False Compassion

Something to think about.

USMC 9971 OUT

Big Weekend

This is not my usual sort of post, but I'm just really excited.

My daughter will receive the Eucharist for the first time on Sunday! She is excited, and I am excited for her.

USMC 9971 OUT

Obama Gives Thumbs-Up To Abortion

As expected, President Obama issued an executive order to remove the Mexico City Policy.

The Church considers abortion to be an intrinsic evil, and regardless of how much one may have concern for "other life issues," an intrinsic evil deserves higher consideration than other moral concerns. Catholics who voted for Obama are now complicit in any abortions resulting from Obama's new executive order because they intentionally helped to install him in a position of power in which it was well known that he would endorse and promote abortion. Let's remember the five non-negotiables:

FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLES

These five current issues concern actions that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by the law. Intrinsically evil actions are those that fundamentally conflict with the moral law and can never be deliberately performed under any circumstances. It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to the non-negotiable principles involved in these issues.

1. Abortion

The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is "never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it" (EV 73). Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being, and therefore it is a form of homicide.

The unborn child is always an innocent party, and no law may permit the taking of his life. Even when a child is conceived through rape or incest, the fault is not the child’s, who should not suffer death for others’ sins.

2. Euthanasia

Often disguised by the name "mercy killing," euthanasia is also a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.

In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).

3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Human embryos are human beings. "Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo" (CRF 4b).

Recent scientific advances show that often medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no valid medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. And even if there were benefits to be had from such experiments, they would not justify destroying innocent embryonic humans.

4. Human Cloning

"Attempts . . . for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning, or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union" (RHL I:6).

Human cloning also involves abortion because the "rejected" or "unsuccessful" embryonic clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being.

5. Homosexual "Marriage"

True marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Legal recognition of any other union as "marriage" undermines true marriage, and legal recognition of homosexual unions actually does homosexual persons a disfavor by encouraging them to persist in what is an objectively immoral arrangement.

"When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral" (UHP 10).

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ABBREVIATIONS

CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church

CPL Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Notes on Some Questions regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life

CRF Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family

EV John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

RHL Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation

UHP Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons

USMC 9971 OUT

Catholics For Obama Complicit In Abortion

Currently, non-governmental organizations outside of the U.S. may not promote or perform abortions if they receive funding from the federal government. This has been known as the Mexico City Policy.

The policy prohibits private overseas grantees of U.S. family planning funding and technical assistance from using their own non-U.S. funds to provide legal abortions (except in the case of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions), to counsel on abortions (with the same exceptions), and to promote less restrictive laws pertaining to abortion in their own countries.

There have only been 8 years in the last 24 years where this policy has not been in force, but it appears that President Obama will reverse this with an executive order later today, the 36th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. This means that, starting at some point today, overseas groups that receive federal funds will likely be able to promote and provide abortions.

Catholics who supported and voted for Obama, such as 10,000 Catholics for Obama and Catholics for Obama, voted to promote and provide abortions. There was no doubt that this was coming, and they cast their vote for it anyway. Those Catholics, just like all the others who voted for Obama, are just as responsible as the overseas NGOs for the new abortions that this policy change will provide.

USMC 9971 OUT

Bishop Robert Finn On Catholics Who Are Considering A Vote For Obama

Bishop Finn was interviewed on KCMO radio today regarding Catholics who are considering casting a vote for Obama (click here to watch on YouTube).



"By voting for a person who has expressed his determination to [not only support abortion as it exists now, but to remove all limitations on it through the Freedom of Choice Act]... you make yourself a participant in the act of abortion. That's gravely wrong, and you mustn't do it because your eternal salvation is tied up with that important choice."

USMC 9971 OUT

Catholics Have A Responsibility

From CatholicVote.com



(h/t to Joe at Verbum Veritatis)

USMC 9971 OUT

Biden, Abortion, And Communion

Vir Speluncae Catholicus (The Lair of the Catholic Cavemen) has a post about Senator Biden still receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist, even though Biden is pro-abortion and the Bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington has said:

The promotion of abortion by any Catholic is a grave and serious matter. Objectively, according to the constant teaching of the Scriptures and the Church, it would be more spiritually beneficial for such a person to refrain from receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. I ask Catholics in this position to have the integrity to respect the Eucharist, Catholic teaching and the Catholic faithful.

