Crusade Magazine Vol 94

July/August 2008July/August 2008

MagazineMagazine

As we were going to press...

It might be asked how a law can be contrary tothe common good if it does not impose any partic-ular kind of behavior, but simply gives legal recog-nition to a de facto reality that does not seem tocause injustice to anyone. In this area, one needsfirst to reflect on the difference between homosex-ual behavior as a private phenomenon and thesame behavior as a relationship in society, foreseenand approved by the law, to the point where it be-comes one of the institutions in the legal structure.This second phenomenon is not only more serious,but also assumes a more wide-reaching and pro-found influence, and would result in changes to theentire organization of society, contrary to the com-mon good. Civil laws are structuring principles ofman’s life in society, for good or for ill. They “play avery important and sometimes decisive role in in-

fluencing patterns of thought and behavior.”(1)Lifestyles and the underlying presupposi-tions . . . not only externally shape the life of society,but also tend to modify the younger generation’sperception and evaluation of forms of behavior.Legal recognition of homosexual unions would ob-scure certain basic moral values and cause a deval-uation of the institution of marriage. n

*From the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition toUnions Between Homosexual Persons, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html.

Note:1. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Evangelium vitae, 90

(March 25, 1995).

Legal Recognition of Homosexual Unions Obscures MoralValues and Devaluates the Institution of Marriage*

The AmericanSociety for theDefense of

Tradition, Familyand Property (TFP)

has issued the following statement in re-sponse to the the Supreme Court’s May15 decision declaring unconstitutionalthe overwhelmingly supported Proposi-tion 22, and legalizing homosexual“marriage”:

The American Society for the De-fense of Tradition, Family and Property(TFP) rejects categorically the May 15California Supreme Court decision de-claring unconstitutional the over-whelmingly supported Proposition 22,and legalizing homosexual “marriage,”as a morally reprehensible ruling thatignores the nature of marriage and theexpressed will of Californians.

The 4-3 decision redefines mar-riage based on non-existent analogiesbetween heterosexual and homosexualrelationships. It awards rights and priv-ileges to relationships that cannot nat-urally fulfill the duties of marriage. TheCourt has failed in its duty, imposed by

natural law, to upholdmorality in favor of thecommon good.

In arbitrarily forcinghomosexual “marriage”upon Californians, theCourt clearly shows itscraven weakness by en-gaging in shameless ju-dicial activism andignoring the expresswishes of the peoplewho overwhelminglyapproved Proposition22, which forbade suchunions.

With this decision, itis clear that state andfederal constitutionalamendments are the onlyeffective means to stopthis abuse.

As Catholics, we areduty bound to fight thisattack upon the family, totake the initiative and to mobilize indefense of the family.

The American TFP invites its mem-

bers, friends and supportersto offer prayers and acts ofreparation to God for the of-fense caused by this tragicdecision.

TFP Publishes Two-Page Manifesto in Three MajorNewspapersOn June 5, 2008, just as thisissue of Crusade was goingto press, the American TFPpublished a two-page man-ifesto entitled “Battling forAmerica’s Soul: How Homo-sexual ‘Marriage’ ThreatensOur Nation and Faith—TFPUrges Lawful and Conscien-tious Resistance” in TheNew York Times, the Los An-geles Times and in TheWashington Times. Visit

www.TFP.org to read the manifesto andto send an e-mail protest to CaliforniaGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger, or call(888) 317-5571 to order a copy. n

TFP Decries California Court’s Decision as ‘Morally Reprehensible’

ForgottenTruths

8 To see this issue of Crusade Magazine online, please visit www.TFP.org :

As we were going to press...

TFP Viewpoint

July/August 2008

Contents

Editor: C. Preston Noell III Associate Editors: John Horvat II, Michael Drake, Earl Appleby, Michael Whitcraft Photography: Gary Isbell, Michael GorreForeign Correspondents: Charles E. Schaffer, Austria; Jose Carlos Sepulveda, Brazil; Benoit Bemelmans,France; Beno Hofschulte, Germany; Juan M. Montes,Julio Loredo, Italy; David Nash, South Africa; FelipeBarandiaran, Spain; Philip Moran, United Kingdom

CRUSADECRUSADE®

Cover: Our Lady’s message at

Fatima, Portugal, in1917 is more urgent

in our volatile,interdependent world.

Crusade Magazine is a publication of The American Society for theDefense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP). Direct all requests andinquiries to: Crusade Magazine, P.O. Box 341, Hanover, PA 17331 or e-mail to: [email protected]. Web: www.TFP.org, Tel.: (888) 317-5571,Fax: (570) 450-6352. © 2008 by The Foundation for a ChristianCivilization, Inc. This publication includes images from iStockphoto™which are protected by copyright laws of the U.S. and elsewhere.ISSN 1096-3782LCCN 98-641433 M-94

The American TFP The American Society for the Defense of Tradition,Family and Property (TFP) was founded in 1973 toconfront the profound crisis shaking the modernworld. It is a civic, cultural and nonpartisanorganization which, inspired by the traditionalteachings of the Supreme Magisterium of theRoman Catholic Church, works in a legal andpeaceful manner in the realm of ideas to defendand promote the principles of private ownership,family and perennial Christian values with their

twofold function: individual and social. The TFP’swords and efforts have always been faithfully at theservice of Christian civilization. The first TFP wasfounded in Brazil by the famous intellectual andCatholic leader Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira in1960. His work inspired the formation of otherautonomous TFP sister organizations across theglobe, thus constituting the world’s largestanticommunist and antisocialist network ofCatholic inspiration.

Page 5 Is Darwinism’s demisefinally on the horizon?

Page 19 The psaltery—an ancient instrument inspires andsoothes American listeners.

C O M M E N TA RY

w Something Else Happened on Mount Suribachi 4w The Sunset of Darwinism 5

R E L I G I O NPro-Abortion Politicians and the Church’s Position on Holy Communion 8

C OV E R S T O RYWhat Makes the Fatima Message so Urgent? 10

A N F P R O G R E S S R E P O RTNew Fatima Book Launched Across America 13w Our Readers Write... 14w Protesting the Bodies Revealed Exhibit

in Kansas City 15w Where there’s a Will, there’s a Way! 16w “A Normal Heart” 16w Prayer Banner Delivered to Fatima 17w Smaller Audiences See the V***** Monologues 17

I N B R I E F 18

O N LY I N A M E R I C AStriking the Right Chord 19

R E VO LU T I O N A N D C O U N T E R -R E VO LU T I O N I N H I S T O RYRevolt in the NetherlandsPart One: The Outbreak 21

B AC K C OV E R

The American TFP and America Needs Fatima Welcome Pope Benedict XVI 24

Page 8 Pro-abortion politi-cians challenge the Church’simmutable doctrine on the re-ception of Holy Communion.

C r u s a d e J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 0 84

The bitter fighting for control of IwoJima in World War II occasioned manyheroic deeds. In fact, the United StatesMarines earned twenty-three Medals ofHonor there. However, one of these heroicdeeds stands out by its profoundlyCatholic bravery.

The Climate Before the Battle and Two PromisesTension prevailed in the ships as all theMarines felt death might be just hoursaway. The Marines were up against a for-midable foe. Twenty-three thousand Im-perial Japanese Marines, commanded byone of Japan’s most capable generals, oc-cupied hundreds of natural caves com-manding perfect views of the landingbeaches. Their heavy weaponry and sui-cidal tenacity would test the UnitedStates Marines’ mettle to the maximum.

It was the night before the invasion,and many Marines received the Sacra-ments from the nineteen Catholic chap-lains who were to accompany them toIwo Jima. Some Marines visited FatherCharles Suver, a Jesuit chaplain, in hiscabin to talk and lift their spirits from the

tension. At a certain moment, a young of-ficer suggested that if he carried anAmerican flag from one of the landingcraft, someone could raise it on the sum-mit of Iwo Jima’s volcano, Mount Surib-achi. A lieutenant immediately replied,“OK, you get it and I’ll get it up there!”Taken up with holy daring, Father Suveradded, “You get it up there and I’ll sayMass under it.”

Father Suver Runs the GauntletDuring the invasion, the Japanese con-tested the Marines’ landing with a hail ofmortar shells and small-arms fire that in-tensified as the landing crafts hit thebeaches under Mount Suribachi’s shadow.Father Suver landed on the most danger-ous of all the beaches, Green Beach,which was 500 yards from the heavily for-tified Mount Suribachi. Although FatherSuver’s life would nearly slip from hishands several times during the battle, hesomehow managed to keep hold of it. Infact, despite the thirty percent casualty

rate during the Iwo Jima campaign, all thechaplains managed to survive the battle.

When Father Suver and his assistant,Jim Fisk, reached ashore, they had to findtheir aid station immediately. As theysearched, unsuccessfully at first, machine-gun fire suddenly showered around them,forcing them to fling themselves to theground. They learned later that they hadwalked behind Japanese lines and into theterritory of five machine gunners.

Another time, Father Suver saw sev-eral Japanese bodies lying some distanceaway. He wanted to examine them to seeif they were really dead in order to burythem. The first man was dead, but as Fa-ther Suver approached the second, ma-chine-gun bullets began sputtering up athis feet. He immediately ran for the near-est foxhole. Despite these nerve-shatter-ing situations, Father Suver did notabandon the idea of saying Mass onMount Suribachi, provided that theAmerican flag was raised there.

