Full English text, from the Vatican Information Service, of the S. R. Congregation for Bishops’ Decree of Remission of the putative excommunications

Here is how the Vatican Information Service’s (V.I.S.’s) daily e-mail bulletin (January 26, 2009, received about an hour ago) reported the news—this is, as far as I know, the closest thing we have to an official English translation from the Vatican of the Decree of Remission and of Nullification of the juridical effects pertaining to the alleged excommunications:

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REMISSION OF EXCOMMUNICATION AGAINST LEFEBVRE BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, 24 JAN 2009 (VIS) - The Congregation for Bishops has published a decree signed by its prefect, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and dated 21 January, concerning the Pope's remission of the excommunication pronounced on four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988.

The complete text of the decree is given below:

"In a letter of 15 December 2008 addressed to Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, president of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei', Bishop Bernard Fellay once again requested - also in the name of the other three bishops consecrated on 30 June 1988 - the removal of the excommunication 'latae sententiae' formally pronounced by a decree of the prefect of this Congregation for Bishops on 1 July 1988. In that letter Bishop Fellay affirmed, among other things, that 'we continue firmly resolute in our desire to remain Catholics and to put all our strength at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept her teachings in a filial spirit. We firmly believe in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this reason the current situation causes us much suffering'.

"His Holiness Benedict XVI - in his paternal compassion for the spiritual discomfort expressed by the parties concerned, because of the excommunication, and trusting in the commitment they expressed in the aforesaid letter to spare no efforts in examining outstanding questions through the requisite discussions with the authorities of the Holy See in order to reach a prompt, full and satisfactory solution to the original problem - has decided to reconsider the canonical position of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta, which arose following their episcopal consecration.

"With this act it is hoped to consolidate reciprocal relations of trust, and to intensify and stabilise the relations of the Fraternity of St. Pius X with this Holy See. This gift of peace, coming at the end of the Christmas celebrations, also wishes to be a sign to promote the Universal Church's unity in charity, and to remove the scandal of division.

"It is hoped that this step will be followed by the prompt attainment of full communion with the Church by the entire Fraternity of St. Pius X, thus demonstrating true faithfulness and true recognition of the Magisterium and authority of Pope with the sign of visible unity.

"On the basis of the powers expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, and by virtue of this decree, I remit the sentence of excommunication 'latae sententiae' declared by this congregation on 1 July 1988 against Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta. At the same time I declare that, as of today's date, the decree then issued is devoid of juridical effect".

CPE/REMISSION EXCOMMUNICATION/SSPX VIS 090126 (480)

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Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2009

On the celebration, commercialism and narcissism of same-sex parents

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/12-for-bootees-5-for-bib-30000-for-a-baby/2009/01/23/1232471590759.html

Also in Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herod was a front-page article on a pair of sodomites, Mr. Trevor Elwell and Mr. Peter West, who are buying—yes, quite literally buying, virtually custom-made—twin baby girls from India. (Not that this represents any kind of commodification or commercialisation of human life or anything, of course! Perish the thought!) The article was interesting, firstly, for indicating just how well what would only recently have been widely regarded as (and, as far as I’m concerned, still is) a seedy counter-culture has now established itself in polite mainstream discourse. Not only was the article on the front cover, in the centre, with a large photograph of the sodomites shopping for baby paraphernalia (more on this picture in a minute), but also not once did the article use words like ‘homosexual’, ‘gay’, ‘same-sex’, whatever, to describe the pair; one might have thought that a specific denotation would have been appropriate for what is at least an unusual, and therefore noteworthy, relationship. So the Herald seems not to think that there are any moral and ethical problems with a sodomite-catamite parental pairing in addition to the problems already inherent in what is really an international market for human beings. Here we see that the so-called gay culture has succeeded in becoming just another identity in Australia’s ‘multicultural melting-pot’, as the sodomite activist Prof. Dennis Altman noted (presumably with delight) in a recent book review in The Weekend Australian.

The accompanying photograph was remarkable for how alike the two sodomites looked: both were portly fellows with close-cropped brown hair and tidy little goatee beards. Is this not more evidence of the narcissism of the so-called gay lifestyle? Does this not give the term 'self-selecting' new meaning?!

Certainly one can detect narcissism’s consequence, self-absorption, in the pair’s flagrant disregard for the grievous injustice that they are inflicting on these poor children by depriving them willingly of their natural father during their formative years and depriving them willingly of their natural mother forever (or of any mother, for that matter):

Only the genetic father's name will appear on the birth certificate. "[Says Mr. Elwell:] But we're a family unit and that's all that matters. Our children will know where they came from and who their father is when they are old enough to understand and we are determined to include their Indian heritage in their upbringing. My mother is already planning a mural of an Indian elephant for their room."

I suppose that that’ll make two elephants in the room then, boys: one painted garishly (like everything else in the so-called gay culture) on the wall, and the other THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE ROBBED TWO CHILDREN OF THEIR PARENTS AND IMPRISONED THEM IN YOUR OWN MORAL SQUALOUR!!!!!!!!! Surely I was not the only person in Sydney to react with righteous anger and deep disgust at what will amount to a permanent state of child abuse?

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2009