray that more clergy have the courage to speak the truth.
Prayers for *many* more — especially some from the US — to speak up.
Any US bishop would have to be prepared to be shunned and ostracized by the USCCB and subject to ridicule by the Catholic press and all the talking heads. In short, he’d need to be a very saintly and holy shepherd who truly cared for his sheep.
I don’t see very many among the time-servers, back-slappers, glad-handers and zeitgeist-appeasers.
There are some, perhaps a minority but they are there, who are doing exactly that, speaking the truth. But they don’t speak out publicly beyond their parishes because they are doing their duty, which is shepherding their flock. While it is good when priests speak out, it is not so necessary. Bishops and religious superiors have a greater duty to face the public. Priests have the duty to teach the true faith to their parishioners and some, like Fr. RP, do just that.
No, he would just need some “cohones”.
Those are scarce among the gals in the USCCB.
They’re looking for their golf balls somewhere.
This is why they can ever be reached!
Out to lunch permanently!
How come none condemned the recent legalization of pot in many parts of US?
Pass the doobie!
You youngsters do know that a doobie is a joint, right?
The bishops are too busy with their own…
stuff
They don’t need no badges or joints……
And when is Martin gonna get the skeletons out of his closet?
He’s out already. A rainbow priest.
I have to be able to joke, or I could lose my mind.
They are NWO’s hostages.
Not all their secretaries are femminine
Now is Cohones for Lady Cardinals like TOBIN?
God will use DJT to drain the swamp. He has their pedophiliac ring files.
US is in cleaning house.
They have no fear of God, only fear of evil.
6 is a start, but we need many, many more. I know one who might, but I know one who almost definitely will not:
https://marymagdalen.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/beyond-amoris-laetitia.html
God Bless Deacon!
From a sermon by Saint Augustine
By the vision of the Word our needs will be fulfilled
What human being could know all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ and concealed under the poverty of his humanity? For being rich, he became poor for our sake so that by his poverty we might become rich. When he assumed our mortality and overcame death he manifested himself in poverty: his poverty was not a sign of riches lost but a promise of riches to come later.
How great is the abundance of the delights that he conceals from those who fear him but prepares for those that hope in him!
Until what is being prepared arrives, we can understand only in part. To make us worthy of this perfect gift, he, equal to the Father in the form of God, became like us in the form of a servant, and he re-forms us to be like God. The only Son of God, having become the son of Man, makes many sons of men the sons of God. Taking on the form of a servant, he takes those who were born and brought up as servants and gives them the freedom of seeing the face of God.
For we are the children of God, and what we shall become has not yet appeared. We know that, when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. What, then, are those treasures of wisdom and knowledge? What are those divine riches unless they are what is sufficient for us? What is that multitude of delights unless it is what fills us? Show us the Father and it is sufficient enough for us.
In one of the psalms one of us — either with us or on our behalf — said to him, I shall be filled when your glory appears. But he and the Father are one, and whoever sees him sees the Father also, so the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory. He will bring us back, he will show us his face and we shall be saved; we shall be filled, and he will be sufficient for us.
Until this comes to pass, until he gives us the sight of what will completely satisfy us, until we drink our fill of him, the fountain of life — while we wander about, apart from him but strong in faith, while we hunger and thirst for justice, longing with a desire too deep for words for the beautiful vision of God, let us fervently and devotedly celebrate the anniversary of his birth in the form of a servant.
We cannot yet contemplate the fact that he was begotten by the Father before the dawn, so let us hold on to the fact that he was born of the Virgin in the night. We do not yet understand how his name endures before the sun, so let us acknowledge his tabernacle placed in the sun.
Since we do not, as yet, gaze upon the Only Son inseparably united with His Father, let us remember the Bridegroom coming out of his bride-chamber. Since we are not yet ready for the banquet of our Father, let us acknowledge the manger of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Franciscan breviary)
We now have another Cardinal on board today. GOOD NEWS!
BIshop Soto of Sacramento !?
Pujats!! Another cardinal. That’s important.
And again, it’s the East. The Wise Men who truly seek Him still come from the East……
Great comment – Wise Prelates from the East – not afraid to be truly humble enough to bow down before Our Lord and His Immaculate Mother – and uphold the Truth of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith!
Perhaps not coincidental that we’re so close now to Epiphany.
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/images/2017/web3-feast-of-the-ephiphany-public-domain.jpg
Hey, New York is in the East!
Come on Timmy Boy, step up to the plate!
So is Philadelphia; I have hope there.
Don’t hold your breath. Chaput is holding out for a red hat. Trust me, I know the man. He was once my Archbishop in Denver while I was a seminarian.