The Right Time, the Right Place and the Right MenFive days of bloody fighting passed. Fa-ther Suver was working at an aid stationwith Mr. Fisk when he noticed fourMarines cautiously scaling Mount Surib-achi. As dangerous as it was, he decidedthat this was the moment. SummoningMr. Fisk to grab his Mass kit, they dashedfor the volcano. As they climbed up itsside, they suddenly saw Old Glory raisedupon the summit. A surge of enthusiasmfilled every Marine around—all cheeredand some wept for joy as they beheld theAmerican flag flapping in the wind. “Allof us experienced a thrill that none of uswill ever be able to describe,” said FatherSuver.

B Y M I C H A E L G O R R E

Something Else Happenedon Mount Suribachi*

U.S. Marines receive Holy Communion fromFather Charles Suver on the summit of MountSuribachi shortly after Marines raised the flagthere. Photo by Louis R. Burmeister.

US Navy Historical Center

The flag raising and theMass encouraged the

Marines to keep up thefight in a sublime

combination ofpatriotic bravery and

religious fervor.

Commentary

Praised until recently as dogma,Darwin’s theory of evolution is nowfading away, discredited by the samescience that bore its poisoned fruit. In-stead, the Christian vision of a super-natural design is being increasinglyaffirmed.

“Evolution is now a datum provenbeyond any reasonable doubt and nolonger a theory, it’s not even worthtaking the trouble to discuss it.” Thisis what a spokesman proclaimed atthe Festival of Science held in Genoain November 2005, thereby neglectinga very important aspect of modernscience—the need to be open to newperspectives.

Instead, the truth is quite the op-posite. Paradoxically,evolutionists are tak-ing an ever greaterdistance from empir-ical science and arewrapping themselvesup in a dogmatismthat borders on ideo-logical fanaticism.

Unprovable Hypothesis“What is left, then, in evolutionism,that is valid according to the scientificmethod? Nothing, actually nothing!”This is the conclusion of journalistMarco Respinti in his recent bookProcesso a Darwin (Darwin on trial),(Piemme, 2007). He continues,

Not one of his postulates can beverified or certified based on themethod proper to the physical sci-ences. His whole claim escapes ver-ification. Based on what, therefore,other than on strong prejudices ofan ideological nature, can anyoneaffirm or continue to affirm thatthe evolutionist hypothesis is true?

Indeed, the consis-tency of a scien-tific theory isfounded on its ca-pacity to be veri-fied empirically, beit through observa-tion of the phe-nomenon in naturaor by reproducing itin the laboratory.

C r u s a d e J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 0 8 5

B Y J U L I O L O R E D O ,

C R U S A D E ’ S I T A L I A N C O R R E S P O N D E N T

The Sunset of DarwinismCommentary

Father Suver reached the top and, withthe commanding officer’s approval, pre-pared to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice ofthe Mass in Latin. Two empty gas drumswith a board laid on top were all theycould find to serve for an altar. To shieldthe priest and the sacred vessels, twoMarines held up a poncho against thefierce wind. The Marines protected thepriest not only from the wind, but alsofrom a possible attack. Although theMarines had been able to hoist the flag,nearby caves still harbored Japanese sol-diers. The caves were so close that FatherSuver could hear the Japanese in thecaves talking as he offered the Mass. Be-cause of this, the twenty or so Marines at-tending Mass held their guns at the ready.Providentially, the Japanese did not at-tack and Father Suver completed the his-toric first Mass on all of Iwo Jima.

Father Suver and his men had fulfilledtheir promise despite the great dangerthey encountered. Even though the battlewould not be over for another twenty-nine grueling days, the flag raising and theMass encouraged the Marines to keep upthe fight in a sublime combination of pa-triotic bravery and religious fervor. In-deed, the Battle of Iwo Jima was theMarine Corps’ finest hour. n

*Adapted from Donald F. Crosby, S.J.’sBattlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World WarII (Lawrence, Kan: University Press of Kansas,1997).

The U.S. Marine Corps Memorial nearWashington, D.C., commemorates the heroismof the U.S. Marines during the Battle of IwoJima during World War II.

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The evolutionist hypothesis fails on bothcounts. “Thus,” Respinti shows, “Darwinism re-mains simply an hypothesis devoid of empiri-cal or demonstrable foundation, besides beingunproven. . . . The evolutionist hypothesis iscompletely unfounded for it does not masterthe very domain in which it launches its chal-lenge.”

Respinti reaches this “verdict” after a rigorous“trial of Darwin” in which he analyzes the mainarguments that debunk the notorious theory,ranging from nonexistent fossil records to theconflict of Darwinism with genetic science andthe flimsiness of the “synthetic theory” of neo-Darwinism, without forgetting the countlessfrauds that have stained notable evolutionists intheir insane quest to fabricate the “proofs” thatscience tenaciously denied them.

Respinti concludes by denouncing the ideo-logical drift of the evolutionist school, “To cate-gorically affirm the absolute validity of thetheories of Darwinian and neo-Darwinian evo-lution based on the claim that discussing themwould be unscientific by definition, is the worstproof that human reason can give of itself.”

A Long SunsetThe sunset of the Darwinist hypothesis haspicked up speed over the last two decades. Forexample, consider the work carried out by theOsaka Group for the Study of Dynamic Struc-tures, founded in 1987, in the wake of an inter-national interdisciplinary meeting convened “topresent and discuss some opinions opposed tothe dominant neo-Darwinist paradigm.” Scien-tists from all over the world participated, in-cluding the outstanding geneticist GiuseppeSermonti, then a professor at the University ofPerugia, Italy.

In 1980, together with Roberto Fondi, now a

professor at the University of Siena, Sermontiwrote Dopo Darwin—Critica all’evoluzionismo(After Darwin—A critique of evolutionism),(Rusconi, 1980). “Biology,” Sermonti explains,“has no proof at all of the spontaneous origin oflife, or rather biology has proved its impossibility.There is no such thing as a gradation of life fromelementary to complex. From a bacterium to abutterfly to man the biochemical complexity issubstantially the same.”

For his part, Fondi shows that from the firstappearance of fossils to this day, the variety andriches of living beings have not increased. Newgroups have replaced older ones, but the inter-mediate forms that the evolutionists have sofrantically searched for do not exist. “The theoryof evolution,” Sermonti and Fondi conclude, “hasbeen contradicted as have few other scientifictheories in the past.”

In Le forme della vita (The forms of life) (Ar-mando, 1981), Sermonti unveils other obstaclesto Darwinism. According to the renowned ge-neticist, the “random” origin of life and the grad-ual transformation of the species through“selective change” are no longer sustainable be-cause the most elementary life is incredibly com-plex and because it is now proven thatreplacement of living groups takes place “byleaps” rather than “by degrees.”

Putting together forty years of experience, in1999 he wrote Dimenticare Darwin—Ombre sul-l’evoluzione (Forgetting Darwin—Shadows onevolution) (Rusconi, 1999). With rigorous argu-mentation, the author demolishes the three pil-lars of Darwinism: natural selection, sexualmixing and genetic “change.” According to him,history will remember the theory of evolution asthe “Big Joke.”

Not Just CreationistsSermonti has been often accused of being a “cre-ationist” or a “religious fundamentalist” eventhough he has always said he does not fit his sci-entific vision into a Christian perspective, andthis is yet one more aspect to note in the polemicagainst Darwinism, which is also contested bymany people other than Christians.

In this sense, it is interesting to note the re-cent editorial in Il Cerchio, “Seppellire Darwin?Dalla critica del darwinismo agli albori d’unascienza nuova,” (Bury Darwin? From a critique ofDarwinism to the dawn of a new science) con-taining essays by seven specialists including Ser-

Evolutionists are takingan ever greater distancefrom empirical science

and are wrappingthemselves up in a

dogmatism that borderson ideological fanaticism.

monti, Fondi and Giovanni Monastra, di-rector of Italy’s National Institute forFood and Nutrition Research. The titlerefers to the famous phrase by ChandraWickramasinghe, a professor of appliedmathematics of the University College ofCardiff, “The probability that life wasformed from inanimate matter is equal to1 followed by 40,000 zeros . . . . It is largeenough to bury Darwin and the wholetheory of evolution.”

From Dimenticare Darwin—Ombresull’evoluzione’s introduction:

For the first time in Italy, a critiqueof Darwinism is presented in all itscomplexity thanks to the interdiscipli-nary contribution of scholars of severalorientations—[b]eyond the polemicbetween neo-Darwinian fundamental-ists and religious integralists, the essaydemonstrates how the critique of thenow old neo-Darwinist paradigmopens the doors to a new science.

A Crisis of the Positivist ParadigmFrancis Crick, who together with Watsondiscovered the structure of DNA, openlydeclared, “An honest man, armed onlywith the knowledge available to us, couldaffirm only that, in a certain sense, theorigin of life at the moment appears to berather a miracle,” In the same wavelength,Harold Hurey, a disciple of Stanley Millerwho made history with his failed attemptto recreate life in the laboratory from aso-called primordial broth, said, “All of uswho studied the origins of life upholdthat the more we get into it, the more wefeel it is too complex to have evolved inany way.”

Indeed, a lot of “faith” is required to be-lieve in evolutionism, and it is preciselythat “faith,” of a clearly positivist1 mold,that is now beginning to weaken.

In Darwinismo: le ragioni di una crisi(Darwinism: The reasons of a crisis), Gi-anluca Marletta sticks his finger in thewound by observing that “The crisis ofDarwinism is above all a crisis of thephilosophical paradigms that allowed itssuccess.” “One cannot understand theorigin of this doctrine,” Marletta explains,“without going back to the cultural cli-mate of ‘triumphant positivism’ strad-

dling the 19th and 20th centuries.” According to Marletta, Darwinism

constituted a wonderful occasion tostrengthen the positivistic view of theworld being affirmed at that time. Dar-winism represented the perfect tool to

transplant, into the biological field, themechanic and materialist paradigms al-ready imposed on the social sciences.This is the true motive of this theory’ssuccess. A motive that now begins tosubside with the crisis of the positivistparadigm.

