News Item: : In Defence of Truth, Justice and Fr. Stefano Manelli
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
Posted by admin
Tuesday 14 February 2017 - 13:30:47

Lanherne Convent 2009: Fr. Stefano Manelli receives the Solemn Professions of two of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate; they are the ones wearing the crowns of thorns.

In the summers of 2009 and 2010, we were blessed to spend our annual vacations near to the convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate in Lanherne, Cornwall. This meant that we could easily attend for the Traditional Latin Mass and for periods of silent prayer in the open section of the chapel, beyond the sanctuary and enclosure.

During our earlier visit, we were amazed when it was announced that Fr. Stefano Manelli - co-founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and spiritual child of our hero St. Padre Pio - was being flown in to receive the Solemn Professions of two of the sisters.

Angie and I still look on those weeks in Cornwall as an important stage in our ongoing conversion and developing journey in the Faith.

A key part of all this was the purchase and reading of an important book from the convent's book stall.

I speak of Msgr. Brunero Gherardini's masterpiece, The Second Ecumenical Vatican Council - A Much Needed Discussion. In this book, Msgr. Gherardini carefully analyses several troubling issues in the actual content of Vatican II, which have long needed to be addressed.

This book proved to be a game-changer for me, mainly because it helped to answer questions that I had first begun to ask in the late 1990's.

It is a must read for all Catholics.

I would say that the translation, publishing and sale of such revealing books by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate has had as much to do with the heavy-handed suppression of them under Francis, as did their faithful adherence to Sacred Tradition in Liturgy, Doctrine and community life. Someone powerful has clearly not liked what they were doing and saying...

The censure and restrictions placed on Fr. Manelli, as well as the destruction of his previously flourishing religious community, have been much commented upon by orthodox Catholics. Indeed, this dire treatment represents one of the more unpleasant stains on the much besmirched leadership of Francis. As the respected historian Roberto de Mattei described it, the treatment of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate has been nothing less than a ''systematic destruction''.

And yet, Rorate Caeli was able to report back in December that all the gravely unjust and even defamatory charges that had been made against Fr. Manelli had been dropped.

At the time, Rorate justly asked: ''And now that the legal authorities have made their ruling, and it seems that Fr. Manelli hasn't raped, abused or killed anyone, the question returns, to pose for the Congregation for Religious, to its prefect, and to its secretary: what has Fr. Manelli done; and what have the Franciscans of the Immaculate done to be treated with such harshness?''

And harshness indeed it is.

Just this morning, Deacon Nick Donnelly has tweeted the following information: ''Latest news of the oppression of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate... This is what is planned for the entire Church... The Vatican has ordered that Fr. Stefano Manelli is to perpetually keep silent, make no public appearances, and not be part of any discussions in his own community. Even though he is the founder. And he is to live only where the Vatican says he can live.''

There are amazing parallels here to the unjust treatment that was meted out to St. Padre Pio; a saint from whom Fr. Manelli actually received his First Holy Communion as a small boy. And, too, there appear to be parallels in the manner in which Fr. Manelli is receiving his treatment with obedience and without complaint.

Whilst this is virtuous behaviour, it seems that those of us who are still able to speak out must protest as loudly and as clearly as possible against the unjust suppression of orthodoxy which is spreading like a cancer in the days of Francis.

There is something gravely wrong when holy men like Fr. Manelli are being carted off and silenced, whilst promoters of heresy, sacrilege and theological trash like Cardinals Cupich, Kasper and Marx are given places of honour.

Just this morning we have read that Francis' advisory Council of Cardinals has suddenly issued a statement of allegiance to Francis. Clearly, someone in power is getting unsettled by the unexpected kickback from the faithful against the heresies of the hour...

As for the rest of us, the ordinary lay faithful: who of us would welcome words of affirmation from figures like Reinhard Marx and Oswald Gracias? Any decent God-fearing men would distance themselves from the affirmations of characters like this. They have shown themselves to be Modernistic Judases, men who crucify Christ and His Church afresh in our own days.

Seriously, Cardinal George Pell - are you really happy to sign up with these men? With them, are you truly supportive of Francis' divisive leadership, and the manner in which his Amoris Laetitia is being used, with his sophisticated aquiescence, as a lever to bring in the desecration of the Eucharist, the weakening of Holy Matrimony, the destruction of souls and the subversion of the very credibility of the Church? Happy with all of that, are you, Eminence? 

Down here at the cliff-face, we ordinary Catholics are just sick and tired of hearing about good men being silenced and suppressed.

We are fed up of witnessing orthodox vocations getting crushed; whilst effete and dissenting modernists are given free reign.

We're dog-tired of seeing faithful men like Fr. Stefano Manelli, Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, Deacon Nick Donnelly, Fra Matthew Festing and countless others being hushed up and sidelined.

We are furious to read of homosexuals using the priesthood as a vehicle to prey on young boys; and then being filthily protected by the interventions of the likes of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto and Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio. All three of whom have played a leading role in the ongoing subversion of Holy Matrimony being played out before the eyes of all of us... 

We are fed up of it, do you hear?

We are tired of it all. That does not mean we are exhausted. On the contrary, you merely motivate us more and more to resist your evil attacks on the Catholic Church.

It has to be said that the more one reads of men being forced to resign and shut up - and Hilary White has a hair-raising piece on this, in relation to research done on Jorge Bergoglio's past in Argentina, over at What is up with the Synod? - then the more similarities one sees in relation to the abdication of Benedict and the subsequent efforts to reverse so many of his key policies by his enemies.

Nay, their attempts to reverse the very teachings of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself!

On behalf of men like Fr. Manelli, we cry out with the words of Holy Scripture: ''Thus saith the Lord of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacrifice to me''! (Exodus 9:1). 

There is one thing in all of this that we can all be sure of: In the end, the full truth will come out for all to see.

God is not mocked; and God will not be mocked!

In the meantime, with God's grace to preserve us, let us stand up for the True Faith with integrity.

Be heartened today by the words of St. Paul: ''And we know that to them that know God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints'' (Romans 8:28).

Keep the Faith!  

---

This news item is from Torch of The Faith
( http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.1555 )