In that post, VSC also has an open letter to His Excellency, Bishop Saltarelli, and he asked that everyone take a moment to send Bishop Saltarelli an email and post this on their blogs. Per that request, here is my post with VSC's open letter.

Your Excellency,

According to the Associated Press*, US Senator Joseph R. Biden presented himself (August 24, 2008) for, and received The Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, at St. Joseph on the Brandywine parish.

In light of your statements** that;

"The promotion of abortion by any Catholic is a grave and serious matter. Objectively, according to the constant teaching of the Scriptures and the Church, it would be more spiritually beneficial for such a person to refrain from receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. I ask Catholics in this position to have the integrity to respect the Eucharist, Catholic teaching and the Catholic faithful."

Your Excellency, I personally find it obvious that Senator Biden has chosen to ignore (if not openly challenge) your Apostolic Authority.

As if that wasn't bad enough (if the AP article is factual, and I have no reason to believe otherwise), doesn't that entail that someone at St. Joseph on the Brandywine parish is challenging you, as well?

Unfortunately, it's increasingly common for members of the Laity to ignore (if not outright publicly challenge) their ecclesiastical leaders. But I'm sure you'll agree that when ordained priests who've taken a vow of obedience to their Bishop, choose to ignore said Bishop and instead to give the general public, via the national media, the unmistakable impression that these very same priests owe more loyalty to a politically leader than their own Bishop, then obviously.... there's something dreadfully wrong.

I pray that God give you the strength and force of will to admonish, correct, and possibly even discipline those who have sought to usurp your authority.

Yours in Christ,
(insert name here)


* http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ik2lS4VwuX-sVWo4LzkBFm5TfNlgD92OP10G0

** http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/choice-biden-re-opens-catholic-wound/story.aspx?guid=%7BF7F82B76-3298-45A2-BA65-F171F4AE388A%7D&dist=hppr

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For those interested, here's Bishop Saltarelli's e-mail page. Feel free to cut and paste and send him an e-mail, as well. http://www.cdow.org/bishopmails.html

Please take the time to respectfully contact Bishop Saltarelli.

USMC 9971 OUT

Stealing The Eucharist

On 29 June 2008, Webster Cook admits that he removed the Eucharist from a Catholic Mass held on the University of Central Florida campus. He claims that he just wanted to show It to his non-Catholic friend who was attending the Mass with him, but decided to keep It after a church leader allegedly tried to pry the Eucharist from his hand.

"The church feels that I'm the problem here," Cook said. "The problem is actually that this is a publicly-funded religious institution. Through student government here, we fund them through an activity and service, so they're receiving student money."

Cook is upset more than $40,000 in student fees have been allocated to support religious organizations on campus for the 2008-2009 school year, according to student government records. He denied he is holding the Eucharist hostage to protest that support.

Regardless of the reason, the Diocese says its main concern is to get the Eucharist back so it can be taken care of properly and with respect. Cook has been keeping the Eucharist stored in a plastic bag since last Sunday.

Source

Cook filed an abuse complaint with the UCF student council and stated that he would consider returning the Eucharist if he gets an apology and a meeting with the Bishop's office. Since then, Cook claims that he has received harassing messages and threats, and that was part of what led him to return the Eucharist to the church the following Sunday.

Cook said he just wanted to show the Eucharist to a friend he brought with questions about Catholicism before consuming it. But outraged Catholics across the globe didn’t believe him and suspected he intended all along to steal the Eucharist and bloggers sent out e-mail messages damning him to Hell.

"I am returning the Eucharist to you in response to the e-mails I have received from Catholics in the UCF community," Cook wrote in a letter to the church. "I still want the community to understand that the use physical force is wrong, especially when based on assumptions. However, I feel it is unnecessary to cause pain for those who are not at fault in this situation."

Cook said some threatened to break into his dorm room to rescue the Eucharist. Brinati said the Diocese of Orlando didn't condone those threats, but was happy Cook had a change of heart and returned it. [...]

Cook said he still hopes to meet with the local Bishop to discuss prohibiting the use of force to recover the Eucharist. He also wants an apology.

