Cdl. Burke calls for saint-like love in defence of marriage

A prominent Cardinal of the Catholic Church has called for Catholics to imitate the Christian martyrs in defence of marriage and human life.

His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke made the call this past weekend in addresses for Voice of the Family http://voiceofthefamily.info/ and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) www.spuc.org.uk in Chester and Southport, north-west England.

On Friday evening in Chester there was standing-room only as the Cardinal spoke on the theme “Remaining in the Truth of Christ on Holy Matrimony” [full text: Cardinal Burke Chester 20150306]. Bishop Mark Davies, Catholic bishop of Shrewsbury was present, as were many priests, journalists and families who had travelled from all over the UK. Cardinal Burke said: “Today, for example, we sadly find the need to speak about ‘traditional’ marriage, as if there were another kind of marriage. There is only one kind of marriage as God has given it to us from the Creation and as Christ has redeemed it by His saving Passion and Death.”

He continued: “Even within the Church, there are those who would obscure the truth of the indissolubility of marriage in the name of mercy, who condone the violation of the conjugal union by means of contraception in the name of pastoral understanding, and who, in the name of tolerance, remain silent about the attack on the very integrity of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

The cardinal said that the faithful must be ready to suffer, as Christians have suffered down the ages, to defend the sanctity of Holy Matrimony.

continue at Voice of the Family

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HT LC

Fr. John Hardon: The Catholic Church in the United States will survive only....

So many people marrying nowadays, “marrying” do not really enter into an indissoluble union. For one thing, they must want children. Another couple, same thing, I was asked to talk to them. Same thing my council lasted about a month. Same thing they found somebody else to continue - she was Catholic and he had no faith. So we talked and I said, “You know, to be validly married you must want children.” “Oh, we do want children eventually.” “What is that eventually?” “Well, several years.” And they were both from well to do families. So I did everything I could to discourage them. Evidently I did not succeed. But we are living in a world where an indissoluble marriage is a dream. It is not even an ideal - it is unrealistic.

And among professed Christians this was the key premise for the separation of the Eastern Orthodox from union with Rome. Starting from the seventh and finally standardized in the thirteenth century. All kinds of annulments the Eastern Bishops were giving their people. The Pope kept telling them, warning them, but they wouldn’t listen. He would remove a bishop, then the next bishop would do the same thing. The Catholic Church in the United States will survive only, “solo” in Latin, only where there are still parishes and diocese where Catholics believe that once they enter a sacramental marriage and that marriage is consummated by natural intercourse no power on earth, no bishop, no conference of bishops, no pope, can dissolve that union.

Sacrament of Matrimony Series: The Unity and Indissolubility of Marriage

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Cdl Burke: Canonical discipline contrary to doctrine is "hypocritical"

Cardinal Burke was then asked to address an argument often made in defense of Cardinal Kasper’s proposal, that goes like this: “We are not questioning the indissolubility of marriage at all, but we simply want to change the process to make it easier for people to get an annulment so they can receive Communion.” Cardinal Burke dismissed this error summarily: “There cannot be a canonical discipline contrary to doctrine. To tamper with the discipline is not a light matter.” And, he added, “People are not stupid.” They will readily see the inconsistency between the Church’s teaching and her practice and conclude that the Church is “hypocritical.”

whole article at Aleteia

Fr. John Hardon: Did I ever tell you about my Episcopalian friend?

Fr John Hardon SJ

Fr. John Hardon Archives(circ. 1993):

Did I ever tell you about my Episcopalian friend? I must have. *Burns Seeley? Well I had his wife in class in Western Michigan. I can’t believe it, in 1963. Can you imagine thirty years ago. Well she came to me after one of the classes, I had mentioned about Anglican orders not being valid. “Gosh, I thought my husband was a priest (an Episcopalian minister or pastor married)”. So we talked. Well, in 1970 to commemorate the centennial of Papal Infallibility being defined, Bishop of Joliet, Illinois had me organize a series of lectures, commemorating Papal Infallibility. And among the men I got to speak during gymnasium full of people was my Episcopalian pastor. The bishop called me up, “It says here he is an Episcopalian, we’re talking about Papal Infallibility.”

