The Moynihan Letters

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." —Mark 11:24      "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." —James 5:16      "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with [...]

 (1) Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in former times (before he was in hiding). I spoke to the archbishop this afternoon on the telephone. He told me he is meditating on the question of the liturgy, and has in mind to write a reflection on the latest developments (that is, on the July 16 [...]

    Four images of Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, 92, in his book-filled cardinal's apartment next to St. Peter's Basilica, inside the Vatican, and in Rome (the bottom left photo).     Brandmüller has just written an important, thoughtful essay on the liturgy (see below).     ***     Walter Brandmüller is a 92-year-old German cardinal, an [...]

    The photo chosen to illustrate an article published today by Breitbart — based on another source, The Pillar — about possible blackmail of the Vatican by China.     The authors of the source article (in The Pillar, see below) claim cell phone data they have obtained shows that, on several occasions in 2018, personal cell phones [...]

    Fernando Arêas Rifan (born 25 October 1950) is a bishop from Campos, Brazil. He was ordained a priest of that diocese on December 8, 1974. He joined the Priestly Union of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney on August 29, 1981. He is currently the Apostolic Administrator of the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney     An image captured right before Mehmet [...]

    Bishop Rob Mutsaerts, 63, of The Netherlands, on July 22 published a powerful critique of Pope Francis' July 16 decree on the liturgy on his blog (full text below)     "Liturgy is not a toy of Popes; it is the heritage of the Church.” — Statement on Traditionis Custodes by Bp. Rob Mutsaerts (Den Bosch, The Netherlands), published [...]

    Fernando Karadima, the prominent Chilean priest who was defrocked in 2018 after a Church trial found he had abused young people sexually, has died.     He was 90.     Karadima was a highly influential Santiago-area priest who for decades led a vibrant lay Catholic movement from his parish in El Bosque.     He is said to have personally [...]

    Emeritus Pope Benedict, who is now 94, in a photo from several years ago, when he was in his 80s.     He has just released a new interview (in writing, not in person) on the state of the Church in Germany, his native country (see below).     He focuses on the question of true faith, which he [...]

    Bishop Athanasius Schneider, 60. The bishop on June 25 in Paris gave a wide-ranging interview which was published on July 21 (full text below). It is worth reading.     “I think that, with respect, the faithful have the duty to demand this from the hierarchy; the faithful have the right to a clear, integral doctrine. And [...]

The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, a Greek manuscript of the Bible from the 400s A.D, is a palimpsest. A palimpsest is a manuscript (may be vellum or parchment) that has been written on, then the text has been scraped and soaped off, then a new text is written on top of the first one, but, with [...]