Bishop Soto isn’t saying ANYTHING about the Issue. In fact, he only did one Talk on this. And in that talk, he barely talked about the Divorce for Remarried Couples.
Sacramento is…..
When did you attend seminary in Denver. My Bishop is from Denver – Nickless. I am trying to converse with him about this issue and not getting too far.
I’d prefer not to go into detail. However, Walker Nickless was Chaput’s chancellor at the time. I had my suspicions about Nickless regarding more than a few things- if you get my drift.
No I don’t get your drift, what do you mean?
Thanks.
He is a conservative in sheep’s clothing. I also highly suspected he either leaned towards the gay side or sympathized with the cause.
There is an interesting exchange between A.Chaput and a reader of New Oxford Review that reveals what A. Chaput really believes about divorce/remarriage. Don’t any of you expect him to take a stand on the issue. It’s not his business nor yours. See Temaat/Chaput on NOR letter to the editor titled “Divorce is like murder.”
Thank you! We’re seeing his true colors
Uh well, don’t hold your breath. Sadly Timmy is not a leader. A colossal disappointment here in New York.
I am a New Yorker, I understand. Not holding my breath.
DOLAN says his golfing is
improving
?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3edaedbd9fb1adc2e47eacb185752682ad0c756a0da58aee5ee321e2a52a7cf8.gif
DOLAN said he’d give up golf & treadmill if he SLIM
FAST
He was supposed to go to Australia , but the temperature is 116
So he’s staying with the iguanas in Florida
Cardinal Dolan caught the flu
But I just recently read that he enjoyed a great golf game in Florida.
He killed all the iguanas
They all fell from the trees
Aw, hopefully his homosexual in charge Monsignor Greg Mustaciuolo helped him out in the hot sun
He brought two pairs of pants in case he got a hole in one!
He smokes too much?
That explains all the mulligans?
Does he have a caddy?
That’s Msgr Mustachio?
No
He’s running in subways with……
They have no pants in sub FREEZING WEATHER
It’s some cmpetition in NY today…… intellectuals?
Oh my
Misguided son!what do you call a man
Running with no pants in a cold subway?
Ooooo, that’s cold!
Nice play on words.
It is 3 degrees here in New York(slightly upstate) and heading down to -5. The cold has been on my mind. Thank you for taking notice.
Did he volunteer for Golfers anonymous!
He’s sick
On vacation
On retreat
In Rome
Or is not able to be reached at this time… If this an emergency call Harriman Golf Country Club, NY
(Recording from his secretary’s phone)
The latest recording is something about he’s chasing the hare $
& the dog on the golf course……..
He lost the sheep
He lost his golf balls ….
He’ll be back to NY in the office in 4 weeks!
Leave the man alone, he’s busy… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/43e34b69c2865e657950fc70aa30b6b7bba4d669a0ee1755bc8d88979280f4e9.jpg
I doubt very much if the back-slapping “Timmy Boy” will ………….
Amen
Te Deum Laudamus… May many more receive the witness of these bishops and choose to follow Christ and sign the Profession.
May Almighty God inspire many more to sign.
Jesu, Salvator mundi, sanctifica sacerdotes et levitas tuos.
Cardinal Janis Pujats is, apparently, the archbishop emeritus of Riga.
Actually, all three of the additional bishops are all, effectively, retired. A telling point.
So Pope Francis doesn’t even care.
So a Cardinal is in. That’s pretty big.
I’ve wondered about retired Cardinal Justin Rigali. He now reside in my current home diocese of Knoxville with the current bishop (who seems somewhat on the left). In a retired, emeritus status, I wonder why the good cardinal will not publicly add his voice?
And…. since Cardinal Rigali is retired, Pope Francis can’t do anything anyway !
Two
Only one Cardinal has signed on to this thus far…
Sorry
“There is confusion. It exists, and it’s serious. No reasonable person can deny this.” Hello Dave Armstrong?
You’re assuming Armstrong is reasonable?
LOL…no. Just finished reading Ferrara’s piece on the dust up with Armstrong, Keating and Lawler. I actually didn’t know Armstrong’s high level of distain for OP5, Remnant and Lifesite. Guess I don’t get out and around the web much.
do you have a link to that piece? Sounds interesting.
This is what Kono read – happy to oblige:
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/fetzen-fliegen/item/3637-the-importance-of-not-being-us
Confusion? What confusion?
Ultramontanism is dead, gone, finished, through.
Not while Wolford is alive.
i’m praying for an ‘avalanche’ of Bishops to sign on!
Pray hard!
Only 5464 to go.
See Mundabor’s Blog and “Meows”.
