Ecumenism of Martyrs?, Pedophilia, & Pell On Trial
The latest news coming from the modernist Vatican II'ers
Please pray for eyes to be opened
Remember ALL (heretics & schismatics) are included in Vatican II New Church, that is, except those who resist the New Religion
Ecumenism of Martyrs??
· With the Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch "the Pope" recalls the suffering of Christians ·
Feb. 29, 2016
“The ecumenism of the martyrs is a summons to us,
here and now, to advance on the path to ever greater unity”. Pope Francis spoke
to the the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Patriarch, Abuna Matthias I, in an
audience on Monday morning, 29 February, in the private library.
“From the beginning, yours has been a Church of
martyrs”, the Pope said. “Today too, you are witnessing a devastating outbreak
of violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East and in
some parts of Africa. We cannot fail, yet again, to implore those who govern
the world’s political and economic life to promote a peaceful coexistence based
on reciprocal respect and reconciliation, mutual forgiveness and solidarity”.
“it is my fervent hope”, the Pope said, “that
this meeting will mark a new chapter of fraternal friendship between our
Churches. We are conscious that history has left us with a burden of painful
misunderstandings and mistrust, and for this we seek God’s pardon and healing.
Let us pray for one another, invoking the protection of the martyrs and saints
upon all the faithful entrusted to our pastoral care. May the Holy Spirit
continue to enlighten us and guide our steps towards harmony and peace. May he
nourish in us the hope that one day, with God’s help, we will be united around
the altar of Christ’s sacrifice in the fullness of eucharistic communion”.
see also: http://callmejorgebergoglio.blogspot.com/2016/03/francis-weekly-installment-of-heresy.html
Sounds alot like: http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2015/08/ecumenism-of-blood-no-baptism-of-blood.html
"War on Terror" To Formalize the One World Religion Watch:
Islamist violence ‘bringing churches closer,’ says pope
Pontiff mourns ‘devastating’ attacks against Christian minorities in Middle East and Africa
Pope Francis said Monday that “devastating” Islamist and other violence in the Middle East and Africa had brought different churches closer, as he met the Ethiopian Orthodox leader.
It
was a theme he also raised in talks with the Russian Orthodox patriarch
in Cuba earlier this month, where he spoke extensively about church
unity and the attacks faced by Christians in the Middle East and North
Africa.
“The shared suffering means that Christians,
who are otherwise divided on several issues, have become much closer to
one another,” he said on meeting Patriarch Abuna Matthias at the
Vatican.
“The blood of martyrs belonging to different churches will serve as the seed of Christian unity,” he said.
The pope had sent a message of support to the
Ethiopian patriarch last April after 28 Ethiopians were massacred on a
Libyan beach by the Islamic State group, saying it was “immaterial”
which strand of Christianity they followed, saying “their blood is the
same.”
On Monday, he said the Ethiopian church “had been a church of martyrs since its inception.”
“Even today, you are witness to a devastating
violence against Christian minorities in the Middle East and many parts
of Africa,” he said, specifically referring to jihadist violence.
The Ethiopian Orthodox church is one of the
largest Orthodox churches and one of the oldest but it retains some
Jewish traditions like circumcision.
FrankenPope wants “dialogue” with Muslim leader who broke off ties after Benedict XVI condemned jihad mass murder attack
FrankenPope wants “dialogue” with Muslim leader who broke off ties after Benedict XVI condemned jihad mass murder attack
FEBRUARY 28, 2016 BY DEACON ROBERT SPENCER @ JihadWatch.org/2016/02/pope-francis-wants-dialogue-with-muslim-leader-who-broke-off-ties-after-benedict-xvi-condemned-jihad-mas-murder-attack
“el-Tayeb has been imam of the al-Azhar Mosque since his 2010 election. He was elected rector of the university in 2003. He is considered a moderate Sunni who has worked to prevent Islamic radicalization.” This moderate Sunni blames the unrest in the Middle East on “world Zionism” and refuses to denounce the Islamic State as un-Islamic.
“Among the many reasons this Feb. 16 meeting is noteworthy: al-Azhar had broken relations with the Vatican in 2011. On Jan. 1 of that year, a major bombing took place in Alexandria. The attack on Coptic Christians killed 23 people. In an immediate reaction, Benedict XVI labeled the attacks as ‘terrorism’ that ‘brutally affected worshippers.’ He characterized the attacks as part of a ‘strategy of violence’ against Christians. He reiterated his concerns in his New Year’s speech to the corps of diplomats accredited to the Holy See. He asked protection for religious minorities. el-Tayeb reacted negatively to these two statements. He blamed Benedict for ‘interference’ in Egyptian internal affairs, which might result in a ‘negative political reaction’ in the East and in Egypt. Ever since, the Vatican and al-Azhar had no official ties for dialogue.”