Source

I personally think that Cook wanted to create a little publicity for himself with this stunt so that his disagreement over the use of student fees for religious organizations would be heard by a larger audience. He didn't count on this blowing-up in his face like it did, and now he is trying to play the victim after his own actions created the situation. Webster Cook, regardless of what he may claim, is not a victim here.

Webster Cook made the poor choice to steal the Holy Eucharist from a Catholic Mass. He could have ended this before it went any further by relinquishing the Real Presence of Christ while still in the church, but he chose not to. Webster Cook decided to escalate the situation to one of spiritual extortion by stating that he would consider returning the Eucharist if he was first granted a meeting with the Bishop and the opportunity to discuss how the Diocese deals with those who desecrate a Mass and the Eucharist.

I am glad that the Eucharist has finally been returned, and I hope that the Diocese does not make any apology to Cook or meet with Cook. Also, if he is a member of any parish, I hope that parish puts into motion a formal hearing for the excommunication of Cook. My understanding is that he is already excommunicated latae sententiae due to his actions, but I'd like to also see something more public and formal just to make the point.

USMC 9971 OUT

The Priesthood Is For Men

The Vatican is making its position clear on this issue, noting that anyone involved with the invalid ordination of women to the priesthood in the Catholic Church is automatically excommunicated. From the AP via FOX News:

A top Vatican official said in a statement Friday that the church acted following what it called "so-called ordinations" in various parts of the world.

Monsignor Angelo Amato of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith says the Vatican also wants to provide bishops with a clear response on the issue.

Let's hope that this is actually carried out beyond the Vatican statement.

USMC 9971 OUT

Easter Mass Disrupted In Chicago

Yet another reason for me to despise Chicago.

Six people were arrested at Holy Name parish's auditorium Sunday after disrupting an Easter mass to protest the Iraq war.

The group—whose female and male members identified themselves as Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War—stood up at the beginning of Cardinal Francis George's homily and shouted their opposition to the conflict, which marked its fifth anniversary last week. As security guards and ushers tried to remove them from the service, the demonstrators squirted fake blood on themselves and parishioners dressed in their Easter finery.

The red substance, which one protester later described as "stage blood," initially drew gasps and a few terrified yelps from the 600 worshipers at the mass. The shock, however, quickly transformed into anger as people booed the six while they were escorted from the parish auditorium. [...]

The protesters were all charged with felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for squirting the blood around the auditorium and onto worshipers' clothes, authorities said. Chicago police identified the six arrested as Donte D. Smith, 18; Ephran Ramirez Jr., 22; Ryane Ziemba, 25; Mercedes Phinaih, 18; Regan Maher, 25; and Angela Haban, 20.

I know that I'm not the only Veteran at our parish, and if one of these "targets" would have done this near me, I would have put him or her down (equal rights, after all). We don't have security at our church, and I don't expect that the ushers have trained for such an attack, but I know that our parishioners would have stepped-up.

I'll wait to see how these six idiots are dealt with by the Illinois legal system, but I won't be surprised if the felonies are pled down to misdemeanors, and if the Catholic Schoolgirls (with three males?) end up with nothing more than fines.

Man, I hate Chicago.

USMC 9971 OUT

Happy Easter!

Mark 16:1-6

Et cum transisset sabbatum Maria Magdalene et Maria Iacobi et Salome emerunt aromata ut venientes unguerent eum. Et valde mane una sabbatorum veniunt ad monumentum orto iam sole. Et dicebant ad invicem quis revolvet nobis lapidem ab ostio monumenti? Et respicientes vident revolutum lapidem erat quippe magnus valde. Et introeuntes in monumento viderunt iuvenem sedentem in dextris coopertum stola candida et obstipuerunt. Qui dicit illis nolite expavescere Iesum quaeritis Nazarenum crucifixum surrexit non est hic ecce locus ubi posuerunt eum.

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And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him.

USMC 9971 OUT

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Kidnapped In Iraq

There is not a whole lot on this right now, but Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Faraj Rahho was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Mosul. The gunmen also killed three people who were with the Archbishop at the time.

Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two guards, police said.

"He was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church. Gunmen opened fire on the car, killed the other three and kidnapped the archbishop," said provincial police spokesman Brigadier-General Khaled Abdul Sattar. [...]

