Rise of occult activity is present all over the world, and that tells us a lot - Dr. Valter Cascioli

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 12 November 2014 - 12:43:05 | by admin

Dr. Valter Cascioli is a psychiatrist and spokesman for the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) which recently met in Rome for its 12th annual conference.

CNA/EWTN News reported an interview Dr. Cascioli gave which has been largely overlooked. As his words are so important and revealing in terms of the present global situation, they are worth reflecting on here.

Dr. Cascioli noted: 'We know that in some countries of the world, there are no exorcists, and demonic activity and its consequences are spreading all over the world. It is not a socio-cultural problem, it is present all over the world, and that tells us a lot.'

Yes, that does indeed tell a lot about the current stage of Salvation History and the spiritual battle between Christ and Anti-Christ. 

Indeed, Dr. Cascioli continued: 'So, it is truly becoming a pastoral emergency and this is why we have the necessity to combat this situation.'

Cascioli added that this rise can be attributed to decreasing faith among individuals, coupled with an increase in curiosity and participation in occult activity such as ouija and seances.

The Catholic Church does not equivocate with the occult. Cascioli warned that any involvement whatsoever, even passive participation, can be catastrophic and should always be avoided and rejected. He noted: 'It usually starts out of ignorance, superficiality, stupidity or proselytising, actively participating or just watching... The consequences are always disastrous.'

Cascioli warned that occult activity has ramifications in the spiritual, moral, physical and psychological realms. Affects can include anxiety, panic attacks, nightmares, acts of self-harm, and constant thoughts of death. In severe cases, occult involvement can lead to demonic possession. 

He also spoke of people attempting to consult the dead. 'Whether we realize it or not, whether we are aware of it or not, whether we do it for fun, for amusement or for any other reason, it does not change anything: the devastating impact of spiritism is the same.' Cascioli explained that people who think they are dealing with deceased loved ones have in reality contacted and invited demons into their lives. These spiritual entities tell them things based only partially on truth in order to trick, seduce and try to enter into the person involved. 

In light of the gravity of this situation and its unfolding global scale, the IAE reported an increased participation at this year's conference by cardinals, bishops and priests. 

We were saddened at the weekend to notice that our local community cinema will be screening the movie 'Ouija'. Let us then reiterate that these activities are gravely offensive to God and also underline the dangers highlighted by Dr. Cascioli. The Catechism of the Catholic Church warns against all occult activities which break the First Commandment and 'contradict the honour, respect and loving fear that we owe to God alone' (CCC 2116 ).

Please urge everyone to avoid the occult and satanic movies at all costs. If you have been involved in these things, we encourage you to repent of your sins, make a good confession and seek the counsel of a wise and orthodox Catholic priest today. In these times, we highly recommend the frequent praying of the Holy Michael prayer.

Place all your trust in Jesus Christ, the Name above all names (Philippians 2:9).

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Feast of St. Martin of Tours

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 11 November 2014 - 17:48:26 | by admin

St. Martin of Tours is well remembered for sharing his cloak with the beggar who - it was later revealed to him in a dream - turned out to be the Lord Jesus Christ. The feast of St. Martin of Tours is particularly consoling for us. I have mentioned a few times that Dad left little notes in his Missal, breviary and in other books before he died. He has inserted one into the Divine Office for the Office for the Dead. One side of his note explains how the liturgical prayers had comforted him with God's promises of the Resurrection. The other side of his note instructs the reader to turn to the letter of Sulpicius Severus for the Feast Day of St. Martin of Tours.

One finds there a powerful testimony relating to the grace of a holy death.

Severus' letter recounts the final hours of St. Martin on this earth. A particularly poignant line exclaims: 'Father! Why are you deserting us? To whose care are you leaving us in our grief? The wolves in their savagery will fall on your flock! When you, our shepherd are dead, who will save us from their teeth? Oh, we know you are weary for Christ, but that reward of yours is sure and it will not grow less for the waiting. Oh, pity us, whom you are leaving desolate.'

I must say that I consider my father to have been blessed to have been spared the dreadful apostasy and confusion which has taken hold and spread in the Church during the months following his death. How much the wolves have come among us! How shepherdless and desolate we do feel. On the night before his funeral, a trusted priest friend led the Rosary beside Dad's casket. He consoled me that Dad had been taken by God to spare him from events soon to unfold in the Church and world. How prophetic his words soon became.