So Tayeb broke off ties with the Vatican because Pope Benedict XVI condemned a jihad mass murder of Christians, and called on Egypt to protect religious minorities. And now Francis wants to restore “dialogue” with that same man.
How many Christians has the “dialogue” saved from Muslim persecution? How many churches has it saved from destruction?
“Pope Francis wants more dialogue with Islam. Is Egypt the key?,” by Andrea Gagliarducci, Catholic News Agency, February 25, 2016:
Vatican City, Feb 25, 2016 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- For Pope Francis, dialogue with Islam is a core issue. He recently voiced hopes to meet a major Sunni leader: the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque, Ahmed el-Tayeb.
“I want to meet him. I know that he would like it,” the Pope said during his Feb. 18 in-flight press conference.
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, headed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, is reaching out to al-Azhar Mosque
“We are looking for the way, always through Cardinal Tauran because it is the path, but we will achieve it,” Pope Francis said on his flight from Mexico to Italy.
The al-Azhar Mosque and its companion university are the most prominent institutions of Sunni Islam. Both institutions were founded in the 10th century. In 1961, the university added non-religious curricula.
el-Tayeb has been imam of the al-Azhar Mosque since his 2010 election. He was elected rector of the university in 2003. He is considered a moderate Sunni who has worked to prevent Islamic radicalization.
Father Miguel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, visited al-Azhar on Feb. 16 and met with the mosque’s deputy imam, Abbas Shuman. The Holy See Press Office said the two had a “cordial meeting.”
At this meeting, the priest invited the Grand Imam to meet with the Pope at the Vatican.
Among the many reasons this Feb. 16 meeting is noteworthy: al-Azhar had broken relations with the Vatican in 2011.
On Jan. 1 of that year, a major bombing took place in Alexandria. The attack on Coptic Christians killed 23 people.
In an immediate reaction, Benedict XVI labeled the attacks as “terrorism” that “brutally affected worshippers.” He characterized the attacks as part of a “strategy of violence” against Christians. He reiterated his concerns in his New Year’s speech to the corps of diplomats accredited to the Holy See. He asked protection for religious minorities.
el-Tayeb reacted negatively to these two statements. He blamed Benedict for “interference” in Egyptian internal affairs, which might result in a “negative political reaction” in the East and in Egypt.
Ever since, the Vatican and al-Azhar had no official ties for dialogue. However, Mahmoud Azab, a representative of the Grand Imam, took part in the Vatican launch of the Global Freedom Network, an initiative to counter human trafficking.
Recently, el-Tayeb has launched a multilingual satellite television broadcast. He has begun to revise education curricula in order to advance interreligious dialogue.
The dialogue with Islam is so important to Pope Francis that he elevated Fr. Ayuso to the rank of bishop. The appointment was announced Jan. 29. The bishop-designate is an expert in Islam and served as a professor in Cairo. After his ordination, his new rank will give him a major impact in his work to strengthen connections with the Islamic world, a commitment crucial to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
Cardinal Tauran and Fr. Ayuso had a private audience with Pope Francis Feb. 20. At this meeting they reported on the cardinal’s trip to Doha, the Qatari capital.
While Fr. Ayuso was in Cairo, Cardinal Tauran traveled to Qatar. There, he gave a speech at a two-day conference on the topic “Spiritual and Intellectual Security in Light of Religious Doctrines.” The conference was sponsored by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue.
In his remarks, Cardinal Tauran stressed that dialogue among religions is needed “now more than ever.” He asked his audience to pay greater attention towards “the message they convey to the youth.” He encouraged them to be “objective and respectful of legitimate differences” in ethnicity, religion, language, culture, and other categories.
As some work to secure the visit of al-Azhar’s Grand Imam to the Vatican, Pope Francis is also working to improve dialogue with Islam in Italy. He has accepted an invitation to visit the Mosque of Rome. The visit will likely take place April 10, according to a source involved in an Islamic association in Italy.
The Holy See is not ignoring dialogue with Shia Islam. Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani visited the Vatican Jan. 26. Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, gave a lecture in Qom, Iran on Feb. 6. The cardinal said that the social teaching of the Church is the key to fostering interreligious dialogue….
The Vatican II "Dialogue Dance"
Grand jury: 2 bishops hid sex abuse of hundreds of children
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — Two Catholic bishops who led a small Pennsylvania diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by more than 50 priests and other religious leaders over a 40-year period, according to a grand jury report that portrays the church as holding such sway over law enforcement that it helped select a police chief.
