Thursday, September 24, 2015

Pope Francis' Speech to Joint Session of Congress -- My concerns are yellow high-lighted

To my readers: 
I have watched Pope Francis' speech to Congress with no small degree of consternation.  In 1981 I opened a file and called it "War on Fundamentalism."  It appears that the present Pope's speech fired a significant salvo in that war against "Fundamentalists" (those believing the fundamentals of Scripture and their religion to be true).  The "we are all one and we are all inter-connected themes of Alice Bailey and other New Agers come through, albeit subtly.  The "technological advances" to facilitate global wealth redistribution, ditto.  And then there were the spiritual examples given by him, the most glaring in my opinion being that of Thomas Merton.  Obviously, Thomas Merton was canonized long ago -- by the THEOSOPHISTS, the mothership of the New Age Movement."
I'm sharing with you the transcript of the Pope's speech.  I honestly can't help but wonder if  Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) has been the victim of a literal Vatican coup.  While there are some issues on which I applaud things this Pope has said -- asking every Catholic parish in Europe to adopt a refugee family -- the balance to me is presently VERY TROUBLING.
I have yellow highlighted some obvious areas of my own concern.  I put a few of my comments in aqua highlighting.  I value your opinions and please
STAY TUNED!
CONSTANCE

Honorable Members of Congress,
Dear Friends,
I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. I would like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great continent, from which we have all received so much and toward which we share a common responsibility.
Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation. You are the face of its people, their representatives. You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk. Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have been invited, called and convened by those who elected you.
Yours is a work which makes me reflect in two ways on the figure of Moses. On the one hand, the patriarch and lawgiver of the people of Israel symbolizes the need of peoples to keep alive their sense of unity by means of just legislation. On the other, the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being. Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work: you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human face.
Today I would like not only to address you, but through you the entire people of the United States. Here, together with their representatives, I would like to take this opportunity to dialogue with the many thousands of men and women who strive each day to do an honest day’s work, to bring home their daily bread, to save money and –one step at a time – to build a better life for their families. These are men and women who are not concerned simply with paying their taxes, but in their own quiet way sustain the life of society. They generate solidarity by their actions, and they create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need.
I would also like to enter into dialogue with the many elderly persons who are a storehouse of wisdom forged by experience, and who seek in many ways, especially through volunteer work, to share their stories and their insights. I know that many of them are retired, but still active; they keep working to build up this land. I also want to dialogue with all those young people who are working to realize their great and noble aspirations, who are not led astray by facile proposals, and who face difficult situations, often as a result of immaturity on the part of many adults. I wish to dialogue with all of you, and I would like to do so through the historical memory of your people.
My visit takes place at a time when men and women of good will are marking the anniversaries of several great Americans. The complexities of history and the reality of human weakness notwithstanding, these men and women, for all their many differences and limitations, were able by hard work and self-sacrifice – some at the cost of their lives – to build a better future. They shaped fundamental values which will endure forever in the spirit of the American people. A people with this spirit can live through many crises, tensions and conflicts, while always finding the resources to move forward, and to do so with dignity. These men and women offer us a way of seeing and interpreting reality. In honoring their memory, we are inspired, even amid conflicts, and in the here and now of each day, to draw upon our deepest cultural reserves.
I would like to mention four of these Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.
This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the guardian of liberty, who labored tirelessly that “this nation, under God, [might] have a new birth of freedom”. Building a future of freedom requires love of the common good and cooperation in a spirit of subsidiarity and solidarity.
All of us are quite aware of, and deeply worried by, the disturbing social and political situation of the world today. Our world is increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities, committed even in the name of God and of religion. We know that no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system, while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms. But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps. We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject.
Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.
The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States. The complexity, the gravity and the urgency of these challenges demand that we pool our resources and talents, and resolve to support one another, with respect for our differences and our convictions of conscience.
In this land, the various religious denominations have greatly contributed to building and strengthening society. It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of slavery, born of grave injustices which can be overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus.
Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. I do not underestimate the difficulty that this involves, but I encourage you in this effort.
Here too I think of the march which Martin Luther King led from Selma to Montgomery fifty years ago as part of the campaign to fulfill his “dream” of full civil and political rights for African Americans. That dream continues to inspire us all. I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of “dreams”. Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people.
In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom. We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants. Tragically, the rights of those who were here long before us were not always respected. For those peoples and their nations, from the heart of American democracy, I wish to reaffirm my highest esteem and appreciation. Those first contacts were often turbulent and violent, but it is difficult to judge the past by the criteria of the present. Nonetheless, when the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past. We must resolve now to live as nobly and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn their back on our “neighbors” and everything around us. Building a nation calls us to recognize that we must constantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset of hostility in order to adopt one of reciprocal subsidiarity, in a constant effort to do our best. I am confident that we can do this.
Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions. On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children? We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).
This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us. The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.
This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.
In these times when social concerns are so important, I cannot fail to mention the Servant of God Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith, and the example of the saints.
How much progress has been made in this area in so many parts of the world! How much has been done in these first years of the third millennium to raise people out of extreme poverty! I know that you share my conviction that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost. At the same time I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope. The fight against poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts, especially in its causes. I know that many Americans today, as in the past, are working to deal with this problem.
It goes without saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth. The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable. “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good” (Laudato Si’, 129). This common good also includes the earth, a central theme of the encyclical which I recently wrote in order to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (ibid., 3). “We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” (ibid., 14).
In Laudato Si’, I call for a courageous and responsible effort to “redirect our steps” (ibid., 61), and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States – and this Congress – have an important role to play. Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a “culture of care” (ibid., 231) and “an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” (ibid., 139). “We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology” (ibid., 112); “to devise intelligent ways of… developing and limiting our power” (ibid., 78); and to put technology “at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral” (ibid., 112). In this regard, I am confident that America’s outstanding academic and research institutions can make a vital contribution in the years ahead.  [QUERY:  wouldn't the system warned of in Revelation 13 fill the bill here?]
A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless slaughter”, another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people. In his autobiography he wrote: “I came into the world. Free by nature, in the image of God, I was nevertheless the prisoner of my own violence and my own selfishness, in the image of the world into which I was born. That world was the picture of Hell, full of men like myself, loving God, and yet hating him; born to love him, living instead in fear of hopeless self-contradictory hungers”. Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.  [Doesn't Pope Francis know that Thomas Merton was in effect 'canonized a long time ago -- by the Theosophists and their fellow travelers, including but not limited to Matthew Fox's crowd and Lucis Trust?  Merton was one of Matthew Fox's early mentors!]
From this perspective of dialogue, I would like to recognize the efforts made in recent months to help overcome historic differences linked to painful episodes of the past. It is my duty to build bridges and to help all men and women, in any way possible, to do the same. When countries which have been at odds resume the path of dialogue – a dialogue which may have been interrupted for the most legitimate of reasons – new opportunities open up for all. This has required, and requires, courage and daring, which is not the same as irresponsibility. A good political leader is one who, with the interests of all in mind, seizes the moment in a spirit of openness and pragmatism. A good political leader always opts to initiate processes rather than possessing spaces (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 222-223).
Being at the service of dialogue and peace also means being truly determined to minimize and, in the long term, to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world. Here we have to ask ourselves: Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.
Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and four dreams: Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God.
Four representatives of the American people.
I will end my visit to your country in Philadelphia, where I will take part in the World Meeting of Families. It is my wish that throughout my visit the family should be a recurrent theme. How essential the family has been to the building of this country! And how worthy it remains of our support and encouragement! Yet I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.
In particular, I would like to call attention to those family members who are the most vulnerable, the young. For many of them, a future filled with countless possibilities beckons, yet so many others seem disoriented and aimless, trapped in a hopeless maze of violence, abuse and despair. Their problems are our problems. We cannot avoid them. We need to face them together, to talk about them and to seek effective solutions rather than getting bogged down in discussions. At the risk of oversimplifying, we might say that we live in a culture which pressures young people not to start a family, because they lack possibilities for the future. Yet this same culture presents others with so many options that they too are dissuaded from starting a family.
A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to “dream” of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.
In these remarks I have sought to present some of the richness of your cultural heritage, of the spirit of the American people. It is my desire that this spirit continue to develop and grow, so that as many young people as possible can inherit and dwell in a land which has inspired so many people to dream.

God bless America!

555 comments:

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Anonymous said...

A Vatican coup had come to my mind early on (for such a time as this).

Constance Cumbey said...

With at least the Australian Alice Bailey folk (World Goodwill, Brisbane "Unit of Service") crowing that perhaps Pope Francis might have allowed "The Master Jesus" to take over his body and make needed changes in the Roman Catholic Church, and given Ratzinger's earlier ardent opposition to the New Age agenda, one can't help but wonder!

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

This is the website of the Australian Bailey "Unit of Service" crowd that talks about Pope Francis and their hopes for him.

http://www.brisbanegoodwill.com/astrology-pope-francis-i-forerunner-of-the-rider-on-the-white-horse/

Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

"but the implantation finally is NOT inclusive" should read "but the IMPLEMENTATION finally is NOT inclusive."

Anonymous said...

This man Francis sounds absolutely nothing like our Savior. He does not open in prayer, nor put forward the gospel message.

What an opportunity to present the gospel to the whole world.

Instead he preaches politics, social reform, and furthers the goals of the NWO, the goals of the prince of this world.

We all who truly know, and trust in Christ, understand who this False Prophet serves.

Anonymous said...

Since so very, very few people seem to know anything about the New Age movement, (see my post in the comment after the last article), isn't it just possible that the Popeis being a political creature following the trends of the times as learned from those around him? Didn't Malachi Martin cover it in Windswept House when the Pope in the novel was challenged as to which direction to take?

Instead of studying and learning what the New Age movement is just as one would study the history of the Republican party, socialism, or any other cohesive topic, everyone wants to put information about it in the context with which they are personally familiar. It's Christianity vs the New Age movement or the history of gnosticism and the New Age movement or the Pope and the New Age movement. Meanwhile the dangerous, controlling, corrupting, morally corrupted New Age movement continues to grow, enveloping everything with its slime.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
paul said...

Thanks Constance,
It must have been difficult not to use the highlighter on the whole dang speech.
I like this pearl:
"On the other, the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being."

Anonymous said...

The Pope's Visit to America and Yom Kippur - Call No Man Father

www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?P=180109

Anonymous said...

4:29 PM see 3:43 PM for your answer.
You can diagnose the problem, but don't know it's solution.
And the pope as vicar or whatever, has missed that boat too in serving the lesser gods.

"This man Francis sounds absolutely nothing like our Savior" (and he is supposed to represent Him? clearly he does not).

What the pope did not, would not say spoke the loudest.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for confirming my concerns. I heard so much in that speech that made me cringe. What's sad is that there are so many blindly following and hanging on every word. Praying for the discernment of Christians throughout this nation.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEchg1KhmTY

Lutheran Satire Frank the Hippie Pope

Constance Cumbey said...

Re your first post here, Christine, you are rambling. As you can see from the last one, I'm starting to delete rambling posts. You can do better than this -- rambling and speculation do not lend themselves to reading, especially if concision is lacking.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

The ones I really want to hear from and consider their opinions here from a Catholic perspective are OZ, Susanna, and Catherine. If there are others please join in. I think this is too serious for rambling and/or satire.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

To all:

Please review comments and my responses and sometimes deletions on the last post -- the Dennis Cuddy appeal.

Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

Constance, that isn't rambling that is a comprehensive treatment (could be a lot more comprehensive) treatment of one subject, and an analysis of a pattern of liberal - conservative - more liberal - more conservative - still more liberal election of popes.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

okay I deleted that rambling post, here's a rewrite.

various things the pope says can be taken and used to promote anything, so there is
a definite problem here. And his advisor on the environment and things like that
is an atheist. Something is wrong with his mind for that to happen.

The groundwork for Revelation 13 COULD be laid by appealing to inclusiveness and
humanitarian issues. But the implementation at the end is NOT inclusive or oriented
around human needs but around the ambition of the antichrist, because whatever the
economic system is you can't legally engage in it without worshipping the
antichrist and receiving his mark, and the penalty for refusing is death. This is
hardly inclusiveness or tolerance. That buying and selling is mentioned sounds
more like an at least semi capitalist scene than pure communism with a ration card.
One could be said to be buying with the ration card, but the provider is the
government and its agents, not a seller.


DNA alteration and chips aren't needed for this, a tattoo would do and used to be commonplace to show tribal affiliation and still is in gangs. If we still have
high tech when this happens and haven't bombed ourselves back into the stone age,
a chip might be used, but if I have a nut balanced on the palm of my hand, it is in my hand in a general sense though not under the skin.

Chipping is a real bad idea for other reasons even if it won't be used for the
mark of the beast, and should be fought tooth and nail.

I think I see a kind of two steps forward one back game going on regarding
election of popes, and this would mean the College of Cardinals is heavily
infiltrated, which would fit Malachi Martin's thesis. Only they could actually do
this.

A pattern is visible from John XXIII to now. There is good reason to believe he was
part of a masonic or other secret society in Turkey, and he oversaw Vatican II
which did not mandate any of the awful problems that developed, but made them
possible.

then you get more conservative Paul VI.

After him is more liberal John Paul I, but oops he really cared about the poor, and was going to make financial changes and clean house of corruption, and of secret clerical membership in masonry. (this was by then legal for laity, but still not for clergy. Since his time, I think, it is now legal for clergy to be masons.)priesthood) and he gets murdered. Accident corrected, the evil crew goes
on to elect

John Paul II who does a better job of sloppifying things, kisses a Koran which is
full of blasphemies and errors (I've read two translations, okay?) and generally
outrages the traditionalists, both pope loyal and schismatic. Objectively speaking,
he teeters very near heresy. The less forgiving schismatics call it what it is,
though sometimes are mistaken when you analyze his statements more closely.
Supposedly he was being visited by Jesus and Mary, and a leaked account of this
includes a prophecy time sensitive which did not come to pass.

So the next pope elected is Benedict XVI who seems more conservative, but when it
comes to taking seriously conservative action has to be dragged into it. Some of
actions and statements are open to question.

During all this time an extreme emphasis is made on the dogma and morals only being
infallible and only if he speaks ex cathedra about these, and the definition of
ex cathedra is so narrowed that one RC writer said that it is questionable whether
any pope since the last dogma was proclaimed has spoken ex cathedra about anything,
ever.

Sounds like the doorkeepers are real worried and trying to rein the papacy in
before it can do the kind of damage it has the power to do.

Now you got this incoherent freak with an atheist advisor.

liberal - conservative - more liberal - more conservative - still more liberal.

two steps forward, one back, two steps forward, one back, two steps forward.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

I got this email from the Technocracy guy.

"To better serve readers and researchers everywhere, I am please to announce the launch of Technocracy.News. There is no site like it on the Internet.

Technocracy News is a curated aggregation of news from around the world that relates to Technocracy, Sustainable Development, Agenda 21 and all related topics between. Thus far, major categories that have opened up include: 2030 Agenda, Climate Change, Surveillance, Immigration, Population Control, Green Economy and Sustainable Development.

