The Church Deemed the Emancipation Proclamation Hypocritical

We learn this from Adam S. Miller's The North, the South, and Slavery, the second of his series four books on the civil war, written from a traditional Catholic perspective.  One might ask, how could there be anything hypocritical about setting slaves free?  The truth, however, about that famous Proclamation, is a different matter, one that those of us indoctrinated in the politically correct view of the Civil War will find difficult to accept. The fact is that, legally, not one single slave was set free by that document.

"L'Osservatore Romano [the Vatican's newspaper] condemned it as a desperate and hypocritical measure which freed no slaves but encouraged rebellion in the South.  The Jesuit Journal, La Civilta Cattolica, portrayed the war as a hopeless and unjust war to punish the South." (p. 95.)  Lincoln's Proclamation only applied to those Southern states or parts thereof that were not already controlled by Federal troops.  It did not apply to slaves in Northern or border states, nor to slaves in the areas of the South that were under Union control. It did not free any slaves in those domains; that is to say, it freed no slaves in areas under the jurisdiction of the United States.  Rather, it applied only to Confederate states or sections which were still in rebellion, and over which the North had no legal jurisdiction. Hard to believe?  Read the Proclamation yourself.

Miller writes that the implications of this should shock those who subscribe to the myth that Lincoln was a great humanitarian.  The Proclamation of 1863 was actually a war tactic, whose purpose was to encourage slaves to flee from their plantations, disrupt farm production, and join the war against the South. Lincoln wrote later that year that he hoped "the Negroes should cease helping the enemy, [and] to that extent weaken the enemy in his resistance." (p. 92.)  Shortly after it was issued, the New York World editorialized that the Proclamation "was not merely futile, but ridiculous."  The paper exposed the fact that "The President has purposely made the proclamation inoperative in all places where we have gained a military footing which makes the slaves accessible.  He has proclaimed emancipation only where has notoriously no power to execute it." (p. 94.)

Was Lincoln actually a racist in the worst sense of the term?  In an 1862 speech to Northern black leaders, he told them that blacks "are far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race."  Thus, they "didn't belong in this land of whites." (p. 97.)  During the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, he said that "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes. . . I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race." (p. 96.)

What has been presented so far is only a glimmering of the truth behind the "official" view of the Civil War and the issue of slavery in the South.  Miller's book exposes a plethora of the "Northern myths," revealing, for example, that the first slaves brought to the future United States were not Africans, but were Irish, English, and Scottish Catholics, and certain legitimate criminals, all white.  In later years, there were thousands of non-whites, including freed blacks and Indians, who owned slaves.  "Slavery in America was not strictly based on racial prejudice, since there were black masters of black slaves, and white masters of white slaves." (p. 40).  The hypocrisy of the North: by 1760 the North had at least 41,000 African slaves, and 3000 white, mostly Irish Catholic, slaves.  When the Revolutionary War broke out, New York was the second largest urban center for slavery. In the first U.S. census of 1790, there were 12,422 registered slaves in New Jersey (p. 45).

Written from a Catholic viewpoint, this work also contains sections on Church teaching on slavery, Catholic slaves and slaveholders, and even lists the many canonized slaves and even slave masters.

This short review cannot possibly enumerate the facts presented in this powerful, compact, myth-busting book.  It is not written in a sensationalist manner, nor does Miller intend to justify the immorality of slavery in any way. If you can handle a serious paradigm shift in your view of the Civil War, and are open to shedding any pre-conceived, politically-correct understanding of that conflict, I highly recommend reading this book.

The North, the South, and Slavery is the second of a projected four-part series on the Civil War by Adam S. Miller. The updated editions of the author's books are best obtained from his website http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/tower7

Trump and the classic Catholic counter-revolutionary

The late Catholic philosopher Dr. Thomas Molnar, in his book The Counter-Revolution, explores the counter-revolution undertaken in defense of the Catholic-based social order, which revolutionaries have been trying to uproot even before the France of 1789. Below is an excerpt from this 1969 book which sheds light on the current political situation in America, where a progressive/globalist/socialist movement stands markedly opposed to basic nationalistic sentiments. Keep in mind as you read it the recent speech by the latest Clintonista, Hillary, in which she called for more “love and kindness.”  Of course Mr. Trump is not a Catholic, nor is he consciously calling for the reign of Christ the King over society.  But his overall approach and focus on U. S. sovereignty, protecting the jobs of American citizens,  and his nationalism (patrie) is consistent with the broad definition of a counter-revolutionary. 

"In revolutionary doctrine the nation, the patrie, is at best an intermediate phase between the tribe and the world community, en route toward the latter.  Revolutionaries never cease urging the need to go beyond a "narrow nationalism" as contrary to the goal of history.  Long before 1789 Freemasonry was at work to dissolve nations where it detected a certain imbalance, and therefore hope for its own grand design.  In 1786 the Freemason Weishaupt denounced national feeling as the seed of local, hence selfish, loyalties.  Of patriots he said: 'Take away the love of the patrie, and people will again know and love each other like human beings.'