This explains the almost fanaticaltenacity with which evolutionists are de-fending their convictions. “Many fear,”concludes Marletta, “that the fall of Dar-winism can bring down with it the wholepositivist vision of the world.”

God’s ComebackThe crumbling of positivism is bringingback to the limelight issues that a certainconventional wisdom thought to have de-finitively eliminated. Shaken from thesudden crumbling of old certainties, wor-ried about the chaos that increasinglymarks this postmodern age, many peopleare once again asking the fundamentalquestions: Does my life have a transcen-dental meaning? Is there an intelligentproject in nature? In short, does Godexist?

Sociologist Rosa Alberoni wrote aboutthis in her book, Il Dio di Michelangelo ela barba di Darwin (Michelagelo’s Godand Darwin’s beard), published last No-vember by Rizzoli with a preface by Car-dinal Renato Martino, president of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

The onslaught of “Darwin’s worship-pers,” Alberoni explains, is carried outby the “usual destructive atheists ob-sessed with the goal of stamping outChrist and destroying the Judeo-Christ-ian civilization after having sucked itsblood and essence.” This sullen assault,however, in the deeply changed ambi-ence of post-modernity, risks beingcounterproductive:

The monkey myth is what reallyshook ordinary people. Like soldierswoken up by an alarm in the middle ofthe night, Christian believers and[O]rthodox Jews prepared for the de-fense. Or rather for the war, becausethat is what it has become . . . [o]n thesymbolic level, the bone of contentionis the ancestor of man: God or a mon-key? Should one believe in God or inDarwin? This is the substantial natureof the ongoing clash in our civilization.

In other words, a real war of religionlooms in the dawn of the Third Millen-nium. Precisely that which secularistshave tried to avoid at all cost. n

Note:1. Positivism is the philosophical system

created by August Comte (1798–1857), which onlyaccepts the truths that we can reach by directobservation or by experimentation. Thus it deniesclassical philosophy, theology and all supernaturalreligion.


A statue of Charles Darwin in front of hisformer school in Shrewsbury, England, whichis now Shrewsbury Library.

A lot of “faith” isrequired to believe in

evolutionism, and it isprecisely that “faith,” of

a clearly positivistmold, that is now

beginning to weaken.

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Nothing is more sacred for Catholicsthan the Holy Eucharist. The Churchteaches that “Holy Communion is thereception of the Body and Blood ofJesus Christ, really and substan-tially present under the conse-crated species, offered as asacrifice to God in Holy Mass.”1

Thus, any insult to the Eucharistis something that concerns allCatholics, particularly whensomeone receives Holy Com-munion to challenge Churchlaws or to show grave disrespect.

Outrages to the Holy EucharistUnfortunately, such public challengesand grave disrespect to the BlessedSacrament are happening ever more fre-quently. This could be seen in the caselast year when two cross-dressing homo-sexuals received Holy Communion fromArchbishop Niederauer of San Francisco.A more recent case was the sacrilegiousexposition at Vienna’s Diocesan Museum,where Catholics were horrified to see apainting depicting the Last Supper as ahomosexual orgy.2

Finally, there was the media-an-nounced and actual receiving of HolyCommunion during the recent PapalMasses by prominent politicians publiclyopposed to Catholic doctrine on abortion.

A Calculated Challenge to Church LawsSuch scandalous actions appear to be acalculated challenge to Church laws. Tomake matters worse, House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi was quoted in the mediadefining the Holy Eucharist in a way that

does not reflect Church teaching,“Communion is the body of the peo-

ple of the church coming together,”Pelosi said at her weekly news con-ference after returning from thePapal Mass. “I feel very much apart of that.”3

National Catholic ReporterJohn Allen noted that politicianshad publicly manifested their in-tention of receiving Holy Com-munion at the Papal Masses and

no measure was taken to preventthem from doing so. The result, he

argued, is a de facto weakening of theposition of those American bishops

who affirm the incompatibility betweenthese politicians’ pro-abortion stance andtheir receiving Holy Communion.4

Catholic Doctrine Cannot ChangeWithout denying the negative conse-quences of these politicians’ acts, it mustbe noted that, regardless of Mr. Allen’sopinion to the contrary, the doctrinal po-sition of the bishops opposed to givingHoly Communion to pro-abortionists re-mains entirely solid, since it is based onimmutable moral principles.

Furthermore, when still Prefect for theCongregation for the Doctrine of theFaith, in a memorandum dated July 3,2004 to the American bishops gathered inDenver, Colorado, for their semi-annualmeeting, Cardinal Joseph Ratzingerclearly recalled these principles. After ex-plaining that to receive Holy Communionone must be in the state of grace and ob-

B Y L U I Z S É R G I O S O L I M E O

Pro-Abortion Politicians and the Church’s Position on Holy Communion

“Holy Communion isthe reception of theBody and Blood of

Jesus Christ, really andsubstantially present

under the consecratedspecies, offered as asacrifice to God in

Holy Mass.”

Religion


serve the Eucharistic fast, he adds the fol-lowing points:

. . . .The Church teaches that abortion

or euthanasia is a grave sin. . . . Chris-tians have a “grave obligation of con-science not to cooperate formally inpractices which, even if permitted bycivil legislation, are contrary to God’slaw. Indeed, from the moral stand-point, it is never licit to cooperate for-mally in evil. . . .”

. . . .Apart from an individual’s judg-

ment about his worthiness to presenthimself to receive the Holy Eucharist,the minister of Holy Communion mayfind himself in the situation where hemust refuse to distribute Holy Com-munion to someone, such as in casesof a declared excommunication, a de-clared interdict, or an obstinate per-sistence in manifest grave sin (cf. can.915).

Regarding the grave sin of abortionor euthanasia, when a person’s formalcooperation becomes manifest (un-derstood, in the case of a Catholicpolitician, as his consistently cam-

paigning and voting for permissiveabortion and euthanasia laws), his Pas-tor should meet with him, instructinghim about the Church’s teaching, in-forming him that he is not to presenthimself for Holy Communion until hebrings to an end the objective situationof sin, and warning him that he willotherwise be denied the Eucharist.

When “these precautionary meas-ures have not had their effect or inwhich they were not possible,” and theperson in question, with obstinate per-sistence, still presents himself to re-ceive the Holy Eucharist, “the ministerof Holy Communion must refuse todistribute it” (cf. Pontifical Council forLegislative Texts Declaration[,] “HolyCommunion and Divorced, Civilly Re-married Catholics” [2000], nos. 3–4).This decision, properly speaking, is nota sanction or a penalty. Nor is the min-ister of Holy Communion passingjudgment on the person’s subjectiveguilt, but rather is reacting to the per-son’s public unworthiness to receiveHoly Communion due to an objectivesituation of sin.5

Thus, the rules are very clear. Contraryto media reports, the politicians’ chal-lenge will continue to be met by at leasttwenty bishops who have courageouslymanifested their position on this matter,especially Archbishop Raymond Burke ofSt. Louis and Bishop Michael J. Sheridanof Colorado Springs. It is difficult to un-derstand why politicians, who one wouldthink want to attract the Catholic vote,would choose to show such public disre-spect for that which Catholics hold mostsacred. n

Notes:1. Dom Gregory Manise, O.S.B, Holy

Communion, in Francesco Cardinal Roberti-Monsignor Pietro Plazzini, Dictionary of MoralTheology (Westminster, MD: The Newman Press,1962), 259–260.

2. Cf. Luiz Sérgio Solimeo, “Sacrilege, Scandaland Homosexual Ideology in San Francisco,” April11, 2008, http://www.tfp.org /index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=551&Itemid=73;Luiz Sérgio Solimeo, “Protest a Lewd HomosexualBlasphemy at Vienna’s Diocesan Museum,” March28, 2008, http://www.tfp.org/cc/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=793 &Itemid=50.

3. Mike Soraghan, “Pelosi takes Communion at[P]apal Mass,” April 17, 2008, http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-takes-communion-at-papal-mass-2008-04-17.html.

4. John L Allen Jr., “No hard line from pope oncommunion for pro-choice pols,” National CatholicReporter, April 20, 2008, http://ncrcafe.org/node/1749.

5. Cf. Joseph Ratzinger, “Worthiness to ReceiveHoly Communion. General Principles,” in SandroMagister, “The Kerry Affair: What RatzingerWanted from the American Bishops,” http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it /articolo/7055?eng=y(third omission in original).

The doctrinal position of the bishops opposed to giving HolyCommunion to pro-abortionists remains entirely solid, since it is

based on immutable moral principles.

Communion of the Apostles.Fresco by Fra Angelico,Museo di San Marco,Florence, Italy.


Those who insistently promote Our Lady ofFatima’s message might be accused of givingit a forced sense of urgency. After all, it has

been over ninety years since the apparitions and itmight seem sensational to call this message thatstresses prayer, penance and amendment of life assomething not only urgent but “more urgent than

ever.” To answer this objection, it may be helpful toreview why Fatima is indeed a message that appliesto today’s problems and thus more urgent than ever.

Village Life at FatimaIf there is any location where urgency would seemout of place, it would be the small village of Aljus-trel where Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco lived in 1917.

The village life was calm and peaceful with a richsense of Catholic community. Everyone knew every-one in the little village where life revolved aroundthe local Catholic Church and the liturgical year.