It would help the cause (i.e., Catholicism) if the whole world knew the full story of the long, long, close, close relationship of Jorge Bergoglio and Gustavo Vera.
Arthur, for whatever reason, this is not a story easy to come by. I understand Spanish and can read Argentine newspapers, but I’m still unsure what Vera and Bergoglio were or are up to.
I trust journalists rarely. Little real objectivity and too much agenda driven output.
The facts should be the facts.
The important part of the story spans many years and has not been in the newspapers. Think Rembert Weakland. Think Robert Lynch. Daily phone calls between Buenos Aires to Rome. Monthly visits to Rome–until a day last Spring when Vera was escorted out of Casa Santa Marta. The benefits to the Church would be incalculable if the full story could be published.
I get your drift with the mentioned names. I remember reading something about Vera’s being escorted out of the Vatican abruptly by the local constabulary, but I thought it had something to do with heavy financial matters.
I read the Wikipedia article on him and still don’t understand. Sorry, my poor brain needs refueling.
Pray to St Michael the Angel! The battle is greatly intensifying. Pray for St. Michael Angel to protect our prelates from their fears.
The burden is on their shoulders, not ours. The consequences are on their shoulders, not ours.
May God give them the broad shoulders to bear the responsibility with which they were duty bound to do.
Defend the faith! Give us the faith.
Let us hope that, initially at least, more bishops “from the east” will get on board. Then, at least most if not all the bishops of Africa. And there must be at least some in Asia. I wonder where Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige, Archbishop of Colombo stands in this regard? Let us pray that, over the coming months, our own bishops in the West will find themselves so far out on a limb in comparison to the rest of the world that they will be forced to accept that remaining silent so as not to incur the displeasure of “the Head Honcho” will not profit them. Maybe I’m just naive, but I prefer that to feebly throwing the towel in. And, as we are told; “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Don’t forget about the Vietnamese Bishops !
They haven’t said anything…….
Not yet, Joseph, but; as the momentum builds? Well, let’s just hope and pray. Though I would ask you; how big an issue is the divorced and remarried in Vietnam. Surely it must be far less of a problem than in the the West?
Younger Couples are Divorcing More. While Older Families are sticking together. There seems to be a Generation Gap in Vietnam. Remarried Couples ? The Thing is….. You get shamed by everyone if you divorce and remarry… thanks to the Confucian Influence.
So it’s a mixed bag.
Thanks, Joseph. I had presumed that this kind of thing was really a problem afflicting the materialistic, morally degenerating and increasingly faithless West. Maybe the younger Vietnamese are learning from us. Pity!
Vietnam seems to be copying everything from the West especially the US…… in everything. Morals. TV Show Concepts. Food. They’re even copying America’s got Talent.
Vietnamese Bishops have been taking some steps to help fix the Divorce Issues. They’re encouraging Divorced Couples to partcipate in Church Activities but not Communion. They’re still discussing that from what I read. They’re waiting to see what the response to Amoris Laetia is like in other Asian Countries before making a declation on Communion.
Joseph, your first paragraph made me wince! This whole Western, “made in the USA” subculture is an aggressive and deadly moral cancer. It was sold to us beginning in the “swingin’ sixties” onward as our great emancipation from the puritanical shackles of the past. and the long awaited liberation of the human race. And with each passing decade it has become more putrid and foul. It has brought about the final, all-out assault by the powers of hell to utterly pervert human nature and its intended purpose is the total annihilation of creation itself.
The thing is… all Catholics in all countries in the whole world should be lead by Catholic Chuch and Her Teaching…
But what a teaching we have from apostolic successors in the last decades?!
In communist country voice is oppressed.
Abortion is highest in Nam.
Like in China many sold and a few good ones left are in house arrest.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e3ce2e161178526d2fa95a935936aed613edbe3419e0ad4b2e193b83b60142ce.jpg
I’m back!!!!!!!!
The “breaking NEWS” is not that one or two or three bishops, etc. have spoken. The “Breaking” NEWS is that over 5000 of the Catholic Bishops, of our planet, have been stone-cold tight-lipped. O Mary, melt their hearts & ours too! JAMLY!
Exactly!
They consider that they better live in shame than die in honor of God.
Praise be Jesus Christ! Another bishop has signed, Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Laun of Salzburg, Austria: https://twitter.com/EdwardPentin/status/949690260170203138
I’d love to see His Beatitude Sviatoslav, patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, sign on to this document.
I’d love to see him sign it too. I do know His Beatitude spoke up in defense of marriage between one man and one woman at the 2014 Synod. He was even featured on EWTN during the 2014 Synod.