The Seduction of Simulation

 

R. R. RENO

From the August/September issue: Editor Rusty Reno reflects on Magnifica Humanitas, commending Pope Leo XIV for his consideration of the destabilizing potential of artificial intelligence. As the pope continues to advise on this issue, Rusty suggests that he warn against what is so seductive about AI. “Magnifica Humanitas seems to take for granted a human desire not to be dehumanized. It’s certainly true that most do not wish to be degraded, enslaved, or abused. But as Leo XIV continues to reflect on today’s digital revolution, he should not discount the allure of a moderate but pervasive dehumanization, especially as it is palliated by countless substitutes for the kinds of things necessary for us to live as human beings.” For further reading: Many of our best writers have weighed in on the encyclical. Ned Desmond wrote that it was a missed opportunity, while Robert Sirico praised its defense of the human person. More: https://firstthings.com/the-seduction-of-simulation/

Bishop of Liege encourages native new SSPX priest

Read on Cathobel (official media of the French-speaking Catholic Church in Belgium):

"Vincent Richter, originally from Steffeshausen, in the German-speaking part of the Diocese of Liège, was ordained a priest for the FSSPX on June 29, on the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, at the seminary in Écône. Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville, Bishop of Liège, was informed of this. His public response has nothing of a ban."

"Bishop Delville assures the new priest of his prayers and encourages him to follow Christ in his future mission in Brazil. The Bishop of Liège pronounces neither blame nor excommunication. He chooses a rare tone in this type of situation: that of encouragement addressed to a man he considers a disciple of the Gospel. [...] Father Richter, he writes, is invited to serve Christ 'as an authentic disciple of the Gospel.'

"Where others would first recall the canonical sanction, the Bishop of Liège performs an act of blessing."

https://x.com/fsspxfr/status/2074838774211588604?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BULL “QUO PRIMUM TEMPORE” OF ST. PIUS V (July 14, 1570)

On July 14, 1570, Pope St. Pius V promulgated the bull Quo primum tempore, on the perpetual use of the Roman Apostolic Mass, stating:

“…so that the priests may know with certainty which prayers they must use, which are the rites and which the ceremonies that they must, under obligation, preserve henceforth in the celebration of the Masses; so that all everywhere may accept and observe what has been transmitted to them by the Roman Church, Mother and Teacher of all the other Churches, and so that, henceforth and for the time to come, perpetually, in all the patriarchal, cathedral, collegiate, and parish churches, etc…

We have decided and declare that the superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other priests or religious of any order whatsoever cannot be obliged to celebrate the Mass in any other manner than as We have prescribed it, and that never shall anyone, whoever it may be, be able to contradict them or force them to change their Missal…”

The codification approved by St. Pius V through this bull could never be abrogated by anyone.

Oslo Bishop begins preparations for canonization cause of Sigrid Undset

Oslo Bishop Fredrik Hansen has begun preparations for the canonization cause for Sigrid Undset, the Norwegian novelist and Nobel laureate who converted to Catholicism in 1924.

Sigrid Undset

Info: Catholic Church in Norway

Europe recorded 10,000 excess deaths during late-June heatwave, data show

By Kate Abnett

July 13, 20261:10 AM GMT+2Updated 3 hours ago

BRUSSELS, July 13 (Reuters) - European countries reported more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave that engulfed the west of the continent in late June, official data showed.

The vast majority — more ​than 9,000 — were among people aged 65 and above, according to data published by ‌EuroMOMO, a network backed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization.

Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people among the most ​vulnerable.

"To have this kind of excess at this time of year is unusual. It’s ​really high," Lasse Vestergaard, Chief Physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts ⁠EuroMOMO, told Reuters.

"It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme ​heat," Vestergaard added.

Scientists have said the late-June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, ​which is making heatwaves more frequent and intense.

The data, pooled from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, included excess deaths from all causes, not just heat-related ones, during the week of June 22 to 28, when ​the heatwave peaked in France, Spain, Britain and other countries.

More: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/europe-recorded-10000-excess-deaths-during-late-june-heatwave-data-show-2026-07-12/

Chiesa di San Zaccaria, Venezia

 

I reliquie di San Atanasio e San Zaccaria 

Pala di altare da Giovanni Bellini

Cardinal Müller: SSPX confessions and marriages are valid

From Andea_Wailzer on Twitter/X:

Regarding the DDF's explanatory note stating that confessions and marriages administered by SSPX priests are "invalid," Cardinal Gerhard Müller told me the following:

“The note from the Dicastery, which appears only in the explanatory notes, is unclear.“

“The authority to forgive sins is conferred by Christ Himself in the sacrament of Holy Orders, not by the Pope through his primacy of jurisdiction, for Orthodox priests also validly grant absolution.”

“The Pope can only prohibit the exercise of this authority and reserve certain sins for his own absolution, such as, for example, the sin against the unity of the Church committed through an unauthorized episcopal consecration."

Cardinal Müller had stated earlier in an interview with K-TV that SSPX confessions are "valid but not allowed" after the excommunications following the July 1 episcopal consecrations without papal mandate. This has caused some confusion since Cardinal Victor Fernandez said in the DDF document that confessions and marriages would not only be "not allowed" (i.e., faculties revoked) but also "invalid."