But there is much comfort towards the end of Severus' letter which also calls to mind Dad's deathbed hours. Severus relates: 'He lay, with all his being intent on Heaven, holding his unconquered soul fast to its prayer. The priests around his bed wished to turn him over on his side to ease his poor body but he stopped them: 'Brothers, let me go on looking at Heaven, not at the earth; my soul will be pointing to God when its moment of departure comes'... He saw the devil standing near and cried out, 'Blood-stained beast, what are you doing here? You will find nothing of yours in me, you living death. I go to the arms of Abraham.' These were his last words. Then he surrendered his soul to God.'

A poor sinner like the rest of us, Dad tried as well as he could to lead his family, friends and neighbours to love Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church. He also showed us how to die with Christ; a lesson which he has reaffirmed from beyond the grave by recommending this reading on the life and death of St. Martin of Tours.

In these days of trial for the Church and society, may we each reject Satan, that blood-stained beast and living death who Scripture tells us was a murderer and a liar from the beginning; and may we die to ourselves that we might live for God. Keep the Faith!

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Thoughtful and Prophetic

Torch of The Faith News on Sunday 09 November 2014 - 22:38:23 | by admin

One of the more thoughtful and prophetic Catholic blogs to be found these days is run by Fr. Gary Dickson and Andrew McDowell over at Catholic Collar and Tie (Please see our links page).

Father posted up an article last week with a concluding paragraph that so succinctly expresses the present state of things that we include it here for your ongoing reflection:-

'Truly I cannot believe it is the Holy Ghost who inspires Modernizers with confidence in their strategies and to push for 'more of the same' when we can all see the Church dying away in front of our eyes. Only the enemy could encourage us to think of closures and falling Mass attendances as good; only the enemy could have us scorn and disparage a form of Mass sanctioned by the Popes, loved by the saints, and defended by our martyrs. Only the enemy could have us turn from the wisdom of the saints to the musings of today's gurus. When it has become a sign of wisdom and intellectual acuity to deride what the Church has always treasured and abandon her liturgical and spiritual heritage, something very evil is happening in the Church that is simply not being recognized by the great and powerful.'

Like we said - Thoughtful and Prophetic. Please keep these men in your prayers.

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Let's not only wrestle with thorny brambles when we need to dig the problem out by its roots

Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 06 November 2014 - 23:34:50 | by admin

We recently highlighted the fact that the Kasper 'thesis' is merely the evil flowering of the Modernistic roots expressed in his 1976 book Jesus the Christ. If one views the Son of God through a reductionist lens, it is only logical that all the other dogmas and doctrines of the Church will be similarly perceived. 

In the present battle for the soul of the Church, the denigration of marriage may be likened to harmful shoots and fruits. It is the blasphemous attack on Jesus Christ's divinity and universal kingship which constitutes the deeper root of the problem.

The Modernist attempt to dethrone Christ the King is the true point of departure from orthodox Catholic faith. It is here that the contemporary battle to defend the Faith should be focused. The effective gardener does not wear himself out by consistently clipping at thorny brambles. (This is especially true when they keep sprouting up like topsy!). Rather, he identifies harmful roots and harnesses his energies to remove them. 

In like manner, the truth about marriage, confession, the papacy and the very nature of the Church will be best defended by attending to the defence of authentically Catholic Christology and Ecclesiology. Indeed, such a defence is found as early as the writings of St. Paul, who presented indissoluble marriage as an image of Christ and the Church in the 5th chapter of his majestic letter to the Ephesians.

Our analogy of shoots, fruits and roots continues to hold when we turn to consider Pope Francis' tolerance of Kasper's position and the whole debacle of the manipulations at the Rome Synod.  

It has not yet dawned on many that the Church and society have just witnessed an apocalyptic event which calls to mind Dostoevsky's interpretation of the Grand Inquisitor.

To allow and to partake in a vote on giving Holy Communion to divorced people who have attempted re-marriage is not only to fly in the face of 2,000 years of Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium. It is akin to putting Jesus Christ, the God-man, and the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue on trial.