Indeed, most problems were local. Most peopledid not know what happened outside their little vil-lage, and they really did not want to be concernedwith bigger problems. In fact, Our Lady does not re-ally address these local problems in the Fatima mes-sage. While she spoke about the sins of men at thetime, she did not ask them to change the village’sway of life. What Our Lady did speak about were thebig problems that were starting to appear on thehorizon.

A World in Transition At the time of the message in 1917, the world wasin transition. Huge political and cultural transfor-mations were starting to appear that threatened thecalm, small village life found in thousands of placesall over the Catholic world. World War I had startedand many villagers were fighting in that Great war.Portugal was in the throes of a modern communistrevolution, Marxist propaganda was spreadthroughout the West, and hostility to the Churchwas growing.

Cultural Shift in the Twenties In addition to the change in political climate, Por-tugal and the world also faced a major cultural shiftbrought about by the ever increasing demand forfrivolous and often immoral lifestyles reflected inthe currents of the times.

What Makes the Fatima Message so Urgent?

Everyone wanted to be like theHollywood stars they saw on thesilver screen with their fast, easyand loose lifestyle without God.

B Y J O H N H O R V A T I I

CoverStory

Village women carrying baskets passing in front of Lucia dos Santos’ house inAljustrel, Portugal. A typical and common scene of that era denotes the calm andcongenial village life in 1917, Portugal.

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In his book, The Oxford History of the AmericanPeople, Samuel Eliot Morison describes the Roaring20s as a decade that changed the morals and cus-toms of the world much like the sexual revolutionof the sixties.

Among the trends he mentioned were:l Hollywood entered the scene introducing a

fast and loose pace of life to be imitated byeveryone.

l Music became faster and looser. Jazz was therock and roll of the times where, togetherwith illegal alcohol andthe introduction of thecar, made the Roaring 20sa promiscuous and dan-gerous time.

l Fashions became morerevealing, informal andlooser fitting. The artsand literature becameever more immoral andatheistic.

l Freud was popularizedand justified the lifting of all sexual inhibi-tions.

With increased communications between thenations, the twenties proposed a lifestyle for thewhole world. Everyone wanted to be like the Holly-wood stars they saw on the silver screen with theirfast, easy and loose lifestyle without God, and fewerwanted to live like villagers in Fatima.

Economic TransformationsThis cultural shift worked hand in hand with eco-

nomic transformations. To support this newlifestyle, people wanted to have the latest in fash-ions, products and technology. Improved trans-portation gave industry the ability to extend itsmarkets to include regional, national and interna-tional markets.

Everything became big: big industry, big banks,big cities, big cars, big markets and big business. Asa result, these enormous markets also necessarilycreated an enormous interdependence among thosewho entered the system.

Interdependent NetworksIn this way, there evolved today’shuge interdependent global net-works, telecommunications, theInternet, transportation, thepostal service, banking systemsand so many other networks thathave come to dominate theworld. These interdependentnetworks have undeniablyhelped produce the prodigious

quantities of goods that flood today’s markets. It is not without reason that these networks are

considered a cause of richness, a source of progress,a pillar of stability and a guarantee of security. How-ever, they are also a source of an enormous fragility.

Interlinked VulnerabilitiesBy setting up these immense networks that every-one depends on, it necessarily sets up a world of vul-nerable chokepoints. Such points might be physicalplaces like the Straits of Hormuz; physical systems

Facilitated by large-scale physical and virtual interdependent networks, our global market is flooded with more goods than ever. Such a vast interdependence, however, leaves vulnerable chokepoints. Left: Stacks of cargo containers at a busy harbor. Right: An oilfield with multiple wellhead pumps.

By setting up theseimmense networks thateveryone depends on, it

necessarily sets up aworld of vulnerable

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like the electric power grids and supply lines for nat-ural resources like oil, gas, minerals and food; andvirtual networks, instruments and systems like theInternet, financial derivatives and the credit-cardsystem.

These chokepoints are especially vulnerable be-cause of the actions of people. All it takes is the con-certed attack of an individual or group on theseexposed points and it can bring these networks to agrinding halt. An entire system can suddenly be putat the mercy of a few.

Immoral Acts IncreaseIn ordinary times, such a perspective would alreadybe quite alarming. However, in today’s times, wherethe sense of moral responsibility is disappearing, theprobability of such irresponsible or immoral actionsby an individual or group is greatly increased. Thus,with today’s moral crisis, the globalized intercon-nected world has suddenly become extremely weakand vulnerable. For example, the 9-11 attack was asemi-sophisticated operation involving terroristsand five-dollar box cutters.

Today, one man can affect the whole world. In-deed, because of Richard Colvin Reid, the Islamicshoe bomber who tried to bring down an airplane,tens of millions of people have to take off their shoesevery day to enter, not mosques, but airports.

The credit system is another cited example. Un-

scrupulous bankers made loans they knew wererisky. Unscrupulous buyers accepted loans theycould not honor. The result is the ongoing crash ofthe vulnerable credit network.

The crisis surrounding the blood thinner heparinunderscores how the worldwide medical supply net-work has a chokepoint found in unethical Chinesesuppliers.

A Moral CrisisIn other words, today’s world faces a huge moral cri-sis. The worse people become and the more inter-dependent the world is, the greater is the possibilityof disaster. Without solid moral roots, the giant net-works of interdependence are creating inside them-selves the very elements of their destruction, andthat is why the Fatima message is more urgent thanever. The only way out is to address the moral crisisthat Our Lady spoke about at Fatima.

Solution for a Moral CrisisShe herself gave a way out of this moral crisis thatwas custom made for today. For the individual, OurLady proposed a morally regenerative program ofprayer, penance and amendment of life. However,she also asked for action, especially against the “er-rors of Russia.”

Ironically, today’s systems help facilitate this callto action. Just as the irresponsible or immoral ac-tions of a few individuals in today’s interconnectedworld can cause huge damages, so also the respon-sible, legal and peaceful actions of a few Catholicscan have a huge effect for the Catholic cause whenthey use these networks for good.

Thus, if Catholics take this message to heart, theycan do their part to address the moral crisis intoday’s vulnerable interconnected world. However,if this crisis is not resolved now, it only gets worseand “more urgent than ever.” n

On October 13, 2007, the American TFP and AmericaNeeds Fatima organized over 2,000 Public Square RosaryRallies across the country with the aid of the most up-to-date and interconnected systems of communication, suchas the Internet. Left: Hundreds gather for a Public SquareRosary on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Just as the immoral actions of a few individuals intoday’s interconnected world can cause huge damages,so also the legal and peaceful actions of a few Catholics

can have a huge effect for the Catholic cause.


America Needs Fatima®July/August 2008

Thanks to the generosity of AmericaNeeds Fatima members, especially Chil-dren of Mary, Fatima: A Message MoreUrgent Than Ever was launched in severalcities across America. The book launch-ing was part of a series of one-day con-ferences promoted by TFP and AmericaNeeds Fatima to help Catholics discussOur Lady’s message and apply it in theirdaily lives.

Fatima: A Complete Change of MentalitySpeaker John Horvat pointed out how liv-ing the Fatima message in the modernworld means more than praying theRosary, and explained how deep changes

took place in our society since the sexualrevolution of the sixties and howCatholics need to adjust their strategiesto fight and win this cultural war.

Our Lady wants a complete change ofmentality. It’s not enough to pray theRosary and go on living like everybody else.

People who practice the Fatima mes-sage today must be 100 percent commit-ted not to fit in with the spirit and sins ofthe world. This takes courage. This takessacrifice.

But that’s what Our Lady asked thethree shepherd children to do, “Are youwilling to offer yourselves to God andbear all the sufferings He wills to sendyou, as an act of reparation for the sins by

which He is of-fended, and ofsuppl icat ionfor the conver-sion of sin-ners? Then youare going tohave much to suffer, but the grace of Godwill be your comfort.”

After hearing the presentation andasking for more copies of the new book,one participant said, “This makes Fatimapractical and applicable to me and mycurrent situations.” Another participantasked, “Can I get notes from the talk? Be-cause these are things we will need to re-member in the times to come.”

Left: Participants of the Sacramento, Calif. regional conference gathered for a group photo with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.Right: TFP members in their ceremonial habit carried a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to preside over the Hazleton, Pa. regional conference.

PROGRESS REPORT

New Fatima BookLaunched Across AmericaB Y R O B E R T E . R I T C H I E

Our Readers Write...* Thank you very much foryour book about Fatima byLuiz Sérgio Solimeo! This isparticularly interesting to mebecause my daughter is goingto be a Carmelite novice inJune and take the name SisterLucia.

L.G., via e-mail

* I have just finished reading Fatima: AMessage More Urgent than Ever and Iwant to thank you for sending it to me. Ibecame a Catholic while stationed atLages Air Force station in 1951, and I feelvery strongly Mary had a lot to do with it.Also, what it would cost to purchase ad-ditional copies of the book for the teengroup at my church? God bless you inyour ministry!

J.R., via e-mail

* I want all my Catholic friends to havethis book. I know the story and this is so

important, well written and in-spiring! I have been praying all ofthis for years and I’m 83!

C.B., Grananda Hills, Calif.

* I received the book, Fatima:A Message More Urgent ThanEver. It is excellent! Enclosed isa donation to your great mis-sion. I would like to get infor-

mation on ordering more copies.Father R.A., Fort Atkinson, Iowa

* This new Fatima book was of suchgreat interest to me that I read it twice.

M.W., Dover, Del.

* I received the parcel [of religiousitems] you sent me and I distributedthem to many people. I am very gratefulto you for your love and concern toward

our parish. The people who receivedthem are all daily praying for you, and Iam daily praying for you.

