:shocked:

Mind-boggling.

For anyone who hasn't heard about it Imprisonment now for a sedevacantist

http://gloria.tv/?media=159422

This story sounds suspicious.  No details were given of the case.  He simply asserted that he was arrested for claiming he was a Catholic priest.  I'd like to see proof of this.  I find that very difficult to believe.  

I am a bit skeptical too.

I´m not so sure about this whole story. Fr. Lingen has a very dubious reputation and hardly anybody takes him seriously. So far he only brought ridicule to the sedevacantist position.

On the other hand it is true that one cannot style oneself a Catholic Priest in Germany easily. Due to the Concordat of 1933, the priestly title and garb is reserved to the Catholic clergy. As sedevacantist clergy acts independently from any official structures, they are not considered part of the Catholic clergy (in ordinary times, this would be a rather good thing, of course).

But I have never heard that somebody gets imprisoned for this reason.

I haven't seen the video because my dial-up connection simply stops downloading from gloria.tv after about 4 seconds is downloaded.  I get part of the picture from the comments, however.

While what is being discussed seems far-fetched, I also recall that Bishop Williamson faced possible jail time for merely stating that he doubts 6,000,000 Jєωs were killed by nαzι Germany.  In view of this, is it really all that incredible that a sedevacantist priest could, if he were very outspoken, be jailed in Germany because he is not "recognized" as a "true" Catholic priest?  

Americans tend to view the world with American eyes.  Europeans (as well as Canadians, Mexicans, and South Americans) simply do not look at the world the same way.  Just as Americans tend not to understand a lot of history because the fusion of religion and state is such an important aspect in understanding history, Americans seem to automatically assume all modern peoples start from their own perspective of the "correct" relationship between church and state.  Frankly, Americans are, for the most part, the only people who hold such an absolute view.

Without more eyes on the ground, we won't know for sure that this man was not actually jailed, but the very idea should not be summarily dismissed either.  Pyrrhos has made a very good point about actual German law.  The accusation that a priest who is not officially recognized as a priest could be jailed in Germany is not, I think, so incredible as to simply dismiss the claim.

There seems to be more skepticism about this claim than the claim that G.W.Bush blew up levies in New Orleans and planned the 9/11 attacks.

As Pyrrhos already pointed out: Mr Lingen is a very questionable person. I would not take Lingen's countless lawsuits too serious. He insults basically everyone (frequently for nothing) and I'm not surprised he's constantly charged with something.

For example Lingen calls Archbishop Lefebvre a "Satanist". IIRC he claims to be the only roman-catholic priest in the entire Germany. What a claim...

However, it's doubtful that Lingen's a priest at all. Last time he's been confronted with that accusation (of not being a priest) he named as approver of his priesthood the self-acclaimed "Bishop" Ralph Napierski, who's just an anti-christian perverse. Not a good approver. Since this incident I can't think anymore that Lingen is a priest.

For sure "So far he only brought ridicule to the sedevacantist position", as Pyrrhos said.

Mr Lingen is basically intelligent, though. And some things he sees clearly. It's just overall that he's kind of caught by a form of madness, I'm afraid. It's a drama and he's probably one more victim of the unimaginable crisis of the Church. May God have mercy on us!

The vast majority of Germany isn't even remotely Catholic and now they want to tell us who is and isn't Catholic AND jail people for it? Wow.

About one third of the Germans living in the "Federal Republic of Germany" (FRG) is formally roman-catholic, and about one third is protestant.
In the south and southern west of FRG there's many SSPX catholics. Roughly speaking that's because these German areas combatted Luther and the Swedish invader Gustav Adolf successfully -- thanks to heros like Sanct Peter Canisius (1521 - 1597) and field marshal Johann Tserclaes Graf von Tilly (1559 - 1632).