What blasphemy! Have these men no fear of God? Do they not care for the souls who may be lost because of their temerity? Will they not even shrink from such unprincipled arrogance to save their own souls? Where is the righteous indignation of the orthodox? Will no-one defend Christ?

And yet, to focus only on this spectacle, terrifying though it be, is to risk spiritual myopia. It is to become embroiled in the cutting thorns, choking shoots and stinking fruits. For those who must defend the Faith, this will not do. No, they must learn from the prudent gardener and deracinate the grubby roots.

It seems to us that the clearest view of these roots may be glimpsed in a central garden in Rome on Pentecost Sunday, 2014. To grasp the marrow of the problem, we must consider the inter-religious prayers of the Invocation for Peace in the Vatican Garden and the Assisi 'spirit' which prepared the ground for it. At the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down on St. Peter and the Apostles and brought unity and peace through them in the context of the dawning Church. Pentecost 2014 witnessed an attempt at unity with a different locus. 

Where was the holy zeal for Jesus Christ, the Most Blessed Trinity, the Church, or for souls on the day when Pope Francis took the unprecedented step of praying with representatives of other religions? The day when no-one would even whisper the word 'Apostasy'.

Did anyone stand up to bring the good news of the Gospel to these people? Was there a single voice to defend Christ's Great Commission to teach the True Faith He revealed with His imperative to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Did any of the successors of the Apostles even question this u-turn of 2,000 years of Tradition?

On the footage that we witnessed, there were plenty of prelates - even men considered to be orthodox leaders during Pope Benedict XVI's reign - who fawned their way through the event in the garden that day. What a chill reminder it all was of another garden with another group of Christ's own picked-men at another crucial Hour. Is there again no-one to wait with Christ for one hour?

And closer to home, where was the voice of the Catholic intellectuals with whom we have worked to hand on the True Faith? If they will not raise their heads above the parapet at so crucial a moment, will anyone? Even our own concerned critique which was posted on this blog that day was too politely restrained. Thankfully, some other Catholic blogs did lament in strong terms the religious indifferentism which emanated from Rome that day. And a good number of commentators on blogs joined in. However, when one considers the gravity of the moment, why were the members of the Body of Christ so generally mute? Has there ever been such a time in Church history? Will we yet re-awaken and groan again to find the whole world once more Arian?

One trembles to recall the words of Our Blessed Lord Himself: 'When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on earth?' (Luke 18:8).

Enough of this collusion with Apostasy. Peace without Christ we will not have! Something truly evil entered into the Church - as far as such a travesty is possible - and into the world that afternoon. The apostasy took a deeper hold and dark events around the globe accelerated. 

The Synod on Marriage and all the troublesome manipulations and confusion before, during and after it are evil, but they are merely the fruit. Apostasy from Jesus Christ, from the Blessed Trinity, from the Decalogue, from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and indeed from all the truths of the Deposit of Faith are the filthy root of the problems facing the Church in our day. By all means let us defend true marriage, but let us also engage with this much deeper problem.

Let us each repent of our silence and collusion with this faith-quenching Apostasy. Everything is now at stake. The salvation of billions of souls - including yours and mine - hangs in the balance. Let us renounce Satan and easy compromises with the world. Let us renew our loving commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church through our Baptismal vows. 

Every Catholic from the Pope down to each one of us in the pews needs to repent of dallying with this disorientation and affirm that Jesus Christ is the One True Saviour of the World; and that there is therefore no salvation outside of His Catholic Church. That is where Divine Mercy reigns and issues forth.

We want Jesus Christ to be our King! And we want His Church to be presented - as it is by nature and always was in the past - as His Kingdom.

And as we discern the roots, fruits and shoots of our predicament, let us not lose sight of Christ's own teaching that: 'A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit' (Matthew 7:18).  

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More from Bishop Schneider: 'Refuse to conform to the neo-pagan spirit of this world.'

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 05 November 2014 - 22:52:38 | by admin

Towards the conclusion of his uplifting interview with Polonia Christiana 24, Bishop Athanasius Schneider confronts the problem of Catholic leaders who attempt to undermine the teaching of Our Lord.

