Fundamentalist Frenzy, NewChurch Trinitarian Formula, Killer Robot Threat & Francis "Rock" Album?
This blog is LOADED with the latest from the Vatican II "cult of man"
Straight out of hell...
Francis' New Rock Album 'Wake Up!' Causing a Stir
Following the groundbreaking releases of "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!" and "¿Por Qué Sufren Los Niños?", Believe Digital released Francis' new album in full.
Although pegged "rock", the album is an eclectic collection of eleven tracks containing sacred hymns from the Christian tradition reworked by contemporary artists and composers. Francis' voice is heard all throughout the musical pieces with excerpts of his most significant speeches.
Although pegged "rock", the album is an eclectic collection of eleven tracks containing sacred hymns from the Christian tradition reworked by contemporary artists and composers. Francis' voice is heard all throughout the musical pieces with excerpts of his most significant speeches.
The pontiff's voice is set over a compilation of songs ranging from rock to pop, Latin music to Gregorian chants.
In Pope Francis' style, Wake Up! represents a harmonious link between traditional and modernism. The album was released Nov. 27, and can be accessed HERE. In addition to the music, whether downloads or physical albums, is included a 24-page booklet with lyrics and the Bishop of Rome's words and prayers.
On the new release, Pope Francis is heard addressing universal issues such as peace, dignity, environmental protection, and aid for people most in need in Italian, Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
Wake Up! features various global artists in the diverse compilation. The album's single "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!" speaks directly to the youth. The message is to continuously move onward in life while electric guitar riffs, lines, and upbeat bass accompanied the words.
Many on social media have expressed their thoughts on the musical piece.
Youtube user Niccolò Campi said, "Marilyn Manson good, Ozzy Osbourne better, Pope Francis best!"
But not everyone shares the same enthusiasm, for example user Anilomd maintains that he prefers Gregorian chants. Others voiced that the music was an "embarrassment".
Many atheist likewise commented on the music saying, "Even for atheists, this is not only about music, but the message the pope give to us...coolest pope ever!"
Other song on the album include "Cuidar El Planeta," a song that combines haunting choir vocals with classical guitar and Latin dance influences that focuses on the importance of environmentalism. "¿Por Qué Sufren Los Niños?" is another single on Wake Up!, which is filled with a message of empathy. The remainder of the album is as equally distinct and musically authentic.
Pope Francis has been a forward-thinking spiritual leader for the Roman Catholic Church since taking office. The leader has been widely accepted and has millions of followers, who turn to him for prayers, requests, and intercession, to which he often responds personally to.
For more information on the Pope's musical release, visit believedigital.com
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pope-francis-new-rock-album-wake-up-causing-a-stir-151468/#B7uAgU6bTBjKWjeR.99
Dominican cardinal calls gay US official a 'wife' in spat
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic
(AP) — A Dominican cardinal upset over comments that the U.S.
ambassador made about corruption in his country has said the openly gay
diplomat should focus on homemaking.
Cardinal
Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez spoke out against U.S. ambassador
James "Wally" Brewster in a meeting with reporters late Tuesday
following a Mass.
"That man needs to go back to his embassy," he said. "Let him focus on housework, since he's the wife to a man."
Lopez also accused Brewster of promoting a gay rights agenda on Dominican soil.The U.S. Embassy declined comment, but said Brewster would appear on a local TV news program on Thursday. Brewster became the seventh U.S. ambassador in history to be openly gay when appointed two years ago.
Lopez's comments come about a week after Brewster criticized corruption in the Dominican Republic and accused police officers of threatening and assaulting several U.S. investors who were attending conference organized by the local government.
"Imagine the horror I felt when I got a call from one of them, telling me they had been stopped by a uniformed police officer, that they had a weapon pointed at them and that they were forced to turn over their wallets," Brewster said last week.
Lopez also criticized
Brewster for saying that those who feel the U.S. embassy is too involved
in Dominican affairs should return their U.S. visa. He said he would be
honored and satisfied to do so.
"I couldn't care less," Lopez said. "I'm not interested in traveling."
Indiana gov asks the Church to turn away refugee family; archbishop unsure
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has asked the state’s Roman Catholic archbishop not to bring a Syrian refugee family into the state, Pence said Wednesday after the two met privately.
Pence spent about an hour at his Statehouse office with Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin amid a dispute over the Republican governor’s order blocking state agencies from assisting Syrian refugees in response to the deadly Paris attacks last month. One Syrian family being resettled by another refugee group was redirected to Connecticut as a result.
The meeting happened a day after the archdiocese said it had donors willing to pay for the resettlement of a Syrian refugee family expected to arrive in Indiana later this month after a two-year vetting process.
“We had a good conversation today with Catholic Charities and I’m hopeful that they’ll respect our wishes,” Pence told The Associated Press after the meeting, adding he was “grateful” for the meeting.
Tobin said the meeting focused on “issues of compassion and security,” but would not say whether the archdiocese will still try to locate the family in the Indianapolis area like he previously called for.
The debate puts Pence, who frequently touts his Christian faith and has cultivated a reputation as a defender of religious values, in the awkward spot of being at odds with a major faith-based organization.
“There are significant gaps in our ability to know precisely what we need to know about everyone coming into this country,” he said. But he pointed out that since his executive order was issued last month, 28 refugees from Burma and the Congo have settled in the state.
Tobin said that he would “give serious consideration to what (Pence) said. He declined to offer details on the conversation, but said there was “no blood on the floor.”
“My first consideration is not to objectify the family and make them an object of notoriety,” Tobin said. “They are human beings … Our desire is to respect human beings.”
Also Wednesday, Indianapolis-based Exodus Refugee Immigration requested a temporary hold on Pence’s order. In a federal court filing, the organization said Pence’s action would “frustrate and thwart” its mission of helping refugees and that it would be difficult to make up the lost government funding.
States are given federal funding to distribute to refugees, including money for housing, food stamps and refugee Medicaid, which they receive for eight months.
Exodus filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging Pence’s order.
A judge is scheduled to talk Monday with attorneys from both sides to set a hearing on the group’s request for a temporary injunction.
Thoughts on the frenzy over the prelate who supposedly wants Francis to die
Archbishop Luigi Negri allegedly was overheard on a train harshly criticizing Pope Francis and his recent appointments.
“Rebranding” is all the rage today in corporate communications, and one question gurus on the subject often find themselves pondering is the following: When you get a hot new CEO who succeeds in creating an appealing narrative, what happens to older stereotypes and prejudices about the brand?If Pope Francis is any indication, what sometimes happens is that those stereotypes are re-tasked, to use another bit of corporate jargon, to support a new storyline of internal opposition to the boss.
This comes to mind in light of a controversy that’s broken out in Italy centering on Archbishop Luigi Negri of Ferrara-Comacchio, generally seen as a leader of the conservative wing of the Italian Church.
Last Wednesday, the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano ran a front-page story based on what it described as eyewitness accounts of a conversation Negri was alleged to have had a month ago aboard a train to Rome with his priest-secretary.
In it, the 74-year-old prelate supposedly said he hopes the Madonna will work a miracle and cause Pope Francis to die, referring to the example of Pope John Paul I, who died after just 33 days. Allegedly, Negri also had some nasty things to say about recent bishops’ appointments by Francis in the Italian dioceses of Bologna and Palermo. (In both cases, the pontiff tapped men seen as center-left.)
The comments were widely picked up by other Italian media, and from there made the rounds of the world.
Certainly Negri is a compelling candidate for the role of the “anti-Bergoglio,” as Fatto Quotidiano dubbed him, a reference to the given name of Pope Francis.
Negri was the right-hand man of Don Luigi Giussani, the founder of Communion and Liberation, a movement launched in Milan in the early 20th century and generally seen as strongly conservative. (When news of Negri’s alleged comments first broke, the movement issued a statement indicating he hadn’t held any position of responsibility in it since 2005 and professing its loyalty to “every gesture and word” of Pope Francis.)
In Italian politics, Negri is viewed as supportive of former conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, even after charges that Berlusconi had sex with an under-age prostitute. He’s also among the most outspokenly pro-life prelates in the country.
Among other things, Negri has blamed Italy’s economic woes in part on the legalization of abortion, saying it’s meant “six million Italians were never born” and that a scarcity of children has led to “collapse.” Negri also said he would not give Communion to center-left Italian Catholic politicians who support civil unions for same-sex couples.
Making him an even more irresistible target, he’s spoken out in defense of the Crusades and recently gave a lecture on Satan during a celebrated annual Roman seminar for exorcists.
Perhaps this background helps explain why a newspaper would run phrases attributed to Negri in a banner headline with quotation marks, without citing sources, and without checking with the alleged speaker. Even by the usual standards of Italian journalism, in which it’s considered acceptable to attribute hypothetical language to public figures based on what they might have said in a given situation, it seemed a stretch.
It’s all the more remarkable given that just two months ago, Negri gave an interview in which he said that the pope’s decision to call a special Holy Year of Mercy caused him to feel an “increase in gratitude.” In the wake of the recent controversy, he’s said he wants an audience with Francis to restate his loyalty.