"In counter-revolutionary view, on the other hand, the nation not only is a repository of tradition, hence of shared memories, it is also endowed with outstanding architectonic qualities.  Counter-revolutionaries do not say that the nation is the last form that human communities may take . . . the future may hold in store other, as yet unknown forms of community.  But they hold that the nation is admirably adapted to the modern situation since it is at the point of equilibrium of the various lines of force active today, and able to resist internal and external pressures. 

"It is both vast and resistant, says Maurras; it is the most natural form as the basis of a stable world organization, adds his disciple Salazar.  The Spanish Falangist leader, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, extracted its essence when he said: 'The patrie is a total unity in which all individuals and classes are integrated. . . It is a transcendent synthesis, indivisible, with its own goals to fulfill . . . A permanent, irevocable unity.'

"The nation is not only the most suitable form of integrating a vast and diversified community, it is also the most efficient energizing unit under modern circumstances.  It protects its citizens' work, and at the same time sets a goal that transcends their activity, providing a higher justification." 

From Thomas Molnar's The Counter-Revolution, New York, Funk & Wagnalls, 1969, pp. 95-96.

The Twenty Four Hours of the Passion

Special Lenten meditations – the Twenty Four Hours of the Passion, beginning with the hour that Jesus took leave of His Mother Mary, until His burial. These are based on a book which has had six Imprimaturs from various bishops and countries.

They were composed by Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, under the spiritual direction of St. Hannibal Di Francia.

Below are some web sites that have these "Hours" or you can order a book from the Internet, titled under Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

http://catholicdivinewill.blogspot.com/2008/06/twenty-four-hours-of-passion.html

http://bookofheaven.com/daily-schedule/24-hours-of-the-passion-of-our-lord-jesus-christ/

http://www.passioiesus.org/en/horasdelapasion/distribucion.htm     click on the hour

http://www.quies.org/hours_of_passion.pdf has additional info    as well as the promises/benefits

http://luisapiccarreta.me/the-twenty-four-hours-of-the-passion     same as above

The "Catholic South" and the Right to Secede

A review of Catholic author Adam S. Miller's The North & the South and Secession, the first of his four-book series on the Civil War from a traditional Catholic historical perspective.

Surprisingly, a large part of the cultural difference between North and South came from the fact that the Catholic influence on society and culture had a greater impact on the South.  Although the North had more Catholics, those in the South tended to be in greater positions of influence.   Southern society was structured in a way that reflected the old European Catholic hierarchical and patriarchal world view. "Southerners in general had a deep respect for their European heritage and the social/cultural traditions which came from there, whether or not they knew that this heritage, culturally speaking, had been born and developed as a result of the Catholic Church."  (p. 9.)

Southern Catholics completely supported the Southern cause, as did every one of their Catholic bishops.  Correspondence between Pope Pius IX and Jefferson Davis shows that the Pope acknowledged Davis as President of the Confederate States of America, and "implies that he favored the South during the Civil War and recognized values in the South that were not common in the progressive-industrialized world, like the American North." (p.11.)

Miller's smallish but logically tight book dispels the myths that the war was fought over slavery and that Lincoln was justified in invading the South. This book clearly proves that the South had every legal right to secede from the Union, since secession was not prohibited in the Constitution. Further, slavery was also legal according to that same Constitution. It was economic oppression of the South, due to unjust and excessive tariffs imposed by the Northern states via the Federal government, that ultimately forced the South to secede. The South carried the vast majority of the taxation burden, and thus provided most of the Federal revenue.

It is a fact that when the conflict began the Union had more slave states than the Confederacy! The commanding General for the North, U.S. Grant, made use of slaves, and said that if the war had been fought to free the slaves, he would have turned in his sword (p. 73). Lincoln went to war "to apply the erroneous belief that the federal government was sovereign over the states" (p. 75). The true insurrectionists were the Northerners who rebelled against the founding concept that the federal government was simply an agent for the free sovereign states.

Miller provides page after page of proof that the initial concept of a Federal government under the Constitution was derived from the consent of the founding states, and it was not to be their ruler as a powerful central government.  The creator was the assemblage of sovereign states, and their creature was the Federal government.  But the North, led by Lincoln, reversed this paradigm so that the creature would dominate the creator, and do so by force of arms.

Consider this analogy as to what occurred during the Civil War, although Miller does not mention it:  suppose Germany were to pull out of the European Union, and the other member states said it was not allowed, and they invaded that country militarily to keep her in that Union against her will.