I encourage you to visit the site now and share as many of the currently posted articles as possible, via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc."

I thought this might be of use.

Constance Cumbey said...

Christine,

Still rambling and disjointed from my point of view. Sorry! You were particularly unkind to Pope John Paul II who ended up as one of the most formidable foes the New Age Movement ever had. This is noted by Peter Heelas, a London Professor in his book, THE NEW AGE. p. 221. Where he names Pope John Paul II as the most formidable foe of the New Age Movement in a footnote on that page. Interestingly, I'm also mentioned on the same page as giving forceful opposition. Pope John Paul II had reportedly planned to do an encyclical against Theosophy, however, he died before that project, but not before convening a Vatican conference against the New Age Movement that was held and from which various papers on behalf of the Vatican were issued.

I think you are taking the computer implants WAY TOO LIGHTLY. In my opinion, that's why their use has been promoted so heavily for animals -- to prepare people to use them for tracking and ID purposes. A tattoo would hardly have the same tracking properties for electronic detectors.

Your post is MUCH TOO LONG but I do appreciate your enthusiasm.


Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

looks like the pope is going to make another speech.

"Wood, who has covered global institutions for decades, argues that Pope Francis, the most visible religious figure in the world, has been called upon by the global community to deliver a U.N. address on September 25 “to minimize any possible resistance” to a plan that constitutes nothing less than the overthrow of global capitalism and the destruction of the American way of life."

http://technocracy.news/index.php/2015/09/24/with-popes-help-u-n-bypasses-congress-on-global-socialism/

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
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Constance Cumbey said...

As bad as yesterday's Papal speech was, today's currently ongoing before the UN is many times worse. It looks like he has a new speechwriter: Ken Wilber! The Pope referred to "Integral Development" (Ken Wilber's acknowledged theory) many times. I'm awaiting the transcript. Wilber is ONE OF THE BIGGEST of New Agers and he has been promoted in the past by Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

Check Wilber out. Bad news!

Constance

Marko said...

Interestingly, Lucis Trust's website has a news blurb about something called "Sustainable Development Summit 2015" at the UN that runs from the 25th through the 27th, coinciding with the Pope's visit:

http://tinyurl.com/q7j9nsp

RayB said...

Recently, Alex Jones posted an interview with an Italian/Catholic author (Pope Francis: The Last Pope) by the name of Leo Zagami in Rome. I watched another interview last night on Jones' show and I found it facinating. He comes from a family that has been deeply involved with the higher levels of Italian politics for decades and has a lot of in sight into the workings of the Vatican. He spoke at length about the Vatican's heavy handed involvement with the creation of a New World Order ... specifically a One World Government along with a One World Religion. He has sources inside the Vatican ... and also states that Black Masses (Satanic) are held inside the Vatican where unbelievable dabauchery takes place ... and this is coming from a Catholic. Anyways ... here's his book:

http://henrymakow.com/2015/04/leo-zagami-vatican.html

PS: Disclaimer ... use your own discernment ... I know very little about this man other than what I saw in these two interviews.

RayB said...

Also ... I forgot to mention ... Zagami makes the claim that the Vatican is heavily involved with Freemasonry, and claims that there is a VERY powerful "gay" group inside the Vatican. He also claims that Benedict was forced out because he was about to be arrested for involvement in pedophilia ... he states this is well known in Rome, but the main stream media will not touch this story.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

perhaps it is rumors of this that led to the wild story of the Vatican creating Islam.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dan Bryan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Constance Cumbey said...

I went to Google to see if anybody besides me had noticed the Ken Wilber influences and I found this site with a very good explanation of Ken Wilber's theory:

http://graceandtruth.me/2014/05/14/a-harlot-an-emergent-and-a-pope-walked-into-a-bar/

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

To RayB,

Makow is so virulently anti-Semitic, I have difficulty trusting him or his opinions on anything.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

Christine, I think you can make your points without resorting to sexually explicit passages and "damn liar" references.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

Is Leo Zagami perhaps "Alberto Rivera" reincarnated?

If so, don't buy your used cars there!

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

That there were, however, gay groups operating in the Vatican was probably true. I had that from reliable sources in the past, including but not limited to Malachi Martin.

Constance

Cindy said...

I think the Catholics on this site have lost their voice--- it's awful quite.

What does this mean?

It's one thing to be told what the Pope means by the words he speaks by Catholics because Protestants just do not understand the Catholic religion but it's quite another thing to hear him for yourself.

The Pope's speech to congress and the un is eye opening to say the least. I'm afraid the whitewash is off for all to see who he really is.

May the light of Christ continue to expose the works of darkness wherever it may be found--- from the White House to the Vatican--- in my heart and your heart.

May Christ's followers hold to the testimony of Jesus in these perilous times we're living in.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Marko said...

RayB and others,

In addition to Henry Makow, Alex Jones (and I might as well toss in Webster Tarpley) are all at the very least unintended fellow travelers with enemies of the West, and at worst, willing accomplices or paid disinformation agents. Like Constance says, I wouldn't give much credence to anything they have to say. Or if you are going to give credence to some of it, you must read enough from a variety of sources to be able to discern what bits are true and what are false. Not an easy task! There are probably only a handful of people throughout our entire history of intelligence and counterintelligence who could be considered outstanding in that endeavor. Natalie Grant was one of them (I mentioned her in a previous comment).

Soon (provided I can make the time) I hope to compile a list of far-right or "conservative" suspects who are involved in disseminating disinformation.

Disinformation, to be most effective, is usually about 90-99% true. That's why so many of these people are popular - they have found an audience that wants to hear what they have to say.

Part of the investigation into a source of information is to see where that person is being quoted a lot. For example, Alex Jones is quoted a lot on RT (Russia Today), which is a Russian propaganda outlet. The obvious question is, why?

Anonymous said...

Cindy,

The Pope's personal opinions have nothing to do with Catholic doctrine, and this includes opinions he expresses when speaking before Congress and the U.N. Susanna has explained the Petrine Charism repeatedly over the years. If Catholics aren't posting about these speeches it's probably because they are tired of Protestant readers like you ignoring Susanna's painstaking attempts over the years to explain Catholic doctrine to you, which you then promptly ignore, forcing her to start again at square one. Rinse and repeat. So given this history, I don't blame Catholics here for remaining silent in the face of what seem to be disingenuous queries coming from Protestants. Why should they waste their time when you ignore their clear explanations about doctrine? Or maybe they are just busy with other things than this blog. Susanna will probably weigh in at some point when she has something valuable to say.

There are Catholics all over the internet who can't stand the man and who fear that he will attempt to change doctrine. You will be spoiled for choice finding such discussions if you look for them. Here's an instructive piece if you want to understand some of the basic issues (this article is addressed to a Protestant reader specifically):

http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/2027-a-letter-to-my-protestant-father-on-pope-francis

Anonymous said...

"Blogger Constance Cumbey said...
Christine, I think you can make your points without resorting to sexually explicit passages and "damn liar" references.

Constance

1:29 PM"

Thank you, Constance.
The gravity of the subject is weighty enough without going the "extra mile" in the graphic details and unnecessary foul speech that Ms Erikson routinely deposits here.
I hope she will respect your directives.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Marko said...

"Marko, you are forgetting who runs the west and the CIA and therefore NAtalie
Grant any of your other heroes.

at however many removes, with or without the knowledge of the person you are
trusting, the people who run those you trust because pro west are.....

the same people who run the "east."

sorry, but its true."

No, it is not true. But the sorry thing is, I could spend the next ten years showing you that it isn't true, but you wouldn't acknowledge it. For you, there can never be a black swan, not even if one is shoved in your face. You would say "YOU might think it's a black swan, but *I* know otherwise."

I guess previous commenters were correct - there is no point in trying to dialogue with you.

Hopefully others will find something of value in my warnings about bad information sources.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

http://randompottins.blogspot.com/2007/04/mossad-and-mi6-hired-nazi-walter-rauff.html

YesNaSpanishTown said...

I was only able to catch a portion of the beginning of the pope's UN speech this morning as I worked. My client's TV was tuned to the Verizon Fios channel. I heard the opening introductions. Who spoke before Ban Ki Moon? I didn't see/hear that he was identified. Did anyone take to as to what he said? He referenced the pope being not only the leader of the Catholic Church, but also the "protector of the earth". Did anyone catch that? I haven't been able to find a clip to confirm the exact wording.

The camera panned to the pontiff who showed no sign of rebuff. Nor do I read any correction of such in his comments. The One who created the heavens and the earth is the only protector of it. Yet, He proclaimed that heaven and earth shall pass away, but that His words will not pass away.

That Pope Francis would receive such a description is nigh to blasphemous idolatry.

I agree with the evangel, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” Revelation 14:7

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...


I agree with what is posted below..



"""RayB said...
Christine ...

When I read your charge against Dr. Stanley Monteith I was shocked, because I never heard him say anything that would indicate that he held those types of heretical views. I also read his book (I believe it was titled "Brotherhood of Darkness") years ago, and I am sure he never wrote anything even close to what you claim. Following your comments, I did an extensive Google search and found absolutely nothing to substantiate your claims. I think you should be extremely careful when making these types of charges against a man that lived a life of humility that was also well known for his integrity.

I strongly believe you owe his memory an apology for posting these false charges regarding this man. I'm sure you didn't intend to to this, and may this serve as an illustration that you need to be more careful in the future. If you aren't SURE about what you want to post, don't post it.

11:12


Anonymous said...
RayB,

She owes that gentleman's memory an apology, and she should keep going, apologizing to Constance, Physicist, and to the entire readership of the blog. And one more------the memory of her deceased mother whom she claims committed murder. Since this is blog not a courtroom, we cannot verify and she should never have brought that personal bit to this place in the first place. It does possibly reveal the source of the bitter root that makes her hurl insults far and wide here, though.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Cathy said...

What is the common good?

http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/seven-principles-of-catholic-social-teaching


Pope Francis on Religious Fundamentalism

http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=12626


Servant of God, Dorothy Day

https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/Story/TabId/2672/ArtMID/13567/ArticleID/9717/The-remarkable-life-of-Dorothy-Day.aspx

Anonymous said...

The Shocking Message Pope Francis Preached At New York's St Patrick's Cathedral

www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?P=35894

paul said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Stargazers are in for a treat Sunday when a supermoon combines with a lunar eclipse for the first time since 1982.

The supermoon eclipse will last 1 hour and 11 minutes, and will be visible to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific, according to NASA. Weather permitting, the supermoon will be visible after nightfall, and the eclipse will cast it into shadow beginning at 8:11 p.m. ET. The total eclipse starts at 10:11 p.m. ET, peaking at 10:47 p.m. ET.

Cathy said...

Before making a judgement on the inclusion of Thomas Merton, we need to know the background behind the inclusion of Merton. Since Pope Francis is from Argentina and English is not his strong point, the question is this: is Pope Francis even familiar with Thomas Merton and his writings, or was Merton's name given as a suggestion to the Pope by others?

paul said...

Cathy,
I noticed that he read every word carefully from pages that must have had very large print,
because he turned the pages every three or four lines or so. He appears to have
quite poor eyesight, and his glasses make him look like he has huge eyes.
I doubt he has written any of these speeches.

RayB said...

Constance Cumbey said...
To RayB,

Makow is so virulently anti-Semitic, I have difficulty trusting him or his opinions on anything.

Constance

1:25 PM


I think you have me mixed up with someone else. I didn't mention "Makow" in any post and don't even know who he/she is.

Anonymous said...

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-anti-benedict-conspiracy/

RayB said...

Cathy said...
Before making a judgement on the inclusion of Thomas Merton, we need to know the background behind the inclusion of Merton. Since Pope Francis is from Argentina and English is not his strong point, the question is this: is Pope Francis even familiar with Thomas Merton and his writings, or was Merton's name given as a suggestion to the Pope by others?

9:17 PM

I guarantee this; EVERYTHING the pope said in Cuba, the White House, the Gongress, the UN, etc. in his speeches were gone over extensively by the power structure inside the Vatican. The Vatican leaves nothing to chance ... and with this pope being a Jesuit, EVERYTHING they do and say has a designed purpose. This pope is extremely political and to believe otherwise is not dealing in reality.

Anonymous said...

"As bad as yesterday's Papal speech was, today's currently ongoing before the UN is many times worse. It looks like he has a new speechwriter: Ken Wilber! "
That was in one of Constance's comments, Paul.

Anonymous said...

@ 6:26 PM

You are a hard person.

Craig said...

Posting comments here has become largely an exercise in frustration and/or futility. Christine Erikson (aka Justina) MUST comment on nearly every tidbit of info provided, asserting herself as if she's some sort of omniscient authority. Incredibly - or should I really be surprised given her history here? – in a comment above she has the gall to call someone else's words "slander" (the correct word would be libel - you’d think such an authority on every subject would inherently know this), words which were directed to Constance in reference to a comment that Constance gently corrected her for. Nearly every time she's called out for her rambling/incoherent comments, potentially libelous statements, ad hominem attacks, gratuitous sexual imagery, foul language, etc., she responds with some sort of 'justification' for her actions, sometimes even regurgitating the very same words, or stating them in a slightly paraphrased form, in doing so.

Surely, it's her diarrhea of the pen that keeps some readers and commenters away - I can speak for myself, at least. Of course, 'diarrhea of the pen' is figurative, but I intend a quasi-literal meaning as well. Perhaps the Apostle Paul’s use of the word σκύβαλον, skubalov, in Phil 3:8 – variously translated as dung, refuse, garbage, rubbish – may be apt as a descriptor, though “crap”, one of Christine’s favorite words, could be a better rendering for our purposes here.

Her malodorous words permeate this blog with an incomparable stench. It matters little that she occasionally contributes a kernel of potentially useful info, as the preponderance of her voluminous output is made up of such inconsequence as to render those kernels superfluous and hardly worth the effort to sift through the other “stuff”.

Constance Cumbey said...

When the comments are as long or longer than my post, the temptation to delete is overwhelming. Christine, a word to the wise should be sufficient. The topic here is NOT the Talmud. I profoundly distrust Makow and "reading him with discernment" doesn't overcome his obvious agenda, to my mind.

Constnce

Cathy said...

RayB, obviously the name of Thomas Merton didn't fall from the sky onto a sheet of paper. The question is, who is responsible for the inclusion of Merton's name, does Pope Francis know who Thomas Merton is and is he familiar with Merton's writings?

The fact that Pope Francis belongs to the Society of Jesus aka the Jesuits, is irrelevant. The Jesuits are a religious order in the Catholic Church. And, they are not hiding aliens beneath the Vatican; they don't have horns protruding from their foreheads; they are not reptilian shape-shifters and they don't rule the world.

Constance Cumbey said...

To Anonymous 10:29 THANK YOU!

