Wednesday, June 11, 2014

ZENIT: KIKO'S MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA

Much of Kiko's agenda depends on his ability to validate himself to his own. Thus the importance of papal photo-ops and the manipulation of every Vatican gesture - no matter how small - into a self-authenticating headline. And here the news organization Zenit.org has proven itself a dutiful servant.

Let's take a headline we have discussed before and look at it more thoroughly: Pope Francis Backs Neocatechumenal Way Liturgy. In this headline, Zenit shows not just a dangerous lack of journalistic integrity, but shows itself to be the Ministry of Neo-Propaganda. Here's why.

1. There is NO such animal as a "Neocatechumenal Way Liturgy". There is only the Roman Rite as governed by the liturgical books with the three small exceptions noted in Article 13 of the 2008 Statute. This is not just a journalistic oversight, it is a clever manipulation of facts and words to give credence to the NCW where there is none.

2. As noted in a previous post, the letter to which the Zenit story refers did not come from Pope Francis but an underling at the Office of General Affairs for the Secretary of State. But Zenit's headline gives a completely different impression: we are led to believe that the letter was in the pope's own hand.

3. The actual letter was a reminder/warning to Kiko to stay within the limits of the Statute, or "his charter", as the pope termed it, if he didn't want to have trouble. But Zenit, knowing that most people would not read the actual letter, set up the story for Kiko to use to validate himself and, literally, "his liturgy". 

Now let's take a look at another Zenit story of which the Kiko's have made much: the appointment of Kiko to the position of consultor to the council for the laity.  Zenit begins: Neocatechumenal Way Initiator Named Consultor for Pontifical Council for the Laity: Pope Francis Confirms Kiko Argüello for 5-Year Term.


The words are rather big sounding to begin with: Consultor, Pontifical, Council. Once again, the Zenit Ministry of Propaganda masterfully manipulates the facts to position them favorably for Kiko. Notice the subheading: Pope Francis Confirms Kiko Arguello... We are led to think that the pope personally called Kiko and laid hands on him. Here are the facts:

  1. The use of the adjective "Pontifical" does not mean that the pope himself has anything directly to do with whatever entity the adjective is modifying. "Pontifical" simply denotes an entity of any sort which operates under the pope's auspices and exists to assist him.
  2. In the case of "Pontifical Councils", they are made up of a cardinal president, a secretary, an under-secretary, members, and then consultors. The consultors are just that: consultors. They offer advice to the members who are the decision makers. 
  3. The pope does not pick or "name" the members or the consultors. He generally only names the cardinal president, who then with the two secretaries, chooses the members and consultors, and often through the assistance and recommendation of other clergy. The pope ultimately confirms the selection as a formality.
  4. The cardinal president for the Pontifical Council of the Laity is Cardinal Stanislaw Ryłko, a Neo sympathizer from way back, so we shouldn't be surprised that he found a way to insert Kiko. 
In fact, "insert" may be what actually happened. An Australian blog, which tracks these types of appointments noted that Kiko was not on the original list:
"However, there is one small item of good news: the Spanish lay man, Kiko Argüello, co-founder of the so-called Neo-Catechumenal Way has not been re-appointed to the PCL. This is further evidence that the star of the Neo-Cats is waning in Rome."
Apparently Rylko and Kiko (they have worked side deals before) did a work around and got Kiko on to the list. But given the Zenit headline, you would think that the pope begged Kiko to be his personal consultant. 

And beyond Zenit's lap dog headline is Zenit's lap dog story...a story featuring only Kiko's selection to a second string position to the council. Along with Kiko there were 13 other lay people appointed to the same position. But there is no Zenit story about any of them, only Kiko, even though some of the other consultors represent lay organizations older and more influential than Kiko's. Here's the list of the other 13 lay consultors (in addition to several from the clergy) that Zenit found no interest in:

1. Alejandra Keen von Wuthenau
The Marian Fraternity of Reconciliation (MFR) 

2. Laurent Landete 
Moderator of the Emmanuel Community

3. Domenico Muolo
Newspaper Journalist of the  Future  (Italy)

4. Marguerite A. Peeters
Director, Institute for Intercultural Dialogue Dynamics, Professor, Urbaniana University (faculty of theology)

5. Prof. Silvia Recchi 
Professor of Canon Law in UCAC Yaounde, Italy

6. Fra Hans Stapel, O.F.M.
Co-founder and president of Fazenda da Esperança – Farms of Hope

7. Maite Bilbao Uribe 
Director General of the Teresian Association

8. Prof. Helen M. Alvaré
Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University 

9. Moysés Louro de Azevedo Filho
Shalom Catholic Community

10. Prof Giorgio Feliciani
Faculty of LAW, Milan - Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

11. Salvatore Martinez
The first lay person to the presidency of the National Renewal in the Holy Spirit.

12. Prof. Andrea Riccardi
Founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio and Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Rome III in Rome, Italy.