The 147-page report issued
Tuesday on sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, home to nearly
100,000 Roman Catholics, was based partly on evidence from a secret
diocesan archive opened through a search warrant over the summer.
In
announcing the findings, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane
said the diocese's two previous bishops "placed their desire to avoid
public scandal over the well-being of children."
No criminal
charges are being filed in the case because some abusers have died, the
statute of limitations has expired, or victims are too traumatized to
testify, she said.Of the victims, Kane said: "Their souls were killed as children. They weren't out playing baseball; they were trying to avoid priests."
The report was especially critical of Bishops James Hogan and Joseph Adamec. Hogan, who headed the diocese from 1966 to 1986, died in 2005. Adamec, who succeeded him, retired in 2011.
Adamec cited possible self-incrimination in refusing to testify before the grand jury. But in a court filing, his attorney said the accusations against the 80-year-old Adamec are unfounded. He required 14 priests accused under his watch to undergo psychiatric evaluation, the filing said. Nine of them were suspended or removed from ministry, and the five who were reinstated never re-offended, his attorney wrote.
"Bishop Adamec's handling of abuse allegations has no similarity to other clergy abuse scandals," his attorney wrote.
The current bishop, Mark Bartchak, is not accused of any wrongdoing. He recently suspended a few priests named as alleged abusers in the report, though the grand jury said it remains "concerned the purge of predators is taking too long."
In a statement, Bartchak said: "I deeply regret any harm that has come to children."
The clergy sex abuse
crisis erupted in 2002, when The Boston Globe reported that the Boston
Archdiocese had transferred child-molesting priests from parish to
parish to protect them. Similar scandals involving hundreds of offenders
and victims have since erupted across the U.S. and beyond.
The
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops estimates that American dioceses
have paid nearly $4 billion since 1950 to settle claims with victims.The Altoona-Johnstown report said that the abuse was committed in such places as campsites, confessionals, an orphanage and the cathedral, and that Hogan covered up allegations by transferring offending priests, including one who was sent to a school for boys.
One diocesan official under Hogan, Monsignor Philip Saylor, told the grand jury that church officials held such clout in the eight-county diocese that "the police and civil authorities would often defer to the diocese" when priests were accused of abuse, the report said. Saylor told the grand jury that the mayors of Altoona and Johnstown even consulted him on their choices for police chief in the 1980s.
"Politicians
of Blair County were afraid of Monsignor Saylor, and he apparently
persuaded the mayor to appoint me as the chief of police," former
Altoona Police Chief Peter Starr testified.
The Rev. Thomas Doyle,
a Catholic canon lawyer turned advocate for victims, said it was common
for law enforcement in heavily Catholic areas to defer to the church in
handling accusations against priests.
He
said the number of victims and accused priests in the Altoona-Johnstown
Diocese, which ranks in the bottom half of the list of the nearly 200
U.S. dioceses by Catholic population, did not surprise him: "I've seen
dioceses the same size or smaller where you have significant numbers of
perpetrators and victims."
The report said Adamec or his staff
threatened some alleged victims with excommunication and generally
worked harder to hide or settle allegations of abuse than to discipline
the priests accused."The diocese will not apologize or take responsibility for its dark history," the report said.
In a practice seen in other dioceses, the bishop created a "payout chart" to help guide how much victims would receive from the church, the report said. Victims fondled over their clothes were to be paid $10,000 to $25,000; fondled under their clothes or subjected to masturbation, $15,000 to $40,000; subjected to forced oral sex, $25,000 to $75,000; subjected to forced sodomy or intercourse, $50,000 to $175,000.
Clergy abuse scandals are not new to the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.
The
latest investigation began when Kane's office was asked to review the
handling of abuse allegations at Bishop McCort Catholic High School
against an athletic trainer, Franciscan Brother Stephen Baker, who
worked there from 1992 to 2001. Baker killed himself in 2013 after abuse
settlements with an Ohio diocese where he formerly worked were
publicized.
Eighty-eight former McCort students settled claims
against the diocese for $8 million in 2014, said Richard Serbin, an
Altoona attorney whose been battling the diocese for decades.
A
molestation lawsuit against since-defrocked priest Francis Luddy that
went to trial in 1994 also exposed many of the problems outlined in the
grand jury report. The case led to a verdict of more than $2 million in
damages and an appeals court finding that Hogan's oversight of pedophile
priests had been "outrageous."
"Hundreds
of children probably could have been saved from a life of misery had
they done something back then and, more importantly, a lot of these
child predators could have been criminally prosecuted," Serbin said.