Here are article I wrote about my concerns both in 2006 shortly after Ratzinger's papal election and again in 2014 after his "resignation" on only 2 weeks notice. Danneels is indeed a disturbing character. May God have mercy on his soul!

http://cumbey.blogspot.com/2014/07/recent-disturbing-developments-in.html
http://cumbey.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html (Battle for the Roman Church)

Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
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Cathy said...

Pope Emeritus Benedict gave hints as far back as 2009 that he would abdicate and he did so in February 2013. Benedict XVI clearly stated he abdicated of his own free will, because he didn't think he had the physical strength to continue on as Pope.

Constance Cumbey said...

Christine,

For excellent reasons I have withheld largely to avoid Christian confusion, I profoundly distrusted Dave Hunt and his agenda. For all his Catholic bashing, the New Age Catholics loved him and recommended his book "CO-AUTHORED" with long dead occult writer William Law in the Classics of Western Spirituality series of which Huston Smith was one of the editors. Dave Hunt told me he had never met Norman Grubb. This was obviously untrue. Norman Grubb had published his first two books, including his first book which was the "co-authorship" with William Law. Law was the translator of Jacob Boehme into English. Boehme was Blavatsky's inspiration for Theosophy. There is much to tell here. I broke with Dave in early October 1987 in California and never looked back.

Constance

Anonymous said...

The big question in my mind is whether a site like this is New Age or anti-New Age. While it supposedly exposes the occult, it also creates a fascination with it while it bashes the major religions. https://www.facebook.com/PopeFrancisMegaRitual922

It seems to me to be very much like writers who claim to be Christian and not Jew haters but who call attention to the writings or talks of vicious Jew haters saying the material often contains truth.

The world of information can be used by those promoting New Age without ever saying they are New Age promoters.

All the while New Age politics take over the governments more and more.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

on facebook I find this: Jonathan Hill "I get why Liberals especially love the Pope's visit here: he never mentioned Jesus."

hmmmmm.

Craig said...

Christine,

A quick search (control f) proves you wrong regarding your use of crap (“I may have used the word crap once this year”). As for the term diarrhea of the pen, Constance herself used this referencing you about a year ago (http://cumbey.blogspot.com/2014/07/c-contraction-convergence-aubrey-meyer.html):

Christine,

I'm sorry to say it so tactlessly, but some of your posts are more than approaching "diarrhea of the pen".

Please limit yourself to no more than one well written and well edited post per day here. This is about my 4th or 5th request that you do so.

Thanks!

Constance


When I was in high school, one of my teachers referred to another student as “Yabut”. Each and every time the teacher would correct him he’d say, “Yeah, but…” In your comment @ 12:26am above, you ‘apologize’ for bringing up a subject not germane to the topic at hand, yet attempt to justify your reasons for doing so, thus aptly illustrating my point in the opening paragraph of my earlier comment.

Craig said...

Please allow me to bring up the subject of the previous post. I wanted to post this comment in that post when it was first written but decided not to do so, as I didn’t want to potentially divert from Cuddy’s need. I resonate with Cuddy’s frustration, as I found out 1.5 years ago that a fellow blogger was in financial need, and throughout this past year and a half I’ve found that others who ‘know’ this individual through the blogosphere did very little to assist. I posted a blog post (it’s my current post) about 1.5 months ago, receiving such a dismal response that I’m frankly disgusted with many of those proclaiming themselves “Christian”, at least here in the USA.

Cuddy begins the post Constance referenced with:

Not long ago at the beginning of one of my NewsWithViews columns, I mentioned a desperate need my mother had and still has. Outside of those who already knew us, there were only 2 responses.

Of the 290 subscribers to my blog – which means all receive an email, alerting them of a new post – only four chose to contribute. One of them has already been contributing (I found out about the need from this individual), one is from Australia, and one is a missionary to Brazil who resides in the UK. That leaves only one other, who may or who may not be an American.

I contacted friends of means, with my words falling on deaf ears. There’s one individual who openly shares (boasts?) about giving to causes – all good causes, but not all ‘Christian’ – yet refused to give directly to a brother and sister in need.

Similar to Cuddy, I chose to use Matthew 25 in my blog post, but I used it positively rather than negatively (not that I think Cuddy was wrong in his usage, mind you). Scripture is quite clear that we are to help our brothers and sisters. I agree with Cuddy’s words that the collective inaction was akin to saying, "No Jesus, I am not going to help You."

Anonymous said...

Craig,

It's good to see you back. I have enjoyed and benefited from your commentary here for years.

I posted early on in the Cuddy thread about a similar experience in 2013 with a fellow Watchman (in this case an author) in dire cicumstances (I don't know if you saw the comment - so many things at this blog seem to get buried by MCE's excessive commenting). I don't have a blog so did not have as large a group of Christians from whom to solicit help for this person, but two of the Christians who turned me down were both wealthy people. One is a multi-millionaire who is retired but still in very good physical health. This man point blank refused to put his hand in his pocket so I asked him to travel with me in order to assist the person in need who needed work done in their residence, and he refused to give up even a single day of his retirement time to do so. He also refused to assist financially. He then approached a mutual acquaintance of ours in their place of work (a retail establishment) to complain about my solicitation of help from him! How dare I try to "guilt trip" him into contributing to a fellow Christian in need. How manipulative of me! Do I have no sense of decorum? Perhaps I need counselling, for it must be a symptom of mental illness to ask another person to help someone. You would think I was asking him for funds for my personal use.

I took off several days of work and footed the bill for everything myself in order to sort out this Watchman's situation (I won't get into the details but this person needed help in moving to alternate rented accommodation, among other things).

I am in full agreement with you about the appalling state of Christianity today with respect to the second great commandment which is "love your neighbour as yourself." I no longer look at the New Age movement as the "enemy," quite honestly, I think the worst enemy of Christianity is people who claim to be Christian yet who ignore the second great commandment. I understand that not everyone is in a position to help, and not everyone can help every time (I am not in a position to help Cuddy at the moment as much as I wish I was - but had others helped me in 2013 instead of leaving everything to me, I would be able to help Dr. Cuddy today, ironically). Like many others, I am one job loss/health crisis away from being in a similar situation to Dr. Cuddy. After what I experienced in 2013, I am absolutely certain that I will be able to ask NOT ONE SINGLE CHRISTIAN for any help with finances, practical support, emotional support, etc. I will be completely on my own should my own situation go south. So I am preparing for this eventuality. I will never complain to any fellow Christian if this happens to me. I learned my lesson. I will "pull up my bootstraps" and do everything on my own. I will never ask anyone for help. Experience has taught me that in 2015 "Christian community" is largely illusion.

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."

Constance Cumbey said...

This was what I wrote about Danneels in a footnote to my 2007 and repeated in 2014 article:

Kaiser claims that Cardinal Danneels, once head of Pax Christi, and even the author of an anti-New Age tract, said that his theology changed daily. Whether that is good or bad, one would suppose, would be the direction in which the theology changes – closer to or further away from Jesus Christ whom he is pledged to serve – closer or further from God the father. I am dismayed to learn that Danneels was so overwrought by the election of the conservative Ratzinger to the papacy. Danneels' purported anti-New Age ADVOCACY, shown to me a few years ago by another anti-New Age author, Donna Steichen, had once given me hope. Disturbingly, Danneels and nine other cardinals would not stay for the impromptu supper served up by the new Pope Benedict XVI. It has a ring of someone else who at times convincingly professed orthodoxy, but would not stay for dinner – Judas Iscariot on the night of our Lord’s Last Supper.

Constance Cumbey said...

To 12:50

The New Age Movement can, as you well know, take many forms, including but not limited to Anthroposophy, Astrology and Green Eyed Monsters. I'm only half joking.

Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
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Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Dear Constance ~

With all due respect, I am reminded that you have come up 'empty' (as far as intended results) on the countless hours devoted to research on Javier Solana. Therefore, don't you think that it's a bit 'premature' for you (or anyone else) to make any kind of judgment 'call' on Pope Francis (just two years into his pontificate)?

If Jesus was walking among us here on earth today (e.g. in Washington, New York, Philadelphia)... He would, in fact, be INCLUSIVE... reaching out to sinners, the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, etc.

"And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." (John 10-16 Douay-Rheims Bible)

Unless Pope Francis acts (outright) in a way that is contrary to the teachings of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church... I will continue to respect him as the leader of our church's 1.2 billion Catholics... and also continue to pray for his safety and well being.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Yabut ;) .............

"Craig,

I said THIS year, 2014 is not 2015.

Constance, sorry.

2:14 PM"


Me thinks ye have strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel, Ms Erikson.

Craig said...

Christine 2:14 PM,

Once again, you illustrate the frustration and/or futility of engaging on this blog. It seems you’ve conflated the first two sentences/two separate points in my 7:00AM comment. It was in 2014 that Constance referred to you as having “diarrhea of the pen”, while my assertion in the first sentence regarding your usage of “crap” THIS year remains true. All one has to do is check the previous (Cuddy) post to find 3 instances (comments 201-377). One of these comments even has the ‘added bonus’ of you using the same four letter word that Constance suggested you not use earlier in this current thread.

Anon 3:21PM,

;)

Susanna said...

Dear Constance,

While we may have our differences with regard to Pope Francis following traditional church teaching ( which I have previously discussed ), in the interests of fair play, I am posting a very recent article from the National Catholic Register dated September 24, 2015 which validates what you just posted about Cardinal Danneels being against Pope Benedict XVI.

If it hadn't been in the National Catholic Register, I wouldn't be posting it.

Cardinal Danneels Admits to Being Part of 'Mafia' Club Opposed to Benedict XVI

New authorised biography also reveals papal delegate at upcoming synod wrote letter to Belgium government supporting same-sex "marriage" legislation because it ended discrimination against LGBT groups

by Edward Pentin 09/24/2015

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-danneels-part-of-mafia-club-opposed-to-benedict-xvi
_________________________________________________________________

Rod Dreher, who is Orthodox, has hinted on his Twitter that Danneels is a braggart......in which case, he (Danneels) may be blowing smoke.

I am currently looking into this in order to learn the whole story.

The NCRegister article was also posted at Free Republic.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3340874/posts

Susanna said...

Here is the La Stampa article about Danneels as translated from Italian by the people at Rorate Coeli.



Tosatti: The election of Jorge Bergoglio by the Martini-led "Mafia"

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/09/tosatti-election-of-jorge-bergoglio-by.html#more
________________________________________________________



















Susanna said...

Friday, September 25, 2015

Cardinal Danneels Admits Being in Mafia Dedicated to Unseat Pope Benedict XVI


By Tantumblogo

Pride goeth before the fall. The modernists are apparently feeling very powerful and secure, because they are starting to open their mouths and crow about both their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI, dropping hints they played a role in his abdication, as well as quite possibly illicitly organizing to elect Pope Francis.

Further serious concerns are being raised about Cardinal Godfried Danneels, one of the papal delegates chosen to attend the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family, after the archbishop emeritus of Brussels confessed this week to being part of a radical “mafia” reformist group opposed to Benedict XVI.

It was also revealed this week that he once wrote a letter to the Belgium government favoring same-sex “marriage” legislation because it ended discrimination against LGBT groups.

The cardinal is already known for having once advised the king of Belgium to sign an abortion law in 1990, for telling a victim of clerical sex abuse to keep quiet, and for refusing to forbid pornographic, “educational” materials being used in Belgian Catholic schools.

He also once said same-sex “marriage” was a “positive development,” although he has sought to distinguish such a union from the Church’s understanding of marriage.

……..At the launch of the book in Brussels this week, the cardinal said he was part of a secret club of cardinals opposed to Pope Benedict XVI.

He called it a “mafia” club that bore the name of St. Gallen. The group wanted a drastic reform of the Church, to make it “much more modern”, and for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to head it. The group, which also comprised Cardinal Walter Kasper and the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, has been documented in Austen Ivereigh’s biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer.
The plain implication is that these men were probably driving forces behind the Vatileaks and other difficulties that plagued PBXVI’s pontificate, helping convince the beleaguered Pope Emeritus that abdication was his best alternative. Of course, there have also been dark hints of a turncoat “disciple” of Ratzinger that played a key role in convincing him to abdicate, promising him that someone of a like mind would be elected and bring the constant stream of scandals afflicting the Vatican to an end. Who that turncoat is has not been revealed to date.

Nevertheless, this second admission, coupled with admissions made in the book alluded to in Pentin’s post above (The Great Reformer), seems to point to at least a reasonable possibility that there was illegal collusion between various cardinals at the conclave of 2013... (continued)


http://www.sanctepater.com/2015/09/cardinal-danneels-admits-being-in-mafia.html

Read More at A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

https://veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/stunning-admission-hyper-progressive-cardinal-danneels-admits-being-in-mafia-dedicated-to-unseat-pbxvi/
_________________________________________________________________________________

I think the ultimate conspiracy was to undermine the papacies of BOTH Pope Benedict XVI AND Pope Francis.

But if these prelates think that Pope Francis is going to serve as their "puppet pope," they had better think again.


Susanna said...

My apologies to Anonymous 10:29 P.M. I missed your post about the Benedict conspiracy article by Rod Dreher.

This was the link you posted.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-anti-benedict-conspiracy/

Anonymous said...

From the NC article that Susanna posted http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-danneels-part-of-mafia-club-opposed-to-benedict-xvi

New Age connection and goings on in the US now

"Asked about the letter, Verhofstadt said he did not recall it, but added: “I never had any problem with the cardinal. Our relationship was good.”

"Under Verhofstadt’s (then Belgium Prime Minister) leadership, from 1999 to 2007, the Belgian government not only introduced same sex “marriage”, but also laws on euthanasia, experiments on human embryos, and IVF.

"Despite the poor record of the Belgian Church in resisting these laws, and the country being far smaller than many African countries that have one delegate representing them, Cardinal Danneels, 82, will be one of three Belgian prelates to attend the synod in October."

NEW AGE PLANNING HAS INFILTRATED EVERYTHING. EXPOSE IT!

Anonymous said...

Pope Francis To Release Pop-Rock Album 'Wake UP!' This November

www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog//?P=35920

Anonymous said...

To CLARIFY what Anonymous @ 7:37 PM posted....

"The Vatican-approved LP, a collaboration with Believe Digital, features the Pontiff delivering sacred hymns and excerpts of his most moving speeches in multiple languages paired with uplifting musical accompaniment ranging from pop-rock to Gregorian chant."

Susanna said...



WOW! It looks like the publishers of Danneel's biography are walking back Danneel's comments about the St. Gallen Group that orchestrated the overthrow of Pope Benedict XVI and subsequent election of Pope Francis!!!

Wonder what's up with that??? Looks like Danneels stepped on his own airhose!


Cardinal Danneels’ Biographers Retract Comments on St. Gallen Group

Published Saturday, September 26, A.D. 2015

National Catholic Register

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/st.-gallen-group-not-a-lobby-group-say-authors

Anonymous said...

'Pope Francis + The New World Order'

www.pastorbrianroberts.com

Saturday, 26 September 2015 post

Anonymous said...

http://www.christianpost.com/news/pope-francis-proves-to-be-a-unifying-proclaimer-of-jesus-at-interfaith-gathering-in-new-york-city-146208/

Constance Cumbey said...