13. Maria Emmaus Voce
President Focolare

Did you notice that EIGHT major communities (with the same status as the Neocatechumenal Way) were represented on this list of consultors? You didn't? Okay, let's list them:
  1. The Marian Fraternity of Reconciliation
  2. The Emmanuel Community
  3. Fazenda da Esperança
  4. The Teresian Association
  5. Shalom Catholic Community
  6. National Renewal in the Holy Spirit
  7. The Community of Sant'Egidio
  8. Focolare
And now let's look at the lay people (in addition to several from the clergy) who make up the Members, the actual decision makers:

1. Carl A. Anderson
Supreme Knight - Knights of Columbus

2. Saïd A. Azer (Egypt)

3. Marcello Bedeschi
Catholic Action


5. Pilar Escudero de Jensen
Schoenstatt Marian Movement

6. Yago de la Cierva 
(Spain), lecturer in Crisis Management and Communication at the Faculty of Social Institutional Communications of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome

7. Jocelyne Khoueiry
Founding member and President of the lay movement “La Femme du 31 Mai-Libanaise

8. Christiana von Habsburg-Lothringen
Her Royal Imperial Highness Archduchess Christiana von Habsburg-Lothringen, Austria, Member of the Pontifical Council for Newborns in Rome at Matej Bel University

9. Fabrice Hadjadj 
Director of the Institut Européen d'Études Anthropologiques Philanthropos in Fribourg (Switzerland)

10. Ms Katarina Hulmanova (Slovakia)
Coordinator of the Catholic Organisations Forum of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference

11. Irene Egle Laumenskaite
Lecturer at the Centre for Religious Studies and Research at the University of Vilnius (Lithuania)

12. Rosa Lai Yuk-fai
President of the Hong Kong Central Council of Catholic Laity

13. Manfred Lütz 
German doctor, Catholic theologian and writer .

14. Franco MIANO
National president of Catholic Action in Italy

15. Prof. Josep Miró i Ardèvol
President, e-Christians

16. Michelle Moran
President, ICCRS – International Charismatic Renewal Services 

17. Prof. Norbert Müller
Johannes Gutenberg University, Institute of Sport Science

18. Geneviève Amélie Mathilde Sanze
representative for Africa in the International Secretariat of Economy of Communion

19. Guilherme Vaz
Director: IL&FS Education & Technology Services Limited (IL&FSETS) is a company constituted in December 1997 as a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) to operate in the education domain.

20. Prof. Karol Źyczkowski
Professor of physics at  Atomic Physics Department, Institute of Physics, of the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland and also at Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

Here are the lay organizations represented by the Members:
  1. Knights of Columbus
  2. Catholic Action
  3. National Council for the Laity in Lebanon
  4. Schoenstatt Marian Movement
  5. La Femme due 31 Mai-Libanaise
  6. Catholic Action in Italy 
  7. e-Christians
  8. International Charismatic Renewal Services 
But no story from Zenit, an "international" news organization, about any of them. So if you are wondering about how our chancery was so easily purchased and sold into servitude to this man, just consider how he has so easily turned one of the largest Catholic news agencies into a fawning, servile personal ministry of propaganda. And DON'T get your news from Zenit. 


43 comments:

  1. I used to read ZENIT and have even supported them with donations. They are flooding my inbox begging shamelessly. I wrote them my REASON for not subscribing anymore. The ministry of propaganda would be the reason. If the legionnaires run it, don't they have plenty of money too?? What's the connection? There are so many other ways to get Church news now...who needs them? Interesting what the connection is.

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  2. Satan never stops working.

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    1. The phrase is "Satan never sleeps." But then...neither does God.

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  3. I too stopped my subscription to Zenit early this year.

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  4. So, I wrote to Junno Arocho Esteves, the author of this Zenit article about the problems with his article. This was his response:

    "Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions on the article. While I had attempted to show nothing more that the Eucharist and Easter Vigil celebrated by the parishes with Neocatechumenal Way were permitted, I agree that I may have left things unclear with the title, which dealt more with allowing the celebrations to take place rather than how they are celebrated. While the Neocatechumenal Way has received the support from three Pontiffs and 5 Vatican dicasteries, there are still many misunderstandings on how they carry out their celebrations within the parish. As soon as time permits, I hope some time in the future to write a piece that may go more in depth on the celebrations or seek a liturgist who can help address those concerns from the faithful. My only goal is to report the news that I receive and I hope to do a better job in presenting a balanced view on the subject.

