TIA,

In view of the actions of the Vatican Curia of reversing Vatican II, I wonder about the Pact of the Catacombs, which is a complete contradiction of what goes on in Rome. Is it a genuine document originating from the Bishops Council of Vatican II?

     F.B.



TIA responds:

F.B.,

We reproduced the main parts of the Pact of the Catacombs here. The photocopy was taken from a chronicle of Vatican II written by Fr. Boaventura Kloppemburg, OFM, who was present at the Council as a theological expert (perito). Later, he was invited to be a member of the International Theological Commission in the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, and was made a Bishop. One would say that he had all possible credentials to speak the truth on what happened. He reported that the Pact was signed by 40 Bishops attending the Council, although it was neither a public nor an official document.

The original name of that agreement was Pact of the Servant and Poor Church. Sometime before that event, Fr. Yves Congar wrote a book called For a Poor and Servant Church, which is considered to be the document that inspired that pact. Now then, Fr. Congar worked on the texts of 14 of the 16 final documents of the Council. One would surmise that he did his best to introduce his ideas in them.

You may read here how Fr. Congar and Fr.Ratzinger - today Benedict XVI - conceived the Church of the future. It seems that both theologians were in full accord that it should follow the model of a poor Church as described in that Pact.

These are the data that confirm it was a serious document that presented the general lines that have been followed in the last 50 years. For more documents, please read Animus Delendi I, by A.S. Guimarães (Los Angeles: TIA, 2000), pp. 397-404.

This said, we do not agree with your assumption that the present day papacy is reversing Vatican II. We believe that by trying to present it with a traditional look, the papacy is attempting to save it from a growing rejection.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA,

Salve Maria!

Thank you for the beautiful article of Our Lady of Guadalupe for her Feast Day. Our Lady of the Rosary Library also posts a beautiful article in her honor, and one paragraph was so reminiscent of something you have so ardently taught, about the Grand Return and Our Lady's doing of it. Please read below and see what was written in regards the effect Our Lady of Guadalupe had upon the poor Aztecs at the time of Her miraculous arrival.

A famous Mexican preacher of the 19th century expressed this tidal wave of conversions as follows:

"But scarcely had the Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe appeared and taken possession of this her inheritance, when the Catholic Faith spread with the rapidity of light from the rising sun, through the wide extent and beyond the bounds of the ancient empire of Mexico.

"Innumerable multitudes from every tribe, every district, every race, in this immense country ... who were grossly superstitious, who were ruled by the instincts of cruelty, oppressed by every form of violence, and utterly degraded, returned upon themselves at the credible announcement of the admirably portentous apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

"They recognized their natural dignity, forgot their misfortunes, put off their instinctive ferocity, and, unable to resist such sweet and tender invitations. They came in crowds to cast their grateful hearts at the feet of so loving a Mother, and to mingle their tears of emotion with the regeneration of the waters of Baptism."

This reminds us of the hope we can and must foster in the Grand Return of Our Lady in our own devastated times, and how a Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart can so easily obtain it.

     In Maria,

     C.C.

TIA,

It is not only Latin American history that is ignored in America but MARYLAND history as well.

Try to remember those brave Jesuits and Carmelites under the leadership of the great Catholic family of Calvert who came to re-establish their Catholic culture here, who came to stay.

     J.L.

Dear Miss Horvat,

In a similar vein to your article entitled "Please say children, not kids," I would like to add that it is offensive to decent, traditional Christians to call homosexuals "gay." I was born in 1971, and I can actually remember when this word started to acquire salacious connotations in Australia. I have always protested and lamented this corruption, even when my friends and family say, "There are plenty of other words to use for 'happy,' why do you insist on saving this one? Just consider it lost and move on."

I cannot however just "consider it lost," because there is a principle at stake here, not just one word (which I might add, is a very useful, beautiful and poetic one). If we concede this word to the demonic spirit of the age, we shall end up losing many more. Indeed, we have lost so many words already, between the 19th century and today, but I shall spare you the list of decent words, all of which can be found in the King James Version of the Bible, which have now acquired indecent connotations and have been ostracized from decent conversation.

We Counter-Revolutionaries ought to speak with such refinement and purity of tongue, that we may reclaim these corrupted words and "redeem" them. Remember that the Roman Catholic Christians of the first two or three centuries of our era took pagan Latin words and "redeemed" them by dressing them in new Christian garments. One example of this is actually the word "redeem", from "redimere" meaning "to buy back". Other words include "pastor" (shepherd), "saeculum" (age, century), "minister," "ancilla" (handmaid), "Dominus" (Lord, master), "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath), "Gloria," "Deus," "spiritus," "Natalis or Dies Christi" (Christmas), and the list continues ad infinitum.

Language is the dress of thought; if we allow our garments to be sullied by vulgar Revolutionaries, we shall no longer have decent clothing for our noble thoughts.

     In Jesu and Maria,

     E.M.

TIA,

Decades ago I was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet that any change in the form or the matter would make a sacrament invalid. Has the Church admitted with the new change from 'all' to 'many' in the Consecration of the Wine that they have used an invalid form for over fifty years?

     H.A.S.

TIA,

One thing the Crystal Cathedral has that even the most radical traditionalist would love is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) pipe organs in the nation, and sixth largest in the world. You can read its top list on Wikipedia at the article Crystal Cathedral Organ.

You published the comments of a reader who says: "When was she [the Theotokos] last seen in any new Catholic Church?"

Obviously, this person has never been to St. John of the Desert Melkite Catholic Church (built in 2005), where, among other places, can be seen a large icon of the Platytera, aka Our Lady of the Sign, against the east wall.

     B.B.

TIA,

I am looking for a small (less than 15 inches) statue of the la Virgen Blanca of Toledo, Spain

Can you please help?

     P.P.



TIA responds:

P.P.,

We carry a postcard of La Virgen Blanca here. We do not know where you can find the statue you are seeking.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

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