This book is quite a revelation, and I plan read to the subsequent three books in Miller's series on the Civil War.  The updated editions are best obtained from his website http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/tower7

An Example of St. Padre Pio's Mercy

I recently began to re-read parts of a book on St. Padre Pio I had written about a dozen years ago.  As time goes by, even authors have to refresh their memories about the content of their own work.  I had been contacted by an organization interested in the saint's interaction with the American military during World War II.  In fact, not far from Padre Pio's friary in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo, the Army Air force had established a ring of air fields girding the town of Foggia.

Foggia was on an enormous plain, situated just below the Gargano mountain, upon which sat San Giovanni Rotondo.   Often the soldiers and airmen would explore nearby towns, and exchange candy and cigarettes for fresh eggs and vegetables from the locals.  During these interchanges, the troops began hearing stories about some mysterious holy man on the mountain. 

Before long, many soldiers, with some Protestants joining the Catholics, were making the trek up the Gargano to attend Padre Pio's early morning Mass.  One of these men was Ray Ewen, who was attached to a bomb group of B-24s based near Foggia.  From 1943 to 1945 Ray made so many trips up the mountain that he became friends not only with Padre Pio but also with the saint's father Grazio, who was residing near the friary.  Ray would often sit on the little stone wall surrounding the elm tree in front of the friary, listening to Grazio Forgione talk about his famous son.

Quoting directly from the book, Padre Pio and America, pp. 120-121, is the following occurrence that Ray Ewen spoke to me about:

     "On one of his visits to San Giovanni, Ray was inside the church while Confessions were taking place, and he heard Padre Pio order someone out of the confessional.  After hearing Padre Pio say this, some of those waiting their turn in line lost their nerve, got out of the line, and left.  They had witnessed one of the distinctive marks of Padre Pio's ministry of bringing souls to God.  He would refuse to hear a Confession on those occasions when he was aware that the penitent was insincere, or required a jolt to make him realize that he needed to examine his conscience.  It is said that invariably such people would undergo an inner conversion, and eventually return to make a sincere Confession either to Padre Pio or to another priest."

Padre Pio and America is available at Amazon.com or from the publisher TAN Books.

Padre Pio's Christmas Meditation

     I have been enjoying Jeanette Salerno's newest book, Padre Pio's Christmases, a delightful collection of factual encounters with Padre Pio and the Baby Jesus.  The book also includes my translation of St. Pio's Christmas Meditation, which appears in the Italian edition of Volume IV of the letters of the saint.  Jeanette and I thought it would be appropriate to blog this beautiful rendition of the Christmas story, so that the lessons Padre Pio delineates can bring joy, comfort and light to as many people as possible.

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Far into the night, at the coldest time of the year, in a chilly grotto, more suitable for a flock of beasts than for humans, the promised Messiah – Jesus – the savior of mankind, comes into the world in the fullness of time. There are none who clamor around him: only an ox and an ass lending their warmth to the newborn infant; with a humble woman, and a poor and tired man, in adoration beside him.     Nothing can be heard except the sobs and whimpers of the infant God. And by means of his crying and weeping he offers to the Divine justice the first ransom for our redemption.     He had been expected for forty centuries; with longing sighs the ancient Fathers had implored his arrival. The sacred scriptures clearly prophesy the time and the place of his birth, and yet the world is silent and no one seems aware of the great event. Only some shepherds, who had been busy watching over their sheep in the meadows, come to visit him. Heavenly visitors had alerted them to the wondrous event, inviting them to approach his cave.     So plentiful, O Christians, are the lessons that shine forth from the grotto of Bethlehem! Oh how our hearts should be on fire with love for the one who with such tenderness was made flesh for our sakes! Oh how we should burn with desire to lead the whole world to this lowly cave, refuge of the King of kings, greater than any worldly palace, because it is the throne and dwelling place of God! Let us ask this Divine child to clothe us with humility, because only by means of this virtue can we taste the fullness of this mystery of Divine tenderness.     Glittering were the palaces of the proud Hebrews. Yet, the light of the world did not appear in one of them. Ostentatious with worldly grandeur, swimming in gold and in delights, were the great ones of the Hebrew nation; filled with vain knowledge and pride were the priests of the sanctuary. In opposition to the true meaning of Divine revelation, they awaited an officious savoir, who would come into the world with human renown and power.     But God, always ready to confound the wisdom of the world, shatters their plans. Contrary to the expectations of those lacking in Divine wisdom, he appears among us in the greatest abjection, renouncing even birth in St. Joseph’s humble home, denying himself a modest abode among relatives and friends in a city of Palestine. Refused lodging among men, he seeks refuge and comfort among mere animals, choosing their habitation as the place of his birth, allowing their breath to give warmth to his tender body. He permits simple and rustic shepherds to be the first to pay their respects to him, after he himself informed them, by means of his angels, of the wonderful mystery.     Oh wisdom and power of God, we are constrained to exclaim – enraptured along with your Apostle – how incomprehensible are your judgments and unsearchable your ways! Poverty, humility, abjection, contempt, all surround the Word made flesh. But we, out of the darkness that envelops the incarnate Word, understand one thing, hear one voice, perceive one sublime truth: you have done everything out of love, you invite us to nothing else but love, speak of nothing except love, give us naught except proofs of love.     The heavenly babe suffers and cries in the crib so that for us suffering would be sweet, meritorious and accepted. He deprives himself of everything, in order that we may learn from him the renunciation of worldly goods and comforts. He is satisfied with humble and poor adorers, to encourage us to love poverty, and to prefer the company of the little and simple rather than the great ones of the world.     This celestial child, all meekness and sweetness, wishes to impress in our hearts by his example these sublime virtues, so that from a world that is torn and devastated an era of peace and love may spring forth. Even from the moment of his birth he reveals to us our mission, which is to scorn that which the world loves and seeks.     Oh let us prostrate ourselves before the manger, and along with the great St. Jerome, who was enflamed with the love of the infant Jesus, let us offer him all our hearts without reserve. Let us promise to follow the precepts which come to us from the grotto of Bethlehem, which teach us that everything here below is vanity of vanities, nothing but vanity.  View all of my books.