Here are two thoughts on the Negri frenzy, quite apart from the factual question of what he actually said.
First, no matter what happened on that train, there are undoubtedly plenty of bishops who share some of the sentiments attributed to Negri. They probably wouldn’t pray for the pope to die, which is considered a terrible breach of Catholic etiquette, but Negri would hardly be the only one disconcerted by some of Francis’ policy and personnel moves.
News flash: In any institution, middle managers sometimes gripe about the boss.
There was grumbling among bishops about St. John Paul II for almost a quarter-century, and about Benedict XVI for the full eight years of his papacy. Indeed, popes have always had problems with some of their bishops — it’s a feature of Catholic life that goes all the way back to the New Testament and clashes between Peter and Paul.
Perhaps the blowback seems more sensational now because it generally comes from the ecclesiastical right rather than the left, but that betrays a short memory. If anything, the opposition encountered by Popes John XXIII and Paul VI both during and after the Second Vatican Council, mostly from tradition-minded prelates, makes today’s tensions seem like child’s play.
In other words, let’s not exaggerate. To the extent there’s resistance to Francis from some bishops, it’s nothing new, and probably no more intense than any other recent pontiff has faced.
Second, precisely because old stereotypes never die but are simply re-tasked, there’s a temptation today to see opposition to the pope even when it’s not actually there, in part because it adds to the sense of drama.
These days, prelates perceived either as ideologically conservative or personally elitist — the kind of bishop, say, who enjoys black-tie galas and meals at fine restaurants more than visiting slums — have become especially powerful magnets for this sort of speculation.
That’s not to say that many bishops who fit those profiles don’t have doubts about Francis. Human nature being what it is, they almost certainly do.
As the Negri case may illustrate, however, a dose of caution is in order about specific claims of what such figures have said or done vis-à-vis this pope, because it’s sometimes difficult to know whether what’s being served up is the reality of the situation or the lure of an almost irresistible narrative.
Security rehearsals underway in St. Peter’s Square ahead of Jubilee
Patrols, CCTV surveillance, plain-clothes police, barriers along
Via della Conciliazione, metal detectors at the entrance to St. Peter’s
Square. Security rehearsals are in full swing in the Vatican ahead of
the Jubilee of Mercy which is to be inaugurated on Tuesday 8 December.
On the day of the opening of the Holy Door, level 4 security clearance
will be in force because the flow of people is not expected to be
exceptionally high. In light of the threats made by ISIS jihadists in
recent months, the heart of the Catholic faith worldwide is on high
alert. No one is underestimating the risk involved but a number of
bodies are working together to ensure everything runs smoothly and
pilgrims can enjoy a peaceful Holy Year, without worries about their
safety. The Jubilee security plan was put together some time ago and has
been reinforced in light of the Paris attacks on 13 November.
Today’s General Audience was an opportunity to test the Jubilee Management Room, where all security and emergency services will be coordinated during the event. The room is located in Rome’s Video monitoring centre for control and security in the Ostiense district. Rome’s Prefect, Franco Gabrielli and Rome Commissioner Francesco Paolo Tronca gave a presentation of the room at a press conference today. “There will never be a zero risk of terrorism but we are doing everything possible to live up to the legitimate high security expectations of citizens,” Gabrielli said.
The Vatican was very clear about how faithful should experience the Holy Year in the face of the terrorist threat: “This is, therefore, no time to give up the Jubilee, or to be afraid. We need the Jubilee more than ever,” the Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi said in a statement issued in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. “We have to live with prudent intelligence, but also with courage and spiritual élan, continuing to look to the future with hope, despite the attacks of hatred. Pope Francis guides us and invites us to trust in the Spirit of the Lord who accompanies us.”
More of an emphasis is going to be placed on celebrations in local Churches compared to other Holy Years, so pilgrims will not be forced to come to Rome. In recent weeks, the police commissioner of Rome, Nicolò D’Angelo presented what he referred to as the Jubilee security system in the time of ISIS, underlining that last 23 November, a security plan involving more than 2,000 police men and women came into force. He said he was not expecting huge numbers of pilgrims to turn up for the Jubilee although precise numbers have not been determined.
A number of bodies will be in charge of ensuring security at the Vatican, first and foremost by the Vatican Gendarmerie led by Commander Domenico Giani and the Swiss Guards headed by Colonel Christoph Graf. “Excluding the threat a priori would be irresponsible. There is a general threat but as said before… we are unaware of any specific threats against the Holy Father,” he said in an interview with Catholic television channel TV 2000, after the Paris attacks and before the Pope’s recent trip to Africa. Army soldiers have been present in the Vatican since the Paris attacks. For example, there is a army truck stationed at the Petriano entrance in front of the building that houses the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Police and Italy’s military police patrol Pius XI square, which faces St. Peter’s Square, 24/7.
The Inspectorate of Public Security at the Vatican prepared especially early for the Jubilee. A woman, Maria Rosaria Maiorino, has been at the helm of the Inspectorate for the past eight months. She has a 36-year career behind her. The Inspectorate is in charge of the Pope’s security when he leaves the Vatican City State but stays within Italy and – crucially for the Jubilee – it is responsible for the surveillance of St. Peter’s Square, based on an odd rule: When he is in St. Peter’s Square, it is the Vatican Gendarmerie that is in charge of his security, when he is not in the Square, security is in the hands of the state police. The Italian police magazine outlines some points about existing security measures during the Jubilee, which have been reinforced following the Paris attacks. These include an increase in the number of security gates, separate checks and queues for pilgrims wishing to visit St. Peter’s Square and those who simply wish to cross the threshold of the Holy Door, more CCTV cameras and boosted numbers of plain-clothes policemen who will act a bit like secret agents, aiming to be as discreet as possible so as not to disturb the religious rites.
Stonehill College, a Catholic college in Easton, Mass., recently hosted the radical feminist group Guerrilla Girls Broadband on campus for a discussion on feminism and sexual assault despite the group’s advocacy for abortion, which Feminist for Life President Serrin Foster told The Cardinal Newman Society is “a betrayal of feminism.”
“The Guerrilla Girls Broadband were almost unable to come to Stonehill because of a disagreement over the College’s conservative views and the Broads’ (as they call themselves) belief in the right to abortion access,” Stonehill College’s student newspaper The Summit reported. The article did not mention how the disagreement was resolved.
Adding to the controversy, the event was promoted by the College in one of its official newsletters:
Martin McGovern, director of communications and media relations at Stonehill College, defended the College’s hosting of Guerrilla Girls Broadband in comments to The Cardinal Newman Society.
“At no point during their visit, which incorporated two main events, did members of the troupe discuss or promote abortion,” said McGovern. “As we agreed prior to the visit, their conversations centered on the issue of sexual assault and those discussions occurred within an academic context.
“As a Catholic college, Stonehill supports the church’s teaching on abortion. We also seek to ensure that academic discourse is free and open to a broad range of intellectual, cultural, religious, and political perspectives,” he continued.
Speaking critically of the College’s decision to host the pro-abortion group for a discussion about feminism, Foster, whose organization is “dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion,” told the Newman Society that “abortion is a betrayal of feminism.”
“Pornography, stalking, interpersonal violence, sexual assault and abortions — these issues are all connected and are all violence against women,” said Foster.
Guerrilla Girls Broadband is an extension of Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous women who often wear gorilla masks at protests and rallies and specialize in producing posters and other printed media to promote feminism and abortion. One such poster found on the group’s website states the following:
Guerrilla Girls Broadband focuses specifically on online media to advance their cause.
Their website has a section dedicated to abortion, which features a timeline of abortion advocacy historical events and an abortion map detailing abortion providers in each state.
Last spring, one of the Guerrilla Girls Broadband members reportedly spoke to a Stonehill faculty member about another visit to the College, but the group was disinvited because of the abortion map feature on their website, according to the Summit.
Even though Guerrilla Girls Broadband’s abortion advocacy conflicts with Stonehill College’s Catholic mission, “some faculty and students pushed for these events,” the Summit reported.
Foster said this kind of situation is prevalent on many college campuses, even at Catholic colleges. “Abortion is widely accepted among professors, which in turns influences students in the classroom,” she said.
The Summit reported that Candice Smith Corby, director of Stonehill College’s Carole Calo Gallery, was the group’s “point person of contact” and “thought the Broadband could help discuss the issue of sexual assault on campus.”
But the connection between sexual assault and abortion is often misunderstood by mainstream feminism, Foster explained. Too often, groups that push for sexual assault awareness and an end to domestic violence also support abortion. This is due to “a lack of understanding of what feminism is,” said Foster, and an inability to see that abortion is also violence against women.
Moreover, women are often abused and coerced into abortions. “Many of these groups don’t understand the connection between assault and abortion, especially when considering how often young women are abusively coerced into abortions,” said Foster.
Yet many Catholic colleges continue to host speakers who support abortion under the guise of discussing other issues such as sexual assault and domestic abuse.
In April, St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., hosted radical pro-abortion advocate Gloria Steinem to participate in a “dialogue” about feminism and domestic abuse. The College attempted to assuage concerns about Steinem’s pro-abortion beliefs by claiming that she would merely be headlining a “discussion of the history of the women’s movement, especially as it may be understood in the context of domestic violence.”
