Cdl. Karl Lehmann passed away Sunday at age 81
MAINZ, Germany (ChurchMilitant.com) – An influential German cardinal once part of a liberal cabal of dissident prelates has died. The Fall of the Cabal.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann passed away on Sunday, at 81 years of age. He died in his home in Mainz, a town in Germany along the Rhine River.
The cardinal was formerly head of the German bishops’ conference 1987–2008. In May 2016, he complained about Vatican oversight in the selection of bishops. “Much greater attention should be given to an episcopal candidate’s theological competence than his formal orthodoxy,” he said.
Cardinal Lehmann was a member of the St. Gallen Mafia, instrumental in getting Pope Francis elected in 2013. The secretive group had been conspiring for years to get a reform-minded radical elected to the papacy. Although the group disbanded in 2005 when it failed to elect Argentina’s Cdl. Jorge Bergoglio to the papal see, it was resurrected in 2013 after the sudden abdication of Pope Benedict.
On the occasion of Cdl. Lehmann’s death on Sunday, Cdl. Reinhard Marx head of the German bishops, issued a statement praising the deceased prelate: “The Church of Germany is bowing humbly in front of a personality who influenced the Catholic Church worldwide.”
Cardinal Marx has gained notoriety for suggesting married priests as a solution for priest shortages; for allegedly supporting a special blessing for same-sex couples; and for promoting Holy Communion for the unrepentant divorced and civilly remarried, among other things. In 2015, Marx was part of a secretive meeting of about 50 liberal and heretical church leaders in what later became known as the “shadow council.”‘The Saint Gallen Group’ is a sort of posh name. But in reality we said of ourselves, and of that group, ‘The Mafia.
In August 2015, papal advisor Austen Ivereigh mentioned the St. Gallen Mafia in his biography of the Holy Father, The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope. Ivereigh claimed the St. Gallen Mafia was instrumental in Pope Francis’ election to the papacy by the College of Cardinals during the 2013 conclave.
Among the alleged members of this secretive group were Belgian Cdl. Godfried Danneels, Dutch Bp. Adriaan Van Luyn, Cdl. Walter Kasper and Cdl. Karl Lehmann from Germany, Cdl. Achille Silvestrini of Italy and British Cdl. Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.
In September, Danneels was promoting his recent biography when he confirmed the existence of the cabal. He said in an intervieww on video, “‘The Saint Gallen Group’ is a sort of posh name. But in reality we said of ourselves, and of that group, ‘The Mafia.'”
It appears the St. Gallen Group formed in the late 1990s to combat Pope St. John Paul II and then-Cdl. Joseph Ratzinger. At the time, Cdl. Ratzinger was known as one of the closest aids to the Holy Father. The St. Gallen Mafia was an informal group for high-ranking Catholic clergy with radical views, who were afraid that Cdl. Ratzinger would become the next Pope.
The secretive coalition supposedly threw its weight behind then-Cdl. Jorge Bergoglio in the 2005 conclave. They unsuccessfully opposed the election of Cdl. Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. The St. Gallen Mafia backed Cdl. Bergoglio again at the 2013 conclave after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. Their 2013 campaign was successful, and then-Cdl. Bergoglio became Pope Francis.
Soon after Cdl. Danneels’ interview, his own authorized biographers backpedaled on these claims. The St. Gallen Mafia, according to the authors of Cdl. Danneels’ 2015 biography, did not campaign per se for the election of then-Cdl. Bergoglio. Rather, the group found the Latin American cardinal was in line with their own goals for radical reform.
This type of organized campaigning for papal election during a conclave is technically forbidden. In chapter six of the 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, Pope St. John Paul II issued a condemnations against various forms of politicking among the cardinal electors at conclaves.
The Supreme Pontiff warned, “The Cardinal electors shall further abstain from any form of pact, agreement, promise or other commitment of any kind which could oblige them to give or deny their vote to a person or persons.”
Such behavior, paragraph 82 of the Apostolic Constitution continues, merits a latae sententiae excommunication. In other words, cardinals who act in that manner are automatically excommunicated.
The Church in Germany, headed by the likes of Cdl. Marx and the late Cdl. Lehmann, is spiritually and statistically barren. While raking in billions each year, thanks to the government’s Church tax, the Catholic Church in Germany is hemorrhaging laity by the hundreds of thousands each year, and suffering from declining vocations in its seminaries.