A number of Christian clergy have been kidnapped or killed, and churches bombed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Last June, gunmen murdered Catholic priest Ragheed Aziz Kani and three assistants in Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, after stopping his car near a church in the eastern part of the ethnically and religiously mixed city.

The assailants dragged out the priest and his assistants and shot them dead in an attack that was condemned by Pope Benedict.

A former Archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was kidnapped at gunpoint in 2005, but was released after one day of captivity and said no ransom was paid.

Say a prayer for the safety of Archbishop Rahho, and also for the souls of the Archbishop's three murdered compainions.

(H/T: Vir Speluncae Catholicus at The Lair of the Catholic Cavemen)

USMC 9971 OUT

Exorcism Resurgence?

If nothing else, this is interesting. A new exorcism center in Poland has received the blessing of the local Catholic Archbishop.

Exorcism — the church rite of expelling evil spirits from tortured souls — is making a comeback in Catholic regions of Europe. Last July, more than 300 practitioners gathered in the Polish city of Czestochowa for the fourth International Congress of Exorcists.

About 70 priests serve as trained exorcists in Poland, about double the number of five years ago. An estimated 300 exorcists are active in Italy. Foremost among them: the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, 82, who performs exorcisms daily in Rome and is dean of Europe's corps of demon-battling priests.

"People don't pray anymore, they don't go to church, they don't go to confession. The devil has an easy time of it," Amorth said in an interview. "There's a lot more devil worship, people interested in satanic things and seances, and less in Jesus."

Amorth and other priests said the resurgence in exorcisms has been encouraged by the Vatican, which in 1999 formally revised and upheld the rite for the first time in almost 400 years.

Rev. Amorth has an excellent point; the more secularized that the West has become, the easier it has become for people to stray from the straight and narrow. The less a people believe in God, the more likely it is that they will also no longer believe in the devil. In such a situation, the devil would have an easy time of it.

It's been said that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist. If that is the case, then a few more exorcists could hardly hurt.

USMC 9971 OUT

The Catholic Church Won't Get Squat From Me

I'm done. I won't give one cent to the Catholic Church for at least the remainder of this year. Let them whine and moan all they want, but the leadership of this archdiocese can burn with the monsters that they are willing to lie down with for all I care, and they can do so without a penny of my money.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is supporting the anti-war movement. Through the Office for Social Justice, the archdiocese will be actively participating in a "peace" march on the Minnesota State Capitol, which will be demanding that Congress "transition" the U.S. out of the war.

And, yes, the Office for Social Justice is funded by the archdiocese

In 1984 the name of the Office of Urban Affairs was changed to the Office for Social Justice. As part of a larger reorganization in the archdiocese, the Office was placed under the administration of Catholic Charities.

The office continues to function today as an office serving the archdiocese, but organized as a division of Catholic Charities. Funding for the office comes from the archdiocese.

So, the archdiocese will have one of its own groups actively participating in a march on the Minnesota Capitol on 23 September 2007, along with the likes of Minnesota ACORN (and I'd also guess ANSWER and other socialist/marxist/anti-American type groups), demanding that Congress begin to pull our troops out of Iraq.

Will the Office for Social Justice be sending their kumbyah-singing minions to stand between the innocent Iraqis and the terrorists who will create a blood bath upon the withdrawal of U.S. Forces? I'm guessing that Kathleen Tomlin and her minions won't be putting their faith on the line in that manner.

I had a post on Thursday in which I stated that the social justice types in the Catholic Church seem to think that even when monsters are actively preying upon innocents, we should just try to open a dialogue with the monsters and throw money at them for food and shelter for the innocents that they prey upon. The social justice types don't seem to want to confront evil or hold evil accountable. Instead, it's peace marches and prayer circles in the hopes that the monsters will end their evil ways, all-the-while condemning those who would engage the evil in order to help and protect the innocents.

And on a somewhat ironic note, the day before this march for the facilitation of the massacre of innocent Iraqis (or "peace" march, as they are calling it), the archdiocese had its Archdiocesan Stewardship Forum. I say that it's ironic because I'm done. Archbishop Flynn has perturbed me to no end for years, but this is it. No more funding to anything Catholic. My charitable donations will go to those who support our Troops and the mission!