To Anonymous 2:34

I too pray that Pope Francis will turn in the right direction. However, the recent revelations in National Catholic Register about the apparent rigging of the upcoming Synod on the Family leave me more than a little queasy/uneasy. At one time the New Agers counted Pope John Paul II as hopeful for their cause. Eventually, many decided he was instead their most formidable foe and things wouldn't happen as long as HE occupied the Vatican.

I, however, can't help but wonder if Pope Benedict XVI was not the subject of a coup. Recent revelations about Cardinals Kasper, Danneels, Martini and others do nothing to shake this feeling with me.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

Susanna,

Brilliant and helpful as is usual from you! Thanks! I read much of the Pentin material earlier today and earlier tonight spent nearly $19 ordering his book on the upcoming Synod from Amazon's Kindle. I appreciate your help in staying abreast of these fast breaking developments.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

To 9:36 p.m.

I read and enjoyed the Bro. Brian articles. Thank you!

Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

http://www.ephesians5-11.org/litmus.htm

this whole site should be studied. Beyond issues of what kind of politics is
promoted (which is whatever suits them at the moment) or economics, it
would not matter how anti communist and capitalistic and nationalist masonry
might be any place or time.

what matters is the essential doctrines are at odds with Jesus Christ, and
promote a false equation of Him and The Father and The Holy Spirit with false
gods of paganism that those Jesus Christ taught personally taught others to
reject.

Anonymous said...

The Worship Of Pope Francis Proves People Are Ready To Receive Antichrist

www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?P=35950

Anonymous said...

There is nothing in the Bible that believing in global warming is contrary to the Christian faith. Belief in global warming or not believing does not negate or promote anyone's Christian faith. Jesus warned against teaching human precepts as God precepts. If you claim you follow Jesus, then you do what he says. How many people here have chosen to ignore him?

Jesus does not command us to reject worldly knowledge. He does, however, command us to seek the Kingdom of God first in all things. So, the knowledge of our faith is the first thing we should learn. However, Jesus never commanded us to keep believing the world is flat. He did say for us to remain faithful.

All of you here would condemn Jesus based on how you condemn Pope Francis. Not every one who cries Lord, Lord is welcome in the Kingdom. Only those who do the will of Christ. Shame on you!

Anonymous said...

9:55 A.M.

Your completely twisting the issue 180 degrees with your rhetoric.

But hey, that's how religionists, and cultists operate.

Anonymous said...

"All of you here would condemn Jesus based on how you condemn Pope Francis."

Congratulations, you may have moved into first place for the all time biggest pile of crap ever deposited on this blog!!!!

Craig said...

Pope Francis - Rock Star?

Pope Francis to Release Rock Album, Shares First Song "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!"

Cool Pope Is Releasing an Album; Hear His Fire New Single

Craig said...

From Rolling Stone (September 25, 2015):

Pope Francis to Release Pop-Rock Album 'Wake Up!'

As Pope Francis embarks on his historic visit to the United States, His Holiness will spread his message of hope, faith and unity in the form of a prog-rock-infused album titled Wake Up! this November. The Vatican-approved LP, a collaboration with Believe Digital, features the Pontiff delivering sacred hymns and excerpts of his most moving speeches in multiple languages paired with uplifting musical accompaniment ranging from pop-rock to Gregorian chant. Wake Up! arrives November 27th, with the iTunes pre-order now available with an instant download of "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!," which Rolling Stone is proud to premiere…

The Argentinean-born Pope Francis, the first Pope born outside of Europe, has reignited a Catholic base and inspired millions outside his own religious denomination with his selfless, unifying messages that encourage climate change protection, assistance for the homeless and his hope for equality for all, even in the case of hot-button issues like same-sex marriage and immigration.

It's Pope Francis' belief that every person should be treated with love and respect, a message that has made him universally loved after critics chastised the Catholic Church for alienating its base and the world outside the Vatican with hardened views.

Speaking to Congress Thursday, Pope Francis asked the leaders of the most powerful and wealthiest nation to mend the "open wounds" of a planet ripped apart by hate, poverty, weapons and climate change. "I know that you share my conviction that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic hardship, a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost," the Pope told Congress. "At the same time, I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope."


Anonymous said...

James 4:4

Ye adulterers, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God

Anonymous said...

John 15:19

If ye were of the world, the world loves its own; but because you are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you

In general,,,does the world love Francis, or no?

Constance Cumbey said...

I do, however, see the Pope's example of visiting those in prison a good and positive thing that is biblically justified.

Constance

Constance Cumbey said...

I also agree with Pope Francis' direction to European Catholic parishes to "adopt" fleeing refugee families -- one family per parish. There is plain scriptural admonitions to the Jews that "you were once a stranger in a strange land. Therefore, you are to treat the stranger among you with kindness."

Constance

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous @ 8:50 AM:

No one 'worships' Pope Francis... except in your (and possibly others) very twisted mind.

Susanna said...

Dear Constance,

Here is an article from THE CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT which contains material from Edward Pentin's book about the upcoming synod.....most likely the one you just ordered.
In his book, Mr. Pentin describes the 2014 synod out of which came the "explosive" interim report ( the notorious Relatio post disceptationem) which was released/leaked half way through the synod discussions and which provoked allegations of "a rigged process."

The prelate who challenged the leak of this document the loudest making his protest nice and loud and stinky was (God love him) George Cardinal Pell of Australia.



THE RIGGING OF A VATICAN SYNOD?
September 2, 2015
Edward Pentin

......What had provoked many to allege rigging of the meeting, both inside and outside the synod hall, was the publication on October 13 of the Relatio post disceptationem, or interim report, on the first week of the synod’s discussions.

Many synod fathers were angry that the Relatio did not represent the majority view of the synod’s participants or the discussion that had occurred during the week and was issued without them seeing it.

George Cardinal Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, was the first to protest in a debate in the aula on the day of the Relatio’s release, followed by a number of heated interventions.
Concerned that the report would go out without anyone remarking on it, he pointed out what was good about the report, but he also noted some serious deficiencies in the text. The Australian cardinal had to persist in his protest in the face of the synod managers who would have liked him to be quiet, sources who were present said.
.....read entire article...

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/4131/the_rigging_of_a_vatican_synod.aspx

Susanna said...


Constance 3:34 A.M. and 3:39 A.M.

In a previous post at 5:01 P.M. I wrote:

I think the ultimate conspiracy was to undermine the papacies of BOTH Pope Benedict XVI AND Pope Francis.

But if these prelates think that Pope Francis is going to serve as their "puppet pope," they had better think again.


The reason I said what I said is because of open admissions of the St. Gallen group (which referred to itself as a "Mafia") that they did everything to make Pope Benedict's life miserable vis a vis "Vatileaks," etc. and because of the effect that things that Danneels and others are alleged to have said could have on the papacy of Pope Francis if they had been proven to be true.

Again, the very liberal Danneels most likely had an axe to grind with Pope Benedict XVI because Pope Benedict replaced him with a prelate who had the reputation of being the most conservative bishop in Belgium.


At the launch of the book (Danneels biography) in Brussels this week, the cardinal said he was part of a secret club of cardinals opposed to Pope Benedict XVI.

He called it a "mafia" club that bore the name of St. Gallen. The group wanted a drastic reform of the Church, to make it "much more modern", and for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to head it. The group, which also comprised Cardinal Walter Kasper and the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, has been documented in Austen Ivereigh's biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer.


http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-danneels-part-of-mafia-club-opposed-to-benedict-xvi/

It has been implied that this St. Gallen Group/ "Mafia" was probably behind the "Vatileaks" scandal.

The plain implication is that these men ( the St. Gallen Group, a.k.a. "the Mafia" ) were probably driving forces behind the Vatileaks and other difficulties that plagued PBXVI’s pontificate, helping convince the beleaguered Pope Emeritus that abdication was his best alternative. Of course, there have also been dark hints of a turncoat “disciple” of Ratzinger that played a key role in convincing him to abdicate, promising him that someone of a like mind would be elected and bring the constant stream of scandals afflicting the Vatican to an end. Who that turncoat is has not been revealed to date......read more.....

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/4131/the_rigging_of_a_vatican_synod.aspx
_____________________________________________________________________________

Susanna said...

The aforementioned situation was reportedly what may have led to Pope Benedict's resignation.

Now with regard to the other issue that potentially could undermine Pope Francis' papacy. If Pope Francis had colluded with other cardinals in the ecclesiastical equivalent of "campaigning" for the papacy, it would have resulted in ipso facto excommunication and invalidation of the papal election. This is because the election of a pope is supposed to be the work of the Holy Spirit and not the work of politicking prelates.

Both the authors of Danneels' biography and that of Pope Francis have revised statements that indicated Pope Francis was involved in such "campaigning" for the papacy.

The authors of a new authorized biography of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, have issued a correction to earlier comments quoted in a Belgian newspaper and which I reported here.

Karim Schelkens and Jürgen Mettepenningen, authors of Godfried Danneels Biographie, have stressed that the “St. Gallen club” of reformist prelates was not a lobby group that prepared for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to be elected Pope.

They say their quote in the original article in “Le Vif”, which had said “the election of Bergoglio was prepared in St. Gallen” by Cardinal Danneels and others, was a mistake made "after their approval and correction" of the quote.

Now they have stated that the “election of Bergoglio corresponded with the aims of St. Gallen, on that there is no doubt. And the outline of its program was that of Danneels and his confreres who had been discussing it for ten years.”

They stressed that, as this goal was not met in the 2005 conclave, and the St. Gallen club no longer convened after 2006, their original quote gave the false impression that it was a lobby group rather than an informal one. Cardinal Danneels this week referred to it as a kind of "mafia" club.

Despite this, according to the new biography, after 2003 the St. Gallen group became of "strategic importance" with regards the 2005 conclave.

The authors stress in the book that with its array of members including Cardinals José da Cruz Policarpo, then Patriarch of Lisbon, as well as Cardinals Martini, Danneels, Murphy-O'Connor, Silvestrini, Husar, Kasper and Lehmann, members of the St. Gallen group felt it could have “significant impact” if each of them used their network of contacts.

The authors further write that in the days leading up to the 2005 conclave, cardinals of the group sent a postcard to Bishop Ivo Fürer, founder of the group, with the message: "We are here in the spirit of Sankt Gallen."*

Cardinal Danneels’ two biographers do not mention in the book lobbying by ex-members of the group during the 2013 conclave.

In The Great Reformer, Austen Ivereigh writes that members of the disbanded group and others, whom he calls “Team Bergoglio”, did not ask Cardinal Bergoglio if he would be willing to be a candidate, but they believed this time that the crisis in the Church would make it hard for him to refuse if elected.

This was in accordance with conclave rules, and corrected an earlier version of the book which stated that "Team Bergoglio" seized the initiative in the days leading up to the 2013 conclave to “promote their man," first confirming with with the cardinal that he was willing to become Pope, and then canvassed on his behalf.


Still, although the secretive club hadn’t formally met since 2006, it’s safe to say that it helped form a network that paved the way for at least favoring Cardinal Bergoglio at the conclave seven years later.
...read entire article....

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/st.-gallen-group-not-a-lobby-group-say-authors/

_______________________________________________________________________________

Susanna said...

Austen Iverleigh also had to revise his 2014 biography of Pope Francis entitled The Great Reformer.

But when Ivereigh’s book was published last month (he personally presented a copy to Francis), media accounts of the politics of the conclave prompted some to question whether Bergoglio himself was involved by giving the go-ahead, and whether that could undermine the legitimacy of his election.

Murphy-O’Connor’s press secretary wrote a letter to a British newspaper saying that no approach had been made to Bergoglio seeking his assent.

And on Monday (Dec. 1), the Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, issued a statement saying the cardinals cited “have expressly denied this description of events, both in terms of the demand for a prior consent by Cardinal Bergoglio and with regard to the conduct of a campaign for his election.”

Church sources said the Vatican’s quick reaction was an indication of how concerned Rome is that Francis’ opponents will use any pretext to try to sow doubts about him and his papacy.

Ivereigh, a leading Vatican expert who was in New York this week to promote his book, said Tuesday (Dec. 2) that he stands by his reporting. But Ivereigh said he regretted phrasing the episode to make it seem that Bergoglio had been approached about being a candidate and gave his backers encouragement.

“That never happened and I am sorry that I gave the impression that’s what happened,” Ivereigh told Religion News Service. “I think the whole chapter makes clear that he never had any role at all in his own election.”

Ivereigh said he was trying to show that as opposed to the 2005 conclave, Bergoglio’s supporters in 2013 “were convinced he wouldn’t resist his election.”

“The conclave rules do not prevent cardinals from urging other cardinals to vote for a particular person,” he added. “And indeed that is exactly what happens. That is part of the discernment that happens in a papal election.”

Ivereigh said he will be changing the wording of one paragraph in future editions of the book to clarify Bergoglio’s role. (NOTE: See text of the wording change at the end of this story.)

Whether that will satisfy the critics is unclear.

Some fringe elements in the Catholic Church have proposed various theories they claim might either invalidate the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013 or the election of Francis the following month.

Others see the accounts of conclave machinations as further evidence that Pope Francis is, for them, a far more manipulative and autocratic figure than the public believes.


Ivereigh says that in future reprints of “The Great Reformer,” the paragraph at the top of Page 355 will be amended as follows:

EXISTING


They had learned their lessons from 2005. They first secured Bergoglio’s assent. Asked if he was willing, he said that he believed that at this time of crisis for the Church no cardinal could refuse if asked.

NEW

In keeping with conclave rules, they did not ask Bergoglio if he would be willing to be a candidate. But they believed this time that the crisis in the Church would make it hard for him to refuse if elected.

YS/AMB END GIBSON

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/12/05/smoking-gun-pope-francis-critics-cite-new-book-questioning-papacy/

______________________________________________________________________________



What I find interesting in this narrative is BOTH Karim Schelkens and Jürgen Mettepenningen, the authors of the Danneels biography... and Austen Ivereigh, the author of the Pope Francis biography..... agreed to issue corrections to their biographies after insinuating that the election of Pope Francis was rigged.???? If Pope Francis is truly "their guy" I find it rather stupidly self-defeating that they should have come out with statements in the first place which, if proven conclusively, might invalidate Pope Francis' papacy and result in his excommunication ipso facto!!!

Craig said...

Anon 11:49AM,

Thanks for the kind words.

I saw your post on the Cuddy thread, and I wanted to respond to it then. I could very much relate to it. I can relate to this particular comment, as well.

You wrote, After what I experienced in 2013, I am absolutely certain that I will be able to ask NOT ONE SINGLE CHRISTIAN for any help with finances, practical support, emotional support, etc. I will be completely on my own should my own situation go south. So I am preparing for this eventuality. I will never complain to any fellow Christian if this happens to me. I learned my lesson. I will "pull up my bootstraps" and do everything on my own. I will never ask anyone for help.

