Underground Catholics,
WYD Extravaganza & Aparecida

Dear TIA,

I am an admirer of your website and especially of your position regarding the Catholic Underground Church in China (here, here, here & here). It is awful that it has been betrayed by the Vatican itself, and - it is hard to say - even by the last Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

The Catholics of the underground need prayers for their perseverance, which is quite difficult since they are persecuted by the communist government, are in competition with the Patriotic Association, and have been boycotted by Rome.

In this link you and your readers may find a group of pictures of Chinese Catholics in the underground meetings they have to receive the Sacraments and maintain their Faith.

May the Lord and His Glorious Mother blow over you supernatural winds of peace and consolation.

     X.P.

Dear TIA,

I received from a friend this analysis by Richard Freeman, editor of CTAC list – unfortunately no longer online – on the WYDs. Perhaps you and your readers would like to read it.

Best regards

     S.G.

Why Do Liberals Love World Youth Day-type Extravaganzas?

They love them because they can use the papacy to not only promote their crackpot mélange of heresies, but also to create the illusion that their movement is full of life and growing larger every day, able to attract vast throngs with its revolutionary regurgitation of Catholicism. For a few moments, they, the aging flower children of the 60's, are superstars once again.

There is no other way they can get that thrill and nurture their grand illusion for the churches under their thrall are empty and disappearing at an alarming rate along with their parishioners. Their seminaries are empty and a stark embarrassment when compared with the full-to-bursting seminaries and convents of the traditionalists. The world laughs at their architecture and their hideous music.

The real youth of the world, unlike the poor deluded zealots attending "World Youth Day" are quite rightly repelled by them and their turgid third rate imitation protestant liturgies. Their entire culture is infested with sodomites and child molesters, and they are generally an arrogant and angry crowd eternally fighting among themselves, united only in their hatred for genuine Catholicism.

The truth they dimly understand but would never admit to understanding is that, if it were not for the greatness of the Church they parasitically feed on and try to kill, they would be properly located in a few scattered temples on the back streets of decaying industrial cities, like some crank gatherings of sun worshipers or devotees of the Great Alligator.

Essentially they are thieves living high on the fruits of someone else's labor. World Youth Day, for a few moments, lets them imagine that they are far, far more than that.

Too bad, now that they are full of themselves to the point of bursting, they can't figure a way to have themselves all named saints, but that only works for popes. There are limits, and this is the key to the survival of the true faith down through the centuries, to which the system can be rigged.

     Richard Freeman

Dear Marian,

Since we are both at computers today, two articles are floating around about Youth Day and Francis, in one of which he chastises Brazil's bishops because so many faithful are leaving the Church for Protestantism (when he could have blamed the Council and its ecumenism for this failure), and in the other of which he suggests that the Church has been too intellectual .

You and Atila should have a full day commenting on these.

This is a Holy Father who would truly edify the Church by never saying another word.

     Salve Maria!

     Patrick O'Brien

Dear TIA,

Some more information regarding animal hybrids may be found here.

Thank you

Sincerely,

     P.F., Australia

Dear TIA,

Earlier today, my husband was just sharing with me the conversation he had with a manual worker who is building some quarters on our farm. Upon having seen our family pray before our meal, he thought he had perhaps run into another Mormon family, as he admitted to being in a state of disbelief. He also wondered how we could be Catholics, as we were unlike any that he had ever been around.

He further shared that he spent almost two years in Spain as a missionary for the Mormon sect. In that time, he admitted having spent "a lot of time with Spanish Catholics" whom he never, ever saw recite any kind of grace before meals.

It is such a sad state of nothingness into which so many have fallen! May God have mercy on their poor souls! This must provoke His wrath!!

     E.S.

TIA,

Since you are one of the few who disseminate the devotion to Our Lady Aparecida in the U.S. you may like this video giving some more data on it. I believe Americans are not aware of the magnitude of the pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Aparecida.

     Best regards,

     M.C.

Mr. Guimaraes,

I am hoping to begin wearing a Miraculous Medal. However, I am wondering if any particular form of it is more consistent with Catholic tradition. Where I am, the three main varieties seem to be gold, silver, and silver/pewter with blue enamel. Is any particular one preferred?

     Thank you and all the best,

     J.V.V.


The Editor responds:

Mr. J.V.V.,

I congratulate you for your decision. I believe all Catholics should wear the Miraculous Medal to protect themselves against natural and preternatural evil.

The most traditional form of wearing this medal, as far as I know, is around the neck, hanging from a small chain. However, if for some reason you cannot wear it this way, you may wear it pinned to your clothing or attached to your Rosary. Again, if this is not suitable for you, keep it in your wallet or in some other place near your person. The most important thing is to have it with you all day, to respect it and have a constant confidence in Our Lady's intercession through that Medal.

The material of which it is made of is entirely your choice. The only essential thing is to have a priest bless it before you start to wear it.

I hope this will encourage you to start this salutary practice soon.

     Cordially,

     A.S. Guimarães