But the actual video recording of the night revealed that Steinem barely touched on the topic of domestic violence and within a few minutes of being introduced, launched into her support of abortion.
The Steinem event at St. Norbert College is a key example of why Catholic colleges inevitably suffer when speakers or organizations advocating for abortion are invited to speak, even if they allegedly will not be speaking on abortion. Too often, the college ends up inadvertently providing a platform for viewpoints gravely contrary to Church teaching.
Catholic colleges can resist this trend by ensuring the sanctity of life is embraced on campus, but this comes with significant challenges, said Foster.
Today’s students “have never known a day without legal abortion” and many campuses are filled with “professors and administrators who support abortion.” There is a pervasive “university culture which embraces abortion and thinks this is the best society can do for women,” but that mentality should be resisted, Foster urged.
Abortion “has been the social experiment on women that has cost countless women and children their lives,” said Foster. Catholic colleges have the potential to be at the forefront of a culture “where womanhood is celebrated, where mothers are supported, where fatherhood is honored and where every child is cherished, no matter the circumstances of their conception.”
But to do that, Catholic colleges have to work at incorporating pro-life counseling on campus and encouraging a campus culture that values life and womanhood, said Foster.
In a statement released today, the spiritual leader of Catholics in England and Wales, said: “Effective action is necessary to stop the grave harm being inflicted by ISIS on civilians.
“While indiscriminate violence is never justifiable, specific use of force to protect the vulnerable is defensible, if it is combined with sustained diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. As Pope Francis has said: ‘Where there is unjust aggression, it is licit to stop the aggressor’.”
The cardinal went on to say that he believed that “four necessary steps” needed to be taken. He said: “Earlier this year in April during a visit to Iraq, I met with a number of Iraqi refugees and those who are generously sheltering them, led by the local church. In conversation, I came to the conclusion that there are four necessary steps that are required to be taken in Iraq and Syria for refugees and displaced people to return home.
“The first is to stop ISIS along with those groups who perpetrate indiscriminate violence and that will require a proportionate military intervention; the second will be to make villages and towns habitable through clearing land mines and other IEDs along with the necessary reconstruction of houses and infrastructure; the third will be to re-establish the rule of law and finally to re-establish trust between the different peoples and faiths.
“This will take time and requires a long-term commitment to all whose home is in the region and seek to live in peace.”
157 MPs are expected to speak tomorrow in the House of Commons vote on military intervention in Syria.
Geneva, Switzerland, Dec 2, 2015 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- No longer relegated to mere science-fiction, robots – built to kill people – play an increasing role in fighting terrorism alongside other new weapons of war.
But what's resulting in a mounting headache for the United Nations in terms of checks and sanctions is actually something that the Church can and should speak into, say Catholic leaders, including the Vatican.
With the nickname “killer robots,” fully autonomous weapons are designed with the ability to choose and engage targets without human involvement. Drones, a prototype for this kind of artillery, are already in use by multiple countries across the globe including the United States, Russia, China and the U.K.
At the UN's Geneva “Convention on Inhumane Weapons” in early November, Tony D'Costa, general secretary of the Irish section of the International Catholic Peace Movement Pax Christi, spoke out that the presence of the Church was necessary at the gathering.
“Why is it important to take part in it from a Catholic perspective? It goes without saying that we have to be present here, in order to change the world for the better and to translate the hope and the values of the Gospel into reality,” D'Costa said.
In its contribution to the dialogue in Geneva, representatives from the Holy See highlighted the questionable aspects of a specific document called the “Agreement on Explosive Remnants of War,” also known as “Protocol 5.”
“Given an ethical responsibility and the effort to provide for a peaceful and stable future world order, all participants share the responsibility to protect every single person on grounds of his or her own dignity,” said. Monsignor Richard Gyhra, chief secretary of the Holy See's UN embassy.
“This applies irrespective of the wording of the agreement – be it weak or strong.”
The aim of November's UN meeting was to prohibit or restrict the use of weapons, by which soldiers suffer unnecessarily or unjustifiably and which may harm civilians in a random manner.
For his part, Tony D'Costa stressed that “humane killing” was a contradiction in itself. “Killing is never human. The Gospel teaches us that as well. Instead of killing, we should love and promote each other,” he said.
“However, during the course of time war has developed into a means to resolve conflicts in the world and to dominate people, which is completely wrong according to our Christian perspective.”
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the permanent observer of the Holy See at the UN in Geneva, warned during his testimony that respect for and compliance with international humanitarian law are increasingly ignored.
“The principles of the law have at best become a mesmerizing litany,” he said. “Great principles are not able to ensure justice and peace. When they prove to be ineffective, we simply criticize their
application.”
“However, a practical implementation of international humanitarian law is the essential minimum needed against the inhumanity of armed conflicts.”
The most urgent issue up for discussion at the event was the proposed preventive ban on fully autonomous weapons, which were described as especially dangerous due to their ability to select targets and attack them without any human intervention.
“We would never want to leave those two issues to a machine,” added Mary Wareham of the international advocacy group “Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.”
“They should always remain under reasonable and appropriate or effective human control,” Warehem said during her intervention. “So what we expect from this debate is to get closer to a solution in this matter.”
According to Steve Goose of the organization “Human Rights Watch,” the robots in question “are more than just weapons. They constitute a new kind of warfare, too. Excluding the human element completely from the decision-making process is something that has happened never before.”
Speaking to Pax Press Agency, Tony D'Costa warned that killer robots run the risk of pushing humanity ever further from the bounds of an ethical and just society.
“They will throw us far away from it,” he said. “That’s very dangerous, since the principle of humanity of our fundamental moral norms is what holds us together despite all human limitations.”
After November's gathering in Geneva, the UN has agreed to a further, one-week diplomatic meeting in April 2016.
Continuing the Secretariat of State’s masonically inspired diplomatic policy, which blasphemously leaves to one side Our Lord Jesus Christ, Cardinal Parolin has delivered the Holy See’s message to the secularists, the freemasons, the agnostics, deists and Christ-haters that constitute the power brokers at the COP21 “climate change” junket being staged in Paris.
That the apostate President of France, Hollande would not mention of Our Lord is to be lamentably expected: but at least he is consistent, he has rejected the Faith of his parents – but what motivates Cardinal Parolin? The Cardinal only once cited anything remotely connected with religion: Laudato Si No 202. That is it. Otherwise, we are left with a Prince of the Church droning on about “human dignity” etc. Empty words without the Prince of Peace.
The Cardinal’s speech could have been delivered by a Freemason.
According to an article just published in the Boston Globe, the Archdiocese of Boston “has hired a top Democratic consultant to poll Catholics in Eastern Massachusetts – most of whom no longer attend weekly Mass – to find out what they think about thapostatee church and its leaders.” A random phone survey will be taken of whomever of 1,600 people want to respond, plus there will be six focus groups of fallen away catholics. Participants will be asked a series of 90 questions including their views on church teaching such as abortion and contraception as well as their opinion of Cardinal Sean. (Since when are the prelates of the Church of Christ up for a popularity contest?)
While Terry Donilon, the Archdiocesan spokesperson refused to share the cost of the poll, sources tell BCI that the cost was $100K or more. Not only does BCI question the morality of giving church funds to John Martilla, who has served as a strategist for the likes of John Kerry, Joe Biden and Deval Patrick, we also question the purpose for marketing the Bride of Christ. After all, She alone has the words of eternal life.
What exactly does the Archdiocese hope to find by polling baptized Catholics who are no longer attending weekly Mass? The ills that afflict them are the same ills that have caused every apostate since Jesus first began preaching the Gospel to leave the bosom of Holy Mother Church. They leave because they refuse to accept the teaching authority of Christ and His Church. The only remedy for the situation of these unfortunate people is repentance.
As Christ ascended to Heaven, when the Church consisted of only a handful of disciples, Christ commanded the apostles to “Teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them all things whatsoever I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) “And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His name.” (John 24:47). By Apostolic Succession, this is the mission also for the bishops of today.
Instead of teaching with the authority and confidence of men who know that they have been given the keys to eternal life and that those who reject the immutable truths of the Catholic Faith will put their souls in grave danger, the Archdiocese of Boston plans to invert Christ’s command and in the words of Terry Donilon “learn” from those who do not show respect or reverence for God and His Church.
What might we expect from this inversion? The likely answer is more of the same. Instead of sound doctrine clearly stated with authority, we are likely to see the Archdiocese pander to the godless multitude with lukewarm statements, cleverly worded to remain as inoffensive as possible while stating the bare minimum in terms of doctrine. Only a halfwit could imagine that this will fill the pews again. It certainly is not the way Christendom was built.
Pope Leo XIII clearly condemned this approach in his 1899 encyclical Testem Benevolentiae:
That the Boston Archdiocese is spending even $1 on such a boneheaded initiative is a travesty and scandal, let alone funds that come from taxes on parishes, most of which are operating in the red.
Related:
Some reaction to our coverage suggested that we used faulty translation and did not put the pope’s words into context. Therefore we’ve put together the video of the pope’s remarks on the plane about fundamentalist Catholics with the official Vatican English translations (Vatican Information Service) at the bottom of the video. In those instances where the Vatican omitted translation we’ve supplied the missing words.
