Thursday, Dec. 21 news reporting commentary
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The flood of responses to the Francis document on blessings for same-sex couples continues. There are those who see what it really is and will obviously lead to, and either condemn it or highly praise it. And then there are those who continue to excuse it as nothing significant and say, “move along, nothing here to get excited about.”
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano continues to be very blunt about the reality of the implications and impact of the document. He is a Church leader of great experience and knowledge of both the world and the Church. Only a handful of Catholic bishops possess that high level of insight between the two worlds. He has served under a number of popes and was for a time the third highest authority in the Vatican in charge of all the world’s nuncios (ambassadors).
The challenge for any critics of his pronouncements is to prove him wrong. Archbishop Vigano proclaims, “Approved blessings for homosexual ‘couples’ show that the ‘Bergoglian hierarchy’ are “servants of Satan and his most zealous allies.” Well, yes, that is intense language, but in Church history, there have been many cases of declared saints using such strong language about the failings of bishops and popes. We are shocked because we are not used to this. There has generally been almost no need for such pronouncement in our lifetimes because Catholics have been blessed with numerous good bishops and many good popes in a row – until now.
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Benedict-appointed and later Francis-fired (without explanation) head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, for many decades considered the second highest authority in the Church and the Vatican, provides an authoritative but not overly long critique of the explosive document. Müller’s theological expertise far exceeds that of the current head of the CDF, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez and also Francis, neither of whom are known for special theological competence.
Müller’s response has to be considered the most important of all critiques and warnings to date about Fiducia Supplicans (FS). He writes that blessings of homosexual couples “constitute(s) blasphemy and that the document is “self-contradictory.” Show this to anyone, including priests and bishops, who claims to you that there is nothing wrong with the document.
Then there are the Ukrainian bishops who criticize the document and refuse to do any such blessing. A faithful Dutch bishop appeals to the Holy Father for more clarity about the “Diabolical ambiguity” in the document. A lot more responses from bishops are noted in a special compilation here.
Doug Mainwaring presents another powerful commentary on numerous blasphemies occurring as related to the new Vatican document.
On a whole different subject, a Conservative Treehouse reprint exposes crucial information about the real, mostly unknown players in the American Deep State. Do you know who Mary McCord is? All U.S. readers should read this shocking article. Now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty of who is behind all the fake lawfare and other manipulations that have been taking down elected and other effective opponents of the Deep State. Remember, knowledge is power. We have been missing this knowledge.
Our article on Tucker Carlson’s fascinating interview with Babylon Bee’s Seth Dillon about “fact-checking” of conservatives is eye-opening and also entertaining. Still, what they discuss is serious, need-to-know stuff. LifeSiteNews has been tremendously harmed by these “fact-checkers” as have most of the effective conservative information and news services on the Internet. In one way, it is a badge of honor that they have seen the need to “fact-check” and attempt to destroy us, but we would dearly love to reach many millions more with our life-saving journalism.
A good news story is that a Catholic women’s college in Notre Dame, Indiana reversed its decision after receiving backlash to allow gender-confused men who “identify” as women to be eligible for admission. That again shows the effectiveness of grassroots activism, but really, why was it ever necessary in this case?
There are five important Canadian stories on developments there on issues of interest to Canadian readers. We find U.S. readers are also frequently interested in our Canadian reports as well in order to be better prepared for what in the future often comes down into the U.S. from Canada.
Lastly, but not least of all, today we begin publishing many varied, personal Christmas reflections from LifeSiteNews team members. More will be published in the days ahead.
We do this every year, and many readers tell us they really enjoy them. They are a refreshing, frequently inspiring break from our usual daily reports on the great battles between good and evil in the world.
Take time to sit back, get a cup of cup of coffee or tea or glass of wine and just enjoy real goodness. You will see that we have an exceptional team of faith-filled truth tellers with big hearts and often moving stories to tell.
To help support these good folks, most of whom are married with young families, or older with many moving life experiences, with your generous donation to our Gifts of Gratitude campaign. These articles are unique, personal gifts to all of you from each one of them.
God bless,
Steve Jalsevac
Co-founder
LifeSiteNews.com