His words are so apt that they could become a motto and prayer for Catholics hoping to remain faithful to Christ and His Church in the days ahead. As such, we include them here:-

Cardinals, bishops, priests, Catholic families, Catholic young people have to say to themselves: I refuse to conform to the neo-pagan spirit of this world, even when this spirit is spread by some bishops and cardinals; I will not accept their fallacious and perverse use of holy Divine Mercy and of ''New Pentecost''; I refuse to throw grains of incense before the statue of the idol of the gender ideology, before the idol of second marriages, of concubinage, even if my bishop would do so, I will not do so; with the grace of God I will choose to suffer rather than betray the whole truth of Christ on human sexuality and on marriage.'

May these words become a daily prayer and act of commitment for each of us every day and may the Holy Spirit give us the grace to remain faithful to Christ. Our Lady of Victories - pray for us. St. Joseph, Terror of Demons - protect us. Holy Michael - defend us. Amen.   

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Bishop Athanasius Schneider: ''Bishops who support Holy Communion for 'divorce remarried' are the new Pharisees because they neglect the Commandment of God''.

Torch of The Faith News on Wednesday 05 November 2014 - 20:24:45 | by admin

Bishop Athanasius Schneider has given an encouraging interview to Polonia Christiana 24 about the obvious manipulation of the recent Rome Synod.

The good bishop has the courage and integrity to describe the sections of the mid-term Relatio document dealing with homosexuality and divorce/remarriage as representations of 'radical neo-pagan ideology.' Indeed, he went further: 'This is the first time in Church history that such a heterodox text was actually published as a document of an official meeting of Catholic bishops under the guidance of a pope, even though the text only had a preliminary character. Thanks be to God and to the prayers of the faithful all over the world that a consistent number of Synod fathers rejected such an agenda; this agenda reflects the corrupt and pagan mainstream morality of our time, which is being imposed globally by means of political pressure and through the almost all-powerful official mass-media, which are loyal to the principles of the world gender ideology... This document will remain for the future generations and for the historians as a black mark which has stained the honour of the Apostolic See.' 

Whilst acknowledging the fact that the final Message of the Synod Fathers outlined the Divine truth of the family, Bishop Schneider noted that the number of bishops voting for Holy Communion to be given to divorced Catholics who have attempted re-marriage is a 'sad reflection on the spiritual quality of the Catholic episcopacy in our days.' He described these men as 'the new Scribes and Pharisees because they neglect the Commandment of God.' Indeed: 'The attempt to put the Divine truth and the Divine Word to a vote is unworthy of those who as representatives of the Magisterium have to hand over as good and faithful rulers (cf. Matthew 24,45) the Divine Deposit.' 

Bishop Schneider encouraged Catholics to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and the true teachings of the Church regarding chastity in the days ahead. He called on them to go deeper into the Faith through prayer, sacrifice, orthodox catechesis, ongoing conversion from sin and by providing genuine support to those struggling with homosexual tendencies to enable them to enter the path of Christian conversion.

'The Church and the world do urgently need intrepid and candid witnesses of the whole truth of the commandment and of the will of God, of the whole truth of Christ's words on marriage. Modern clerical Pharisees and Scribes, those bishops and cardinals who throw grains of incense to the neo-pagan idols of gender ideology and concubinage, will not convince anyone to either believe in Christ or to be ready to offer their lives for Christ.'

Angeline and I started Torch of The Faith six years ago to defend and spread the true teachings of the Church on marriage and the family. Since February, we have been both scandalized and discouraged to see the types of dissent which had opposed us locally reach to the very heights of the Church. We live in a grave time when a pope of the Church could encourage false teachers who denigrate Christ's own teachings on marriage. Countless souls are in danger and the truth must be affirmed as a matter of urgency. For our part, if God gives us the grace, we will continue to live, defend and spread the true teachings of Christ and His Church on marriage. We are therefore delighted to read this courageous and crystal clear affirmation of Christ's own teaching on marriage and family by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. 

Catholics who are praying for the Holy Church as She traverses some of the most dangerous waters of the last 2,000 years, will be encouraged by this forthright interview. May God bless Bishop Schneider; a prelate who has consistently defended the rights of Jesus Christ and His Church.  

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Threat of closure for UK faith-schools if they do not promote homosexualist ideology

Torch of The Faith News on Tuesday 04 November 2014 - 13:08:04 | by admin

Nicky Morgan, UK Secretary of State for Education.

