WARNING: The video footage included below is shocking and contains violence and censored nudity. Viewer discretion is advised. 

Mar de Plata, October 13, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) - A horrific and surreal scene unfolded Monday night outside the Cathedral of Mar de Plata in Argentina as hordes of women, many of them masked and half naked, violently assaulted a group of young men who stood outside the Cathedral of Mar de Plata praying and standing watch.

Such violence is becoming the norm for the annual March for Women in the Pope's native land of Argentina, although this year's violence seemed to be the most extreme yet, with the women turning their violence against the police, and even attempting to set the Cathedral on fire. 

The women tore down the outer gate of the cathedral and hurled glass bottles and feces at the young men standing guard. When they  attempted to burn down the Cathedral the police began taking measures to  disperse the hordes.

The local group Argentinos Alerta, which helped to organize the peaceful vigil in anticipation of the attack, issued a statement in which they thanked the police for dispatching forces to the Cathedral. The group noted that it was the first time that the police had made an effort to defend church property.

While similar protests have occurred recently in conjunction with the Annual March for Women, the level of violence appears to be increasing.

"There were very tense moments and when I arrived I witnessed families with young children crying trapped inside the church. It was a terrible thing," stated Marcelo Di Pasqua the local chief of police in an interview with local TV.

A similarly disturbing video from the 2013 March for Women shows groups of women spray-painting the crotches and faces of groups of praying men linked arm-in-arm to protect the Cathedral, and using markers to paint their faces with Hitler-like moustaches. They also performed obscene sexual acts in front of them and pushed their breasts onto their faces, all the while shouting “get your rosaries out of our ovaries.” 

Meanwhile, after this year's event, the national press such as Clarin described the event as one of police brutality, highlighting only the fact that the police had to disperse the mob, barely describing the violence of the pro-abortion hordes.

In a press release "Catholics for a Free Choice” issued a statement repudiating the police for police brutality against the women.

The graphic videos show a completely different story, with the police and prayer warriors under constant assault from the radical feminists.

While the police and faithful came out bravely to defend the church form the aggressors, putting their bodies in the way of the hordes, it appears that the local Church hierarchy is not willing to do the same.  

Father Gabriel Mestre, the Vicar of the Cathedral, stated that "one has to accept the dynamic and the dissent , and in fact in the Church we have to accept it because I think that more than half is in favor of legal abortion, and for that there are proper avenues, within a pluralistic and democratic society to generate policies which each from his ideological frame of reference considers as an appropriate way to progress, just like happened with ‘marriage’ equality or with divorce."

Urge Pope Francis to correct his remarks on contraception. Sign the petition.

Editorial

March 24, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Easter is almost here! As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said in his Easter Homily in 2012, the Resurrection of Jesus assures us that: "Life is stronger than death. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Truth is stronger than lies." Hallelujah!

That admonition is sorely needed today as it seems for the Catholic Church, a time of darkness continues unabated. We are living in historic times, but for many, since life seems to be continuing as usual, the gravity of our current situation doesn’t make an impression (Mt 24:38). The revolution inside the Church, which became evident in the 1960s and was combatted by Popes St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, has been reawakened by Pope Francis himself.

Thankfully, Pope Francis has practically begged Catholics, laity included, to make known their points of view, even criticisms of his actions. He is hearing the voices of many so-called progressive Catholics urging him to pursue their agendas, but very few orthodox faithful have made known their concerns. There are a few notable exceptions, a couple of whom Pope Francis thanked personally for their interventions, but more on that later.

During the Synod of Bishops on the Family, the Pope warned the participants against saying what the Pope wanted to hear. "This is not good!" he said. He laid down the rule, “Speak clearly. Let no one say: 'This you cannot say.'”  He called on the prelates to speak boldly and listen with humility.

Among the lay critics are two Italian journalists, Mario Palmaro and Antonio Socci, who rather severely criticized the Pope’s liberal actions in writing.

Palmaro’s criticisms made early in the pontificate in 2013, consisted of accusing the Holy Father of attempting to capture the praise of the world rather than remaining faithful to the truth. When Palmaro’s cancer was acting up and he was dying, Pope Francis called him on the phone. The pope said he had read Palmaro’s criticisms and understood that they were done for the love of the Church and the papacy. Francis also told him it was important for him to receive the criticisms.

Socci, whose new book contains an open letter to Pope Francis outlining the actions which have caused confusion and scandal among the faithful, called on the Holy Father to: “Rethink the entire path you have taken until now, avoid other very grave steps, such as a post-Synod Exhortation which would permit an opening to Cardinal Kasper’s ideas.” Socci sent the book with a letter to the Pope.

Urge Pope Francis to correct his remarks on contraception. Sign the petition.