The Gospel is to be preached to the Jew first.

The Gospel is to be preached to the Jew first.

Recently I posted on my blog the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ to St. Francis of Assisi: “Go and repair my house which as you see is falling completely into ruin.” Currently there is an urgent need to repair the Church's attitude towards converting the Jews. 

St. Paul wrote that we should not be ashamed of the Gospel, for it brings salvation to those who believe, to the Jew first. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek.” [Romans 1:16]. Here St. Paul clearly indicates that the Gospel is not simply meant for Jews and others, but is for the Jew first. Yet the new document issued by the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews states that “. . . the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews.”

This may be true now, but it was not so in the past.

In the 19^th Century two brothers converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism, and with the blessing and permission of three Popes labored for the conversion of the Jews. These brothers, Alphonse and Theodore Ratisbonne were both ordained as Catholic Priests. Fr. Alphonse Ratisbonne, with the consent of Pope Pius IX, left the Jesuits in order to labor for the conversion of Jews and Muslims. Pope Gregory XVI specifically granted Fr. Theodore Ratisbonne's request to seek the conversions of Jews to the Church, and Pope Leo XIII appointed him prothonotary Apostolic. Both brothers founded schools and societies dedicated to the education and conversion of Jewish children. The Congregation of Our Lady of Sion which the brothers established for both priests and sisters still exists, but unfortunately since Vatican II their mission is no longer the conversion of Jews; rather it is “to witness in the Church and in the world that God continues to be faithful in his love for the Jewish people and to hasten the fulfillment of the promises concerning the Jews and the Gentiles." (Constitution, article 2).

The Jew Alphonse Ratisbonne was miraculously converted to the Faith while praying before this image of Our Lady at the basilica of St. Andrea delle Fratte in Rome, in 1842.

Below is source material from the traditional Catholic Encyclopedia.

Fr. Alphonse Ratisbonne:

“After his conversion he assisted his brother, Theodore, in founding the Sisterhood of Our Lady of Sion in 1843, was ordained priest in 1847, and entered the Society of Jesus. Desirous, however, to devote himself entirely to the conversion of the Jews, he left the society with the consent of Pius IX, transplanted the Sisters of Sion to Jerusalem in 1855, and built for them in 1856 the large Convent of Ecce Homo with a school and an orphanage for girls. In 1860 he erected the Convent of St. John on the mountain at Ain Karim, together with a church and another orphanage for girls. Here Alphonse laboured with a few companions (Pères de Sion) for the conversion of Jews and Mohammadens until his death. For boys he erected the orphanage of St. Peter, near the Gate of Jaffa outside of Jerusalem, with a school for mechanical arts in the city.”

Fr. Theodore Ratisbonne:

"It was whilst in this city, in 1842, that his brother Alphonse, a free-thinker animated with greatest hatred against Christianity, was miraculously converted at Rome, and suggested to him to secure a home for the education of Jewish children. Providence seemed to design him for the work, and answered his prayer for light by sending him the two daughters of a Jewish lady whom he subsequently converted. During the same summer he went to Rome; Gregory XVI decorated him a Knight of St. Sylvester, complimented him for his "Life of St. Bernard", and granted his request to labour for the conversion of the Jews. Houses were opened under the patronage of "Our Lady of Sion" for the Christian education of Jewish boys and girls. Pius IX gave Ratisbonne many marks of his affection, and Leo XIII appointed him prothonotary Apostolic. At his death he received the last Sacraments from the Archbishop of Paris, and the final blessing from Leo XIII."