SPUC's Safe at School campaign and LifeSiteNews have today drawn attention to new rules from the schools inspectorate Oftsted, which would punish schools deemed to be 'intolerant' of homosexuality. Such punishment could even include school closures.

Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, backed the new rules in last weekend's edition of The Sunday Times. Her comments provide a crystal clear example of the relativist dictatorship currently dominating Western society: 'Schools should broaden horizons, not close minds, and should encourage pupils to respect other people even if they do not agree with them. I should have thought this was a principle with which the vast majority of people would agree.'

It is revealing that the Education Secretary wishes to promote - what she sees - as broader horizons, open minds and respect for those with different views, by suppressing the liberties, rights and freedom of speech of those who will not conform to her own worldview. Let it also be remembered that those promoting the homosexualist agenda represent an absolute minority in society who happen to have financial, political and media backing out of all proportion to their true numbers. The vast majority of people do not agree with the promotion of homosexualist ideology to children, but many are cowed into silence because of the new culture of fear which, promoted through powerful media interests, descended on our society in relation to these issues during the last decade.

This represents only the latest in a series of attacks on the Natural and Divine Law in the field of education here in the UK. Sadly, for the most part, the bishops in England and Wales have not only failed to put up a resistance to these attacks but have actively colluded with them via their so-called Catholic Education Service. The CES, with the support of Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon has colluded with the anti-life/anti-family agenda being set by the British Government and those controlling it. Indeed the CES even has former MP Greg Pope, a man with a consistently anti-life voting record, in a position of management. It is no coincidence either that Ed Balls, former Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has been a frequent attendee of the Bilderberg conference. Under Oonagh Stannard, the CES was involved with Mr. Balls in the drafting of 'sex-education' guidelines, which contradicted authentic Catholic teaching, during 2010. Catholic education has been gradually brought into line with the atheistic policies of a globalist system of control. It is therefore unlikely that much will be done to defend Catholic schools - and even more importantly the students attending them - from this latest threat. Cardinal Nichols' recent pastoral letter to the Archdiocese of Westminster only underscores this lamentable fact.

Many Catholic governors and teachers have likely never even heard of teaching documents like the Pontifical Congregation for the Family's The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality or Pope Paul VI's Gravissimum Educationis, much less Pope Pius XI's Divini Illuis Magistri. As such, without firm and orthodox episcopal leadership they will have little understanding or will to go against the new zeitgeist.

Antonia Tully of Safe at School has recently warned of a programme called CHIPS - Challenging Homophobia in Primary Schools. This tax-payer funded scheme has been introduced without parental consultation. It includes getting six and seven-year old children to design a dress for a 'princess boy', getting little girls of six to role play lesbian mothers and showing children of ten to eleven years of age a video of a 'transgender' six year old.

This gives a flavour of the kind of material deemed to be appropriate for even primary schools. We can then see how grave this threat to schools is. Of the new Ofsted rules now threatening schools in the UK, Antonia Tully has stated: 'It is quite clear that the new rules for schools actively to promote so-called 'British values' are all about indoctrinating children with a homosexual ideology. The prospect that schools will have to champion homosexuality or risk being downgraded by Ofsted strips all parents of their right to educate their own children about sexual morality... Nicky Morgan's zeal to further the gay agenda is undermining every parent in the country.'

Please pray for othodox bishops, priests, governors and teachers to stand and be counted and for parents and children to be protected from this latest affront to Natural and Divine Law.       

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November Indulgences for the Faithful Departed

Torch of The Faith News on Monday 03 November 2014 - 12:55:39 | by admin

During this month which is dedicated to the Holy Souls, remember to seek the special indulgences which the Church grants for the faithful departed during these first days of November each year.

A plenary indulgence, applied exclusively to the souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful who:

1. On each single day, from the first to the eighth day in November, devoutly visit a cemetery and, even if only mentally, pray for the faithful departed (N.B. There is one plenary indulgence for each day, if the usual conditions are met).

On the commemoration day of All Souls (All Faithful Departed) - this year this is celebrated today here in the UK - piously visit a church or an oratory and there recite the Our Father and the Creed.