Pope Francis replied, thanking him for the book and for the criticisms. “In reality, also criticism helps us to walk on the righteous path of the Lord. I thank you very much indeed for your prayers and those of your family,” the Pope wrote.

And it’s not only Pope Francis urging us to speak up. The Church itself, in canon law, says Catholics have not only the right but also the duty to offer respectful, but forceful, criticism. This grave duty is outlined in Canons 211 and 212 of the Code of Canon Law:

Can. 211 All the Christian faithful have the duty and right to work so that the divine message of salvation more and more reaches all people in every age and in every land.

Can. 212 §1. Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.

§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

Church historian Dr. Roberto de Mattei notes on the subject the saying of the great Dominican theologian Melchor Cano: “Peter has no need of our lies or adulation. Those who blindly, indiscriminately defend every decision by the Supreme Pontiff are those who undermine most the authority of the Holy See: instead of reinforcing its foundations, they destroy them.”

On April 29, we’ll celebrate the feast of St. Catherine of Siena. Remember her?  She was the saint who admonished Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy to Rome from Avignon. Naturally, she did it out of love, but she also did it firmly and repeatedly. What many don’t know about St. Catherine is that she was a lay woman, not a nun (only a third order Dominican). She was also illiterate for most of her life and died at the tender age of 33.

We have the Church’s canon law, the example of the saints and Pope Francis himself all calling us to speak up on the crisis going on now in the Catholic Church. Those opposing the side of the Angels have the Pope’s ear, so how can we be silent? We must let our concerns be heard.

That is why LifeSiteNews has launched a petition to the Pope asking him to correct his statements on contraception made on the plane returning from Mexico. Those remarks, which were confirmed by his spokesman, have created the false impression throughout the world that the Church’s teaching has changed.

For the love of God, His Church, His Pope and His Truth, it cannot be allowed to stand. The faithful must let their voices be heard. Let us summon that courage that comes from the Resurrected Lord and speak up for His Truth in love for the Pope and the Church.

See related articles:

The German key to understanding Pope Francis

The apprehension of Catholics on the eve of Pope Francis’ Post-Synod Exhortation

Exclusive: Bishop Schneider takes up Pope’s remarks on contraception for Zika

Voice of the Family analysis reveals serious dangers posed by Synod final report
 

HOUSTON, March 24, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Yet another Planned Parenthood affiliate entered legal combat with the Center for Medical Progress today.

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), based in Houston, joined a lawsuit against the pro-life investigators who released undercover footage showing abortion officials – including some in Houston – discussing the harvesting and sale of human organs.

“Extreme anti-abortion politicians who want to ban abortion have invoked these lies to fuel their efforts to pass extreme restrictions on access to reproductive health care,” said PPGC President Melaney Linton in a press statement. “Even after David Daleiden has been indicted on a felony charge and these videos have been thoroughly discredited, women are still facing devastating consequences from these smear videos.”

“These extreme anti-abortion activists acted illegally and then spread lies about our care,” Linton said.

The fifth undercover Planned Parenthood video released by CMP investigators caught PPGC Director of Research Melissa Farrell seemingly agreeing to alter the abortion process without any medical necessity, as well as discussing how it would be “exciting” to dissect a human being.

“If we alter our process, and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, we can make it part of the budget” to cover “dissections” and “splitting the specimens into different shipments,” she said. “It’s all just a matter of line items.”

Farrell said she would be willing to personally dissect the often “intact” babies. "I know it’s sickening on some level, but it’s fun," she said.

After the videos provoked a national backlash and numerous state and federal investigations – including a select House panel that is still investigating – the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and numerous affiliates in California and Colorado sued CMP investigators in January.

The affiliates' legal complaint – amended today – calls the pro-life group a "complex criminal enterprise conceived and executed by anti-abortion extremists," which is engaged in "large-scale illegal taping" intended "to demonize Planned Parenthood” and its “dedicated staff” with the ultimate aim of “interfering with women’s access to legal abortion."

They charge the investigators with transgressing numerous state and federal laws such as obtaining and using false identification, as well as allegedly violating the Federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act – a law designed to prosecute the Mafia.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against CMP and many of its leaders individually - including David Daleiden, Sandra Merritt, CMP Board Member Troy Newman, three others by name, and “unknown co-conspirators.”

The lawsuit calls the final video footage released by CMP “heavily manipulated,” an allegation contradicted by reports filed by both sides of the abortion debate. Planned Parenthood paid for a study conducted by Fusion GPS, a D.C.-based opposition research firm linked to the Democratic Party, which concluded that CMP's edits "removed likely irrelevant content" from the videos. An analysis conducted by Coalfire and paid for by the Alliance Defending Freedom, concluded, "The video recordings are authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or editing."