Therefore you can see for yourself what the pope said, in the context given by the Vatican. We stand by our earlier coverage.
The Vatican’s own rendition says, “A French journalist asked whether, faced with the danger of fundamentalism, religious leaders should intervene in the political arena.” As part of his response, according to the Vatican, the pope said, “Fundamentalism is a sickness that we find in all religions.” He added, “Among Catholics there are many, not a few, many, who believe to hold the absolute truth and they go ahead by harming others with slander and defamation, and they do great harm… And it must be combated.”
Please see the video for the full remarks:
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Missionaries, "men and women who left everything: their home, as young people, and they went there to a life of so much work, sometimes sleeping on the ground ...", men and women who "do not proselytize," but "witness: this is the great heroic missionary work of the Church". This is how Pope Francis concluded his general audience with an appeal to young people to look at "what missionaries do”.
retraced the steps of the journey that has made the African continent 25 to 30 November.
Speaking to 20 thousand people in St. Peter's Square, dominated by a Christmas tree - a 25-meter high spruce donated this year by the municipalities of Hirschau, Schnaittenbach and Freudenberg, Bavaria - Francis then spoke his first apostolic trip to Africa - "Africa is so beautiful!" - recalling what he told an Italian nun who has been working as a nurse for 60 years in Bangui, in Central Africa.
Leaving his scripted address, he said” I met a nun in Bangui, she was Italian. I could see she was old: 'How old are you?', I asked. '81' - but not much: two more than me, not so much. She was with a little girl. And the little girl, in Italian, said to her: 'Grandma' - the nun ... 81 years old. She arrived there when she was 23-24 years old. A lifetime. And like her, many, many more. 'But I’m not from here’ she said ‘I’m from the neighboring country, the Congo; but I came in a canoe, with this child ... '... This is how brave missionaries are'. And what does she do, this nun?' - 'But, I'm a nurse and then I studied a bit' here and became a midwife and I delivered 3,280 children ': so she told me. A whole life for life, for the lives of others. And like this nun, there are many, many more: many sisters, so many priests, so many religious burning with life to proclaim Jesus Christ. This is beautiful to see. It's beautiful".
And, always off the cuff, he continued: "I would like to say a word to the young people. But there are very few, because the birth rate is a luxury, it seems, in Europe: 0 births, birth rate 1% ... But I appeal to young people: what do you think of your life. Think of this nun and many like her, who have given their lives and many have died! The missionaries do not proselytize because this nun told me that Muslim women go to them because they know that the sisters are brave nurses who treat them well, and they do not preach a catechesis for converting! No they witness. Then for those who ask them they do some catechesis. But 'witness': this is the great heroic missionary work of the Church. Proclaiming Jesus Christ with their lives! I appeal to young people: think about what you want to do in your life. It's time to think and ask the Lord to help you understand His will. But, please, do not rule out this opportunity to become a missionary, to bring love, humanity, faith to other countries. Not to proselytize: no. That is something that those who are looking for something else do. Faith is preached first by witness and then by word. Slowly".
Previously, retracing one of the stages of a journey, about Kenya, the first stage of the visit, he described it as "a country that represents the global challenge of our time: protect creation by reforming the development model so that it is fair, inclusive and sustainable. All of this is reflected in Nairobi, the largest city in East Africa, where wealth and poverty coexist, but this is a scandal! Not only in Africa: here too, is it not so? Everywhere. The coexistence of wealth and poverty is a scandal, it is a shame for humanity. "
"And there the Office of the United Nations for the environment has its headquarters,, which I visited. In Kenya, I met with the authorities and diplomats, as well as the inhabitants of a neighborhood; I met with the leaders of different Christian denominations and other religions, priests and consecrated persons, and met young people, many young people! On every occasion I have encouraged them to treasure the wealth of that country: the natural and spiritual wealth, made up of the resources of the earth, of the younger generation and the values that form the wisdom of the people. In this context so dramatically today I had the joy of bringing the word of hope of Jesus: "Be strong in faith, do not fear." This was the motto of the visit. A word that is experienced every day by so many humble and simple people, with noble dignity; a word testified so tragically and heroically by young people at the University of Garissa, who were killed on April 2 because Christians. Their blood is the seed of peace and brotherhood for Kenya, for Africa and for the whole world. "
"Then, my visit to Uganda took place in the name of the martyrs of that country, 50 years after their historic canonization, blessed by Pope Paul VI. For this reason the motto was: "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1.8). A motto that presupposes the words immediately preceding: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes", because it is the spirit that animates the heart and hands of missionary disciples. And the whole visit to Uganda took place in the heat of the testimony animated by the Holy Spirit. Witness in explicit sense is the service of catechists, I thanked and encouraged them for their commitment, which often also involves their families. Witness to charity, which I had first hand experience of in the Nalukolongo House, seeing so many communities and associations engaged in the service of the poor, the disabled, the sick. The witness of young people who, despite the difficulties, preserve the gift of hope and try to live the Gospel and not according to the world, going against the trend. Witnesses are the priests, the consecrated men and women who renew their total 'yes' to Christ every day and engage with joy in the service of the holy people of God. And there is another group of witnesses, but I'll talk about them later. This multiform witness, animated by the same Holy Spirit, is leaven for the whole society, as evidenced by the effective work done in Uganda in the fight against AIDS and in the welcoming of refugees. "
"The third leg of the trip was in the Central African Republic, the geographic heart of the continent, the heart of Africa. This visit actually was my primary focus, because that country is trying to emerge from a very difficult period of violent conflict and suffering among the population. This is why I wanted to open right there, in Bangui, with one week in advance, the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy. This country suffers so much. And it is a sign of faith and hope for the people, and symbolically to all the African populations most in need of redemption and comfort. The call of Jesus to the disciples, "Let us go to the other side " (Luke 8:22), was the motto for the Central African Republic. 'Go to the other side', in the civil sense means leaving behind war, divisions, poverty, and choosing peace, reconciliation and development. But this presupposes a 'step' that takes place in the minds, attitudes and intentions of the people. And at this level it is the decisive contribution of the religious communities. So I met the Evangelical and Muslim Community, sharing with them a prayer and commitment to peace. With priests and consecrated persons, but also with young people, we shared the joy of hearing that the risen Lord is with us on the boat, and it is He that is guiding us to the other side. And finally the last Mass at the stadium in Bangui, on the feast of the apostle Andrew, we have renewed our commitment to follow Jesus, our hope, our peace, Face of the Divine Mercy. But that last Mass was wonderful: it was full of young people, a stage of youth! But more than half the population of the Central African Republic are minors, under 18 years of age! This is a promise to move forward".
Then the Pope recalled the meeting with the Italian nun in Bangui and concluded: "We give thanks to the Lord together for this pilgrimage in Africa, and let us be guided by its key words:" Be strong in faith, do not be afraid "; "You will be my witnesses"; "Let us cross to the other side."
Today’s General Audience was an opportunity to test the Jubilee Management Room, where all security and emergency services will be coordinated during the event. The room is located in Rome’s Video monitoring centre for control and security in the Ostiense district. Rome’s Prefect, Franco Gabrielli and Rome Commissioner Francesco Paolo Tronca gave a presentation of the room at a press conference today. “There will never be a zero risk of terrorism but we are doing everything possible to live up to the legitimate high security expectations of citizens,” Gabrielli said.
The Vatican was very clear about how faithful should experience the Holy Year in the face of the terrorist threat: “This is, therefore, no time to give up the Jubilee, or to be afraid. We need the Jubilee more than ever,” the Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi said in a statement issued in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. “We have to live with prudent intelligence, but also with courage and spiritual élan, continuing to look to the future with hope, despite the attacks of hatred. Pope Francis guides us and invites us to trust in the Spirit of the Lord who accompanies us.”
More of an emphasis is going to be placed on celebrations in local Churches compared to other Holy Years, so pilgrims will not be forced to come to Rome. In recent weeks, the police commissioner of Rome, Nicolò D’Angelo presented what he referred to as the Jubilee security system in the time of ISIS, underlining that last 23 November, a security plan involving more than 2,000 police men and women came into force. He said he was not expecting huge numbers of pilgrims to turn up for the Jubilee although precise numbers have not been determined.
A number of bodies will be in charge of ensuring security at the Vatican, first and foremost by the Vatican Gendarmerie led by Commander Domenico Giani and the Swiss Guards headed by Colonel Christoph Graf. “Excluding the threat a priori would be irresponsible. There is a general threat but as said before… we are unaware of any specific threats against the Holy Father,” he said in an interview with Catholic television channel TV 2000, after the Paris attacks and before the Pope’s recent trip to Africa. Army soldiers have been present in the Vatican since the Paris attacks. For example, there is a army truck stationed at the Petriano entrance in front of the building that houses the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Police and Italy’s military police patrol Pius XI square, which faces St. Peter’s Square, 24/7.