The usual conditions include: One plenary indulgence per day. To obtain it the faithful must: be in the state of grace; have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin; have sacramentally confessed their sins; have received Holy Communion; and have prayed for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. (Whilst it is appropriate for the sacramental Confession and Holy Communion to occur on the day of the prayers, it is sufficient for these to be made within around 20 days before or after the indulgenced act. One Confession suffices for several indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and prayers for the Holy Father's intentions are necessary for each indulgence).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: 'An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfaction of Christ and the saints... An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin. The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead' (CCC 1471). These special November indulgences are specifically for the faithful departed. 

Eternal rest grant unto them dear Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, and may they rest in peace. Amen.           

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The Beautiful Feast of All Saints Banishes the Darkness of Halloween

Torch of The Faith News on Saturday 01 November 2014 - 17:07:01 | by admin

With the dark night of Halloween behind us - in our times a strident combination of the occult and militant secularism - let us rejoice in the light of Christ shining through His beloved saints.

In 610 A.D., Pope Boniface IV, no believer in unity without truth, converted the Roman Pantheon from being a 'temple to all gods' into a Catholic church. Boniface dedicated this new church to The Blessed Virgin Mary and All the Christian Martyrs. The bones of unknown Christian martyrs were brought from the Catacombs to be venerated. The anniversary of the dedication of this new church was celebrated as a feast in honour of all those who had been martyred for Christ. As time went by, the feast was extended to honour all of God's saints and the feast was established throughout the Universal Church on the 1st November.

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival day in honour of all the Saints: at whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God. Ps. 32. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just: praise becometh the upright. Gloria Patria, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto (Introit).

It is truly sad to witness so many people today decorating their children, homes and offices in the darkest of occult symbolism on the 31st October and the days prior to it. What truly is being celebrated in all of that? 

We were heartened to read the words of Fr. Aldo Buonaiuto calling on familes to scrap Halloween altogether.    

Fr. Aldo, an Italian priest with the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) had been taking part in the Vatican's official conference for exorcists. Some 300 Catholic priests from all over the world had travelled in to Rome to take part in this important event. 

Echoing the warnings of priests such as Fr. Gabriel Amorth, he cautioned that many young people are getting caught up with Satanism in these times.

Speaking to the Italian newspaper La Nazione, Fr. Aldo noted: 'Halloween originates from superstitions that exalt malign spirits and demons. Many people see it as a simple carnival, but it is anything but innocent, it is a subterranean world based on the occult... Halloween is the antechamber towards something more disturbing. For devotees of the occult, 31st October is the satanic new year. It is a time for luring new converts. And it is a time when exorcists have to work harder.'

Fr. Aldo explained: 'With the arrival of Halloween, there is an increase in black magic rites, sacrilege and the adoration of Satan, as well as demonic possessions.' He noted that many parents contact the exorcists' helpline with concerns about the behaviour of their children. During the Halloween period, there is a large increase to around 40 calls each day. 'For the sects it is the best time of the year to recruit new members. From here the door to the devil can be opened. For this reason it is necessary for us to speak out and not play down the danger.'  

Tragically, with the loss of the sense of the sacred in present-day society, many young people are trying to fill the void which only Christ can fill by getting involved in the occult. Fr. Aldo reports that there is a growth in Satanism which has resulted in black masses, a 'market' for stolen Hosts, vampyrism, rape and torture. 

To counter these dangers, the Catholic Church in Italy has proposed 'Holyween', a night filled with Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration: 'While most people are steeped in zombies and horror we put in our door or windows a light or an image evocative of the saints. And then there will be Masses, prayer vigils, and worship to celebrate the saints and victory of good over evil.'

This initiative all sounds very positive. Let us also join in with our Holy Mother the Church in celebrating the Feast of All Saints with great joy. With the saints, let us accept God's grace and give up all compromise with the devil, with sin, with religious indifferentism, with presumptious 'gradualism' and with worldliness. 

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God: blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God: blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven (Communion - Matthew:5).

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The Problematics of Cardinal Walter Kasper

Torch of The Faith News on Thursday 30 October 2014 - 17:35:38 | by admin

The polemic of those defending the Faith from the co-ordinated frontal attack on marriage have so far focused a great deal of energy on refuting Cardinal Walter Kasper's thesis and on exposing his arrogance towards journalists and cultures. 