USMC 9971 OUT

Thursday Night Rant

I haven't posted for a while, but not because I've had nothing to say. Work and Family have occupied all of my time, not that I'm complaining about the latter, so I really haven't had a moment to sit down and write anything.

Tonight, however, I sat down after getting my daughter to bed and picked-up the archdiocesan weekly paper. I almost threw it out, but I figured I'd check to see if they had published any letters from Catholics who disagree with their overly wishy-washy b.s. See, a week or two earlier, two of their regular editorial writers had pieces on Iraq, and they weren't glowing endorsements of the U.S. presence there. Anyway, I checked it out and they did the 50/50 response. The first two letters were in support of the U.S. and our Troops in Iraq, and the other two weren't.

The first lady made some good arguments for seeing the mission through, and the second lady spoke of her son who had served in Iraq. Both were supportive of the Troops and the mission.

Then came the first not-so-supportive letter from someone named Akber Kassam, with no parish listed. Yea, I don't think that ol' Akber is Catholic. He set me off first with his line:

There is nothing to be gained by continued presence of United States troops, which are currently prolonging the dysfunction of the Iraqi government at the expense of American lives and untold amounts of money better spent elsewhere.

Untold amounts of money that would be spent better elsewhere. Really? Take a look at the federal budget, Akber. We're spending untold more dollars on the Great Experiment's War on Poverty than we are in Iraq. Image if we used the "throwing good money after bad in a war that we still aren't winning" argument on the War on Poverty. Hell, we've been throwing more and more cash at that war for decades, yet the bleeding-hearts still think that we should be sinking more cash into that each year.

And as far as the expense of American lives goes, every single one of the Troops who I know understand the risk, but they also want to finish the mission. I don't want to see a single U.S. casualty, but that isn't realistic. War is war, and people will be hurt and, yes, some will die. Those of us who volunteered to put on the uniform were aware of the risk, but we wanted to do something for those who could not or would not fight for themselves. Kiss my exit point, Akber. The Troops know the risk and still keep signing-up so that they can bear that burden and finish the job.

But I took a deep breath and continued. Probably a bad move on my part.

The last letter was irritating to say the least. Her son, currently seventeen, was less than a year old when "the first President Bush declared war." B.S., lady. One, President Bush (Sr.) didn't declare war on Iraq (nor could he - take a civics class). Two, let's keep in mind that Saddam's little excursion into Kuwait got Beach Party Iraq - Part One started. Three, so what if your son was a baby at the time? My buddies and I were all waiting for our calls the night that the ground war started, and I got the extra joy of receiving a call in the early a.m. hours, thinking that I was being called-up for deployment, and instead found out that my mom had been in an accident that would end her life hours later. Still want to discuss the first Gulf War, Lizzie?

That wasn't the end of it for Lizzie, though. Nope, she had to give the tired argument that the Bush and Clinton administrations supported U.N. sanctions that "prevented necessary food and medicine from getting to Iraq." Again, B.S. Saddam's failure to comply with the cease-fire that ended hostilities is what brought the sanctions down upon Iraq, not the U.S. administrations. Also, keep in mind that there were actually exceptions for food and medicine. It was Saddam who kept that from getting through to his own people, not the U.S. or the U.N.

The last two letters were very typical of the attitude that I tend to run into in this Archdiocese, though, and that got me to thinking - am I even Catholic?

See, Akber and Lizzie make arguments similar to what I hear from the social justice type Catholics on a regular basis - they were duking it out before we got there, and our presence is just making it worse, so we should disengage outside of dialogue and humanitarian aid.

If that is the case, if that is what emulating Christ truly is, then count me out. What the social justice types say to me is that, even when a monster is killing innocents, we should just try to talk to the monster and give him goodies that we hope he'll pass on to the downtrodden. I don't want any part of that; I don't want to speak with or understand the Grendels of our day. I want to stomp on the monsters - period.

It seems to me that Catholicism has become a weak-knee, wishy-washy, anything-to-avoid-confrontation sort of belief system. What happened to overthrowing the tables of the money changers in God's House? Or how about cursing the tree that bears no fruit? Does Catholicism have no spine any longer?