LEFTIST VATICANISTA: 30% OF CHURCH AGAINST POPE.
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Alleges a right-wing conspiracy at work
COLOGNE, Germany (ChurchMilitant.com) – A leftist Vatican expert is alleging that one-third of Catholic clerics are against Pope Francis, even working to incite a “cultural war” to undermine the pontiff’s influence.
Marco Politi, former Vatican correspondent said “It is not a minority, I would estimate that 30% of the clergy, the committed laity and bishops of the world church are on this line,” which he describes as “a very strong, conservative, traditionalist line.”
“There has been opposition to Francis for years,” he said. “Some bishops and cardinals are always out front, but behind them is a not inconsiderable part of the clergy and laypeople who are against Francis and any reforms in the Church.”
As an example of the opposition the pope faces, the Vaticanista pointed to Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò’s recent “very aggressive” manifesto warning of the “creation of a world government” related to the pandemic measures of the Church and the government.
Bearing the brunt of Politi’s critique were the signatories of the manifesto, including former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cdl. Gerhard Müller and Hong Kong archbishop emeritus Cdl. Joseph Zen, whom he accused of representing the “part of the Church hierarchy that wants the culture struggle.”Some bishops and cardinals are always in the front row, but behind them is a not inconsiderable part of the clergy and laypeople who are against Francis and any reforms in the Church.
Politi chastised the signatories as ignoring the “commandment of charity and solidarity” which “require” the faithful to “stay at home.”
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Politi expressed surprise at the emphasis on “the importance of Holy Mass” for many faithful who considered it “a sign of tyranny that one cannot go to church for six or seven weeks.”
He castigated faithful who are hungering for the sacraments, alleging they are the “same people [who] don’t care about the regions in the Amazon, where Christians can only celebrate Holy Mass once a year because there aren’t enough priests.” In fact, opposition to married clergy on the part of prelates like Cdl. Robert Sarah has less to do with promoting convenience than preserving the sanctity of the priesthood.
Politi pointed to Islam as an example of how to behave safely during the pandemic. “Mecca is completely empty,” he said, adding that Muslims “had to organize the festivities of Ramadan differently” while the signatories “obviously don’t care.”
Politi did not, however, talk about the pre-emptive moves the pope himself has been making in the midst of the cultural war.
For example, Church Militant reported on Francis’ surprise announcement in 2019, that 13 clerics were to be added to the College of Cardinals, among them several of the pontiff’s key leftist allies.
Reflecting on the appointments, Catholic World News editor Philip Lawler said they represent a turn to the Left: “You have leading representatives of what you might call the liberal bloc in the European bishops’ world, and that’s the way these appointments are trending.”
Other observers said the pope was setting the stage for the next papal conclave, maneuvering chess pieces on the papal board game to ensure that his vision endures for generations to come.
St Gallen Mafia Cardinal Godfried Danneels dies. RIP
Posted on March 14, 2019 by Catholicism Pure & Simple
MECHELEN, Belgium
Cardinal Godfried Danneels, 85, former head of the Mechelen-Brussels archdiocese in Belgium, has died.
The 85-year-old retired cardinal died Thursday morning. The current archbishop of Mechelen and Brussels, Cdl. Jozef De Kesel, announced Cdl. Danneels’ passing, saying, “We continue to thank him gratefully. May he rest in God’s peace.”
Danneels was part of a coalition of left-leaning Church leaders known as the St. Gallen Mafia — so named after their meeting place in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Known as a liberal in the Church, Cdl. Danneels spoke favorably in 2013 of the legalization of gay marriage in Belgium, telling a Dutch Newspaper, “I think it’s a positive development states are free to open up civil marriage for gays if they want.”
Another member of the St. Gallen Mafia, German Cdl. Karl Lehmann, died in March of last year at the age of 81.
The St. Gallen Mafia was instrumental in getting Pope Francis elected in 2013. The semi-secretive group conspired for years to get a reform-minded prelate elected to the papacy. Although the group disbanded in 2005 when it then failed to elect Argentina’s Cdl. Jorge Bergoglio to the papal see, it was resurrected in 2013 after the sudden abdication of Pope Benedict.
Along with Cdl. Danneels and Cdl. Lehmann, members of the St. Gallen Mafia include Dutch Bp. Adriaan van Luyn, Cdl. Walter Kasper from Germany, Cdl. Achille Silvestrini of Italy and now-deceased British Cdl. Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.
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