And it is only just and right that these key aspects should be targeted in the defence of the Faith. Nevertheless, there is a sense that to focus exclusively on these dimensions is to clip off shoots rather than to tear out the problem by its roots.

We are in a Total War for Jesus Christ, for the Church, for billions of souls, for marriage, family, confession, priesthood, indeed for the very notion of immutable truth and as a result for the future of our civilization. In such a situation we may not aim only for front-line deadlock. The supply lines of the enemy must be hit.

More concretely, we must recognize, expose and engage the fact that, not only does Kasper's 'thesis' have the support of Pope Francis' notion of 'serene theology', but that Cardinal Walter Kasper's views on marriage are merely the flowering of more fundamental beliefs which he expressed in his 1976 book Jesus The Christ.

In this study of Christology, Kasper begins a section on Christ's miracles under the title The Problematics of Jesus' Miracles. From the very outset of the discussion then, Kasper reveals his hermeneutic with this depiction of the miraces as 'problematic'. We are alerted to the fact that the miracles will not merely be presented as supernatural events to be received, but as devices to be dissected. He affirms this reading by suggesting that the miracles are an aspect of Jesus' activity which 'for modern man at least' is remarkable and hard to understand. 

Also revealing is his choice of words when describing the depth of the miracle accounts in the strata of Gospel witness. He observes: 'The miracle tradition of the gospels cannot be wished away.' But who in their right mind would wish to? Ah, it is for the sake of 'modern man'.

Here Kasper reveals his preference for an approach where the posited 'modern man' - rather than Christ and His revelation - will be pivotal. 

But who is this modern man? It is, of course, important for us, as evangelists and catechists, to realize that the people in the West of our time think and act differently than they did at other times. Our contemporaries have been shaped by the thought-forms and fashions of modernity and indeed post-modernity. To reach the people of our time with the Gospel, we must understand their lives and appeal to their hopes and aspirations. However, the decades beginning just prior to the Second Vatican Council, and leading through to the present, have witnessed a serious over-emphasis on this conceptualization of a 'modern-man'. The over-emphasis has long since entered the realms of idolatry. 'Modern-man' has become the idol who, looking down on belief in miracles and a sacramental Church, must be placated. For the likes of Kasper, this figure must be approached in a manner which both apologizies for our miracle tradition and waters it down through a one-sided use of the historical-critical method of biblical exegesis. 

This type of approach was more typical of 19th Century liberal-Protestant exegetes who, literally, came at the Sacred Scriptures with a set of Modernist pre-suppositions. Having themselves declared that it was not possible for 'modern man' to believe in miracles, they refused to believe the witness of Sacred Scripture wherever miracles were mentioned. These were read as either a 'literary-device' or a 'later redaction'.

And so the liberal exegetes found only themselves and their limited paradigm in the Bible; which became, for them and their followers, merely a work of literature expressing the highest aspirations of man.  

Need we join them or Walter Kasper in looking down at our ancestors whilst hermetically sealing off 'modern man' from his forebears? Are the aspirations and needs of fallen and limited humanity today really so different from those of other times? Do we not all still long for love, goodness, beauty, truth, happiness - in short, for God? 

It is remarkable that during the era of liberal-Protestant biblical dissection, tens of thousands were flocking to Lourdes, where many miraculous healings were occuring in the waters of Massabielle. Indeed, near this time, France had also witnessed the global draw of the miracle-working confessor St. John Vianney in Ars. While the manufacturers of 'modern man' grafted in the half-light, the humble folk, like those of every time and place, were receptive to the mystery of transcendence and sought the God of love. 

Paraphrasing Goethe, Walter Kasper revealingly describes the Gospel miracles as 'faith's problem children'. For the Apostles, the miracles were signs which aided their faith in Jesus Christ. And yet Kasper, writing just one generation after 70,000 people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, pursues a reductionist approach. It is all the more remarkable when one considers that he was writing within a decade of the death of St. Padre Pio; that stigmatized crucifix of a man through whom Jesus Christ drew countless souls by miracles of healing, bilocation and the reading of souls; miracles and love which continue to convert many today. 