There are some folks who are willing to help. Don’t give up all hope, should you find yourself in a similar predicament.

RayB said...

Anonymous said...
James 4:4

Ye adulterers, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God

10:55 AM

Anonymous said...
John 15:19

If ye were of the world, the world loves its own; but because you are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you

In general,,,does the world love Francis, or no?

11:03 AM

Great post. It's so obvious that it is scary that many "professing" Christians don't see this. This man pretends to be Christ's representative on earth ... and yet ... he gives speech after speech and NEVER once mentions that precious name of Jesus Christ ... the one name under heaven by which all men must be saved.

Christ said: "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." A person that loves the Lord and His Truth will be an offence to this wicked world. This isn't the first pope that gets this much love from the fallen world.

RayB said...

Constance Cumbey said...
I do, however, see the Pope's example of visiting those in prison a good and positive thing that is biblically justified.

Constance

11:31 AM


Too bad this "great moral leader" didn't visit the prisons in Cuba, where there are tens of thousands imprisoned because of their political and religious convictions.
I noticed too he didn't once bring up the Planned Parenthood videos and only vaguely referenced gay "marriage" (never actually named it), didn't say a word about the 1 MILLION babies that are murdered in the womb in America every year. But, he did visit a prison for a photo op .... how nice.

Cindy said...

The Mystery of Pope Francis: Was There a Vatican Coup?
"One thing that that has puzzled a lot of people since the selection of Pope Francis two years ago is how a left-leaning Pope could succeed two very serious conservative Popes—John Paul II and Benedict XVI—who you would have thought had stacked the ranks of the Cardinals with clergy that would perpetuate their theological and philosophical outlook.

Was Benedict hounded out of office by some kind of internal Vatican scandal perhaps? Was there some ecclesiastical version of a coup?

There’s no evidence that I’m aware of—until now. Three days ago the National Catholic Register ran a very curious article about the contents of a newly published authorized biography of retired Belgian cardinal Godfried Danneels."



READ more here- - ->The Mystery of Pope Francis: Was There a Vatican Coup?

Anonymous said...

Is this a Jesuit connection also? Javier Solana heads this important Jesuit business school:


ESADE and the Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus has been actively involved in the structure and development of ESADE from its beginnings in 1956. Our history is a prime example of the close ties between the Jesuits and key social players: businesspeople, lawyers and other professionals.

ESADE's legal governing body is a community foundation whose board is composed of Jesuits and members of society. A significant number of board members are ESADE alumni.

The appointment of the ESADE Director General is responsibility of the Society of Jesus, whose input, besides inspiring Christian values and Ignatian spirituality, reflects a 450-year-plus tradition of educating leaders for the common good and social change.

The concept of Christian humanism plays a pivotal role in ESADE's humanistic tradition, The development of human and spiritual values, as well as a commitment to justice, is essential. This approach combines with Jesuit philosophy, based on spreading the evangelical word to today's society, and enables individuals with diverse and varied ways of thinking, believers or non-believers, to share and identify with ESADE's values.

ESADE is a member of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools, the World Association of Jesuit Law Schools and UNIJES, an association of Jesuit universities and higher education institutions in Spain.

Anonymous said...

Following the election of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American to hold this post, ESADE would like to reiterate its friendship and ties to the Society of Jesus, whose values and spirituality have inspired our institution since its founding.

At ESADE, we remember with affection and consideration all the Jesuits who, throughout our more than fifty years of history, have generously worked to help us build a high-quality, meaningful academic institution that is a leader in its field. We share this special moment with the Society of Jesus, with the international Jesuit universities with which we have strategic alliances (Georgetown University, the Central American University and others), and with the members of UNIJES (the Spanish federation of Jesuit universities) with which we share projects and initiatives.

Pope Francis will face major challenges as he works to lead and inspire the Catholic Church. At ESADE, we are confident that he will develop a leadership style in keeping with the times and substantively address major challenges pertaining to the renewal of the Church and its contribution to a more just, humane and hopeful world.



President of ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics; Former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Former Secretary General of NATO

We need a new mentality. The world is changing. The relations between the private and public sectors are going to change and companies have the responsability to know the geopolitical landscape, on both moral and pragmatic grounds

Cathy said...

1. Pope St John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI also visited Cuba, and did not visit prisons or meet with dissidents either.

2. Everyone with access to newspapers, television or the internet, knows that the Catholic Church which includes Pope Francis, is opposed to abortion and gay marriage.

3. The Lord judges the motives behind actions as He can read hearts.

Dan Bryan said...

Constance,

RayB and Cathy have eluded to the two major recent scourges in American culture, that of abortion and same sex marriage.
Both of these items are/were in the forefront of American politics touching the moral fiber of our country in the days prior to Pope Francis's visit.
As Cathy well points out these are tenants of the Catholic Church.
However this Pontiff missed an opportunity to speak the word of the Lord to some of the greatest moral problems facing our great country; in my view, he committed the sin by omission in his silence.

He may have said something in Philadelphia, but after the congressional speech, I checked out!

Anonymous said...

Cathy said...
1. Pope St John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI also visited Cuba, and did not visit prisons or meet with dissidents either.

2. Everyone with access to newspapers, television or the internet, knows that the Catholic Church which includes Pope Francis, is opposed to abortion and gay marriage.

3. The Lord judges the motives behind actions as He can read hearts.

12:56 AM

Cathy ...

Does it bother you at all that this man had an audience of MILLIONS and didn't once use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Jn 14:6 He also said: "What profiteth a man if he gaint he whole world and lose his eternal soul." The pope talked almost exclusively of life in THIS world, and never mentioned ONCE God's ONLY way to eternal life ... Jesus Christ.

You can make excused for him and the Vatican all you want. These people prove over and over again that they are nothing other than "clouds without water."

RayB said...

The pope had a high profile "visit" to a prison here, but he not only didn't visit any prison in Cuba, where tens of thousands of innocent people languish because of their political and religious convictions, he NEVER even mentioned the plight of these unfortunate people. Dissidents were dragged away and arrested that attempted to draw attention regarding this matter to the pope. He refused to meet with any of them, and again .. never mentioned one word regarding their illegal captivity.

To be fair, he did get one convert in Cuba; Rahul Castro (the murdering Communist), so inspired by the pope's visit, now says that he is going to "attend Mass." Castro has not announced, however, that he is renouncing his atheistic Marxist/Leninism. Maybe he feels he's OK, because the pope announced that "atheists that do good go to heaven" (along with gays)... one of the most heretical, absurd statements ever made!

Christ said: "Ye shall knowe them by their fruits." Anyone that doesn't see this charade for what it is is purposely in denial. READ the Bible and see for yourself what God REALLY says. That is the ONLY authority that can be trusted.

Constance Cumbey said...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2492074,00.asp

I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg means well, but his new thrust certainly has interesting apparent prophetic ramifications regarding faciliation of the Revelation 13 described system:

Mark Zuckerberg is teaming up with Bono's One organization to push for universal Internet access by 2020.
"I believe Internet access is essential for achieving humanity's #globalgoals," reads the Connectivity Declaration released by One and signed by several high-profile people and philanthrophic organizations, including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The declaration was released as the United Nations considered the Global Goals, a development blueprint aimed at solving pressing social and economic challenges. Zuckerberg appeared at the UN this week to discuss the Internet component of those goals and explain that "connecting the world is one of the fundamental challenges of our generation."
"Today over half the people on this planet don't have access," Zuckerberg wrote in a joint New York Times op-ed with Bono. "That is not good for anyone — not for the disempowered and disconnected, and not for the other half, whose commerce and security depend on having stable societies.


Even more interesting to me is that Bono is ikn on this. Bono is a great favorite of Doug Coe and the C Street /International Christian Leadership crowd in Washington, D.C.

Constance

Anonymous said...

12:33 AM

THANK YOU!

Anonymous said...

The big ticket items on God's agenda are not on the pope's.
He is a friend of this world.
He is, what Jesus was not.
Take up your cross and follow is what Jesus says--requires us to follow Him by faith. the faith once delivered to the saints. That is an appeal that is way above the notion and idea of denominations.
Many saints are ain'ts these days.

That puts anyone who truly believes Him at odds with the world, just as the Lord Jesus was (and still is)
God is sorting hearts right now.
Who is on the Lord's side?

Cathy said...

Cathy ...

Does it bother you at all that this man had an audience of MILLIONS and didn't once use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Jn 14:6 He also said: "What profiteth a man if he gaint he whole world and lose his eternal soul." The pope talked almost exclusively of life in THIS world, and never mentioned ONCE God's ONLY way to eternal life ... Jesus Christ.

Anonymous, did you listen to Pope Francis' homilies at the various Masses during his trip to America? Also, where does it say in the Bible that repeatedly mentioning the name of Jesus will guarantee one Eternal Life? Didn't Jesus say that NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS LORD, LORD SHALL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER...FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.


https://www.bible.com/bible/55/mat.7.21.drc1752

http://www.catholicbible101.com/faithandworks.htm

Susanna said...

Constance,

I am sure you will be interested in checking out the following

It is an attack on Edward Pentin's book about the synod by the National Catholic Reporter ( a.k.a. "fishwrap" )....NOT to be confused with the National Register which is the news service of EWTN. They also attack Cardinal Burke.

Pentin's Pernicious Attack on the Synod
by Michael Sean Winters | Sep. 3, 2015

...Edward Pentin is coming out with a new book unhappily entitled The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation of Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. I have not read this tome, but a lengthy except has been published at the Catholic World Report, lengthy enough to give us some flavor of what the work contains. Even the title demonstrates why this book is unhelpful: Rigging?

This book was written by Pentin, but it could alternately be called The Synod According to Cardinal Burke. The petulant cardinal made a beeline for Pentin and other conservative reporters at the end of each session of the synod last year. This was ironic, in a sad sort of way. +Burke frequently condemned the media manipulation of the synod, but he and other conservative prelates were the ones feeding information to the press. Indeed, several high profile journalists, having acquired sources in the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI have been reduced to becoming shills for the opposition to Pope Francis. The opposition leaks like a sieve. Pope Francis’ team not only declines to leak items to the press, no one in the press has even been able to write a definitive account of who is on the pope’s team.....
read entire article.....

http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/pentins-pernicious-attack-synod
______________________________________________________

By the way, FYI you can get Pentin's e-book for less money at Ignatius Press

where it is being sold at the web sale price of $12.32


http://www.ignatius.com/Products/RVS-E/the-rigging-of-a-vatican-synod.aspx

Susanna said...

P.S.

Constance,

Contrary to what the National Catholic Reporter seems to want everyone to think, in the end, the validity of a Synod is judged by its alignment with the Truth!!!

Susanna said...

Constance,

Here is the comment for which I just posted a P.S. message. It "disappeared."

I am sure you would want to check out the attack on Edward Pentin's book by the uber-liberal National Catholic Reporter (a.k.a. "fishwrap").....NOT to be confused with the National Catholic Register which is the news service of EWTN. They especially hammer Cardinal Raymond Burke.

Pentin's Pernicious Attack on the Synod
by Michael Sean Winters | Sep. 3, 2015

http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/pentins-pernicious-attack-synod

Anonymous said...

You wanna know how the Rev 13 financial system will get put in place? Easy! Janet Yellen just announced that the Fed would keep interest rates rockbottom even though the crisis was 7 years ago. That is because her friends in the investment banks are now so heavily leveraged that any rise would be catastrophic to them and trigger another existential crisis for the banking system.

Unfortunately for the US government and for other debtors denominated in dollars, the forces of deflation aka recession are currently defeating the forces of inflation aka QE. Deflation is good news for savers, ie responsible people, but dreadful news for debtors - of which Uncle Sam is the largest - because the debt gets bigger in real terms. What can the powers that be do next? Yet more QE would just send the money into the stock market without kickstarting any boom. And interest rates cannot be lowered below zero to encourage people to spend - in other words cream off a few percent of every positive bank balance per year - because people would then just store their cash under the mattress rather than in the bank. Their next trick? ABOLISH CASH. Give everybody a bank card equivalent to the value of their account and demand that all payments be made via it. THEN they can enact negative interest rates. Of course they'd have to do another FDR and criminalize the holding of gold, but if he can, they can.

Did someone ask by what right the financial system will henceforth be run in the interests of bankers rather than the people? Sorry sir, wrong question, next please.

You think I'm joking? A couple of weeks ago Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England's Chief Economist, made a public speech saying this.

Richard said...

This is an old fox wearing a white sheep's cloth. I suspect he will not be the infamous false prophet, but a forerunner.

In other news, liquid water flows on Mars today.

Anonymous said...

https://www.theosophical.org/publications/1641
"Love, it is such a potent word. As Theosophists, we know that love is the basis of Theosophy. Without love, Theosophy could not exist. Without love, Theosophy is nothing. Love is the force that holds the universe together and keeps the cycle of everything going. Love gives us the power to know ourselves and others. "

http://tinyurl.com/p32qlk8
"Love is our mission" theme of Pope's trip to the US.

Why criticize him for not promoting religion when Love was the mission. Anything can be and has been done in the name of love.

Anonymous said...

RayB,

It is really hard to take you seriously on this topic (Pope Francis). It has been explained repeatedly at this blog over the years that Catholic doctrine is not the same as the Pope's personal opinions. I linked earlier on this thread to a Remanant article that shows how unhappy (to put it mildly) many Catholics are with many things Pope Francis is saying or doing. Yet you expect to be taken seriously here.

If I want to read about criticisms of Pope Francis I will go to places like Louie Verrechio's site, or the Remnant, where people who understand Catholic doctrine level their criticisms, not from someone like you who lacks even a basic understanding of Catholicism 101 and is apparently either too lazy, or too intellectually dishonest, to remedy that deficit.

P.S. I am not Catholic, but I have studied Catholic doctrine and concluded that most of the criticisms lobbed at the Catholic Church by Protestants are unwarranted and based on misinformation. Whether people like you realize it or not, the Catholic Church is the mother ship.

Richard said...

"RayB said...

Christine ...

When I read your charge against Dr. Stanley Monteith I was shocked, because I never heard him say anything that would indicate that he held those types of heretical views. I also read his book (I believe it was titled "Brotherhood of Darkness") years ago, and I am sure he never wrote anything even close to what you claim. Following your comments, I did an extensive Google search and found absolutely nothing to substantiate your claims. I think you should be extremely careful when making these types of charges against a man that lived a life of humility that was also well known for his integrity."

If you ignore certain people, they will leave this blog in time. Contributors to this blog should act as if her comments are invisible. Problem solved.



Richard said...

"Syria sent 75 Soviet tanks to Hezbollah to help them fight Al Qaeda affiliated terror groups, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported on Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad reportedly sent the T-55 and T-72 tanks to the Lebanon-based terror organization in thanks for its support during the ongoing civil war. This gift will now allow Hezbollah to set up its own armored division.

The report also claimed that Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Russia have created a “joint operations room” to coordinate their efforts. 100 officers and soldiers from Iran’s Special Forces recently arrived in Damascus in cooperation and in accordance with an agreement with Russia, with the goal to teach Hezbollah urban warfare skills.