If it is only about peace, and it is only about turning the other cheek, then I want no part of it. Honestly, if emulating Christ means that I need to stand by as innocents are slaughtered, doing nothing more than praying for something to happen instead of being the instrument to make the slaughter stop, then I'd rather take the alternative.

I remember an on-screen discussion between a get-the-bad-guys-damn-the-rules cop and a violence-is-always-wrong priest. The priest was condemning the cop for his ways, counseling him to stop the "cycle of violence" and to pray for God to send a solution to the evil of the criminals. The cop retorted with, "What if I am God's solution?"

Am I going to Hell? God only knows, but if the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul is what I need to follow to avoid such a fate, then I'd rather embrace that fate, taking out monsters as I go, and praying for Divine Grace to save me in the end.

USMC 9971 OUT

ADL Upset That The Vatican Won't Appear At Memorial Libeling Pope Pius XII

The Anti-Defamation League is upset that the Vatican's ambassador to Israel, Archbishop Antonio Franco, will not be attending Israel's memorial to the Holocaust due to the false presentation of Pope Pius XII as having failed to save Jews from the Nazis.

The Anti-Defamation League called the announcement by Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Vatican's ambassador to Israel, that he would not take part in a Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem "inappropriate and insulting." Franco said he would avoid the memorial on Monday due to a photo caption in one exhibit, which he says accuses Pope Pius XII of ignoring the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust.

While I generally support the state of Israel, I think that the ADL should keep in mind that this isn't a situation of one silly caption on one little picture. Israel's official Holocaust memorial is falsely portraying one of the former leaders of the Catholic Church as a individual who paid little to no attention to the slaughter of Jews by Nazi Germany. That is a major insult to the Vatican, and to Catholics everywhere, and it should not be shocking that Archbishop Franco will be devoting his time to tasks other than smiling and nodding at an event where a Pope of the Church is being libeled.

It must be noted that Pope Pius XII and the Holy See helped to save hundreds of thousands of lives during the Nazi reign of terror, and that Pope Pius XII said that he was not more vocal because of concerns that his speaking out publicly would cost more lives than it would save. In fact, recent revelations continue to exonerate Pope Pius XII.

A report from a spy at work in the Vatican states: "Our source was told to his face by Father Robert Leibner [one of Pius's secretaries] that the greatest hope of the Church is that the Nazi system would be obliterated by the war."

La Repubblica, the newspaper that discovered the papers, said they were sent to the heads of the Stasi, after the Second World War.

The revelations they contain will help to clear the name of Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, who has long been criticised for turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. During the war, the British Foreign Office even described him as the "greatest moral coward of our age".

Pope Pius XII did not ignore the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust, and the ADL needs to get their collective heads wired to their collective tails. There are bigger fish to fry out there, Mr. Foxman, and there is no reason for you to start burning bridges with those who will work with you against Iran and others who pose a much greater threat to you and your existence than one ambassador who won't attend a single function.

USMC 9971 OUT

Gandhi Says...

Yusuf Islam joined in the criticism of Pope Benedict this past weekend. For those who don't know who Yusuf Islam is, he is the singer who was known as Cat Stevens before his conversion to Islam in 1977. Islam said the following in a BBC interview.

"At one point I used to believe that the Pope was infallible," Islam said, referring to teachings he received while attending a Catholic school as a boy.

The Pope should familiarize himself with more peaceful interpretation of the religion, such as the writings of Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi, the singer said.

The pontiff "should have looked elsewhere if he wanted to quote, but we respect the Pope and his position. I do believe he has retracted, in a way, that statement and that's all to the good," he said.

Islam says that the Pope's speech in Germany proves that the Pontiff is not infallible. Islam must not have been paying close enough attention when papal infallibility was taught in the Catholic school he attended.

The pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra -- that is, when, as pastor and teacher of all Christians, he defines, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church. Hence, there are four conditions for the exercise of papal infallibility, which we may summarize under the headings of (1) office, or subject of infallibility; (2) mode, or act of speaking infallibly; (3) content, or object of infallibility; and (4) recipient.
The Catholic Magisterium by Father Peter Joseph

More appropriately stated, the Pope is not always infallible. Could the Pope's speech in Germany have been fallible? Yes, but that would have no bearing on the instances when the Pope, who possesses the charism of infallibility, speaks ex cathedra or from the Sacred Deposit of Faith.