Father Y.K., Kanchikacherla, India

* I have been saying the Rosary everyday for a long time—and I will con-tinue—for the success of the AmericaNeeds Fatima Rosary Rallies, for youRobert, for the Rosary Rally Captains, foryour Custodians, for the success of thedistribution of the Fatima booklets andthe Triumph of the Immaculate Heart ofMary. I know that God and the BlessedMother will bless you all for what you aredoing, and I praise and thank God andthe Blessed Mother that I belong to theFatima Program and that you broughtthe Blessed Mother to our household.

M.T., La Puente, Calif.

*Thank you very much for the preciousposter of our heavenly Mother, for thebeautiful Child of Mary pin and for mynomination as a Child of Mary. It is a

To purchase your copy of Fatima: AMessage More Urgent Than Ever, call

toll free (888) 317-5571 today!


ANF PROGRESS REPORT

Devotion to the ImmaculateHeart of MaryWritten by Luiz Solimeo, the new bookexplains the crucial role of devotion tothe Immaculate Heart of Mary in solvingthe moral crisis that grips the modernworld. “God wants to honor His Motherby solving the current world crisisthrough mankind’s devotion to her Im-maculate Heart,” Mr. Solimeo said. “De-votion to the Immaculate Heart of Maryis a magnificent gift of Divine Providenceto us who live in these hard times.”

2008 Rosary Rallies Announced The book launching across America con-cluded with an ardent appeal to join the2008 Rosary Rallies scheduled for Octo-ber 11, 2008. New Rally Captains were re-cruited. This helps America Needs

Fatima reach its goal to hold 3,000 PublicSquare Rosary Rallies, almost 1,000 morethan last year. The Rosary Rallies turn theteachings in the book into effective ac-tion for America’s future and the conver-sion of sinners.

If you want to be a Rally Captain,please call Mr. Francis Slobodnik or Mr. Chris Pierce at our national rally co-ordination center at (866) 864-6012, orwrite an e-mail to [email protected]. n

The audience at the Topeka, Kan. regional conference listens attentively to the talks.

great honor and a pleasure to receive allthese gifts from your Holy Society: Amer-ica Needs Fatima. As soon as I saw thebeautiful poster, the holy Shrine of Fatimacame to my memory when my wife and Ivisited it in Portugal.

J.S., Verona, N.J.

* I am a principal of a Catholic highschool in Seattle and we are one of thefew schools that is complying with ourbishop’s directive, which is not to have ahomosexual group on campus. Is it pos-sible to send me a copy of Defending aHigher Law? Our auxiliary bishop, JosephTyson, is attempting to leverage allCatholic high schools into compliance. Iwould like to support him with my edu-cated presence.

M.P., Seattle, Wash.

*Thank you very much for my wonder-ful and blessed gift of the “Two Hearts.” Ican’t tell you how much this beautifulpicture means to me. I was born in Por-

tugal in the same year the Sacred Virginappeared in Fatima. Although ninety-oneyears have passed, her message is still astrue today as it was on that holy day. I be-lieve very strongly in her message andwant to do what I can to help her mes-sage find its way into the hearts andminds of all people.

M.T.R., Richmond, Va.

* It’s an amazing miracle that you puttogether 2,000 Public Rosary Rallies intoday’s age. I can hardly get people to sayone Hail Mary! The Holy Spirit is surelyguiding you. Keep doing your holy hours,it will ensure you don’t fall into the heresyof good works.

Father G.R., Middletown, Conn.M.P., Seattle, Wash.

* * *[Editor’s Note: The following dissenting let-

ter is included to edify our wonderful readersto the “tolerant” liberal mindset. Let us use thisexample to redouble our efforts for the Faith,

and may Our Lord and Mary Most Holy pre-serve us from the ills threatening souls.]

* I am writing to you from Vienna andI am very upset about your homepage[protesting a lewd homosexual blas-phemy in Vienna’s Diocesan Museum].

Every person has bisexual as-pects . . . and so Our Lord had also. Andit’s normal to see him in an exhibition inan homosexual scenery. That’s life, that’slust and that’s normal.

I wish you over there more toleranceand intelligence . . . because we in Eu-rope know that you need it. And I hopeall you Americans will never travel to Vi-enna again.

S.S., via e-mail

ANF PROGRESS REPORT


Crusade Magazine would love to hear from its readers. If you wish towrite us an email, please send it to

[email protected].

On March 16, 2008, nearly fifty sup-porters and friends of the American TFPgathered in front of Union Station inKansas City, Mo., to protest the BodiesRevealed exhibit. This highly offensive ex-hibit, which places human bodies on dis-play in various “poses,” opened recentlyin the city.

A protest took place to offer repara-tion for what sadly is a great offenseagainst God by misusing human bodiescreated in His image and likeness. An-other purpose of the protest was to helpthe public understand the gravity of whatwas happening inside the museum. Manypeople have seen the billboards advertis-

ing similar exhibits nationwide and yetdo not realize that human bodies were ondisplay and not plastic models.

A number of people approached andasked why we were opposed. Some leftre-examining their interest in the exhibit.Of course, there were those who have im-bibed deeply the culture of death andproclaimed their wish to be displayed inthis horrific manner when they die.

One protester showed up as after see-ing a news broadcast announcing theprotest. He said he was glad that some-one was standing up to this exhibit andsaying no. Another protester was in thearea, saw the protesters, got out his

Rosary and joined in the prayers of reparation.

Respect for the dead is a precept ofnatural law and a Catholic principle. Inthe presence of aberrations such as abor-tion and euthanasia, it is not surprisingthat the dead suffer abuse as well. It is aprofoundly sad situation that demandsreparation and protest. n

B Y F R A N C I S S L O B O D N I K

Protesting the BodiesRevealed Exhibit inKansas City

Protesters opposed the Bodies Revealed exhibit at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo.

ANF PROGRESS REPORT

It is not uncommon during Fatimahome visits to hear stories of Our Lady’smaternal intercession in her devotees’lives. However, what Father Jack Caldwellof Louisville, Ky., told me during a recentvisit was a true miracle.

As a child, Father Caldwell sufferedfrequent illnesses and when he was eightyears old his mother took him to see thedoctor. The young Caldwell was startledwhen he overheard the doctor tell hismother that her son would not live verylong because of his enlarged heart.

Father Caldwell had wanted to be apriest for as long as he could remember,but this news frightened him so muchthat upon returning home he wentstraight to his mother’s bedroom andknelt before a statue of Our Lady. Hethen made an ambitious request, “Letme be ordained in fifteen years,” consid-ering the seriousness of his health.

Our Lady seemed to intervene for himas he was able to complete his primaryeducation, but in his third year of highschool he became very ill. His heart wasskipping beats and the medication didnot seem to be doing any good.

After finishing college, his sister in-vited him on a trip to Lourdes, France. AsFather Caldwell entered the miraculousbath he remembers saying, “Mary, ifthere is anything to this, some day Iwould like to have a normal heart.”

The following year a heart catheteri-zation indicated his heart had a doublebeat and he was given three months tolive. After undergoing surgery on thefeast of the Epiphany, Father Caldwellwas shocked when he later spoke withthe doctor who performed the operation.

“I want you to know that I believeyour situation was a miracle,” the doctorsaid, “because hearts do not normally

correct themselves, but yours did. I havenever seen this in any text or experi-enced it at all. No one has! That doublebeat strengthened your heart musclerather than enlarging it.” The doctor thenheld out a clenched fist in the shape of aheart and said, “I want you to know thatyou now have a normal heart.” n

B Y N O R M A N J . F U L K E R S O N

Father Jack Caldwell beside the statue ofOur Lady of Fatima at a home visit. FatherCaldwell asked Our Lady at Lourdes, France,to cure his heart.


USTODIAN’SCORNER

‘A Normal Heart’

To schedule a Fatima visit in your home, call toll free (888) 460-7371

Some very generous ANF members have paved the way into theFatima message’s future by including America Needs Fatima intheir wills. We are forever grateful to these special devotees of OurLady.

If you are thinking about helping America Needs Fatima flourishfar into the future, you may ask your attorney to include the lan-guage in either Option 1 or Option 2 in your will:

Option 1: “I give and bequeath the sum of $ dollars to be used for

the general purposes of America Needs Fatima, a special campaignof The Foundation for a Christian Civilization, Inc., of 1358 Jeffer-son Rd., Spring Grove, PA 17362, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity.”

Option 2: “I give, devise and bequeath to America Needs Fatima, a special

campaign of The Foundation for a Christian Civilization, Inc., of1358 Jefferson Rd., Spring Grove, PA 17362, a 501(c)(3) tax-exemptcharity, for its general purposes all (or percent) of the rest,residue and remainder of my estate, whether real or personal.”

#Dear Mr. Ritchie,

q I have already placed the America Needs Fatimacampaign in my will and have included the lan-guage in Option 1/Option 2 in my will.

q I would like to speak with you about placingAmerica Needs Fatima in my will.

Kindly call me at: ( ) -

Time of day: a.m./p.m.

Name:

Address:

City: St: ZIP:

E-mail:

WillWhere there’s a Will, there’s a Way!


ANF PROGRESS REPORT

The lewd V***** Monologues contin-ues to scandalize students by its disgust-ing depictions of lust, blasphemy, andpromoting the corrosive agenda of thesexual revolution as it was shown yetagain across America at Catholic univer-sities.