The Inspectorate of Public Security at the Vatican prepared especially early for the Jubilee. A woman, Maria Rosaria Maiorino, has been at the helm of the Inspectorate for the past eight months. She has a 36-year career behind her. The Inspectorate is in charge of the Pope’s security when he leaves the Vatican City State but stays within Italy and – crucially for the Jubilee – it is responsible for the surveillance of St. Peter’s Square, based on an odd rule: When he is in St. Peter’s Square, it is the Vatican Gendarmerie that is in charge of his security, when he is not in the Square, security is in the hands of the state police. The Italian police magazine outlines some points about existing security measures during the Jubilee, which have been reinforced following the Paris attacks. These include an increase in the number of security gates, separate checks and queues for pilgrims wishing to visit St. Peter’s Square and those who simply wish to cross the threshold of the Holy Door, more CCTV cameras and boosted numbers of plain-clothes policemen who will act a bit like secret agents, aiming to be as discreet as possible so as not to disturb the religious rites.
Pro-Abortion ‘Guerrilla Girls’ Invited by Catholic College to Discuss Feminism
Stonehill College, a Catholic college in Easton, Mass., recently hosted the radical feminist group Guerrilla Girls Broadband on campus for a discussion on feminism and sexual assault despite the group’s advocacy for abortion, which Feminist for Life President Serrin Foster told The Cardinal Newman Society is “a betrayal of feminism.”
“The Guerrilla Girls Broadband were almost unable to come to Stonehill because of a disagreement over the College’s conservative views and the Broads’ (as they call themselves) belief in the right to abortion access,” Stonehill College’s student newspaper The Summit reported. The article did not mention how the disagreement was resolved.
Adding to the controversy, the event was promoted by the College in one of its official newsletters:
Next week, the Moore Center for Gender Equity is bringing Guerrilla Girls Broadband to campus for a number of events, which will be posted in the College Calendar. Want to read up on the group’s history before their visit? The Library has the film Women Artists: the other side of the picture, as well as articles such as “Transgressive Techniques of the Guerrilla Girls” and “Guerrilla Girls and Guerrilla Girls Broadband: Inside Story.”The Guerrilla Girls Broadband website, which the College linked to, driving students to access the site, advocates for abortion in the header, menu and footer on the homepage, and contains imagery on the homepage that could be considered pornographic.
Martin McGovern, director of communications and media relations at Stonehill College, defended the College’s hosting of Guerrilla Girls Broadband in comments to The Cardinal Newman Society.
“At no point during their visit, which incorporated two main events, did members of the troupe discuss or promote abortion,” said McGovern. “As we agreed prior to the visit, their conversations centered on the issue of sexual assault and those discussions occurred within an academic context.
“As a Catholic college, Stonehill supports the church’s teaching on abortion. We also seek to ensure that academic discourse is free and open to a broad range of intellectual, cultural, religious, and political perspectives,” he continued.
Speaking critically of the College’s decision to host the pro-abortion group for a discussion about feminism, Foster, whose organization is “dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion,” told the Newman Society that “abortion is a betrayal of feminism.”
“Pornography, stalking, interpersonal violence, sexual assault and abortions — these issues are all connected and are all violence against women,” said Foster.
Guerrilla Girls Broadband is an extension of Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous women who often wear gorilla masks at protests and rallies and specialize in producing posters and other printed media to promote feminism and abortion. One such poster found on the group’s website states the following:
Guerrilla Girls demand a return to traditional values on abortion. Before the mid-19th century, abortion in the first few months of pregnancy was legal. Even the Catholic Church did not forbid it until 1869.“We carried this poster in the prochoice march on Washington, D.C., urging right-to-lifers — and the Catholic Church — to repent their sinful, modern ideas,” the website explains.
Guerrilla Girls Broadband focuses specifically on online media to advance their cause.
Their website has a section dedicated to abortion, which features a timeline of abortion advocacy historical events and an abortion map detailing abortion providers in each state.
Last spring, one of the Guerrilla Girls Broadband members reportedly spoke to a Stonehill faculty member about another visit to the College, but the group was disinvited because of the abortion map feature on their website, according to the Summit.
Even though Guerrilla Girls Broadband’s abortion advocacy conflicts with Stonehill College’s Catholic mission, “some faculty and students pushed for these events,” the Summit reported.
Foster said this kind of situation is prevalent on many college campuses, even at Catholic colleges. “Abortion is widely accepted among professors, which in turns influences students in the classroom,” she said.
The Summit reported that Candice Smith Corby, director of Stonehill College’s Carole Calo Gallery, was the group’s “point person of contact” and “thought the Broadband could help discuss the issue of sexual assault on campus.”
But the connection between sexual assault and abortion is often misunderstood by mainstream feminism, Foster explained. Too often, groups that push for sexual assault awareness and an end to domestic violence also support abortion. This is due to “a lack of understanding of what feminism is,” said Foster, and an inability to see that abortion is also violence against women.
Moreover, women are often abused and coerced into abortions. “Many of these groups don’t understand the connection between assault and abortion, especially when considering how often young women are abusively coerced into abortions,” said Foster.
Yet many Catholic colleges continue to host speakers who support abortion under the guise of discussing other issues such as sexual assault and domestic abuse.
In April, St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., hosted radical pro-abortion advocate Gloria Steinem to participate in a “dialogue” about feminism and domestic abuse. The College attempted to assuage concerns about Steinem’s pro-abortion beliefs by claiming that she would merely be headlining a “discussion of the history of the women’s movement, especially as it may be understood in the context of domestic violence.”
But the actual video recording of the night revealed that Steinem barely touched on the topic of domestic violence and within a few minutes of being introduced, launched into her support of abortion.
The Steinem event at St. Norbert College is a key example of why Catholic colleges inevitably suffer when speakers or organizations advocating for abortion are invited to speak, even if they allegedly will not be speaking on abortion. Too often, the college ends up inadvertently providing a platform for viewpoints gravely contrary to Church teaching.
Catholic colleges can resist this trend by ensuring the sanctity of life is embraced on campus, but this comes with significant challenges, said Foster.
Today’s students “have never known a day without legal abortion” and many campuses are filled with “professors and administrators who support abortion.” There is a pervasive “university culture which embraces abortion and thinks this is the best society can do for women,” but that mentality should be resisted, Foster urged.
Abortion “has been the social experiment on women that has cost countless women and children their lives,” said Foster. Catholic colleges have the potential to be at the forefront of a culture “where womanhood is celebrated, where mothers are supported, where fatherhood is honored and where every child is cherished, no matter the circumstances of their conception.”
But to do that, Catholic colleges have to work at incorporating pro-life counseling on campus and encouraging a campus culture that values life and womanhood, said Foster.
How did the Council Fathers experience Vatican Council II?
Vatican City, 1 December 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was
held to present the International Study Convention “Vatican Council
II and its protagonists in the light of the archives” (Vatican
City, 9 to 11 December 2015), organised by the Pontifical Committee
for Historical Sciences. The speakers were Fr. Bernard Ardura, O.
Praem., and Professor Philippe Chenaux, respectively president and
member of the Committee.
Fr. Ardura explained that the event is
a follow-up to the Convention held in 2012, with the collaboration of
the Centre for Research and Study on the Council, on the theme
“Vatican Council II: starting again from the archives”, which
offered the exceptional opportunity to bring together archivists and
university teachers to present the very diverse situations of
conservation, cataloguing and use of the legacy of the conciliar
Fathers. This second event is dedicated instead to the protagonists
of the Council, “casting light on the various networks of opinions
that had a not insignificant role in forming the convictions of many
Council Fathers, both at the level of the episcopal conferences, and
at the level of communities of thought. Indeed, the personal notes of
many of the Council Fathers enable us at times to follow the
evolution of their thought and their opinions gradually over the
passage of time, highlighting the guiding themes that were
consolidated in the sixteen documents drawn up by the Council”.
“In the programme of this Convention,
we have also tried to take into account not only the diversity, but
also the divergences which emerged during the Council. The unanimity
Paul VI strongly desired for the approval of the conciliar documents
left in the shade the opinions of a minority that was however
well-organised; therefore we wanted some of the protagonists of this
current to be presented in these days”.
Philippe Chenaux reiterated that the
most arduous task for the historian in the interpretation of this
event is the change of majority between the beginning and the end of
the council. “To explain this 'inversion of tendency', without
falling into the trap of conspiratorial hypotheses, reference to the
concept of the 'conciliar experience' would appear fundamental. As
St. John Paul II said a number of times, the council had an unique
and unrepeatable meaning for those who took part. This represented,
for many bishops, not only an extraordinary experience of fraternal
communion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but also a school of
theological renewal”.
“How did the Council Fathers
experience the Council? What was their personal experience of the
event? In what way did the conciliar experience condition their way
of understanding the Church and their way of being bishops? Should we
speak about a simple 'evolution', or a full 'conversion'?” are some
of the questions that this Convention endeavours to answer. “Solving
the great 'interpretative enigma' – 'what happened during Vatican
Council II? - means the precise and meticulous reconstruction of the
activity of its protagonists”, comments Chenaux.