The original civil lawsuit came just weeks before a Houston-area grand jury, empaneled to investigate charges against PPGC, indicted Daleiden and Merritt for using a false ID and trying to purchase human organs. If convicted, they could face 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

In a matter of days, more than 123,000 LifeSiteNews readers signed a petition asking that all charges against the CMP investigators be dropped.

LifeSiteNews delivered the first 110,000 signatures to the office of Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson on February 4.

PPGC remains under investigation by Texas state officials.

Editorial

March 24, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) - It sometimes seems that in attempting to understand Pope Francis, fluency in German is more helpful than Italian or even Spanish.  The pope speaks German well and is surrounded by Germans, from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, to his joint secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein, to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German Bishops Conference and member of the Pope’s Council of 9 Cardinals, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, who heads the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, and finally the controversial Cardinal Walter Kasper, a close collaborator and theologian upon whom the Holy Father relies.

In listening to the accounts these men give about Francis one feels almost as if the Pope has a split personality.  Kasper and Marx see him as launching a liberal revolution in the Church, while Ganswein and Muller paint him as being in line with Tradition and his predecessors. Liberals like Kasper also claim Francis is in line with Church Tradition, but interpret the Tradition according to their own revolutionary notions that open the door on a panoply of progressive issues like divorce, a married priesthood, sexuality, conscience, and the role of women.

Because of the influence of Germans on Francis’ papacy, their views of him provide one crucial key in figuring out how to interpret him.

Pope Francis in the eyes of Benedict XVI and conservative German prelates

From Pope Emeritus Benedict himself little can be expected in the way of open communication that would criticize his successor.  We have, however, heard a few notes of concern from him, along with selective praise.

Two years ago we learned that Pope Emeritus Benedict had penned a 4-page critique of Pope Francis’ interview with the Jesuit America magazine where Francis famously said, “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods.”  

The most recent interview with the Pope Emeritus, released days ago, contained praise for Pope Francis’ emphasis on the mercy of God. “Pope Francis is totally in accord with this line: his pastoral practice expresses itself precisely through the fact that he continually speaks to us of God’s mercy,” said Pope Benedict. “It is mercy that moves us towards God, while justice frightens us before him.”

Right in the middle of the divorce/remarried communion dispute, the Pope Emeritus re-released an essay which he had first penned in 1972. Back then, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) accepted the proposal to allow for communion for remarried divorcees under certain circumstances.  In the newly released version, those paragraphs were intentionally removed by Benedict.

And finally, for those watching extremely closely, in the weeks following the confirmed leaks about the coming ousting of Cardinal Raymond Burke from his post as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, but before Pope Francis had formally removed Burke, a letter by Pope Benedict surfaced indicating that he considered Cardinal Burke among the “great Cardinals” of the Church.

To determine what Benedict thinks of Francis outside the confines of his public position, Vatican watchers have looked to friends who have met with the Pope Emeritus in his private quarters at the Vatican and also to Archbishop Ganswein, who remains secretary to Benedict while also working daily with Pope Francis as the head of the Papal Household.  

Given Ganswein’s very sensitive public role, it is highly unlikely that he would give any candid comments about Benedict’s view of Francis. However, it was from Ganswein that we learned of the 4-page critique.  His talking points about Benedict’s take on Francis have consistently indicated that he sees a continuity between the two.  The most recent of those was released in a March 19 interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle TV program.  In those statements of continuity, however, come rather stark statements which may seem to some to be an attempt to restrain the actions of Pope Francis.

For instance, in the March 19 interview, Archbishop Ganswein suggests that Pope Francis will not make a change to allow for a non-celibate priesthood, even though there are many indications in Vatican circles that Pope Francis is indeed considering such a move.  Ganswein says in the interview that Pope Francis sees in celibacy “not an obstacle – it is a challenge, but also a source of strength,” adding “I do not believe that under Pope Francis, there will now be a change in this question … of celibacy” (translation by Maike Hickson at 1Peter5).

When asked about communion for remarried divorcees, Ganswein says of Pope Francis: “I am convinced that he will continue on the path of his predecessors – that is to say, also according to the Church’s Magisterium – and that there will also be found, accordingly, such statements in his own magisterial writing.”

Ganswein spoke similarly in an interview last summer where he criticized the confusion coming from the Synod on the Family. He said communion for remarried divorcees is “impossible” and that the teaching of the Church condemning homosexual acts is irreformable.

From some of Benedict’s close German associates, however, have come some very critical remarks about Pope Francis.