Archbishop Lefebvre: „I do not say that the pope is not the pope, but I do not say either that one cannot say that the pope is not the pope.“

There is a new press release (Sept. 4th, 2011) concerning this trial:

Imprisonment for Sedevacantism (2)
- Press release: A lifetime in jail for being a Catholic priest -

In the press release "Imprisonment for Sedevacantism" (May 21st, 2011) it was mentioned that the Roman-Catholic priest Father Rolf Hermann Lingen (FRHL), Germany, was put on trial. His crime: He is sedevacantist.
At the end of the first trial day (May 26th, 2011) the judges heavily stressed that in this trial, any arguments, especially theological arguments, are strictly excluded. Germany firmly declares that the V2-sect is the Catholic church; therefore any other position is illegal and punishable. The judges decided that an "expert report" shall be made by a member of the V2-sect (the canonist Thomas Schüller, University of Münster) concerning the question, whether the V2-sect approves FRHL as a priest.
On Sept. 1st, 2011, FRHL received this report. In short:
1. FRHL's ordination is considered to be valid, i.e. he is considered to be a validly ordained priest. On his youtube-channel ("sedisvakantist") he published: "Succession: Bishop Alois Stumpfl - Schismatic / Old-ROMAN-Catholic (*NOT*: Old-Catholic!); Stumpfl ordained AND consecrated Friedrich Wiechert; Stumpfl ordained AND consecrated Josef Maria Thiesen; Wiechert ordained Schmitz, Thiesen consecrated Schmitz. In 1978, Schmitz abjured from the Old-Roman-Catholic Church, testified by Marcel Lefebvre and Franz Schmidberger, and became member of the "Society of Saint Pius X" (SSPX). In 1980, Schmitz became sedevacantist and left the FSSPX. In 1996, he ordained me. IMPORTANT: Thiesen - as priest - converted to Catholicism. His ordination was considered valid by the Catholic Church both under Pius XI. and under Pius XII. He was not allowed to work as a priest in 1926. He received dispense from celibacy in 1942. Later, Thiesen reverted into the Old-Roman-Catholic sect and was consecrated by Stumpfl."
2. However, FRHL is not approved as a Roman-Catholic priest by the V2-sect, because he is not a member of the V2-sect. Now he never claimed to be a V2-priest, on the contrary: His whole life as a priest, he always openly declares that the V2-sect is not the church, that he is no member of it and that a V2-member cannot be Catholic. He sees this public information as his main task and mission. According to others, FRHL is the most prominent sedevacantist in the German speaking countries. Several media reported about him and his sedevacantist position.
The expert report accuses FRHL of several punishable acts, e.g.:
a) FRHL is a schismatic, because he does not recognize Benedict XVI. as pope. The only argument of the canonist: Sedevacantism is "abstruse". The canonist ignores the sedevacantist arguments completely.
b) FRHL is a heretic, because he rejects the infallible teaching of the Church. The only argument of the canonist: The texts of V2 are infallible, divine and Catholic faith. The canonist ignores the facts about V2 completely.
Besides, according to the report, there are no information that FRHL made the required V2-studies, therefore it must be assumed that FRHL did not made them. As FRHL always proved, he completed the V2-studies in the V2-academy and -seminary in Chur (Switzerland) with the diploma (rating: "very good"). The judges emphasized that FRHL is bound to accept this expert report as the infallible truth. As a result, FRHL has to declare that a) sedevacantism is absurd, b) all V2-texts are infallible, c) there is no information that FRHL made the required V2-studies and it must be assumed that he did not made his diploma. Every single action against this expert report can be punished singly. Permanent inobedience can result in permanent jail. Admittedly, it is possible and maybe even probable that FRHL is put into psychiatry. However, on the first trial day, some "expert" for  psychiatry declared that all utterances of FRHL are in itself completely logical and that FRHL is completely criminally liable. That would make his crime of inobedience even worse and therefore even more punishable.
Everyone can morally support Germany's extermination war against sedevacantism by writing to:
Marlies Hampel, Public prosecution department, Zweigertstr. 56, 45130 Essen, Germany, Fax: +49 201 / 803-2920, poststelle@sta-essen.nrw.de

Author: Father Rolf Hermann Lingen, Goldbrink 2a, 46282 Dorsten

In the corresponding video, I show the diploma that the V2-sect gave me and now denies that I have it:


http://de.gloria.tv/?media=191099

In the video, the diploma can be seen at 5min15sec.