After being forced to see the playas part of a class, Christo-pher, a college studentfrom Massachusetts,wrote, “[I]t was a horribleexhibit of vice, lust, andinfidelity. Everythingabout the play . . . was de-cidedly opposed to justabout everything the Churchteaches. The painful memo-ries of lust and blasphemystill echo in the outer

fringes of my mind.”As part of their continued protest

against the play, TFP Student Actionmembers traveled on March 25, 2008 toNotre Dame University in South Bend, In-diana, to spread Bishop John M. D’Arcy’s

two-page criticism of the play. Theyprayed and held signs and banners to

respectfully urge Fa-ther John Jenkins,the university’s pres-ident, to ban the im-moral play.

As the demon-stration unfolded, aCatholic priest driv-

ing through the frontentrance of campus,read a TFP banner,paused, pointed to his

Roman collar and gave his blessing twice.Passing cars responded enthusiasti-

cally to the “Honk against the V*****Monologues at Notre Dame” and “Purityis the Answer” signs. Many gave effusivethumbs up and shouted “Thank you!”from their cars. “I’m sure the Pope willspeak out against this on Catholic cam-puses. It’s horrible! Catholic schools needto teach Catholic doctrine,” said one stu-dent, adding, “Give me more fliers. This iswonderful!”

Protests are effective! In 2003, thirty-two Catholic institutions allowed theplay. This year only sixteen Catholicuniversities permitted it on campus.With Our Lady’s help, your protest let-ters, e-mails, and phone calls will con-vince universities to abandon thisoffensive play. n

Smaller Audiences See the V***** MonologuesB Y J O H N R I T C H I E

Prayer BannerDelivered to FatimaB Y A N T O N I O F R A G E L L I

Beginning in 2007, on the ninetieth anniver-sary of the Fatima apparitions, America

Needs Fatima began a project that will be re-peated annually until the centennial anniver-sary of the apparitions.

This project offers ANF members the op-portunity to write their names, messages or in-tentions on a square two-inch piece of cloth.The pieces will be sewn into a large banner thatwill be taken to Fatima and offered to Our Lady.

On June 4, 2008, I had the pleasure of tak-ing the second annual banner to Fatima.Roughly 9,000 pieces of cloth made the largetwo-sided banner. A picture of Our Lady of Fa-tima was printed on the front, surrounded bythe pieces of cloth. The remaining squareswere on the reverse.

This experience was one I wish I could havepersonally shared with all those who sent intheir piece of cloth for the banner. They wereall in my prayers. n

Above left: Posing with the clothbanner in front of the Fatima basilica.Above: At Valinhos, the place of thefourth Fatima apparition, August 19,1917. Left: A detail of roughly 9,000pieces of cloth that make the banner.


Jerry Springer EnragesWhen the Jerry Springer: The Opera aired in 2005,over 50,000 complaints flooded the BBC, making itthe most protested broadcast in British televisionhistory. In this blasphemous show, Our Lord is pre-sented as a homosexual and Our Blessed Mother issaid to have been raped by an angel. The show hitthe United States earlier this year by making its firstappearance at Carnegie Hall in New York City. There,it was met by thousands of protest e-mails, lettersand about 200 protesters outside the theater. It willbe shown again in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 26where ANF and TFP promise to organize anotherlarge, prayerful protest.

Islam Overtakes CatholicismFor the first time in history, Islam has overtakenCatholicism as the biggest single religious denomi-nation in the world. Muslim families are havingmore children and total 1.3 billion while Catholicsin the world total 1.13 billion.

Ten Commandments Still StandingOverruling an ACLU claim that a six-foot-tall TenCommandments monument in Washington statebreaches the separation of church and state, thecourt will allow the monument to continue standingoutside the Old City Hall in Everett, Washington. Asimilar decision, regarding a Ten Commandmentsmemorial outside the State Capital, was made inAustin, Texas.

Poland Ignores EUAfter an appeal from the Council of Europe to endits bans on abortion, the Polish government doesnot plan to explain or change its pro-life policy. OnePolish representative replied, “The Council of Eu-rope should worry about human-rights violations inRussia instead.”

Reconsidering Catholic DiscriminationBritish Prime Minister Gordon Brown is consider-ing a constitutional reform of the Act of Settlement,which has barred Catholics or spouses of Catholicsfrom wearing the British crown since 1701. Reform-ing the law will be difficult because, under existinglaw, the British monarch is also the legal head of theChurch of England.

Will Pennsylvania be the Twenty-EighthState to Protect Traditional Marriage?So far, twenty-seven states have amended their con-stitutions to protect traditional marriage. OnMarch 17, the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Com-mittee, by a 10 to 4 vote, approved the proposedamendment to the Pennsylvanian constitution. All

that is required now is the approval of both legisla-tive chambers in two consecutive two-year sessionsand the final approval through a state referendum.

Chinese UnrestThe Congressional Research Service issued a studyon China stating that there could have been threehundred thousand labor demonstrations in 2004that involved an estimated ten million people. Sincethis time, the People’s Republic of China’s govern-ment has been unable to prevent social unrest be-cause of the tensions between the central and localgovernments, institutional weaknesses, inconsistentpolicies and the inability or unwillingness to under-take fundamental political reforms.

Adult Stem Cells Are Still BetterAccording to Family Research Council, seeminglymiraculous cures for spinal cord injuries, diabetes,lupus, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, anemias,cancers, immune deficiencies and Parkinson’s dis-ease are coming from adult stem-cell treatments.While the popular media tends to ignore and ob-scure these medical breakthroughs, the success ofadult stem-cell treatments is becoming evident. Incontrast, embryonic stem cells have not producedany clinical successes, but rather tended to createtumors or result in horrendous disfigurations.

Is Homeschooling Outlawed?After a child welfare dispute between a Californianhomeschooling family and the Los Angeles CountyDepartment of Children and Family Services, theSecond District Court of Appeals ruled that Califor-nia law requires children to be sent to full-time pub-lic or private schools or have them taught only bycredentialed tutors at home. This labels an esti-mated 166,000 children as truants and leaves theirparents in danger of prosecution.

Forced to CloseHomosexuals have had the legal right to adopt chil-dren in Britain since 2002. However, new laws calledSexual Orientation Regulations remove the right ofCatholic agencies to decline homosexuals as poten-tial adopters. Now some of Britain’s Catholic adop-tion agencies are announcing they will ceaseoperations rather than betray the religious princi-ples and guidelines given by the former CardinalJoseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, that al-lowing adoption by homosexual partners would be“doing violence to the children” by threatening theirfull social and spiritual development. n

In Brief

Next year will be the Fortieth anniver-sary of Woodstock. It was an event thatmarked our country, and its influence isfelt over four decades later with noisesome call music that is piped into almostevery public place in America.

I got an unexpected reprieve from thismusical insanity recently when I entereda home in Paducah, Kentucky, and heardMike Vessels playing a bowed psaltery.Although I was there to present a talk onthe Fatima apparitions I was captivatedby this peculiar instrument. It soundedlike a high-pitched harp and, as the unfa-miliar yet harmonious notes waftedthrough the air, my soul breathed a sighof relief.

Mr. Vessels took noticeable pride by

nonchalantly pointing out that, “It is aninstrument that was played by KingDavid.”

Forty years after a culture-changingevent like Woodstock, you find people inthe countryside of Kentucky who are at-tracted to the pleasant melodies pro-duced by a centuries-old instrument.Only in America!

Musician from Duck Creek RV ParkPaducah, Ky., is a place where stock-carracing is still done on dirt tracks and peo-ple pay a hefty admission price to see it.

Located a short distance from the idyllic“Land Between the Lakes,” it is also anoutdoorsman’s paradise. A more strikingexample of rural America would be hardto find.

Mr. Vessels is a retired instrument me-chanic at the local power plant in Padu-cah and now owns the Duck Creek RVPark outside of town. He used to play thepiano, but after being diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis and maiming his handin a work-related accident, playing thepiano was almost impossible.

“So I was stuck without [an instru-ment] for about thirty years,” he said,“until this came along.” He first saw apsaltery being played by a visitor to hisRV park.

“Upon hearing it for the first time Iknew I had to get one,” he said. The inter-est among fellow Kentuckians in thepsaltery was such that he started sellingthem shortly after purchasing his own.

The psaltery had the same kind ofpower over me, and though my musicalability is limited to the “on” button of myiPod™, I was delighted to find myself play-ing the first notes of Joy to the World withutter ease. I too was sold.

After Mr. Vessels decided to get apsaltery, finding the right one proved dif-ficult. After researching the Internet, hefound a variety of different psalteries but

was always dissatisfied. “I happened tojust luck on the right kind,” he said refer-ring to his present instrument.

Unicorn StringsThose are the ones produced by UnicornStrings1 in Brooker, Florida, which wasfounded by Gene Jaeger over twenty-fiveyears ago.

Mr. Jaeger was a construction workercapable of building anything fromhouses to sailboats. His first exposure toancient instruments came while visitinga yard sale where David Beede was sittingon the front porch playing a hammereddulcimer.

Mr. Beede had been a musician hiswhole life but started making instru-ments in order to pay his way throughschool and free himself from a stressfuljob. He made the dulcimer he was playingthat day in an old shed behind his house.Mr. Jaeger noticed this shed needed somerepair and made an offer that the “yard-sale musician” could not refuse. “I willwork on your shed,” he said, “If you showme how to make an instrument.” Thuswas formed a friendship and a lucrativepartnership that lasted for eight years. Inthe beginning, they made a variety of dif-ferent instruments before gravitating to-ward the psaltery because it was aninstrument “that moved people the most.”


B Y N O R M A N J . F U L K E R S O N

Forty years after a culture-changing event likeWoodstock, you find people in the countryside of

Kentucky who are attracted to the pleasant melodiesproduced by a centuries-old instrument.