The first session on 10 December is
entitled “The protagonists revealed in the archives”. The second
session on the same day will be dedicated to “Networks of contacts
and opinions”, and will evaluate the consistency of the networks
for contact and the exchange of opinions established between the
participants. The third session, on 11 December, is entitled
“Evolutions during the Council”, and will explore the theme of
the evolution of thought among participants. There will be two
further working sessions, the inauguration and introduction, and the
conclusion, appraising the three sessions mentioned above.
In the inaugural session on 9 December,
after Fr. Ardura's introduction, five reports of a general nature
will be presented: by Cardinal Laurent Monsegwo Pasinya, archbishop
of Kinshasa, who will speak on Cardinal Malula and his “African
vision” of the Council; Bishop Filaret of Lviv and Galicia, of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church, will speak about Vatican Council II and
the Russian Orthodox Church; and three historians, Professors John
O'Malley of Georgetown University (United States of America) Michael
Quisinsky of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and Philippe
Chenaux.
The final session on 11 December will
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the conclusion of the
Council. There will be a round table discussion chaired by Fr.
Ardura, with interventions by Cardinal Georges Cottier, O.P.,
theologian emeritus of the Papal Household, and representatives of
various Christian churches: Bishop Filaret, Fr. Alexei Dikarev,
delegate of the Department for External Ecclesiastical Relations of
the Patriarchate of Moscow; His Grace Archbishop David Moxon,
representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Holy See and
director of the Anglican Centre in Rome; and Philippe Chenaux. A
message from the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, will also be
read.
‘Effective action’ against ISIS is necessary, says cardinal ahead of major Commons vote
Cardinal Nichols, said that we must protect the vulnerable (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Specific use of force to protect the vulnerable is defensible, the cardinal said
Cardinal Vincent Nichols has said that “effective action is
necessary” against ISIS, ahead of a crucial vote on whether the UK
should launch airstrikes against Syria.In a statement released today, the spiritual leader of Catholics in England and Wales, said: “Effective action is necessary to stop the grave harm being inflicted by ISIS on civilians.
“While indiscriminate violence is never justifiable, specific use of force to protect the vulnerable is defensible, if it is combined with sustained diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. As Pope Francis has said: ‘Where there is unjust aggression, it is licit to stop the aggressor’.”
The cardinal went on to say that he believed that “four necessary steps” needed to be taken. He said: “Earlier this year in April during a visit to Iraq, I met with a number of Iraqi refugees and those who are generously sheltering them, led by the local church. In conversation, I came to the conclusion that there are four necessary steps that are required to be taken in Iraq and Syria for refugees and displaced people to return home.
“The first is to stop ISIS along with those groups who perpetrate indiscriminate violence and that will require a proportionate military intervention; the second will be to make villages and towns habitable through clearing land mines and other IEDs along with the necessary reconstruction of houses and infrastructure; the third will be to re-establish the rule of law and finally to re-establish trust between the different peoples and faiths.
“This will take time and requires a long-term commitment to all whose home is in the region and seek to live in peace.”
157 MPs are expected to speak tomorrow in the House of Commons vote on military intervention in Syria.
Killer robots? They’re a real issue – and here’s what the Vatican has to say
Geneva, Switzerland, Dec 2, 2015 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- No longer relegated to mere science-fiction, robots – built to kill people – play an increasing role in fighting terrorism alongside other new weapons of war.
But what's resulting in a mounting headache for the United Nations in terms of checks and sanctions is actually something that the Church can and should speak into, say Catholic leaders, including the Vatican.
With the nickname “killer robots,” fully autonomous weapons are designed with the ability to choose and engage targets without human involvement. Drones, a prototype for this kind of artillery, are already in use by multiple countries across the globe including the United States, Russia, China and the U.K.
At the UN's Geneva “Convention on Inhumane Weapons” in early November, Tony D'Costa, general secretary of the Irish section of the International Catholic Peace Movement Pax Christi, spoke out that the presence of the Church was necessary at the gathering.
“Why is it important to take part in it from a Catholic perspective? It goes without saying that we have to be present here, in order to change the world for the better and to translate the hope and the values of the Gospel into reality,” D'Costa said.
In its contribution to the dialogue in Geneva, representatives from the Holy See highlighted the questionable aspects of a specific document called the “Agreement on Explosive Remnants of War,” also known as “Protocol 5.”
“Given an ethical responsibility and the effort to provide for a peaceful and stable future world order, all participants share the responsibility to protect every single person on grounds of his or her own dignity,” said. Monsignor Richard Gyhra, chief secretary of the Holy See's UN embassy.
“This applies irrespective of the wording of the agreement – be it weak or strong.”
The aim of November's UN meeting was to prohibit or restrict the use of weapons, by which soldiers suffer unnecessarily or unjustifiably and which may harm civilians in a random manner.
For his part, Tony D'Costa stressed that “humane killing” was a contradiction in itself. “Killing is never human. The Gospel teaches us that as well. Instead of killing, we should love and promote each other,” he said.
“However, during the course of time war has developed into a means to resolve conflicts in the world and to dominate people, which is completely wrong according to our Christian perspective.”
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the permanent observer of the Holy See at the UN in Geneva, warned during his testimony that respect for and compliance with international humanitarian law are increasingly ignored.
“The principles of the law have at best become a mesmerizing litany,” he said. “Great principles are not able to ensure justice and peace. When they prove to be ineffective, we simply criticize their
application.”
“However, a practical implementation of international humanitarian law is the essential minimum needed against the inhumanity of armed conflicts.”
The most urgent issue up for discussion at the event was the proposed preventive ban on fully autonomous weapons, which were described as especially dangerous due to their ability to select targets and attack them without any human intervention.
“We would never want to leave those two issues to a machine,” added Mary Wareham of the international advocacy group “Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.”
“They should always remain under reasonable and appropriate or effective human control,” Warehem said during her intervention. “So what we expect from this debate is to get closer to a solution in this matter.”
According to Steve Goose of the organization “Human Rights Watch,” the robots in question “are more than just weapons. They constitute a new kind of warfare, too. Excluding the human element completely from the decision-making process is something that has happened never before.”
Speaking to Pax Press Agency, Tony D'Costa warned that killer robots run the risk of pushing humanity ever further from the bounds of an ethical and just society.
“They will throw us far away from it,” he said. “That’s very dangerous, since the principle of humanity of our fundamental moral norms is what holds us together despite all human limitations.”
After November's gathering in Geneva, the UN has agreed to a further, one-week diplomatic meeting in April 2016.
Cardinal Parolin delivers speech at COP21 Conference ~ NO mention of God or Our Lord Jesus Christ
Continuing the Secretariat of State’s masonically inspired diplomatic policy, which blasphemously leaves to one side Our Lord Jesus Christ, Cardinal Parolin has delivered the Holy See’s message to the secularists, the freemasons, the agnostics, deists and Christ-haters that constitute the power brokers at the COP21 “climate change” junket being staged in Paris.
That the apostate President of France, Hollande would not mention of Our Lord is to be lamentably expected: but at least he is consistent, he has rejected the Faith of his parents – but what motivates Cardinal Parolin? The Cardinal only once cited anything remotely connected with religion: Laudato Si No 202. That is it. Otherwise, we are left with a Prince of the Church droning on about “human dignity” etc. Empty words without the Prince of Peace.
The Cardinal’s speech could have been delivered by a Freemason.
Boston Archdiocese Spending $100K+ to Survey Apostates
According to an article just published in the Boston Globe, the Archdiocese of Boston “has hired a top Democratic consultant to poll Catholics in Eastern Massachusetts – most of whom no longer attend weekly Mass – to find out what they think about thapostatee church and its leaders.” A random phone survey will be taken of whomever of 1,600 people want to respond, plus there will be six focus groups of fallen away catholics. Participants will be asked a series of 90 questions including their views on church teaching such as abortion and contraception as well as their opinion of Cardinal Sean. (Since when are the prelates of the Church of Christ up for a popularity contest?)
While Terry Donilon, the Archdiocesan spokesperson refused to share the cost of the poll, sources tell BCI that the cost was $100K or more. Not only does BCI question the morality of giving church funds to John Martilla, who has served as a strategist for the likes of John Kerry, Joe Biden and Deval Patrick, we also question the purpose for marketing the Bride of Christ. After all, She alone has the words of eternal life.
What exactly does the Archdiocese hope to find by polling baptized Catholics who are no longer attending weekly Mass? The ills that afflict them are the same ills that have caused every apostate since Jesus first began preaching the Gospel to leave the bosom of Holy Mother Church. They leave because they refuse to accept the teaching authority of Christ and His Church. The only remedy for the situation of these unfortunate people is repentance.
As Christ ascended to Heaven, when the Church consisted of only a handful of disciples, Christ commanded the apostles to “Teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them all things whatsoever I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) “And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His name.” (John 24:47). By Apostolic Succession, this is the mission also for the bishops of today.
Instead of teaching with the authority and confidence of men who know that they have been given the keys to eternal life and that those who reject the immutable truths of the Catholic Faith will put their souls in grave danger, the Archdiocese of Boston plans to invert Christ’s command and in the words of Terry Donilon “learn” from those who do not show respect or reverence for God and His Church.