    Many thanks for your comments and please feel free to write to me any time.

    Junno Arocho Esteves"

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    1. So as a journalist whose "only goal is to report the news", he is not supposed to "attempting to show" anything. Yet he states that he attempted to show that the Easter Vigil as celebrated by the Neocatechumenal Way (which is apart from the parish) is permitted.

      It is not permitted. However, why is a journalist "attempting" to do anything other than "report the news"? A true reporter would have gotten both sides. Rather, all he did was get Kiko's thoughts. That should tell us a helluva lot right there.

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  5. BTW, his email address is junno.arocho@zenitteam.org, for those who also may be inclined to write

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    1. Junno is based in Newark NJ...

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    2. AnonymousJune 11, 2014 at 12:04 PM
      Very interesting... you know who else is based in Jersey?...

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  6. I, too, used to look to Zenit for Church-related news; after all, its tagline is "The World Seen From Rome"! However after the Archbishop's January 2006 appearance on "Why Do Catholics Do That" I began to notice how Zenit's NCW-related stories seemed to be somewhat biased; I eventually unsubscribed in August 2011. As I've said before, I was a slow learner in recognizing the dangers that the NCW posed to our local Church but I finally decided I didn't want to read any more NCW propaganda from Zenit.

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  7. Zenit's bias has a name, at least since early 2013: Salvatore Cernuzio, of Rome. Take a look at a picture of Salvatore and his beautiful spouse, and you'll know why.

    https://plus.google.com/110386828098435320665/posts

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    1. Actually, Salvatore, an NCW member, only helps. Junno is the real engine behind the bias. Do this google search:
      "Junno Arocho" neocatechumenal site:zenit.org

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    2. Seeing the menorah and clapping of hands, this journalist is a kiko bandito ! Neocatechumenal media!

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    3. @ 12:07 p.m. Junno from NJ as stated previously is probably a Neo Bandito. Who knows, maybe he gets his directives from the Genarinis!

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    4. And one "Pietro Gennarini" wrote and/or translated 18 articles for them in September and October of 2012. At least one of the articles centered on Kiko.

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  8. Actually, as one who has learned how to use the media myself, I can easily see what Kiko does. The media simply has news holes that need to be filled. Investigative journalism is a lot of work. Thus they are quite receptive to ready made stories. Kiko knows this. The pro-neo stories are probably mostly submitted by Kiko's news apparatus and Zenit reports the ready made stories as "news". Also, for interviews, Kiko's folks most likely set it up with Zenit.

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    1. Too bad Kiko didn't make it to Guam after Vocation Meeting. Tim could have interviewed him for JW. Would have had a lot of hits! So close, yet so far away.

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    2. Investigative journalism takes time .

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  9. Either I'm blind or Zenit is hiding the unsubscribe button or at least making it VERY hard to unsubscribe.

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    1. Anonymous (June 12, 2014 at 1:04 AM), I think you can find the option to unsubscribe at the very end of the Zenit message, under the words "ZENIT is an International News Agency." There are a number of choices, including reprint permission, donations, gift subscription, etc. Look for the option "To subscribe or unsubscribe: http://www.zenit.org/english/subscribe.html" and click there.

      Good luck.

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  10. Thank you Mary Lou. But the link is deceiving. I started clicking EVERY button until I found the one that actually allows you to unsubscribe. You would need to click on the button that reads RECEIVE Zenit on the upper left hand corner of the page that opens when you select the link you just provided. Then, a list will drop down.....UNSUBSCRIBE is there. To put "unsubscribe" in that location is rather deceiving if you ask me....

    I would suggest as an alternative to Zenit - Subscribe to "First Things" or VIS (Vatican information Service)

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    1. You're welcome, Anonymous (June 12, 2014 at 3:45 AM) — I'm glad you finally figured out where the UNSUBSCRIBE option was. I unsubscribed back in 2011 and I don't recall having a hard time finding the option. I think 3 years ago, when I clicked on the link, the option was readily available.

      Maybe Zenit was experiencing an unusually high number of people opting to unsubscribe that they made the process more challenging in the hope that the person would get frustrated and give up. I'm glad you were able to complete the process.

      BTW: Your alternate suggestions are good ones; I hope others take notice.

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    2. I just unsubscribed! "First Things" and VIS are great suggestions.

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  11. Kiko donates money to zenit to keep it floating.

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    1. Of course. He buys bishops and media with all those trash bag funds, not to mention keeping all those catechists flying around.