Only InAmeric a

Striking theRight Chord

The soothing chords of the psaltery inspirecalm and reflection in contrast to pervasivenoise and emotionally jarring music.


Soothing Music in a Stressful World Jessica Jaeger, another music lover andGene’s wife, clarified its origins for me.“The instrument King David of the OldTestament played to ease Saul’sheadache,” she explained, “would havebeen an instrument where the strings goparallel to the soundboard.” Although thecurrent version of the instrument datesback to the Renaissance period, it isequally effective in easing the headacheone gets from exposure to modern music.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Jaeger finds thebest reception for his instrument at Ren-aissance festivals where he shows upwearing a merchant’s costume from the1500s.

The reason Americans buy psalteriesis very consistent. When they first hear it,according to Mr. Jaeger they say, “That isso soothing and relaxing.”

“What I am wondering,” Mr. Jaegerasked, “is why do they have this tensionthat the music relaxes? I don’t have it andI think it is because I play music.” How-ever, the music he plays is very differentfrom what one commonly hears thesedays. It is almost impossible to find apublic place anymore, especially restau-rants, where you are not assaulted by loudand offensive music.

Not even in Home Depot is one safe.When going there to purchase buildingsupplies, Mr. Jaeger described “emotional”background music that he found hard toignore. “It’s really not appropriate to ex-perience such emotions in a lumber yard,”

he said. “It makes it hard for me to go intoa restaurant,” he continued, “because Ihave to tune out a different type of noiseand wherever you go there is that noise.”

After speaking with thousands of peo-ple in his travels about music, Mr. Jaegeris convinced that there is a “certain corein people where they want to be calm.” Hesays they are looking for “soothing, pleas-

ant or peaceful music that strikes theright chord.”

Trip to St. LouisAfter learning some songs, I had thechance to take my psaltery on a trip to St. Louis, Missouri. While waiting for adelayed flight in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport,I pulled it out and began playing“Greensleeves.” It was quite amusing tocontrast the calm and melodic sound ofthe psaltery with the agitated ambiencein one of the world’s busiest airports.

It wasn’t long before numerous pas-

sengers approached with questions, com-pliments, and even a request to photo-graph my “biblical” psaltery. All of themwere as shocked as I initially was to findout that I purchased it in Paducah, Ken-tucky.

Perhaps the most significant reactionto the psaltery came from ProfessorHoward Whitcraft, who holds a docoratein mathematics from St. Louis, Missouri.“It had to be a mathematician that de-signed it,” he said commenting upon theinstrument’s striking simplicity. As he lis-tened to a few songs, he observed how“innocent” it was. This comment cap-tured, what I consider to be, the main rea-son for the psaltery’s attraction.

Those who participated in Woodstockmight have thought that the music theywere promoting was innocent and care-free, but it was not. Their music merelyappealed to man’s baseness and therebyunleashed the disorderly passions of thesoul. In that sense, it was a contributingfactor to modern man’s search for quietplaces and peaceful sounds.

After being continually exposed tomodern music, which frays my nerves, Iam consoled that I can find repose in amusical instrument perhaps played orig-inally by King David but appreciated byAmericans throughout the country. It isyet another paradox that I am happy ex-ists “only in America.” n

Note:1. Unicorn Strings Music Company,

www.unicornstrings.com.

After speaking withthousands of people inhis travels about music,Mr. Jaeger is convincedthat there is a “certain

core in people where theywant to be calm.”

Far left: MikeVessels plays abowed psalteryat a Fatima homevisit in Paducah,Kentucky.Left: PatriciaDowd, who wasalso at the visit,appreciates thesoothing aspectof the psaltery’ssound.

As the second half of the sixteenthcentury rolled on in bloody fashion, theantagonism between the engulfing spreadof Protestant intrigue and the preventiveaction by the Habsburg Spanish king in-creased. Many Catholic observers find thedeliberate, careful pace and occasionalselfish motivation of Philip II annoying,but nevertheless his strong leadershipkept Catholic culture in Western andNorthern Europe from devastation. Run-ning contemporaneously with the blood-soaked religious wars in France, a revoltbroke out in the Netherlands sparked bythe same cast of malcontents.

Conditions before the OutbreakThe Netherlands sat at the crossroads ofnorthwestern European commerce andbanking, which generated more wealththan anywhere else on the continent. Fa-cilitated by a great river system feedingfrom the surrounding countries, Ger-man metal wares, French wine, Por-tuguese spices, Spanish wool, Italian silkand Baltic grain flowed into its prosper-ous towns with their rich merchants.Unfortunately, along with commercialgoods, the flowing waterways alsobrought revolutionary agitation in theform of German Lutheranism andFrench Calvinism to the mercantile oli-garchs who were quite congenial to theCalvinist view of life.

Charles V, who had inherited the Span-ish Netherlands from his paternal grand-mother and possessed it as the Duke ofBurgundy, passed it on to his son Philip IIin 1555 when he abdicated that title alongwith the Kingdom of Spain. It comprisedseventeen loosely related provinces, thenorthern eleven speaking Dutch (LowGerman) and the southern six a dialect ofFrench known as Walloon. Today most of

this territory falls within the borders ofthe Netherlands and Belgium.

Discontent of the NobilityMany historians like to portray the upris-ing in the Netherlands as a blow struckfor freedom, but the facts run contrary tothis romanticized version. Like most ofthe bloody disturbances in this particu-larly rebellious century, the source was tobe found, not in the people as a whole,but in a small, ambitious anti-Catholic el-ement in the middle and upper classes,especially the nobility. We must, however,keep in mind that Philip never acted as a

tyrant. He simply maintained the laws ofhis father, without adding or destroyinganything; and these, the rebels at no timechallenged.

During the recent wars, many of theFlemish nobles, hard-drinking and reck-less, fought with Charles V who was Flem-ish by both birth and temperament andexceptionally popular with them. How-ever, peace offered little opportunity tothese men who were drawn to an expen-sive and tumultuous lifestyle and heavilyin debt to the bankers in Antwerp. PhilipII further exacerbated the situation by histotally Spanish temperament for he ateand drank moderately and acted withgreat formality—to say nothing of his

strong views on religion. The Netherlan-ders were attracted to a more relaxed, lessformal, form of piety. Philip II increasedthe displeasure of the nobility by refusingto give them any political power otherthan in their individual provinces. Butthese dissatisfactions alone would nothave caused such a great rebellion, for ourmaterial lot here on earth is always full ofemptiness. No, something else wasneeded to fire the revolutionary furnace—the preaching of skillful agitators and thepolitical talent of William of Orange.

Profile: William of OrangeWilliam of Nassau, Prince of Orange, whoconstantly complained of the foreignSpaniards, was himself a foreigner, havingbeen born of wealthy German parents inHesse-Nassau, while he derived his titlefrom a small principality in southernFrance. His string of wives mirrors thedissolute, revolutionary direction of hislife. After his first wife, a Catholic, died,William married in a Lutheran ceremonythe wealthy, Protestant daughter of Mau-rice of Saxony, who had ignominiouslybetrayed Charles V years before. Whileshe was still alive, he received permissionfrom five Protestant ministers to marryan ex-nun-turned-Calvinist from theFrench royal house of Bourbon. After herdeath he took a fourth wife, the daughterof Admiral Coligny.


Many historians like toportray the uprising in the

Netherlands as a blowstruck for freedom, but thefacts run contrary to this

romanticized version.

William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, was oneof the principal conspirators bent on revolt inthe Netherlands and the destruction ofCatholicism. Portrait by Adriaen Key.

B Y J E R E M I A S W E L L S

Chapter XXV

Revolt in theNetherlands

Revolutionand

counter-revolutionin History

Part One: The Outbreak


Brought up at the court of Brussels,the young prince quickly became the fa-vorite of Charles V. In his twenties afterthe emperor’s abdication, Philip II tookadvantage of his sound judgment in acouple of diplomatic missions. It is ironicthat history knows this astute but quitetalkative statesman as William the Silent.

However, the ambitious, arrogantprince became discontented when PhilipII, who, though still recognizing his tal-ent, viewed him as an untrustworthy hyp-ocrite, refused to name him as his viceroyfor the Low Countries and instead chosehis half-sister, Margaret of Parma. Re-ports started to drift back, not only toPhilip II from his sister, but also toWilliam Cecil from his most capable spyand stock manipulator in Antwerp,Thomas Gresham, that a group of noble-men with international connections weresowing the seeds of rebellion. Further-more some of these men, hopelessly indebt and paying exorbitant interest tousurers, were casting their greedy eyes onthe wealth of the Church, for they had theGerman and English plundering beforethem as a model. William of Orangeemerged as their leader along with thecounts of Egmont and Horne.