What might we expect from this inversion? The likely answer is more of the same. Instead of sound doctrine clearly stated with authority, we are likely to see the Archdiocese pander to the godless multitude with lukewarm statements, cleverly worded to remain as inoffensive as possible while stating the bare minimum in terms of doctrine. Only a halfwit could imagine that this will fill the pews again. It certainly is not the way Christendom was built.
Pope Leo XIII clearly condemned this approach in his 1899 encyclical Testem Benevolentiae:
The underlying principle of these new opinions is that, in order the more easily to attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions. Many think that these concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the deposit of the faith. They contend that it would be opportune, in order to gain those who differ from us, to omit certain points of her teaching which are of lesser importance, and to tone down the meaning which the Church has always attached to them. It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind. … Let it be far from anyone’s mind to suppress for any reason any doctrine that has been handed down. Such a policy would tend rather to separate Catholics from the Church than to bring in those who differ.”The mere fact that such a survey is being employed by a prelate whose primary duty is to guard the deposit of Faith delivered to the Saints is capitulation to the spirit of the age.
That the Boston Archdiocese is spending even $1 on such a boneheaded initiative is a travesty and scandal, let alone funds that come from taxes on parishes, most of which are operating in the red.
"Pope" Adopts NewChurch Trinitarian Formula
[Zenit] --Q: Holy
Father, now that we are about to begin the Jubilee, can you explain
what movement of the heart drove you to highlight precisely the subject
of mercy? What urgency do you perceive in this regard, in the present
situation of the world and of the Church?
--Pope Francis: The
theme of mercy has been strongly accentuated in the life of the Church,
since Pope Paul VI. John Paul II stressed it strongly with Dives in Misericordia, the
canonization of Saint Faustina and the institution of the Feast of
Divine Mercy on the Octave of Easter. In line with this, I felt that it
is somewhat a desire of the Lord to show His mercy to humanity.
Therefore, it didn’t come to my mind, but rather the relatively renet
renewal of a tradition that has however always existed.
My first Angelus as
Pope was on God’s mercy and, on that occasion, I also spoke of a book
on mercy which was given to me by Cardinal Walter Kasper during the
conclave; also, in my first homily as Pope, on Sunday, March 17, I spoke
of mercy in the parish of Saint Anne. It wasn’t a strategy; it came to
me from within: the Holy Spirit wills something. It’s obvious that
today’s world is in need of mercy, it is in need of compassion, or to begin with <compasion>. We
are used to bad news, to cruel news and to the greatest atrocities that
offend the name and life of God. The world is in need of discovering
that God is Father, that there is mercy, that cruelty isn’t the way,
that condemnation isn’t the way, because the Church herself sometimes
follows a hard line, she falls into the temptation of following a hard
line, into the temptation of stressing only the moral rules, many people
are excluded.
The new evangelization in Texas
...serenading Our Lady of Guadalupe
Even the drums & sacrilege are bigger in Texas!
Vatican's English translation of Francis' December 2nd interview with Credere (Believe)
...it is so far out there, you have
to read it in order to believe it!
Vatican City, 2 December 2015 (VIS) – The Italian magazine “Credere” today published an interview with Pope Francis ahead of the imminent opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, in which the Holy Father explains the motives and expectations of this convocation. The following are extensive extracts from the interview:“The theme of mercy has been strongly accentuated in the life of the Church, starting with Pope Paul VI. John Paul II underlined it firmly with Dives in Misericordia, the canonisation of St. Faustina and the institution of the feast of Divine Mercy on the Octave of Easter. In line with this, I felt that it was as if it was the Lord's wish to show His mercy to humanity. It was not something that came to my mind, but rather the relatively recent renewal of a tradition that has however always existed. … It is obvious that today's world is in need of mercy and compassion, or rather of the capacity for empathy. We are accustomed to bad news, cruel news and the worst atrocities that offend the name and the life of God. The world needs to discover that God is the Father, that there is mercy, that cruelty is not the way, that condemnation is not the way, because it is the Church herself who at times takes a hard line, and falls into the temptation to follow a hard line and to underline moral rules only; many people are excluded. The image of the Church as a field hospital after a battle comes to mind here: it is the truth, so many people are injured and destroyed! … I believe that this is the time for mercy. We are all sinners, all of us carry inner burdens. I felt that Jesus wanted to open the door to His heart, that the Father wants to show us his innate mercy, and for this reason he sends us the Spirit. … It is the year of reconciliation. On the one hand we see the weapons trade … the murder of innocent people in the cruellest ways possible, the exploitation of people, of children. There is currently a form of sacrilege against humanity, because man is sacred, he is the image of the living God. And the Father says, 'stop and come to me'”.In response to the second question on the importance of divine mercy in the life of Pope Francis, who has repeatedly affirmed his awareness of being a sinner, he says:“I am a sinner … I am sure of this. I am a sinner whom the Lord looked upon with mercy. I am, as I said to detainees in Bolivia, a forgiven man. … I still make mistakes and commit sins, and I confess every fifteen or twenty days. And if I confess it is because I need to feel that God's mercy is still upon me”. Francis recalled that he felt this sensation in a particular way on 21 September 1953, when he felt the need to enter a church and confess to a priest he did not know, and from then his life was changed; he decided to become a priest and his confessor, who was suffering from leukaemia, accompanied him for a year. “He died the following year”, said the Pope. “After the funeral I cried bitterly, I felt totally lost, as if with the fear that God had abandoned me. This was the moment in which I came across God's mercy, and it is closely linked to my episcopal motto: 21 September is the feast day of St. Matthew, and the Venerable Bede, when speaking of the conversion of St. Matthew, says that Jesus looked at him 'miserando atque eligendo'. … The literal translation would be 'pitying and choosing'”.“Can the Jubilee of Mercy be an opportunity to rediscover God's 'maternity'? Is there an almost 'feminine' aspect of the Church that must be valued?” is the third question.“Yes”, the Holy Father replies. “God Himself affirms this when He says in the Book of Isaiah that a mother could perhaps forget her child, even a mother can forget, but 'I will never forsake you'. Here we see the maternal dimension of God. Not everyone understands when we speak about God's maternity, it is not part of 'popular' language – in the good sense of the word – and may seem rather elitist; for this reason I prefer to speak about the tenderness, typical of a mother, God's tenderness that comes from his innate paternity. God is both father and mother”.In response to a question on whether the discovery of a more merciful and emotional God, Who is moved to tenderness for mankind, should lead to a change of attitude towards others, Francis says: “Discovering this leads us to have a more tolerant, more patient, more tender attitude. In 1994 during the Synod, in a group meeting, I said that it was necessary to begin a revolution of tenderness … and I continue to say that today the revolution is that of tenderness, because justice derives from this. … The revolution of tenderness is what we must cultivate today as the fruit of this year of mercy: God's tenderness towards each one of us. Each one of us must say, 'I am a wretch, but God loves me as I am; so, I must love others in the same way'”.The journalist recalls St. John XXIII's famous “Sermon to the moon”, in which greeting the faithful one night, he told them to give a caress to their children. “This image became an image of the Church's tenderness. In what way does the theme of mercy help our Christian communities to convert and renew themselves?”“When I see the sick, the elderly, the caress comes to me spontaneously. … The caress is a gesture that can be interpreted ambiguously, but it is the first gesture that a mother and father offer a newborn child, this gesture that says 'I love you, I wish well to you'”.Finally, “ is there a gesture you intend to make during the Jubilee to show God's mercy?”“There will be many gestures, but one Friday each month I will make a different gesture”, the Holy Father concludes.
Related:
TRADITION= FUNDAMENTALISM
...to the Modernist
VIDEO: Pope says ‘fundamentalist’ Catholics do ‘great harm’ which ‘must be combated’
December 2, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- LifeSiteNews’ publication of a news story detailing the Pope Francis’ statements on the plane returning from Africa on November 30 has caused much reaction. I will admit it’s hard to believe the pope actually said what he did. I had the same reaction when I saw his comments to the Lutheran Church in Rome about Communion. I would have found it hard to believe if I couldn’t watch the video myself.Some reaction to our coverage suggested that we used faulty translation and did not put the pope’s words into context. Therefore we’ve put together the video of the pope’s remarks on the plane about fundamentalist Catholics with the official Vatican English translations (Vatican Information Service) at the bottom of the video. In those instances where the Vatican omitted translation we’ve supplied the missing words.
Therefore you can see for yourself what the pope said, in the context given by the Vatican. We stand by our earlier coverage.
The Vatican’s own rendition says, “A French journalist asked whether, faced with the danger of fundamentalism, religious leaders should intervene in the political arena.” As part of his response, according to the Vatican, the pope said, “Fundamentalism is a sickness that we find in all religions.” He added, “Among Catholics there are many, not a few, many, who believe to hold the absolute truth and they go ahead by harming others with slander and defamation, and they do great harm… And it must be combated.”
Please see the video for the full remarks:
P.E.T.A. Names Francis Person of the Year
P.E.T.A. is a U.S.-based non-profit group that treats brute animals as if they were people. Its acronym stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, although one might suspect it is an abbreviation for “Popes” Enabling Theological Anarchy.
“Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for
entertainment, or abuse in any other way”, is the slogan of the
3-million-member strong organization. Although of course much animal
cruelty is in no wise necessary and repulsive to every decent human
being, P.E.T.A. takes an extremist, hardcore line that defies sound
philosophy. The liberal group has often caused controversy by its shock
activism involving nudity and immodesty.
Now
the archliberal group has made a choice for its Person of the Year
2015. And it fell — you guessed it — on none other than Jorge Bergoglio,
the pretend-Pope from Argentina. The reason for this choice, so PETA,
is his environmentalist manifesto Laudato Si’.
On its official web site, PETA explains:
[Francis
is] the first religious leader to be picked as PETA’s Person of the
Year, a title previously held by Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and Ricky
Gervais. Pope Francis was chosen for asking the world’s 1.2 billion
Roman Catholics and all citizens of the world to reject human domination
over God’s creation, treat animals with kindness, and respect the
environment—something PETA views as a call to turn toward a simple,
plant-based diet, given the now well-established role of animal
agriculture in climate change.
In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, His Holiness talked of the importance of treating animals with kindness, writing, “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity'” and “We are not God. … [W]e must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”
Pope Francis is also known for his focus on environmental stewardship, and according to the United Nations, a global shift toward vegan eating is necessary in order to slow the most dangerous effects of climate change, including the extinction of wildlife.
As the pontiff said, “If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.”
(Michelle Kretzer, “Pope Francis Is PETA’s 2015 Person of the Year”, PETA.org, Dec. 1, 2015)
In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, His Holiness talked of the importance of treating animals with kindness, writing, “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity'” and “We are not God. … [W]e must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”
Pope Francis is also known for his focus on environmental stewardship, and according to the United Nations, a global shift toward vegan eating is necessary in order to slow the most dangerous effects of climate change, including the extinction of wildlife.
As the pontiff said, “If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.”
(Michelle Kretzer, “Pope Francis Is PETA’s 2015 Person of the Year”, PETA.org, Dec. 1, 2015)
According to a report by the Catholic Herald,
PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk stated that Francis has “spread the message
of kindness to all, regardless of their religion or species” and that
his “animal-friendly teachings have a massive audience” (source).
Francis: Be Missionaries BUT Don't Convert!
Pope: be missionaries, "men and women who leave everything" and give witness to Jesus
At the general audience, dedicated to his trip to Africa, Francis remembers the meeting with an Italian nun in Bangui. "And there are many, many others like this nun: many sisters, so many priests, so many religious burning with life to proclaim Jesus Christ." "A scandal" when wealth and poverty coexist, in Africa and the world.
At the general audience, dedicated to his trip to Africa, Francis remembers the meeting with an Italian nun in Bangui. "And there are many, many others like this nun: many sisters, so many priests, so many religious burning with life to proclaim Jesus Christ." "A scandal" when wealth and poverty coexist, in Africa and the world.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Missionaries, "men and women who left everything: their home, as young people, and they went there to a life of so much work, sometimes sleeping on the ground ...", men and women who "do not proselytize," but "witness: this is the great heroic missionary work of the Church". This is how Pope Francis concluded his general audience with an appeal to young people to look at "what missionaries do”.
retraced the steps of the journey that has made the African continent 25 to 30 November.
Speaking to 20 thousand people in St. Peter's Square, dominated by a Christmas tree - a 25-meter high spruce donated this year by the municipalities of Hirschau, Schnaittenbach and Freudenberg, Bavaria - Francis then spoke his first apostolic trip to Africa - "Africa is so beautiful!" - recalling what he told an Italian nun who has been working as a nurse for 60 years in Bangui, in Central Africa.
Leaving his scripted address, he said” I met a nun in Bangui, she was Italian. I could see she was old: 'How old are you?', I asked. '81' - but not much: two more than me, not so much. She was with a little girl. And the little girl, in Italian, said to her: 'Grandma' - the nun ... 81 years old. She arrived there when she was 23-24 years old. A lifetime. And like her, many, many more. 'But I’m not from here’ she said ‘I’m from the neighboring country, the Congo; but I came in a canoe, with this child ... '... This is how brave missionaries are'. And what does she do, this nun?' - 'But, I'm a nurse and then I studied a bit' here and became a midwife and I delivered 3,280 children ': so she told me. A whole life for life, for the lives of others. And like this nun, there are many, many more: many sisters, so many priests, so many religious burning with life to proclaim Jesus Christ. This is beautiful to see. It's beautiful".
And, always off the cuff, he continued: "I would like to say a word to the young people. But there are very few, because the birth rate is a luxury, it seems, in Europe: 0 births, birth rate 1% ... But I appeal to young people: what do you think of your life. Think of this nun and many like her, who have given their lives and many have died! The missionaries do not proselytize because this nun told me that Muslim women go to them because they know that the sisters are brave nurses who treat them well, and they do not preach a catechesis for converting! No they witness. Then for those who ask them they do some catechesis. But 'witness': this is the great heroic missionary work of the Church. Proclaiming Jesus Christ with their lives! I appeal to young people: think about what you want to do in your life. It's time to think and ask the Lord to help you understand His will. But, please, do not rule out this opportunity to become a missionary, to bring love, humanity, faith to other countries. Not to proselytize: no. That is something that those who are looking for something else do. Faith is preached first by witness and then by word. Slowly".
Previously, retracing one of the stages of a journey, about Kenya, the first stage of the visit, he described it as "a country that represents the global challenge of our time: protect creation by reforming the development model so that it is fair, inclusive and sustainable. All of this is reflected in Nairobi, the largest city in East Africa, where wealth and poverty coexist, but this is a scandal! Not only in Africa: here too, is it not so? Everywhere. The coexistence of wealth and poverty is a scandal, it is a shame for humanity. "
"And there the Office of the United Nations for the environment has its headquarters,, which I visited. In Kenya, I met with the authorities and diplomats, as well as the inhabitants of a neighborhood; I met with the leaders of different Christian denominations and other religions, priests and consecrated persons, and met young people, many young people! On every occasion I have encouraged them to treasure the wealth of that country: the natural and spiritual wealth, made up of the resources of the earth, of the younger generation and the values that form the wisdom of the people. In this context so dramatically today I had the joy of bringing the word of hope of Jesus: "Be strong in faith, do not fear." This was the motto of the visit. A word that is experienced every day by so many humble and simple people, with noble dignity; a word testified so tragically and heroically by young people at the University of Garissa, who were killed on April 2 because Christians. Their blood is the seed of peace and brotherhood for Kenya, for Africa and for the whole world. "
"Then, my visit to Uganda took place in the name of the martyrs of that country, 50 years after their historic canonization, blessed by Pope Paul VI. For this reason the motto was: "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1.8). A motto that presupposes the words immediately preceding: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes", because it is the spirit that animates the heart and hands of missionary disciples. And the whole visit to Uganda took place in the heat of the testimony animated by the Holy Spirit. Witness in explicit sense is the service of catechists, I thanked and encouraged them for their commitment, which often also involves their families. Witness to charity, which I had first hand experience of in the Nalukolongo House, seeing so many communities and associations engaged in the service of the poor, the disabled, the sick. The witness of young people who, despite the difficulties, preserve the gift of hope and try to live the Gospel and not according to the world, going against the trend. Witnesses are the priests, the consecrated men and women who renew their total 'yes' to Christ every day and engage with joy in the service of the holy people of God. And there is another group of witnesses, but I'll talk about them later. This multiform witness, animated by the same Holy Spirit, is leaven for the whole society, as evidenced by the effective work done in Uganda in the fight against AIDS and in the welcoming of refugees. "
"The third leg of the trip was in the Central African Republic, the geographic heart of the continent, the heart of Africa. This visit actually was my primary focus, because that country is trying to emerge from a very difficult period of violent conflict and suffering among the population. This is why I wanted to open right there, in Bangui, with one week in advance, the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy. This country suffers so much. And it is a sign of faith and hope for the people, and symbolically to all the African populations most in need of redemption and comfort. The call of Jesus to the disciples, "Let us go to the other side " (Luke 8:22), was the motto for the Central African Republic. 'Go to the other side', in the civil sense means leaving behind war, divisions, poverty, and choosing peace, reconciliation and development. But this presupposes a 'step' that takes place in the minds, attitudes and intentions of the people. And at this level it is the decisive contribution of the religious communities. So I met the Evangelical and Muslim Community, sharing with them a prayer and commitment to peace. With priests and consecrated persons, but also with young people, we shared the joy of hearing that the risen Lord is with us on the boat, and it is He that is guiding us to the other side. And finally the last Mass at the stadium in Bangui, on the feast of the apostle Andrew, we have renewed our commitment to follow Jesus, our hope, our peace, Face of the Divine Mercy. But that last Mass was wonderful: it was full of young people, a stage of youth! But more than half the population of the Central African Republic are minors, under 18 years of age! This is a promise to move forward".
Then the Pope recalled the meeting with the Italian nun in Bangui and concluded: "We give thanks to the Lord together for this pilgrimage in Africa, and let us be guided by its key words:" Be strong in faith, do not be afraid "; "You will be my witnesses"; "Let us cross to the other side."