TIA,

Thank you so very much for finally pointing out some positive about World Youth Day. You had the honesty to admit that two miracles did occur and were gracious to show pictures to back up your assertion.

Now we can rest that God was well pleased with The Show and that maybe, just maybe we traditionalists are wrong after all.

One question though: To what modern day saint can we attribute these miracles? Suggestions anyone?

      S.M.

These were the comments of the Moderator of CTAC list on our posting:

Really nauseating... thanks so much for sharing.

One aspect of Whirled Youth Day that ought to be considered is the negative effect that all this might be having on the mind of the Holy Father. It is not a good or a healthy thing for Peter to be treated like a rock star. It might just go to his head.

I strongly suspect that such treatment had a very bad influence on John Paul II much to the detriment of the whole Church. He obviously came to revel in it, and I believe it fed a kind of egoism that made his mediocre papacy a real travesty towards the end.

I'm sorry but I still believe that attempting to add a new mystery to the Holy Rosary is one of the most shocking things that any Pope has ever done, a consequence of papal egotism run amok, about on the level of coming up with an 11th commandment or discovering a Fourth Person of the Holy Trinity (Elvis perhaps?).

Let us pray that Pope Benedict will not be corrupted by what one might call Palm Sunday writ large and repeated again and again, and keep in mind that the way of the world is that some of the hands that are tossing the palms today will be throwing stones a few days hence.

Dear TIA,

I just wanted to make two observations regarding the Sydney World Youth Day Post. The pictures of immodestly dressed men at an event orchestrated by Pope Benedict XVI were disturbing to say the least.

I am reminded of a picture in the Baltimore Catechism showing two women looking at a dress (sleeveless?) in a window of a store. One says to the other, "Oh, I can't wear that, it shows too much." When the Pope ignores such obvious manifestations of immodesty, how can one teach the true Catholic position regarding modesty?

Regarding the differences in the two numbers, technically speaking, the numbers represent two different values. The 100,000 figure represents foreign visitors to Australia who attended the World Youth Day event. The other number represents the total number of attendees at the event, both foreign and domestic.

      M.S.U.

Dear TIA,

Those pictures from WYD are priceless.

Anybody that supports that stuff has no clue about the Catholic Faith.

God Bless,

     M.H.

Dear Mr. Guimaraes,

Thank you for your article on the true Rosary, Our Lady's Rosary.

I agree that the new form was another attempt to try to erase our collective memory of traditional Catholicism.

I have found it very helpful to think of the 20-decade rosary as the "John Paul II Rosary" as distinguished from Our Lady's Psalter, the original Rosary. There are other Rosary prayers in existence, such as the Franciscan Crown Rosary, and they exist side-by-side with Our Lady's Rosary, and do not replace it. So it is with the John Paul II Rosary.

If some future Pope would add even more decades, for example, commemorating the great miracles of Jesus, it would then be just another Rosary prayer, the Pope "X" Rosary, alongside the John Paul II Rosary, the Franciscan Crown Rosary, and Our Lady's Rosary.

I did at one time try to pray the JPII Rosary (perhaps a better name is the Vatican II Rosary), but have since given up on the extra decades, and am quite comfortable with praying Our Lady's Rosary instead.

     Peace,

     F.M.R.

Tradition in Action,

You speak about the odor of sanctity in your article on Funeral etiquette. What about the opposite?

I'm thinking in particular of Pope Paul VI’s body, notorious for its stench and rapid decomposition. Soon after his death, the body of Paul VI took on a greenish tinge, and fans were installed in the Basilica to disperse the smell.

I have a friend who was in Rome at the time of the funeral, and he remarked everyone was talking about the horrendous smell, unusual even in August. Not the odor of sanctity for sure.

What do you think?

     J.K.



TIA responds:

F.K.

It seems that that smell of Paul VI's body was really notorious. Even though every means was used to diminish or hide it, the stench became so insupportable that the body had to be placed outdoors.

A credible witness present in St. Peter's Square that day told us he saw some crows flying over the casket, attracted by the stench.

It is quite different from Catholic saints whose bodies emitted a sweet aroma after their deaths, like that of St. Therese of Lisieux.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

Regarding your July 13, 2008 First Communion in the hand pictures of Benedict XVI, I also take notice of him going to give communion to inappropriately dressed young girl. The innocent young girl has been dressed by her parents like an adult temptress.

This girl's family should have been advised on proper dress for children, and if she still arrived dressed as she did, they should have put a shawl over her shoulders.

     God Bless,

     P.M.V.

Hello,

I would like to comment on your "Revolution in the Church" Photo of the Week.

As you surely must know, the Vatican did not announce until June 26 that distribution of Communion on the tongue by the Pope would be the norm. The photo of the Pope giving Communion in New York is dated in April.

The date of the other is not revealed, but since First Communions generally take place in May, I am assuming it is also before the June 26 date of announcement. For that matter, it could also well be 1 or 2 years ago.

I also think you missed an important question about that particular photo: Why is the young girl who is about to receive First Holy Communion, from the Pope no less, dressed in a provocative off-the-shoulder gown?

Your misrepresentation of the Pope in this case is dishonest and not fitting for a Catholic website. I would like to see these photos and commentary removed from your site, unless you can provide documented photos of the Pope distributing Communion on the hand after June 26 of this year.

     Thank you,

     L.W.F.



TIA responds:

L.W.F.,

You seem more certain than the facts permit when you assume that Benedict XVI will never give Communion in the hand after the declarations by Msgr Guido Marini. Actually the news report released on June 26, 2008, by CNS is here, and it does not support your affirmation. It says that thenceforth, the Pope will prefer to give Communion on the tongue. Now then, when someone prefers something, he doesn't exclude the other options. So, most probably he will continue to give Communion in both ways.

There have been several other similar "traditional" news stories that pretended a complete change in the papal customs, and then were later retracted. For example, when the Tridentine Mass was "liberated" through the motu proprio, the rumor spread that Benedict loved it so much, he was saying it privately. Pope Ratzinger was obliged to put out a video to deny that rumor (watch here Benedict's daily Mass in Italian).

Further, the norm to give Communion in the hand was promulgated by the Holy See under the orientation of Paul VI, and so far has been followed by all the Popes after him. You may read the two principal Vatican documents establishing Communion in the hand here.

If you disagree with Communion in the hand, as it seems you do, you should forthrightly state that position, so as not to incur the same censure of dishonesty you made against us. You should have the courage to say that this post-Vatican II way of receiving Communion is disrespectful to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Why didn't you do so? Perhaps to avoid including in your critique Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who all gave Communion like this frequently. Instead of facing these facts, you simply rid yourself of the problem by blaming us for a supposed misrepresentation of dates...

Isn't this a way to hide your head in the sand?

We hope that next time the word honesty will be used more honestly.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

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