A bizarre week even by Novus Ordo standards - Sunday 14th to Saturday 20th, May, 2017

The week started with the bizarre canonisation of 2 of the 3 Fatima seers. Technically speaking this was the week before last as it happened on May 13th, the 100th year anniversary of the first apparition, but I must mention it because it set the tone for what was truly a low watermark for NOChurch.

I call it bizarre bizarre because of the hideous Monstrance that was on display. It's a perfect example of what counts for liturgical itemsin FrancisChurch - both hideous and irreverent. After that we were treated to the usual Bergoglio flight-show in which, to be fair, nothing major was unleashed, except for a condemnation of Medjugorje, in which he repeated hiss statement that the Virgin Mary is not a post master who delivers a message at set times. The interview though comes across as more Bergoglio fluff the more you engage it in full.

Back to the Medgjugorje theme, and a member of the commission tasked with investigating it came out and said that the commission is more or less on Bergoglio's line, and this is where it got weird. He then informs us that the first part of these obviously fake apparitions - the first 10 days to be exact. After that, everything else is fake. Despite this, he informus us that the prohibition of priests arranging trips to Medjugorje should be lifted, because despite the apparitions being fake, some people believe in them and derive spiritual benefit from them, and what should be done instead is that the Vatican take control of the church in question, turn it into a "pontifical shrine with Vatican oversight". In clear terms: The apparitions are fake, but the money is real, so we shall let  you keep your false apparitions if you let us keep your real money.

We are then informed that "the commission did not make a definitive pronouncement". The Novus-what-now, you say? Nothing is ever definitive in NOChurch nowadays, is it? We must never be rigid and clear, not in affirmations or condemnations.

On top of that we have the story of a school teacher in a Catholic school who is suspended for quoting St. John Bosco on Islam. We are told that the Church has a new view on Islam, which is best exemplified by Bergoglio - and there we have the Bergoglio effect striking again against pious Catholics and promoting their persecution.

As if that was not enough we had the Rome Life Forum meeting to promote virtue and life in opposition to Bergoglio's aims. At this forum, Cardinal Burke called for the explicit consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. So much for those who have dismissed the idea that the consecration has not been done properly. This same cardinal was then abused by one of Bergoglio's surrogates.

Finally, regarding the Church, we have news that the number of priests and seminarians has started a downward trend after a general upward trend between the year 2000-2014. This is what I call the Bergoglio effect decline. About 40% of priests are European so we can expect the declinet o continue  over the next decade as those ordained in the 1940s start dying off. Much good they did us! Europe has no vocations of note and neither does South America, and most of the increase in vocations is predictably from Africa and Asia.

On the non-Church stage, we have the Americans once again dropping bombs against the side in Syria which is fighting Islamists, then we have the U.S. and its president siggning a weapons deal worth $350 billion to Saudi Arabia over 10 years, with $110 billion more or less being sold immediately. As if that was not bad enough, this was done in Saudi Arabia where they were holding a conference to speak about terrorism and the threat posed by Iran in particular. This is the same Iran which is helping to fight Christian-killing Islamist forces in Syria, during a conference hosted by a country which is funding the head-choppers!

Even by Novus Ordo standards, this was a very bad week.