Last year in an interview in the German Catholic journal Herder Korrespondenz, Pope Benedict’s decades-long friend and colleague Professor Robert Spaemann accused Pope Francis of fostering an unhelpful “cult of spontaneity” and of inciting “the impression of chaos.” While Spaemann praised Francis for his “traditional piety,” he called Pope Francis’ handling of the Synod “irritating” and was also critical of Francis’ dismissal of personnel close to Pope Benedict. He said:

Pope Francis always stresses his close bond with Pope Benedict. In certain ways that certainly also exists. But I wonder why he throws so many people out of the Vatican who had been called in by Benedict.

In January came a similar critique of Francis from a German prelate who has known Pope Benedict for years and had many private meetings with him. The Dean of Priests in the Diocese of Regensburg, Fr. Heinrich Wachter, is also a personal friend of Pope Benedict’s brother Fr. Georg Ratzinger.

Asked by the Bavarian weekly Wochenblatt, about the greatest difference between Popes Benedict and Francis, Fr. Wachter replied:

There are powerful differences. In a general way one can say: Francis acts differently in each aspect. This is certainly not his intention – one does not have to interpret it against him – but in many things, the way he acts stultifies his predecessor. With regard to certain ways of conduct, he fundamentally positions himself differently from our Benedict. But, compared to him, Francis is not at all informed theologically. He talks unbelievably much, but barely makes a clear statement. Even Cardinal [Joachim] Meisner said about him that his statements are always very problematic. (translation by Maike Hickson at 1Peter5)

Cardinal Muller was asked some tough questions about the differences between Pope Francis and Pope Benedict in a March 1 interview.  The CDF prefect stressed Francis’ continuity with the traditional faith saying, “Again and again, he [the pope] refers to the teaching of the Church as the framework of interpretation, also in his spontaneous remarks in interviews.” Muller added that Francis has “a highly spiritual and theological power of judgment which follows the spirituality of the founder of his own [Jesuit] order, St. Ignatius of Loyola.”

Nevertheless, Muller admitted that he has had to correct the Pope theologically. “Pope Francis is not a 'professional theologian', but has been largely formed by his experiences in the field of the pastoral care, which is very different here with us [in the West],” he said. He characterized Francis’ reaction to his corrections this way: “That is what he [Pope Francis] has said already three or four times himself, publicly (laughs); and then he gave me a hug so that – as he said – the gossip ceases with regard to this matter.”

Pope Francis in the eyes of liberal German prelates

The German liberal prelates surrounding Pope Francis see the same tendencies in him as his critics.  But rather than cause for concern, they see them as cause for celebration.

Cardinal Kasper has made an art form of ambiguity and hinted that that was the way forward from a seeming impasse at the Synod on the Family over contentious questions.

Kasper gave a recent talk where he said Pope Francis would in the upcoming apostolic exhortation mark the “the first step in a reform” that will be the “turning of a page” of Church history “after 1,700 years."  The 82-year-old Cardinal, who has received high praise from Pope Francis, is credited with the controversial proposal of admitting remarried divorcees to communion, a position which he has often claimed Francis supports.  Kasper supports a downplaying of the Church’s teaching on moral issues such as abortion, contraception and homosexuality and sees the Pope as supportive of such proposals.

As for Cardinal Marx, his emphasis has been pushing for authority to be granted to bishops conferences.  Previous to the second Synod on the Family, Marx made his then highly controversial remarks speaking of the German Bishops Conference: “We are not a subsidiary of Rome.”  He was speaking of going ahead with communion for remarried divorcees prior to any conclusion on the matter from the Synod.  After the second synod however, his remarks seemed not revolutionary at all, but only a reflection of Pope Francis’ own thoughts.

During the second Synod on the Family, Pope Francis invited the Cardinals to a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment the modern Synod of Bishops.  There he announced the need for a “decentralization” of the Catholic Church. While that may have shocked some at the time, Pope Francis had already hinted at such a proposal in his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Gospel of Joy) released in November 2013.  In it he called for a “conversion of the papacy” and stated that “a juridical status of episcopal conferences which would see them as subjects of specific attributions, including genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated.”

One thing rings true from Pope Francis’ critics within the hierarchy and among those close to Pope Benedict. They all share a love and concern not only for the papacy, but also for Pope Francis himself.  They have expressed, some of them publicly, their vehement disagreements with Pope Francis’ actions, to be sure. But they have done so out of genuine love and concern for the Church and for the Pope himself.  It is a kind of loving criticism the Pope has welcomed in the past.

See related articles:

Easter reminds us we must speak Truth in Love – for Pope Francis and the Church

The apprehension of Catholics on the eve of Pope Francis’ Post-Synod Exhortation

Exclusive: Bishop Schneider takes up Pope’s remarks on contraception for Zika

Voice of the Family analysis reveals serious dangers posed by Synod final report