Iran has reportedly agreed to defend the capital, Damascus, and the region down to Quneitra. This will put Iranian troops on the border across from Israel’s Golan heights."

So now Iranian soldiers are officially a stone throw away from Israel.
Is it not true that many fighters in ISIS hail from Libya and Tunis (North Africa)?
Interesting that Cush and Put have members from those same regions. The mind boggles, but this cast of actors certainly looks like the one slated to play in Gog and Magog's war.



Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/49735/syria-gives-75-tanks-to-hezbollah-middle-east/#xWAmB8p6gVJLUK0E.99

RayB said...

Anonymous said @ 2:05 PM to RayB:

"If I want to read about criticisms of Pope Francis I will go to places like Louie Verrechio's site, or the Remnant, where people who understand Catholic doctrine level their criticisms, not from someone like you who lacks even a basic understanding of Catholicism 101 and is apparently either too lazy, or too intellectually dishonest, to remedy that deficit."

You couldn't be more wrong. Here's an illustration: I have 2 very good friends that are twins and both are attorneys and life long devout Catholics. They continue to practice law even though they are 90 years old. Over the YEARS, we have engaged in numerous and lengthy conversations in their law office re: politics, but more often than not, "religion." These 2 men are very intelligent and well read. What has amazed me over the years is their almost complete ignorance of Scripture. They have often been shocked when I have shared with them what the Bible actually teaches. Why? Because it does not comport with Roman Catholic dogma and doctrine. You accuse me of not knowing Catholic teachings. That is a totally false premise, as I have studied its teachings for years and am more versed in its official teachings than are most Catholics.

I once read a statement by a Catholic priest that actually took the time to read the Bible. I leave you with his enlightening comment: "Either the Bible is false, and Catholic tenets are true, or Catholicism is false and the Bible is true. The point is the two (the Bible & RCC) cannot be reconciled."

Anonymous said...

Dear 1:43 PM

No, the mission is not to be done in the name of love, but in the name of Jesus Christ.
God is love therefore, Jesus is love.
The cross is how he proved it.
The empty tomb is how God the father approved Him.
The message is that the Savior lives and those who repent of what God calls sin (we are all equally sinners every last one of us the world over) will find life and true love in his name.

A happy globe, a peaceful globe, a globe of people and nations that love the Lord will love one another.

That won't happen on our watch. Jesus is coming again.
Be on the right side of that because it is soon.
That should be the message.

Anonymous said...

RayB,

If your two friends don't know their own faith or scripture that's sad, but it doesn't say anything about Catholicism. If these attorneys are so intelligent and well read why don't they direct some of that intelligence toward learning their own faith and its relationship to scripture? If Frances Hogan and John Salza can do it certainly your friends can too.

I leave you with this enlightening comment: "I have known numerous Protestants, all of whom lay claim to Biblical truth, but who contradict each other."

I won't be discussing this matter any further with you because it is going off-topic of the New Age movement. My leaving you with the last word here is in no way evidence that I cannot refute your claims, or that I take anything you have to say about Catholicism or Pope Francis seriously.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

3:17 Did you even bother to go to the link at the tiny link url?. Probably not based on your response. That logo was put out by the Vatican. Everything, including the Catholic church has been infiltrated by the New Age movement. The reason everything can be infiltrated is

1. Those pulling the strings at top, for instance, the UN, don't go about announcing their names, plans, organizations, networks. They may be full of pride, but they aren't stupid. Why clue in Joe Six-pack that he is being manipulated. As far as he is concerned, there is no such thing as the New Age movement.

2. Those who have heard the label don't want to take the time to learn what is going on. They are sure someone out there will do it for them and let them know what is going on. They are just too busy. As for the future, why worry.

3. They believe if something bad is going on it's being done by the enemy of that in which they believe and trust. They believe New Age ideas could never be found in their social group, their church, their local school, their local village government, their trusted doctor's office, their church library, their nature lovers group, their health food store, their animal rights group, their scientific organization, their lawyer's group and on and on. Then again they have no idea what New Age ideas are except they are something bad and maybe the work of Satan.

Disinformation Christine, yes learning about how it all pulled together during the time of the Nazis is important. Get off the internet and pick up a book like The Nazi Conscience.

Anonymous said...

To RayB @ 3:15 PM:

It is YOU who 'couldn't be more wrong'... because, if you really knew so much about Catholics, you would know that at every single Mass, there is a reading and then a gospel, both of which contain biblical scripture. It is simply FALSE to say that Catholics don't know their bible.

Anonymous said...

Did you know that the Catholic Church reads the entire Bible to her congregation over the span of three years?

Of course we do; Catholics invented the Bible!

The Bible is read during the first part of the Catholic Mass: 3 readings on Sundays and 2 readings Monday through Saturday, also known as daily Mass. At each weekend Mass Catholics hear an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, and a Gospel reading, all relating to a central theme. Then the priest gives a homily (or sermon) typically on that theme or sometimes directly regarding one or more of the Scripture readings. At daily Masses is typically one Old Testament reading and a Gospel reading.

Catholics also sing the Scriptures during the Responsorial Psalm which takes place between the first and second readings, and Scripture is also sung throughout the hymns which are primarily based on the Bible.

Catholics are also encouraged to read the Bible for personal devotion and study outside of Mass. Additionally, there are many excellent Bible studies held at parishes around the world.

Not only do Catholics read the Bible, they experience the Bible like no other Christians in the Mass. Sprinkled throughout the Mass, in the prayers the priest prays or the responses from the congregation, are rituals and quotes directly from the Bible.

You see, the Catholic Church celebrates, lives, and teaches everything through the Scriptures. The Catholic Church is the most biblical church in all of Christianity.

http://www.aboutcatholics.com/beliefs/do-catholics-read-the-bible/

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
RayB said...

Annonymous said @ 7:44 PM:

"Of course we do; Catholics invented the Bible!"

The RCC "invented" a long list of un-sciptural doctrines and dogma. Now they claim to have "invented" God's Word! Amazing!

Constance Cumbey said...

To Christine AND to Anonymous 10:11 p.m.

1. Christine, military Satanism is discussed on other posts. You may still post RELEVANT comments to those discussions. The post on military Satanism does not belong with the present article I posted. Please stay on topic.

2. Anonymous 10:11 -- you are as long as as rambling as you accuse Christine of being.

I'm archiving both posts to my Evernote and then deleting both from here.

Constance

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Cindy said...

"Your editorial “The Politics of Pope Francis” (Sept. 22) notes that a capitalist economy based on competition has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

This is undisputed. What isn’t disputed is that millions of others remain the victims of capitalism and the maldistribution of wealth that it produces. Catholic social teaching comes into play when the market economy is unable or unwilling to care for the needs of these victims.

Pope John XXIII declared that “all people have a right to life, food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, education, and employment.”

For this reason, redistributive taxation may be absolutely necessary if some people who, through no fault of their own, lack the necessities of life.

In short, the market economy, however much it has contributed to American prosperity, cannot provide for all the human needs required for a life of dignity and respect."

* * * * *

Well here is a reply from a catholic and his opinion about this quote from the Pope.

"Pope John XXIII was full of crap.

See that list? Of them only one is an actual right.

Nothing can be a "right" if to obtain it you must have the ability to take it from someone else by force.

Food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, education and employment are all things that someone has to make or provide. You can provide on your own, but if you are unwilling or unable then for you to get them someone else has to be compelled to fork them up for you.

That's slavery.

These Popes are both liars. They both claim that Christ eschewed slavery, and he did. But the Church doesn't eschew it, it demands that slavery be imposed on you so that others, who are unable or unwilling, can have.

Slavery was outlawed in this country but more to the point it doesn't work from a standpoint of economics, because while you can compel labor you cannot compel innovation, and without innovation progress is not made in society as a whole.

Once again I return to one of my central points over the years: We have to start calling both ideas and persons by their proper names if we are to ever make progress in this society.

In this case, those who advocate the taking of something by force so another can have a good or service they are unable or unwilling to provide for themselves are thieves and those who would force the execution of labor so as to produce same are advocates of slavery."
by Karl Denninger

He does make a good point.

Anonymous said...

Constance @ 12:42 AM

That was Christine's rude post to Physicist that was copied and pasted for your notice. What I wrote was less than 20 words.
Glad you got rid of her post because it was bad. Typical of what we all get from her here.

Anonymous said...

What are your thoughts on this article by Matt Walsh about the Pope....

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/dear-christians-and-conservatives-the-pope-is-not-our-enemy/

Thanks -

KC

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

the talk of love and helping the poor can be a cover for totalitarianism that will
eventually result in killing off the "useless eaters." it can be talk of love for
a particular group only or for humanity at large.

Similarly some of our founding fathers or the next generation, I forget which,
warned (from experience seeing the French Revolution) that tyrants will gain power
by flattering the people, being concerned about their rights, etc. etc. the state's
rights crew comes to mind.

that doesn't mean these aren't legitimate concerns. Masonry which infiltrated
everywhere and most denominations, like illuminism, talked of the happiness of
mankind, and the enlightened despots being concerned about their people often
fell for this. but its just a lead in bait. the higher you go, the more libertarian
plus psychopathic you get in the teachings. Weishaupt aimed for total
breakdown of society, atomization, no government, where there was only the family where the
husband was priest and lord and all were ruled, without realizing it, by the
persuasion of trained mass manipulators (and a secret hit squad of course if
someone got too much favor of the masses who didn't tow the illuminist line.
Things discovered when Weishaupt's crew was busted included means of sneak murder.)

that doesn't mean that the lead in bait is itself wrong. Karl Denninger's
assessment is classic libertarian philosophy, and on the left wing anarchist side
you have "property is theft." Denninger would scoff at that, but if you track the
title on your property it goes back eventually to some situation where it was
taken by force or fraud by one group from another and distributed and before that
the aggrieved group and its individuals had taken it by force from a previous
group and so forth. Recompense at this point being impossible, you would have
to combine Denninger and whatshisname and all renounce land titles and just scavenge
individually....add guns....you get mayhem....you end with totalitarianism, warlords
who arise from the anarchy and are accepted because they bring stability. This is
what history teaches us, world history back to antiquity and the burials in
Neolithic and more recent primitive times showing violent death.

I think these two articles are worth reading.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-06-05-Ayn-Rand-and-Jesus-dont-mix_n.htm

http://www.alternet.org/story/150971/3_fatal_flaws_in_ayn_rand%27s_perverse_%27moral_philosophy%27?page=entire

Anonymous said...

Constance,

I have not had a chance to read or view everything regarding the Popes trip to your country, yet. I do intend to though. I see he had an unscheduled visit with the Little Sisters of the Poor (which said a lot about his thoughts on certain issues).

We have been rather out of sorts over here in my neck of the woods recently with the sudden ousting of our Prime Minister Tony Abbott via members of his own party in an overnight coup. Disgusting. Never thought this party would follow the Judas Tactics of the previous govt re their leader/leaders. Either way, the most odd video has been circulating relating to this ousting but was made at the end of last year and is more or less a forewarning. A friend forwarded this onto me and I'd like you to take a look at it Constance if you have the time. What was warned against has happened and the timing has been perfect, if we keep in mind the Paris Convention upcoming.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG0WcjGHkEw#t=172 This ousted Prime Minister of ours is a serious CAtholic man (having actually studied in a seminary for a time), he is close with Cardinal George Pell, he does NOT believe in Same Sex Marriage and has been fighting that whole mess, he is not toeing the line on Climate Change as far as some are concerned and he has told the UN on a few occasions 'where to go' !! He does NOT appreciate them ordering him around. So, I suppose you can see why some would want him gone coz he won't fall into line with so many other countries who can't get enough of the UN. Our Minister for Foreign Affairs was in attendance while the Pope was speaking at the UN a couple of days ago and Ban Ki Moon invited her (at the last minute) to a gathering of about 20 nations to discuss CLIMATE CHANGE. There is no way she'd have been asked had Tony still been PM. Something is definitely going on on the world stage at the moment and unfortunately our PM has been used, abused and tossed for not pulling his head in. Let me know what you make of that vid Constance (its by Lord Monckton).

I will get to checking out all things 'Pope Francis' related whilst in the USA.

Cheers, from OZ

Anonymous said...

Expert: Papal Mass Numbers Were Largely Exaggerated

"The original estimate of attendance at the Papal Mass was upwards of 1.5 million. Then, the number became a much smaller 1 million. During the broadcasts of the Papal Mass, the numbers floated around were about 800,000. So, how many people were there really?"

"After adding up all those areas, equivalent to about 11 acres, Still came up with a total attendance in the range of 80,000 to 142,000 for the entire western end of the Parkway."

http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2015/09/28/expert-papal-mass-numbers-were-largely-exaggerated/

Craig said...

From Zenit:

United Nations: Holy See Flag to Be Raised For The First Time

General Assembly Unanimously Votes to Allow Both Holy See and Palestinian Flags to Be Raised

Rome, September 21, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Staff Reporter

The Vatican officially confirmed that the flag of the Holy See will be raised for the first time at the UN Headquarters.

The decision to raise both the Holy See’s and Palestine’s flag came following a unanimous vote by the U.N. General Assembly last week. Both are non-member observer states.

The flag will be raised on the morning of September 25th, prior to Pope Francis’ arrival for his address to the U.N. General Assembly.

“The Holy See and the United Nations Secretariat have agreed that the flag will be raised with no ceremony. UN personnel will raise it at the same time they will raise the other flags that day,” a statement by the Holy See read.

The Palestinian flag will be raised on September 30th after President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the U.N. General Assembly.(J.A.E.)


----------------------------------------------------

Don't know about anyone else, but I find this very interesting. Interesting that both Palestine AND the Holy See have their flags nearly simultaneously raised at the UN HQ.

Cathy said...

POPE FRANCIS MET WITH KIM DAVIS ON SEPTEMBER 24

On Thursday, September 24, in the afternoon after his historic address to Congress, just a few minutes before flying to New York City, Pope Francis received, spoke with, and embraced Kim Davis — the Kentucky County Clerk who was jailed in early September for refusing to sign the marriage licenses of homosexual couples who wished to have their civil marriages certified by the state of Kentucky.

Also present was Kim’s husband, Joe Davis.

Kim and her husband had come to Washington for another purpose — Kim was to receive a “Cost of Discipleship” award on Friday, September 25, from The Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

http://insidethevatican.com/news/letter-38-2015-kim-and-francis

Constance Cumbey said...

Vis a vis Kim Davis, the Pope was IMHO on the side of the angels and religious liberty!

Constance

Susanna said...

Cathy,

I would just like to add for the benefit of those who may not be aware of it that the "Cost of Discipleship Award" by its title is an allusion to the German Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was among the Flossenberg martyrs put to death for opposing the Nazis. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book by that same title THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP. In it, he wrote:

"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."


"costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Susanna said...

The following report is from Breitbart.