Spreading propaganda and maintain-ing a steady barrage of complaints, theyseverely undermined the government ofMargaret of Parma and her closest adviser,Cardinal Granvelle. In fact, the malicious

campaign against Cardinal Granvelle wasso severe that Philip II was forced to recallhim. In order to maintain peace, Philip IImade concession after concession, unfor-tunately a position he was forced into be-cause the first concession he had madewas to bring home his army. He even abol-ished the ecclesiastical Inquisition (notthe Spanish), which was seldom used ex-cept against a few Anabaptists whomeven the Calvinists could not stand, andrelaxed his laws against heresy. As far asthe religious motives of the conspiratorswere concerned, Harvard Professor R. B.Merriman, whose five volumes of Spanishhistory are in the typical anti-Catholic tra-dition, nevertheless recognized the keypoint, “Before long it became evident thatsome of the revolutionists would not becontent with liberty to exercise their ownfaith, but were even intent on the de-struction of Catholicism.”1

However, the conspirators were notable to move the bulk of the people, sothey brought in evil preachers fromFrance and Geneva to arouse the popu-lace. “They preach liberty and urge thepeople to take up arms,”2 as one of PhilipII’s informants reported. In Antwerpalone 15,000 people a day listened toProtestant sermons. Agents of the rebelleaders, seeking more instigators, went toAdmiral Coligny’s chateau at Chatillonwhere the Admiral gave them letters andsent them on to Theodore Beza inGeneva. Beza, now in charge having suc-ceeded Calvin at his death two years be-fore, granted their request and urgedthem “to kill and plunder all the Papists.”3

The correspondence and papers of theprincipal confederates, papers that existto this day, clearly show the internationalscope of the operation. While Philip II wasendeavoring to maintain peace, Williamof Orange was setting the stage for theDutch rebellion in meetings and commu-nications with Thomas Gresham, bankerand highly influential agent of WilliamCecil; Marcus Perez, once a Spanish Jew,now a Calvinist leader in Antwerp; andJoseph Miques, former money lender andprincipal advisor to the Turkish sultan inConstantinople (Istanbul).

William’s brother, Count Louis of Nas-sau, was raising Protestant troops in Sax-ony and Hesse and combining his

activities with the Elector Palatine Fred-eric III. Through Joseph Miques, Williamurged the sultan to attack Christian tar-gets in the Mediterranean in order to tieup Spanish troops there.

Calvinist Destruction—August 15, 1566The growing rebellion organized by thedissolute, irreverent nobles and inflamedby heretical preachers reached its violentdestructive climax on the Feast of the As-sumption 1566. Beginning at Antwerpand spreading to other parts where therabble-rousers had been acting, gangs ofbrutal criminals went on a rampage of de-struction. They destroyed hundreds ofchurches (400 in Flanders alone) with theusual desecrations of anti-Catholic ha-tred. They broke open tabernacles andprofaned the Sacred Host in numerousdisgusting ways, removed the saints fromtheir graves and scattered their bones inthe dust, and assaulted priests and nuns.They invaded the libraries of monasteriesand convents where the plunderersburned hundreds of priceless volumesand manuscripts along with works of artby the greatest artists of the day. So theattack wasn’t just against sacred churcharticles but against the civilization whichthe Church had nurtured.

The ruthless criminals dischargedtheir most demonic fury against theCathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp also onthe fifteenth, her most glorious feast day.They began by smashing a statue of OurBlessed Mother. They moved on to slicethe pictures that lined the wall to shredswith their swords. High above the mainaltar stood a large crucifix of the Son ofGod between those of the two thieves.The ungodly thugs pulled the image ofOur Lord to the ground and smashed itinto hundreds of pieces. Showing theirblasphemous spirit, they left the thievesuntouched. The great organ was left a pileof rubbish. The harlots of the street as-sisted in the destruction and the revelrythat followed as the infidels toasted theirevil deeds with altar wine in stolen chal-ices. The seventeen altars in that magnif-icent edifice and all the statuary werereduced to a heap of rubble.

Obviously we are not dealing here witha local religious dispute. After studying

Don Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, the Duke ofAlba, led an army of 20,000 veteran soldiersto quell the anti-Catholic revolt in theNetherlands. Portrait by Antonio Moro.

the reports from the various of-ficials in the field, the SpanishRoyal Council concluded thatbecause of the completenessand irrationality of the destruc-tion, four categories of menwere involved in the mammothundertaking: 1.) the vile mobthat pillaged and burned thechurches; 2.) a little higher, thelow-level handlers who paid forthe work; 3.) still higher up thosewho coordinated the activity; 4.)and finally the members of theinner circle, which includedWilliam of Orange, Egmont andHorne, who exercised overallmanagement of the intriguealong with the likes of Cecil, Col-igny and Beza.

Alba goes to the NetherlandsWhat followed has been almostuniversally condemned by mosthistorians, including manyCatholics. Philip II’s reaction hasbeen called severe and in somecases excessive, but given the provoca-tion, it was quite predictable. Yet otherhistorians have the lingering suspicionthat the unusually critical view of his ac-tivities is based on the fact that he wasconsidered an uncompromising, even in-transigent Catholic. Strangely enough, hisbest defense in this matter comes fromone of his strongest critics, William H.Prescott, a nineteenth century Protestanthistorian from Boston with the usualanti-Catholic bias of that time and place:

The Romish [sic] faith may be saidto have entered into the being of theSpaniard. It was not merely cherishedas a form of religion, but as a principleof honor. It was part of the nationalhistory. For eight centuries theSpaniard had been fighting at homethe battles of the Church. Nearly everyinch of soil in his own country waswon by arms from the infidel. His wars,as I have often had occasion to remark,were all wars of religion. He carried thesame spirit across the waters. He wasstill fighting the infidel. His life wasone long crusade. How could thischampion of the Church [Philip II]desert her in her utmost need?4

Philip II convened his Royal Council inOctober to determine what would be thefinal decision. The general trend of theadvice went in the direction of caution,delay and by some to offer more conces-sions, that is, until Don Fernando Alvarezde Toledo rose to speak. Known to historyas the Duke of Alba, this stern, incisivewarrior possessed a powerful personalityequal to that of the king, and for that rea-son his advice had a more persuasivevalue. He argued that a hatred of religionand divine worship was involved, that thepoison was spreading from the great con-spirators to the lesser ones and that theonly solution was to restore order by exe-cuting the guilty. Philip II saw the begin-ning of a general revolution and realizedthat softness and uncertainty would en-courage more malcontents to enter therebellion. Not only did the king agree withAlba but chose the tough, uncompromis-ing disciplinarian to execute his policy toend the spreading disorder. The Dukewent to Italy, organized a veteran force of20,000, made up chiefly of Italians fromthe Kingdom of Naples, and led them in aremarkable march across the Alps,

through Savoy and Lorraine,and into the Low Countries; re-markable because pillaging, for-aging and insulting womenwere strictly forbidden.

Upon his arrival, Alba estab-lished a tribunal, the Council ofTroubles, soon dubbed the“Council of Blood.” He began athorough investigation to dis-cover the ringleaders and thepeople guilty of taking up armsagainst the king. Of the 12,000that were convicted, approxi-mately 1,700 were executed in-cluding Egmont and Horne; theformer’s fate was particularlytragic because he was always aCatholic and a fine soldier whohad served both Charles V andPhilip II. But Philip II insistedthat the executions were neces-sary to prevent a complete dis-solution of Catholic society. Hadthe affair ended there, he proba-bly would have been correct, forthe Netherlanders, thoughhardly pleased with the harsh

sentences, realized it was consistent withtheir code of law. But Cecil, Orange andtheir confederates had other ideas andmanaged to continue the conflict. Albadeployed his troops brilliantly, as we shallsee in part two, but the old commander,worn out after six exhausting years, wasrecalled. In the next several years, theNetherlands was to see three more notedmilitary commanders as regents and be-come the graveyard for all three. n

Bibliographical Note:The Catholic position in the face of religious

revolution has been ably explained by WilliamThomas Walsh, Philip II (New York, 1937) andJohannes Janssen, History of the German People,vols. 7, 8 (London, 1905). For the sake of accuracy,we have checked the works of two non-Catholichistorians that are more recent, Richard S. Dunn,The Age of Religious Wars (New York, 1970) andPeter Geyl, The Revolt of the Netherlands (New York,1958).

Notes:1. Quoted in Walsh, op. sit. pg. 355.2. Ibid. pg. 404.3. Ibid. pg. 405.4. William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of

Philip the Second, vol. 1, p. 472 (Boston, 1855).


The United (Dutch) Netherlands

The Spanish (Belgian) Netherlands

The Bishobric of Liége

The Netherlands at the Time of the

Revolt Against Philip II

Bruges

Lille

Ypres

Arras

GhentAntwerp

BrusselsLouvain

Liége

Rotterdam

AmsterdamNorth Sea

FRANCE

The HolyRoman Empire

Scheldt R

.

Maas R.

Rhine R.

Rhine R.

Maas R.

Map of the Netherlands during the revolt against King Philip II ofSpain and the anti-Catholic uprising.

The American TFP and America NeedsFatima Welcome Pope Benedict XVIB Y J O S É F E R R A Z

On the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI’sApril 2008 visit to the United States, theAmerican Society for the Defense of Tra-

dition Family and Property (TFP) and AmericaNeeds Fatima welcomed him on the streets ofWashington, D.C., when he was returning to theApostolic Nunciature after being received by Pres-ident Bush at the White House.

About fifty TFP members and students fromthe TFP-staffed St. Louis de Montfort Academystood out on Massachusetts Avenue with theTFP’s characteristic red standards and capes. Inaddition, TFP members carried a four-foot PilgrimVirgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima and severalbanners. One of those banners alluded to thescandal at ninety-six Catholic universities hostingpro-homosexual clubs and activities. It read,“Catholic universities should be entirely faithfulto the Church’s teachings.”

In view of the crisis afflicting the Church andthe modern world, the most encouraging bannerwas one that reaffirmed Our Lord’s words found-ing the papacy, “And I say to thee: That thou artPeter; and upon this rock I will build my church,and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”(Matt. 16:18). n

Top: The TFP’s delegation lined the street in Washington, D.C., togreet His Holiness as he returned to the Vatican Embassy after hisreception at the White House. Middle: The American TFP andAmerica Needs Fatima greeted Pope Benedict XVI with a bannersaying, “Happy Birthday, Your Holiness!” Above: The banner with aquote from the Gospel of Saint Matthew.

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