“Yes, I know Bishop. This man will defend Papal Infallibility better than many Catholics.” Then I must have said this before, but at least somebody may not have heard it. When he got up, he told the Catholics, “Hold on to your Papal Infallibility. That is what has kept me sane.” An Episcopalian said that!

“Couples come to me”, said the Episcopalian pastor, “they want to get remarried, they just had a divorce and they have the wedding date set and everything - all the formalities and they want to make wedding arrangements. I tell them, I cannot marry you. ‘What?’ No. I don’t believe in divorce and remarriage. Well, they stormed out of the rectory and complained to the bishop.”

And this Protestant Episcopalian pastor told me, “How many times I have been called in by the Bishop ‘Burns remember, we are not Roman Catholics, we are Episcopalians. We give divorce and the right to remarry.’” Finally, *Burns couldn’t take it any longer, he had to become a Catholic.

So this was the basic issue over which Protestantism came into existence in the sixteenth century. And this is the growing position of dissident Catholic writers and activist urging a change in Catholic teaching.

One of the great joys in working even over the unexplicated edition of the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It does need a lot of “cleaning up” (Cardinal Law’s translation), but English could not be clearer. In other words, once you marry, you are baptized, your partner is baptized, you have natural intercourse after marriage. That is it! And this is going to be the fate of the Catholic Church in our country-no question about it, unless someone does something soon.

also: Coming Home Network: Conversion Story of Rev. Burns K. Seeley

Cdl. Burke on "the Lord's teaching that marriage is in fact a way to salvation"

Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (the highest canon law court in the Catholic Church) corrects confusion spread by those who say the Church is going to change teaching about divorced and remarried receiving Holy Communion. On June 29, EWTN aired an interview of Cardinal Burke by Thomas McKenna, president of Catholic Action for Faith and Family. McKenna asked Cardinal Burke about proposals that the upcoming extraordinary synod of bishops will change the Church's teaching on remarriage after divorce. Cardinal Burke explained that this could never happen and that Cardinal Kasper caused confusion when his talk to bishops in April was publicized.

The Church can't bend to the culture when the culture errors, said Cardinal Burke:

"Some people say 'Well the culture is predominantly divorcist and therefore the Church in her practice has to adapt herself to the situation of the culture.' That is not the nature of the Church. When the Church confronts a culture that is in some way weak or defective, or failing, as our culture is, Her mission is to call the culture to conversion and to teach ever more strongly the truth about marriage and to help, of course, individuals to live according to that truth. I think for instance of example in France and also in the United States, of associations of those who are divorced who meet regularly to encourage one another to remain faithful to their marriage (to their first marriage) because they believe very sincerely in the Lord's teaching that marriage was in fact, or is in fact, a way to salvation, and so these are the kinds of things that we ought to be encouraging …" SeeYouTube.

In a divorcist culture, divorce persons believe they are single again, and if feel like it, they should start dating again to find a "new spouse." In some particular situations, marriages are not valid. The Catholic Church with a decree of invalidity recognizes these situations officially. But all marriages wherein someone filed for divorce are not invalid.

continue at Spero News


HT St. Louis Catholic

Exorcist talks about what sarament the devil particularly hates

(Rome) An exorcist is at the forefront in the fight against the devil. One of them is Father Francesco Bamonte. He is an exorcist of the diocese of the Pope. "A typical behavior of the devil during the exorcism is to often talk about destruction and annihilation. All that is beautiful, good, healthy, pure, harmonious is mocked and threatened with extinction and destruction," says the exorcist. Particularly striking was the hatred of the devil against the sacrament of marriage, family ties and affection. "He reacts very violently when one blesses the marriage of two married people or if they are invited to renew their wedding vows," says Father Bamonte.

continue at Eponymous

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