Islam may not have ever known the Catholic Faith well, or he might just be being disingenuous in order to attack the Pope because it hurts to hear the truth about his new religion.

That bit aside, there is another part of what Islam said that needs to be addressed. He suggested that the "Pope should familiarize himself with more peaceful interpretation of the religion, such as the writings of Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi." The reason that I looked back on this today is because I saw a post over at The Catholic Knight which had a quote by Gandhi regarding Islam.

Following the assassination of Swami Shraddhanand at the hands of a Muslim fanatic in December, 1926, Mahatma Gandhi had said: "Mussalmans have an ordeal to pass through. There can be no doubt that they are too free with the knife and the pistol. The sword is an emblem of Islam. But Islam was born in an environment where the sword was, and still remains, the supreme law. The message of Jesus has proved ineffective because the environment was unready to receive it. So with the message of the Prophet. The sword is yet too much in evidence among the Mussalmans. It must be sheathed if Islam is to be what it means - peace."

Yes, that certainly is a more peaceful interpretation of Islam.

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Peaceful And Tolerant?

Here is another fine example of "peaceful and tolerant" Islam.

"The second message is for the criminal Benedict the 16th, the Vatican Pope. For this ignorant and stupid Pope, who has no one to attack besides Islam and the Prophet [Muhammad], may the Creator have mercy on him and protect him. He [the Pope] characterized Islam as a cruel religion, and characterized Muhammad, may the Creator have mercy on him and protect him, as a cruel man, spilling blood, who strove to kill. This hostile Pope refuses to apologize to Muslims; and, instead of apologizing he blames the Muslims for not understanding, thereby adding crime upon crime. This arrogant Pope sees the Muslims as too inferior that he should apologize to them. To this arrogant Pope - criminal and arrogant - this message is from Allah the Elevated and the Exalted, as it was said: 'Think not that Allah is unaware of what the wicked do. He but gives them a respite until a day when eyes will stare (in terror).' [Sura 14:42]"

From the Friday sermon of Osama Al-Mazini, Hamas religious leader, broadcast on Palestinian Authority Television, 22 September 2006

I pray that God watches over Pope Benedict if he goes to Turkey in November. There are far too many Muslims, in Turkey and elsewhere, who would like the Pontiff to meet a "peaceful and tolerant" end.

Beati eritis cum vos oderint homines et cum separaverint vos et exprobraverint et eiecerint nomen vestrum tamquam malum propter Filium hominis.
Luke 6:22

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Requiescat In Pace

Sister Leonella Sgorbati
Consolation Missionaries Order
Requiescat In Pace




Ipse autem est misericors et propitius fiet peccatis eorum et non perdet eos et abundabit ut avertat iram suam et non accendet omnem iram suam.
Psalms 77:38

Sister Leonella, a nun who devoted her life to helping the sick in volatile regions of Africa, used to joke that there was a bullet with her name engraved on it in Somalia. When the bullet came, she used her last breaths to forgive those responsible.

"I forgive, I forgive," she whispered in her native Italian just before she died, the Rev. Maloba Wesonga told The Associated Press at the nun's memorial mass in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Monday.

International Herald Tribune

She is the example of a true martyr. She was helping innocents when she was killed, not killing innocents when she died.

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I Think It's Time To Fight Back

Check out these three links regarding the above image. I modified the image to add in the translations; translations which I got from Muslihoon's post on this. Tolerant Islam's view of our Pope right there. Imagine if it was an image of Mo-HAM-med?

Adding more fuel to the fire, Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin (a Somali imam) called for Muslims to hunt down and kill Pope Benedict during his sermon at his mosque on Friday. Today, two Somali gunmen murdered an Italian nun by shooting her in the back four times at the S.O.S. Hospital in Mogadishu.

Can we start defining Islam as the murderous cult that it truly is, or are we going to continue to pussy-foot around so that we don't offend the "more moderate" of these homicidal thugs? Can we retaliate, not necessarily for revenge, but rather for the protection of civilization from these bloodthirsty animals?

They want a holy war? I say we give it to them. Let's start with a Tomahawk cruise missile going into tolerant Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin's mosque next Friday.

Deus Vult!

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