Exclusive–Huckabee on Kim Davis Meeting with Pope Francis: Pope Congratulated Davis for Stand Against ‘Judicial Tyranny’

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/29/exclusive-huckabee-on-kim-davis-meeting-with-pope-francis-pope-congratulated-davis-for-stand-against-judicial-tyranny/

Susanna said...

Oz,1:06 P.M.

Here is something else that has just happened in Australia that you might be interested in checking out. It is highly unlikely that your Prime Minister Tony Abbott had anything to do with this:


Australia Blocks Travel for Pro-Lifer Who Helped Produce Baby-Parts Videos


http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/29/australia-blocks-travel-pro-lifer-helped-produce-baby-parts-videos/

Anonymous said...

Joel's Prophecy And The Raising Of The Flag Of Palestine At The UN

www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?P=36042

Anonymous said...

Many people ask why did the Pope speak at the UN? What about the separation of Church and State?

Vatican City is the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world (by both area and population).

Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.

Therefore, the Pope, as both ruler of Vatican City State and the Holy See, had every right to speak at the UN.

Marko said...

To reflect a bit after Anon. 9:48's comment....

The complaint we hear among the public at large that the Pope speaking at the UN somehow violates separation of Church and State is an ignorant once at best:

1. The common, accepted notion that there should be no religious functions in any way tied to a governmental entity is a completely modern fabrication. It has nothing to do with what our Founding Fathers intended or envisioned for this nation.

2. We hear the word "violates" always when talking about this supposed separation, as if it is some "sacred" thing, never to be tampered with. Of course, it is a sacred cow of the Liberal Left, who want to have nothing to do with religion. And since they have sacred cows, well, they of course have their own religion, and woe to anyone who "blasphemes" against it! Of course, I find it rather fun to skewer their sacred cows.... never has such loud mooing and booing been heard, on any prairie or farmyard anywhere!

It's kind of funny, too, that the Pope seems to have run a very large skewer through this same "separation between church and state" cow, and hoisted it up for all to see, when he met with Kim Davis. Where are all the boos? Nowhere to be heard - all is silence. Perhaps the Left has decided to let that cow die? Not likely.... they want, as always, to have it both ways. The emperor can be both naked and clothed at the same time.

Marko said...

*ignorant one, not ignorant once

Susanna said...

Anonymous 9:48 and Marko, 10:41,

Excellent observations and comments!

I would like to add that Kim Davis is also an ex-Catholic. Did the Pope wag his finger in Kim's face and scold her because she left the Catholic church and after years away from the Catholic Church became a Evangelical?

No, he did not!!! Pope Francis hugged her, praised her for the stand she was taking as a conscientious objector to an unjust ruling by an unjust court and offered her his prayers and support.


http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/29/pope-francis-met-secretly-kim-davis-offered-support-prayers/
______________________________________________________

By the way, Pope Francis also quietly met with the Little Sisters of the Poor who are engaged in their own battle with the Federal Government over their refusal to obey the HHS mandate which would require them to compromise their religious beliefs by providing contraception coverage to their lay employees or by signing a document which would enable other insurers to provide it.

Pope Francis Meets With Little Sisters of the Poor to Protest Obama Forcing Them to Obey HHS Mandate

......Bill Donohue of the Catholic League told LifeNews.com he applauds the visit.

“The most significant thing about the pope’s first day in the United States was his unscheduled visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor. By embracing this order of nuns, Pope Francis laid down an unmistakable marker: He rejects efforts by the Obama administration to force Catholic nonprofit organizations to pay for, or even sanction, abortion-inducing drugs in their health care plans,” he said.

Donohue added: “Earlier in the day, Pope Francis spoke pointedly about the need to protect religious liberty. That he did so in the company of President Obama, at the White House, was critically important. The pope’s commitment to our first freedom was then underscored with his visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor.”......

National
Sarah Zagorski Sep 24, 2015

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/09/24/pope-francis-meets-with-little-sisters-of-the-poor-to-protest-obama-forcing-them-to-obey-hhs-mandate/
____________________________________________________

Pope Francis' commitment to religious liberty was further underscored by his subsequent visit to Kim Davis.

Obama, on the other hand, yapped about religious liberty in the presence of the Pope, but said at the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Gala in New York that the Constitution’s protections for “gay” rights trump the protection for religious rights.


Obama: 'Gay' trumps religion in Constitution

Claims no freedom 'to deny our fellow Americans their rights'

http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/obama-gay-trumps-religion-in-constitution/
__________________________________________________________________________

Many African Americans are rightly angry at the grievance-mongering "progressive" attempt being made to conflate "gay rights" with the African American Civil Rights Movement spearheaded by the late Rev. Martin Luther King.

As one African American put it, one does not have a choice about being black. But one does have a choice about whether or not to commit sodomy.


WHY GAY RIGHTS ARE NOT THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS
http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/07/why-gay-rights-are-not-the-new-civil-rights

Susanna said...

P.S.

Homosexual persons have always possessed the right to enter into the married state -they simply have to marry a person of the opposite sex.

Now, an advocate of homosexual marriage would strongly object to this reasoning, because they would argue that they are denied the right to marry whomever they choose. This argument, in fact, demonstrates that homosexual marriage is not a civil right, because it shows that the issue is not about the right to enter into the married state, but the contents of what constitutes the married state; it is not about whether homosexuals can marry, but whether people are free to define the married state however they choose. This is why opponents of same-sex marriage have always argued that this issue is about the formal definition of marriage, not the violation of a civil right.

But to examine this question further - while a civil right is meant to guarantee equality in particular points of law, that is only one half of the picture. There is an old saying that goes back to Plato - equality for equals, inequality for unequals. In other words, when a right is applied equally to everyone in a given class, it is because it presupposes there are no essential distinctions within that class that would preclude the right from being equally applied. To take an example the same-sex crowd always brings up, this is why the old Jim Crow laws against interracial marriage were struck down as civil rights violations. It was recognized that men were men, and women were women; race is not intrinsic to sexuality, therefore there is no compelling distinction between the races that would preclude them from freely entering into the married state. Essentially, the overturning of the old prohibitions on interracial marriage supports traditional marriage because the law recognized that any man can marry any woman. Therefore the racist Jim Crow marriage laws were true instances of civil inequality because they were proposing distinctions in the application of rights which were in fact irrelevant; any man is capable of entering into marriage with any woman, and the right for any man to enter into the married state with any woman could not be infringed.


http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/social-teaching/moral-issues/93-social-teaching/moral-issues/445-homosexual-marriage-is-not-a-civil-right.html

RayB said...

It is interesting to find lots of posts on this site praising the pope's PRIVATE meetings with the Little Sisters of the Poor and also Kim Davis.

I searched and searched to find PUBLIC examples of the pope's brave, moral leadership being displayed where millions were his audience. Sadly, I was unable to find a single word of support uttered by the pope regarding conscientious political and religious dissidents in Cuba, at the historic Joint Session of Congress, or at the United Nations. The pope said nothing regarding the abuse of religious liberty in favor of LGBT radicals. Not one single word regarding the Planned Parenthood videos. Not one specific word about the abomination of gay "marriage." Not one word about America killing 1 million babies per year at abortion mills. Amazing too (not to me) is the fact that he NEVER once mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because that “name above all names” is an offence to those that reject Him.

Day after day, the pope had a huge PUBLIC audience in which he could have taken a PUBLIC stand, but chose not to. Instead, he chose the easy, political rout by keeping it all nice and private. That way, he can fool the dupes into believing he really took a stand ... when he actually didn't.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2015/09/30/syria-the-chinese-will-be-arriving-in-the-coming-weeks/?fb_action_ids=882605191835835&fb_action_types=og.comments

RayB said...

I need to ammend my post @ 12:13 PM. I did find where the pope did in fact finally mention the name of Jesus Christ. It was at St. Patrick's in NY, during his "homily."

Here it is:

"“The cross shows us a different way of measuring success. Ours is to plant the seeds. God sees to the fruits of our labors. And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and not produce fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.”

Here is a verse from the Word of God to contemplate in comparison to the pope's reference to Christ's so-called "failure of the cross."

"For the preaching of the cross is to those that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." I Corinthians 1:18

Jesus Christ NEVER failed at ANYTHING. His entire life here was a fulfillment of prophecy. He lived a non-failure, perfect life. His death on the cross was the perfect, never to be repeated sacrifice that accomplished exactly what His mission was to accomplish. To refer to Christ in ANY way as a "failure" is utter blasphemy!

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/nyregion/pope-francis-homily-at-st-patricks-cathedral.html?_r=0

looking for context, I don't like this either. Though before that there is much
about the Christian life in Christ, ending that part on this note is odd. Granted
he said "humanly speaking." Until the Resurrection the Apostles were all despondent
and afraid. But while the overall context being St. Patrick's Day and the taken
for granted reality of the Resurrection I would prefer to see a mention of that.

OFten I notice that even in protestant contexts, there are articles online and
statements in books that talk about "the last days of Christ's life" ending at
the Crucifixion, as if quietly ignoring the Resurrection. the same article or book
may mention the Resurrection, but it is almost as if either it didn't happen, or
it happened in some spiritual sense that it was not PHYSICAL. I don't like this.

Anonymous said...

What did Pope Francis actually say?

In his Sept. 24 vespers homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in which he was addressing a group of priests and religious, Pope Francis said: "And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus… and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, in the failure of the cross."
___________________________________________________________________________________

Pope Francis means that from a superficial, HUMAN point of view Jesus’ death might make it look like he was a failure, but from God’s perspective, this was not so.

In Jesus’ day, people expected the Messiah to lead a triumphant rebellion against the Romans, restore political independence to Israel, and reign in Jerusalem as a Davidic king.

Jesus didn’t do any of those things.

Instead, the Romans killed him, and they did so in a particularly painful and humiliating way via his death on a cross.

Similarly, his followers were scattered and took to meeting in secret after his crucifixion.

From the perspective of most people of the day, based on their expectations of what the Messiah would do, he looked like a failed political revolutionary.

http://www.catholic.com/blog/jimmy-akin/did-pope-francis-really-say-jesus-was-a-failure

Anonymous said...

He had a platform and millions of hearers so his message was the failure to me because it fell short as the pope just left Jesus hanging on the cross so to speak.


I serve a risen Savior. No failure except to blind eyes.

Anonymous said...

I'm on Ray B's side on this one. The Pope's entire trip was a "make nice" to all of the New Age political leadership internationally. Why not! The Pope and the rest of the Vatican are big players, financially and through information sharing and political direction. The Vatican has information threads spread throughout almost all of the countries around the world, information which is shared internationally. Financially the Vatican is dependent on international finance. Read the book Windswept House to get a simplified picture. The Pope took the Vatican's cards into the game he wanted to play.

We might like to think the Pope plays a big religious role internationally. That theme was played up by the media. The fact is western religions have almost no power internationally. What following they do have is superficial. Personally, ceremonies, rituals, holy days and hope through prayer is how religion plays out now.

The Pope is a human being with all of the mental and moral weaknesses all human beings have. Shaping of the future for a better world is not in the hands of the Pope, Constance, the President, etc. No one is going to do it for us. Each one of us has to do it for ourselves, and if enough of us do it, the world will be a better place.

As far as Kim Davis and the Sisters of the Poor, he did nothing more than pat them on the head. If a person loses his home or a family member and encounters someone who doesn't want to or can't help, the pat of sympathy comes out for the poor soul who is a loser in the game of life. The Pope could have done a lot more, but like many human beings he lacked courage.

Anonymous said...

RayB,

Luke 17:25 supports Pope Francis's description that Jesus's life, "humanly speaking, ended in failure." So your accusations of blasphemy fall flat on my ears.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

anon. 2:40,

the fact the pope said "humanly speaking" shows he was not acknowledging that view.
HOWEVER he could have phrased it like, "humanly speaking appeared to end in failure,
yet Jesus Christ rose from the dead three days later" and gone on with the rest.

Anonymous said...

RayB,

What are John Hagee and Joel Osteen up to? Both have massive audiences in the U.S. Is talking about Bergoglio a distraction from talking about "Christian leaders" like these two? Or what about "Evangelicals for Marriage Equality"?

Anonymous said...

It was the Resurrection of Jesus that was the success!!!

Cathy said...

Did Pope Francis Really Say Jesus Was a Failure?

In his recent homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Pope Francis made a comment that some have leapt on as yet another outrage committed by the pope. Allegedly, Pope Francis said that Jesus was a failure...So for those concerned by the situation, let’s take a look at it.

1) What did Pope Francis actually say?

http://www.catholic.com/blog/jimmy-akin/did-pope-francis-really-say-jesus-was-a-failure

Marko said...

Anon. 2:44....

Yep!

Evangelical leaders have a very big audience on TV and radio, and all they seem to talk about is how to get rich or how God wants us all happy (humanly speaking, of course...)

Can we get past The Troubles here and try and focus on something like: Whether or not the Pope advanced or did not advance the New Age agenda, and if so, exactly how?

We're all on the same side, yes? We are ALL guilty of sins of omission, which should humble us and shame us, and most of all keep us from pointing fingers at others for what we have been guilty of. Ah well... such is human nature....

Anonymous said...

Marko,

This is anon 2:44. I learned here that one of the New Age strategies was to pit the monotheistic faiths against each other (It's easy to see for example how Islam is being used by the left). It's also easy to see how people like RayB are allowing themselves to be used to distract Protestants from focusing on New Age infiltration in their own backyard. I am no fan of Bergoglio and am watching his moves intently (I hope Susanna and others are correct, that he will not change Catholic doctrine), but I learned from this blog how the Catholic Church has been targeted by the New Age. Why does the media demonize the Catholic Church so much? Why did the communists put 1,400 "sleepers" into the priesthood in the 1950s, as Bella Dodd documented? RayB and others focused so intently on Bergoglio need to ask these questions.

I watched an interesting interview on Youtube a few weeks ago with Fr. Kramer on "Caravan to Midnight." This priest spoke about the master plan hatched long ago to destroy Christianity - ALL of Christianity. The image Fr. used was quite poignant: "Bring down the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations will be wiped out with the kick of a boot." (The interviewer on that program is a Protestant, by the way). It's worth watching as it addresses those who are on the same side, namely, those who believe Jesus Christ is the incarnate word.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

anon 3:44

"I learned here that one of the New Age strategies was to pit the monotheistic faiths against each other (It's easy to see for example how Islam is being used by the left)"

excuse me?! it is the left who is supporting massive immigration by muslims, refusing
to accept Christian refugees from Syria, pushing political correctness to quash all
criticism of Islam and keeping quiet about the atrocities of ISIS/ISIL.

it is conservatives who are sounding the alarm and publishing the photos and facts.
(I suppose those racist inclined rightists may be of some use after all when
Europe dissolves into street fighting. they are as concerned about European culture as about looks.)

Anonymous said...

Marko,

As to your question of whether Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) advanced the New Age agenda, I think it's a draw. His actions and words are, as is often the case, ambiguous and contradictory. He is playing his cards close to his chest. The real test will be what falls out of the Synod.

