Pope affirms traditionalist fraternity for unity with Peter

Paris, France, Nov 15, 2013 / 02:47 am (CNA).- Congratulating them on their 25th anniversary, Pope Francis has expressed his appreciation for the devotion to the Bishop of Rome exhibited by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

“It was in a moment of great trial for the Church that the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was born,” read an Oct. 28 letter from Archbishop Luigi Ventura, apostolic nuncio to France, to Fr. Vincent Ribeton, French district superior of the fraternity.

“The Holy Father encourages them to pursue their mission of reconciliation among all the faithful, whatever may be their sensibility, and this to work so that all welcome one another in the profession of the same faith and the bond of an intense fraternal charity.”

The letter, translated into English at Rorate Caeli, opened by stating that “Pope Francis joins the thanksgiving of her members for the work accomplished in this quarter-century spent at the service of ecclesial communion 'with Peter and under Peter'.”

“In a great spirit of obedience and hope, her founders turned with confidence to the Successor of Peter so as to offer the faithful attached to the Missal of 1962 the possibility of living their faith in the full communion of the Church.”

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was founded in 1988 by 12 priests of the Society of St. Pius X. The founders left the Society of St. Pius X to establish the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter after the society's leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without the permission of Blessed John Paul II.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter forms priests for the use of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and having formed them, deploys priests in parishes for the service of the Church.

The letter from Archbishop Ventura continued, noting the importance of the FSSP in the work of the Second Vatican Council.

“By the celebration of the sacred Mysteries according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and by the orientations of the Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, as well as by passing on the apostolic faith as it is presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, may they contribute, in fidelity to the living Tradition of the Church, to a better comprehension and implementation of the Second Vatican Council.”

The nuncio noted that Pope Francis “exhorts them, according to their own charism, to take an active part in the mission of the Church in the world of today through the testimony of a holy life, a firm faith, and an inventive and generous charity.”

The letter concluded by noting that Pope Francis granted “with an open heart” an apostolic blessing upon pilgrims who visited Lourdes or St. Sulpice parish in Paris for the fraternity's 25th anniversary.

Colorado Obamacare ad criticized even by Planned Parenthood

Denver, Colo., Nov 15, 2013 / 05:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Colorado ad campaign to encourage young people to purchase the insurance plans offered under Obamacare have garnered criticism for their glib attitude and promotion of risky behaviors.

Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado, a subsidiary of Planned Parenthood, tweeted Nov. 12 that an ad entitled "Let's get physical" was "unfortunate"for its " #slutshaming #women who use #birthcontrol" incorrectly assuming that the campaign was a parody by "anti-obamacare folks."

It was only after two hours that PPVotesColorado realized the ads were not parodies, and tweeted that “to be clear, ads encouraging women to be healthy are good! So is dialogue about birth control”.

The ad in question featured a "Hot to Trot" millennial woman with a date and birth control pills, who expressed that she hoped the man is "as easy to get as this birth control," and that all she has "to worry about is getting him between the covers.”

"It's degrading to women, and it says a lot about what they think of America's youth today," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., to Fox News.

The ads were commissioned by Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and ProgressNow Colorado Education, targeting younger generations to join the Affordable Care Act's healthcare exchanges.

The exchanges have been the subject of criticism since their opening on Oct. 1 due to their expense, lack of coverage, difficult-to-navigate website, and the cancelation of millions of already-existing plans due to new regulations.

As of Nov. 13, little more than 106,00 people have signed up for an Obamacare plan, the majority of them middle-aged or older, and policymakers have expressed concern over the program's future because of a lack of healthy, young people participating in the exchanges to offset the healthcare costs of the older individuals.

The ad campaign featured a tongue-in-cheek treatment of young persons engaging in risky behavior, including two bloodied pre-teen girls gathered together after a particularly violent game of soccer; college "bros" doing keg stands; ayoung boy carving a pumpkin with a machete; women taking "shotskis" off of skis; and two young women looking to "run away" with a cardboard cutout of Ryan Gosling after gaining "easy access to birth control."

One of the ads featuring college-aged men drinking, entitled "Brosurance," proclaimed: "Kegstands are crazy. Not having insurance is crazier. Don't tap into your beer money to cover those medical bills."

Adam Fox, the director of strategic engagement for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative told Business Insider that it has "been fun to watch how it all plays out."

“We wanted to come up with a campaign that would attract attention and inject a bit of humor, and try to approach educating people about health insurance a little bit differently," he continued.

"It was really just brainstorming, 'OK, what are some of those risky activities we could work with that would tie it all together?'"

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, however, commented that the emphasis on risky behavior was less than entertaining. On a Nov. 13 post on the Concerned Women for America Facebook page, Crouse questioned the "encouragement for young people to destroy themselves and their futures."

She explained that among youth, "there is an STD epidemic (20 million NEW cases every year in the 15-25 bracket)," and binge drinking among youth sends many "teens to the hospital with alcohol poisoning — some to their deaths, not to mention the assaults, depression, suicide and wasted years," that come with risky behavior.

She added that the glorification of people's desires was not a positive trend for culture at large.

"While we glorify all sorts of strange, weird, off the wall 'spiritual' ideas, we denigrate and poke fun at Judeo-Christian values and the people who live by those tenets of faith," she commented.

"While we claim to love children and give them every material thing they could possibly want, we deny them the chance for meaningful, fulfilling lives. While we claim we want to empower women, we treat them as though they are ignorant, non-thinking fools and/or sex objects."

Pope Francis cancels meetings due to having a cold

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2013 / 09:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- It was announced earlier today that Pope Francis cancelled all of his morning meetings due to a cold, but still presided over a scheduled Mass in which he ordained a bishop in the afternoon.

In a statement issued to journalists on Nov. 15, Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi noted that although the Pope had four audiences scheduled with various heads of dicasteries within the Curia, he decided to postpone them because the officials live in Rome and can be met with at any time.

However, despite his illness, Fr. Lombardi revealed that the Pope still decided to preside, as previously planned, over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the afternoon.

During the Mass, which occurred at 4:30pm local time, Pope Francis ordained Monsignor Fernando Vergez Alzaga, Secretary General of the Vatican City State’s Governing Body, as a bishop.

Msgr. Alzaga is a member of the Legionaries of Christ, and was appointed to his position as Secretary General by the Pope earlier this fall.

It was noted upon his appointment that bishop-elect has not been appointed as a titular bishop, which is a traditional custom for the position, causing some to question the possibly that this is a signal of a new policy of Pope Francis.

Born in Salamanca in 1945, Msgr. Vérgez made his perpetual profession with the Legionaries in 1965, receiving his priestly ordination in 1969. He studied philosophy and theology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, and obtained a diploma from the School of Archives at the Vatican’s Secret Archives.

Fr. Vérgez first began his work for the Vatican over forty years ago, in 1972, at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Afterwards, in 1984, he was transferred to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, before becoming the head of the Holy See’s internet office ten years later. He served there until becoming head of the telecommunications office in 2008.

There are no current dates set for the morning’s audiences to be re-scheduled.