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    2. Oh really Tim, would that apply to Tagle and Pope Francis traveling to Israel? Would you question that also?

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    3. LOL. You're equating catechists with a Cardinal and the Pope. Right. We get it. LOL!

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  12. No Tim only you. Pope Francis extended Kiko Arguello as a Consultor of Pontifical Laity for 5 more years. Whats that tell you? No need to explain.

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    1. What it says is that Pope Francis did not think highly enough of Kiko to make him a member of the council so he can vote instead of just a consultor. But of course Pope Franics DID NOT extend Kiko's term, Rylko did. More Zenit-speak.

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    2. So are you saying is not valid? Your a nut, you hate Zenit because you only wanna read the anti-WAY. Have it your way. Anything that prove you wrong even when your wrong, you have the last word. There is a word for that...... Pride.....Pride IS a sin found in Lucifer because he wanted to sit on God's throne. Play GOD Tim

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  13. So Mary Lou, Mother Angelica who happens to be a friend of Kiko Arguello, are you also going to tell everyone here not to watch EWTN? Your a religious bigot. LOL!

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    1. Yes they may be friends but will Mother Angelica attend any masses held by THE WAY COMMUNITY!

      Will Mother Angelica receive the Body of Christ the same as a NEO CATS do!

      No Way! Because their WAY is a LITURGICAL ABUSE! YOU KNOW IT AND WHOLE CATHOLIC 'SANE' WORLD KNOWS THIS!



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    2. From Pope Benedict XVI on Oct2013-

      "The primary importance of Jesus Christ within the liturgy has been a constant theme of Pope Benedict’s teaching during his seven-year pontificate. He has often expressed concern that bad teaching can lead some Catholics to view the liturgy “horizontally” as the creation of a parish or group in which the community celebrates itself. “The liturgy is not a kind of ‘self-manifestation’ of a community,” he told pilgrims.

      Pope Benedict noted that when priests or parishioners reflect on how to make the liturgy “attractive, interesting and beautiful,” they can “risk forgetting the essential: That is the liturgy is celebrated for God and not for ourselves.”

      To help counter such erroneous concepts, Pope Benedict XVI’s papal liturgies are always celebrated with a prominent crucifix placed centrally upon the altar."

      Notice WHAT SHOULD BE PROMINENT ON THE ALTAR IS A WHAT????? OH YEAH...CRUCIFIX!

      Also I repeat what he said that "“The liturgy is not a kind of ‘self-manifestation’ of a community"....Hmmm....I wonder if our BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE WAY UNDERSTANDS THIS!

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    3. Kiko Arguello and mother Angelica are friends. Has Kiko Arguello ever said anything about Mother Angelica since she retired after suffering a second stroke? All her EWTN shows are reruns. Most of the EWTN presentations are returns. Remember I said most!

      I am sure that Kiko has no use for Mother Angelica who is now is a wheelchair. As for her TV show EWTN that she started, he really hasn't appeared much on it. Get a grip on it! Get of your high horse! Have a pizza!

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    4. 3:37PM. Ummm, Mother Angelica has been unable to speak since her stroke in 2001 and has not been on the air live since then. Everything you've seen for the last 13 years are reruns. Also, Mother Angelica has not had any control of the network since 2000 when she turned it over to a lay group. So sad that Kiko teaches his followers to label opponents "religious bigots". But we've come to expect that from you.

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    5. Mary Lou you are missing the point like a mile long and your reasoning is completely juvenile. I suggest to consult with Tim, instead of being on the left field at all times, rather with your long winded approach and get to the point will yah.

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    6. AnonymousJune 12, 2014 at 5:48 PM how do you know? Nothing is publish. News flash to you and Mary Lou. Mother Angelica and Kiko Arguello are friends since the late 60's. The problem with you all, you assume and you need something in writing and a picture. Did you know that Pope Francis best friend is an itinerant in Latin America? I know you all, you want the Way to be deleted in the face of the Church. So I challenge you to do so.

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    7. Wow! Who let the seminarians near the computer?

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    8. Thanks for the compliment I'm no Seminarian, I prayed and beg GOD and the Saints and they said fight the EVIL.

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    9. Seems like the seminarians are given some time daily to comment on JW. How to lie 101.

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    10. Spelling, grammar, ESL not really up to the standards of commentary . But keep practicing, guys you're doing great! Summer school course for some.

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  14. Tagle not accepted money yet but he will. Just give money they will join neo.

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  15. U Matuna published that a benefactor gave thousands of dollars for those seminary computers for study. Get out of the Jungle brothers! Go to the chapel.

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