Anonymous said...

Marko,

You are the "go to" man on all things pertaining to Russia. Would you (and Susanna, if she is reading today) please comment on this article from Walid Shoebat:

http://shoebat.com/2015/09/27/will-it-take-someone-like-vladimir-putin-to-save-christianity/

paul said...

The leadership of the Protestant denominations as well as the Roman Catholic and other so-called Orthodox denominations, is corrupt. The leadership of the Democrats as well as the leadership of the Republicans is corrupt.
The leadership of so many major corporations, as well as the leadership of all sorts of Unions is corrupt. The leadership of the west is corrupt and the leadership of the east is corrupt.
The capitalist system is corrupt and the leadership of communist countries and fascist countries and military regimes are all corrupt.
The leaders of the major television networks and the cable channels and the movie tycoons and the movie script writers and the producers are all a very sick bunch, and quite corrupt, I think.
The curruption has begun to putrify.
The leader of the "former" Soviet Union is acting like a Christian, more so than our President.
The Pope is a politician and the President seems to be waging a holy war for the Moslems, and the religious leaders of the Megamedia world are a crop of fools, stepping on themselves and cheering for one thing and yet quashing it, and saying how they hate some other thing and then vote to fund it even more. Everyone seems to be a puppet of some thing that they can't shake off.
Education is in the hopper. Feelings and surveys are more important than facts and truth. I'm surprised anything works at all.
The very rich man that seems to be the frontrunner in the race to be president, is the only one who is saying out loud what the majority want to hear, and yet he himself is probably a plant from someone even richer, who only intends to call out all the patriots and/or Christians in order to shoot them.
But that's just me I guess.

Without Jesus at the helm of my life I'd be adrift in all this. I would have neither rudder nor anchor and I'd be completely confused. I'm kind of confused anyway; but I'm not overwhelmed and I'm not hopeless.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus, Son of God.

Anonymous said...

Wise words, Paul.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the heads up on that news about Troy Newman being denied entry to my country Susannah. No, it wasn't Tony Abbott who was responsible for this as he's been ousted. Although it was a Minister from the Party Tony used to lead who signed on the dotted line because an opposition MP asked him to. She, Terri Butler, says this Troy Newman is dangerous and quoted an excerpt from a book he'd co authored. This is the quote; “In addition to our personal guilt in abortion, the United States government has abrogated its responsibility to properly deal with the blood-guilty. This responsibility rightly involves executing convicted murderers, including abortionists, for their crimes in order to expunge bloodguilt from the land and people.” I see from this Rev Patrick Mahoney's twitter page that Troy looks to have landed in Melbourne so not sure what's occurred in the interim but somehow he must have arrived here. Not sure if he'll be sent home immediately but if he's reached Australia then this original prevention must have been cancelled.https://twitter.com/revmahoney/with_replies http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/30/anti-abortion-campaigner-denied-visa-australia-troy-newman Article regarding it all. The Right to Life Australia group are doing all they can to have him allowed in to speak. REally, its just the same ol mob in action here. Will update when I learn some more.

From OZ

Marko said...

Anon. 3:57....

The questions before us are several:

1. Is Putin putting on a show for the world, to make Russia look good, and the West look bad? If so, why would he do this? (an interesting topic for me... read Jeff Nyquist's work for LOTS more on that...)

2. We know of Putin's past, which is peppered with the actions of a tyrant. Has he had a change of heart? Because if not, he is not to be trusted.

3. Is *anything* certain about Russia? I don't think it is. The description that Churchill gave of Russia is still very apropos. Here is what he said (from a 1939 radio broadcast):

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest." (my emphasis)

Russia can still become a Christian nation. (Conversely, America can lose her "Christian Nation" label as easily as it was won, and is fairly well-advanced in that process.) The question is, how much of a separation between the leaders of Russia and the people is there yet? I think it is a larger one than most believe, because the "collapse" of the Soviet Union did not change the leadership much, if at all. With few exceptions, the leadership in all the satellite states did not change much either. KGB officers who ran things in a Soviet Republic still ran things when the Soviet Union was disbanded. If there was a REAL change, a REAL repentance from Communism and the evil ways of the Soviet Union, many things should have happened that didn't - war crimes, true openness, etc. Those things never happened.

Putin's past certainly shows no evidence of holding to Christian values and morals. (Read "Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within" to get some idea of his early rise to power.) His desire to "save" Russia from the decadence of the West is, I believe, a chauvinistic, even racist desire to preserve the old Slavic culture by whatever means necessary. If that means taking on the mantle of Christianity, and rejecting the obvious suicidal tendencies of post-modern, decadent Western culture, then so be it. But I do not think that it is based in a sincere recognition of the Truth found in the great repositories of Christian, Western thought, especially including the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He may use "soundbites" from Christian sources, but is he sincere? That is the real question. Perhaps he is, but I have my doubts. God can save anyone though.

Leaving aside Putin, the Russian people should not be underestimated. In a sense, since the "collapse" of the Soviet Union happened overnight, they never really had a chance to feel the sense of satisfaction of knowing that the overthrow of the Soviet system was something they all had a hand in - it just "happened". Perhaps a real and substantial participation by the Russian people in Russian salvation is still yet to come. I'm sure many of them pray for just such a time.

Discussion of the philosophy and seemingly religious impulses behind Putin's actions cannot be discussed completely without some mention of his close "spiritual" advisor, Aleksandr Dugin. Both Susanna and I have discussed him at length on this blog. If I have time, I'll try to post a link to what was already posted. Dugin is bad news!

This is a complex topic and I've really only just scratched the surface.

Anonymous said...

Rev. Patrick Mahoney ‏@revmahoney · 2m2 minutes ago
Troy Newman has a hearing in 40 minutes in Melbourne, Australia as they consider allowing him into the country. Please pray! #prolife #pray

OK Susannah, literally 2 mins ago the Rev Mahoney tweeted the above re Troy Newman here in OZ.


From OZ.

Anonymous said...

Paul @ 4:35 PM:

You made some very valid points. You won't get any arguments from me.

I try to take deep breaths and just say, "Let go; let God"... as He and He alone sees the big picture... and He is still in charge.

Saying daily prayers for us all.

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...

Marko,

"Russia can still become a Christian nation."

Be careful not to confuse Christianity with a particular form of government.

"Putin's past certainly shows no evidence of holding to Christian values and morals. (Read "Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within" to get some idea of his early rise to power.)"

probably at least half true, but what else is to be done in such a place?

Alexander Dugin has long ago been replaced with a better advisor I forget the name.
Dugin's interests in the Eurasian concept are more blood and soil gut level paganism
with a veneer of Orthodoxy, and while this Eurasian concept overlaps to Russian
interests it parts company after a while.

Russians are happier with a heavy handed ruler they feel more secure. This is why
many mourned the fall of Communism. Don't fall into the error of equating totalitarianism
with communism. The Tsars were totalitarian but not communist.

As for Slavic culture, Russia almost alone has its origins in Christian conversion. There is a pagan undercurrent just like in European and British and brought over
American culture. It is worse in Serbian culture. dual faith it was called in
Russia and fought for generations by priests.

Right now, Putin is the only one who actually wants ISIS stopped. not contained,
or pushed in some geographic direction to destabilize some other place but GONE.
China is angry with their jihadis, and as I figured would happen is taking the fight
home to the source - their troops are a couple of weeks away from Syria on ships
now.

Marko said...

"Right now, Putin is the only one who actually wants ISIS stopped. not contained,
or pushed in some geographic direction to destabilize some other place but GONE.
China is angry with their jihadis, and as I figured would happen is taking the fight
home to the source - their troops are a couple of weeks away from Syria on ships
now."

If that is the case, then as I see it, the fight against Islamic terrorists is only a pretense to mobilize their armed forces for something else on a much larger scale.

After all, Russia has had a large role to play in CREATING modern Islamic terrorism. Many of the Islamic terrorists that have been in charge in the past (of which some are now dead - "terrorist leader" is not a label one wears for very long) were trained by the KGB/FSB. As for China, they will use any excuse to expand their influence and to project their military strength into Western spheres of influence. They both use "anti-terrorism" as excuses to increase their power and control over their own people. We see this going on in our own democratic system of government - how much more so is it the case in the totalitarian systems present in Russia and China???

They both do this for one purpose, and one purpose only - to wage war against the West with one combined, clenched fist. They have stated this in their own speeches and writings. Why should we not believe them, knowing what they have been capable of in the past? And knowing what they are capable of from past experience, and present experience as well (as Christians are persecuted in China especially), the question we must ask ourselves is: Has the Bear lost its teeth and become a helpless cub? Has the Dragon lost its fire, and become a cute pet?

Christine Erikson (aka Justina) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Rev. Patrick Mahoney ‏@revmahoney · 15m15 minutes ago
A sad day for civil liberties, free-speech and human rights in Australia. It appears Troy Newman is being deported. #prolife

Well, there we have it Susannah. No doubt there'll be more on this.

From OZ.

Susanna said...

Anonymous 3:57

First, let me say that no one but God can know what is in another man's heart. So I cannot say whether Putin's defense of Christianity and Christian morality is sincere or merely a cynical exploitation of Christianity redolent of Stalin's creation of the Moscow Patriarchate. After Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941Joseph Stalin revived the Russian Orthodox Church to intensify and "sanctify" patriotic support for the war effort.

Like Stalin, Putin is making nice with the Russian Orthodox Church and
Russian Orthodoxy has been invoked to "sanctify" Moscow’s appropriation of Crimea and assertion of control over swathes of eastern Ukraine.

The censuring of sexual immorality may be on account of the Russian population being so low that couples are officially given paid time off from their jobs in order to "go home and procreate."

Today, after allowing our government officials to believe they were going after ISIS, Russians began bombing in Syria. But it has been learned that they are not going after ISIS. They are going after the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad who is being supported by Putin.

The bombardments followed a terse meeting at which a Russian general asked Pentagon officials to clear out of Syrian air space and move any personnel out.....on an hour's notice.

So far, it doesn't appear that Putin's journey on the "road to Damascus" is in any way going to resemble St. Paul's.



Constance Cumbey said...

BREAKING NEWS: I just read an article on Huffington News by Jamie Court, publisher of Consumer Watchdog saying that New Age publisher JEREMY TARCHER recently died. Tarcher was Marilyn Ferguson's publisher as well as those of many other prominent New Age books and causes.

Constance

Susanna said...

OZ,

Here is the article on Troy Newman from the Daily Mail.

Pictured: The moment American anti-abortionist Troy Newman is stopped from boarding a flight to Australia after his visa is cancelled

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3254488/Anti-abortionist-posts-Facebook-clip-banned-Australia.html

Susanna said...

Left Starts Whining About Pope’s Meeting with Kim Davis
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/30/left-starts-whining-popes-meeting-kim-davis/

Anonymous said...

http://countrystudies.us/russia/40.htm
"In the 1980s, Islam was the second most widespread religion in the Soviet Union; in that period, the number of Soviet citizens identifying themselves as Muslims generally totaled between 45 and 50 million. The majority of the Muslims resided in the Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union, which now are independent countries. In 1996 the Muslim population of Russia was estimated at 19 percent of all citizens professing belief in a religion....

"Relations between the Russian government and Muslim elements of the population have been marked by mistrust and suspicion. In 1992, for example, Sheikh Ravil Gainurtdin, the imam of the Moscow mosque, complained that "our country [Russia] still retains the ideology of the tsarist empire, which believed that the Orthodox faith alone should be a privileged religion, that is, the state religion." The Russian government, for its part, fears the rise of political Islam of the violent sort that Russians witnessed in the 1980s firsthand in Afghanistan and secondhand in Iran. Government fears were fueled by a 1992 conference held in Saratov by the Tajikistan-based Islamic Renaissance Party. ...."

Is it support of Christianity or fear of the rise of the Muslim community that is on Putin's mind? Keep in mind the New Age movement has it's foot in Russia and surrounding countries also.

Marko said...

Christine:

You're interpretation of history presented in your post of 9:20 PM is not one I can accept. I'm sorry you've come to believe that, but as I've said before, I believe that trying to change your mind (or anyone else's who believes that narrative) is, in my opinion, a waste of time. So I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

The 9/11 Truthers, etc, have been brainwashed by Alex Jones and Webster Tarpley (a LaRouchite!) and others, and their "narrative" is being used to further the strategic goals of Russia. According to that narrative, Russia = Good and America = Bad. So which one should be removed from the earth in the eyes of a world that is headed toward a "New Age" of justice and peace and a world without war? For Putin & Company to attack America, they must justify their actions to the rest of the world (and to their own conscience as well, I suppose).

This New World without war will be a totalitarian world, of course, because that is the only way you will have a world without war. It's how the Soviet Union was held together when within its borders were many different ethnic groups that would have gone to war with each other had not the iron fist of Communism and State control kept such rivalry in check. I believe we will see that same type of control soon, only on a global scale. It may work for a while, but in the end, it will fail as the rightful King will return and establish a true kingdom of peace and justice.

Susanna,

"So far, it doesn't appear that Putin's journey on the "road to Damascus" is in any way going to resemble St. Paul's."

Excellent summary statement!

Marko said...

As I see it, Russia is going to engage in its own "Holy War" against the West. It will have the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Nationalism is what Putin is all about. That is why he thinks the disappearance of the Soviet Union was one of the biggest tragedies of the 20th century.

I can understand the sentiment here for wanting a leader such as Putin at the helm of our own country, to proclaim our own "holy war" against Islam. Europe certainly isn't going to do anything about it - they are practically overrun already. (Check out the "Gates of Vienna" blog...)

The stage is set for the US to go the way of the dinosaur, and for a shift of power centers from West to East. This is the dynamic I see in play when I watch world events.

Richard said...

"1. Is Putin putting on a show for the world, to make Russia look good, and the West look bad? If so, why would he do this? (an interesting topic for me... read Jeff Nyquist's work for LOTS more on that...)

2. We know of Putin's past, which is peppered with the actions of a tyrant. Has he had a change of heart? Because if not, he is not to be trusted.

3. Is *anything* certain about Russia? I don't think it is. The description that Churchill gave of Russia is still very apropos. Here is what he said (from a 1939 radio broadcast)"

Is it a mere coincidence that this alliance between Iran, Russia, Syria and now HezbAllah is now taking place in Syria just after the so-called Iran nuclear agreement talks were almost finalized? 75 tanks alone have been given now to Hezbollah.

The long-awaited alliance between Iran and Russia is here. I think Putinsky is trying to embarrass us, but he is still practical. He has his foothold in that region now.
'Twill only be a matter of time before some thought enters that man's head which will cause this bear (if it is he) to come against Israel for 'spoils'.

Isaiah Ch 17 and Psalm 83 are not far away at all.


Anonymous said...

Marko,

There is certainly a shift in power from west to east but it is to Beijing, not Moscow. Putin's economy is in ruins with the price of oil and gas having fallen so low, while China is still on the up, just a little more slowly since it experienced its stock market correction.

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