Still, for Kasper the 'scientific approach calls for a fundamental reconsideration of the whole concept of miracle.' At this point, he gets into a lengthy discussion of the conception of 'nature miracles'. Without entering on this theme here, let us consider whether this first principle is really necessary or even appropriate for a Catholic. Without in any way rejecting the contributions of ethical science, must we accept that the 'scientific approach' calls for such a reconsideration of the miracles of the God-man Jesus Christ? May we not - indeed, ought we not - as the then Cardinal Ratzinger used to say, rather critique the critique?

Kasper contends that 'a number of miracle stories turn out in the light of form-criticism to be projections of the experiences of Easter back into the earthly Jesus, or anticipatory representations of the exalted Christ'. Kasper skates out towards the thin ice of Modernist exegesis here. The writings of Popes Pius IX and Pope St. Pius X protect the unwary from taking such risks.

Still, Kasper will have this: ' We must describe many of the gospel miracle stories as legendary. Legends of this sort should be examined less for their historical than their theological content.' And CRACK, the unwary would have fallen through had they followed him uncritically. 

And further on: 'To show that certain miracles cannot be ascribed to the earthly Jesus does not mean that they have no theological or kerygmatic significance. These non-historical miracle reports are statements of faith about the significance for salvation of the person and message of Jesus.' This looks like the classical hallmark of the Modernist; he says one thing and then appears to undo it with another. We can easily destroy the strawman here by observing that, if Christ is truly God and man, then He can do anything and if He is not then the telling of 'legends' would have no significance for us today. Why should we accept Kasper's presentation and not that of the Catholic Church from the time of the Apostles Who witnessed Jesus Christ first-hand and who were commissioned by Him to hand on the Church to all generations? Why should we follow Kasper, whose book dismissively suggests that diseases and symptoms were thought of at the time of Christ to be signs of demon possession, when present day exorcists like Fr. Gabriel Amorth and Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea bear honest witness to the grim reality of such spiritual warfare, its prevalence in our times, and to Christ's continued power over Satan through the ministry of His Church?  

Even more startling are Kasper's views on the Resurrection. He suggests: 'The empty tomb represents an ambiguous phenomenon, open to different possibilities of interpretation.' He goes on to suggest that, after His Resurrection, an assertion that Jesus ate with His disciples and was touched by their hands: 'runs the risk of justifying too coarse a Paschal faith.' And yet, these texts are the Scriptural basis, which in harmony with the Tradition transmitted from the Apostles, form the basis for the Church's perennial belief in the bodily resurrection.

It is fascinating that one of Kasper's students was Archbishop Bruno Forte, the Special Secretary at the Synod; a man considered by many to have authored the problematic parts of the mid-term Synodal Relatio document regarding homosexuality which were not representative of the contributions of the Synodal Fathers. 

Archbishop Forte is a man who can speak in perfectly orthodox and clear ways about the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, and yet... The journalist Alessandro Zangrando suggests that, in his 1994 essay Gesu di Nazaret, storia di Dio, Dio della storia, Bruno Forte spoke of the empty tomb in terms of a legend inherited by the early Christian community from the disciples. 

The present battles against the Church's perennial teaching on the indissolubility of marriage - teachings received by the Church from Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, and handed down often at the price of great suffering and martyrdom - find their roots in these earlier writings and beliefs of Kasper and his disciples. 

In fact, it is deeper than all of that. Pope St. Pius X warned that, although by God's grace, he had scotched the serpent of Modernism in his day, it had inserted its poison into the veins of the Church and that it would rally into a more virulent form in the future. 

This is the way to understand our present situation. Modernism - and behind that Satan himself - is the real enemy which is seeking to take over the Church in our times to the extent that God will allow such a travesty to occur.

The job of the orthodox cardinals, bishops, priests, theologians, polemicists and informed laity is to expose this fact and to fight the Modernism at the root of the problem with all the arms of the Church. They must ask: Do the men pushing for revolutionary changes in the Church's pastoral practice - and therefore in practical terms in Her doctrine - accept and believe the fundamentals of the Deposit of Faith and understand their meaning in the same way that the Church has believed these at all times and in all places? Do they even believe that Jesus Christ is God and man? In short: Are they Catholics? For all of us, we must pray the Rosary and remain close to Christ in the sacraments. With such men remaining unexposed at the top, only divine intervention can remedy the situation now. 

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