The National "Catholic" Register on Bernie for Prez
Two Peas In A Pod
Young Democrats primarily back Sanders, revealing a generational divide on socialism[Other than a brief reference to his pro-abort and pro-sodomite views (“Sanders agrees with the Democratic Party platform’s support for abortion rights and same-sex ‘marriage'”), he’s ok if you like “socialism” (whatever that means, and which Bernie equates with FrankenPope’s views)]
by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND 03/01/2016
WASHINGTON — When Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., for president on Twitter, the Florida congressman embraced his candidate’s call for a “political revolution.”
Grayson, a rising Florida Democrat who is running for the Senate and will be a super delegate at his party’s national convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia, echoed Sanders’ attacks on banks and billionaires in his endorsement announcement on Monday.
Sanders is “unbought and unbossed,” asserted Grayson.
“So am I. That is an essential element of the political revolution,” he added, as he repeated Sanders’ inspirational message: “Not me. Us.”
A self-identified “democratic socialist,” who has represented the people of his state as an independent for more than two decades in Congress, Sanders agrees with the Democratic Party platform’s support for abortion rights and same-sex “marriage.”
Sanders opposes capital punishment.
“The state itself, in a democratic, civilized society, should itself not be involved in the murder of other Americans,” argued Sanders during a Senate floor speech in October that repudiated the death penalty.
But his strong following among under-30 Democrats can be traced in part to his uncompromising call for breaking up the nation’s biggest banks and for proposals that would sharply increase taxes for rich Americans and corporations.
“If we are truly serious about ending ‘too big to fail,’ we have got to break up the largest financial institutions in this country,” said Sanders during a 2015 media interview that outlined his goal to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, which had prevented commercial and investment banks from merging.
“Allowing commercial banks to merge with investment banks and insurance companies in 1999 was a huge mistake,” he added, arguing that the change in policy not only resulted in the taxpayer bailout of banks that failed during the 2008, but also “caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, life savings.”
Meanwhile, his proposals to shift financial responsibility for college loans and health insurance to the federal government have won applause from Millennials who typically begin their working life with college-loan debt and shaky job prospects.
The Vermont senator has called for a single-payer system for health insurance — Medicare for all, while Hillary Clinton has promised to protect and improve Obamacare.
Youthful Support
At present, the Clinton campaign has dismissed Sanders’ economic and social policies as unrealistic and too expensive. In contrast, she has presented herself as a “progressive Democrat” who is pragmatic about adopting reforms that will help, not overburden, middle-class Americans.
Thus far, however, Sanders’ campaign still enjoys strong backing from young Democrats, who agree with his support for gun control, action on climate change and comprehensive immigration reform, which would include a path to citizenship.
“We don’t see signs of Millennials breaking off from their support for Sanders,” Emily Ekins, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, told the Register.
According to Ekins’ polling research, 70%-80% of young Democrats now back Sanders, but there is no hard data on their religious membership.
Asked to describe a typical Sanders’ voter, Ekins said the profile that emerged from her research pointed to “young, white males who were very liberal.” Young women also support Sanders, she added, but not at the same level.
The Millennials’ embrace of Sanders may shock older Americans, who recall the Cold War standoff between the U.S.-led capitalist system and Soviet-style socialism. But Ekins found that many young Democrats have no problem with a candidate who identifies as a socialist. These voters view Sanders’ policy positions as more “compassionate” — something akin to the brand of socialism practiced in parts of Scandinavia.
Ekins also noted that younger Americans are less likely than their parents to be involved in institutional religion, and so they are less worried about socialist policies that might pose a threat to the freedom of religion, as was the case in the Soviet Union and in satellite nations like Poland.
Lack of Knowledge
But Ekins underscored the fact that Millennials could not easily define socialism, when asked to explain their political views and support for Sanders.
That finding did not surprise public intellectuals like George Weigel.
“I don’t know why anyone should be surprised at this, given the state of American education over the past several decades,” said Weigel, the papal biographer who recounted Pope St. John Paul lI’s battle to liberate Poland from Soviet rule.
“A lot of young people, especially those who attended ‘elite’ schools, know nothing about the colossal failures of socialism; nor have they been given anything that would cause them to wonder about the propriety of Bernie Sanders honeymooning in Moscow,” he told the Register.
“The ‘social studies’ chickens are coming home to roost.”
Meanwhile, Sanders has claimed that his version of socialism mirrors the teachings of Pope Francis, whom he has described as “a socialist.”
“Well, what it means to be a socialist, in the sense of what the Pope is talking about, what I’m talking about, is to say that we have got to do our best and live our lives in a way that alleviates human suffering, that does not accelerate the disparities of income and wealth,” Sanders told Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, who leads the Salt and Light network, in a February interview that is posted on The Washington Post website.
During the interview, Sanders applauded Pope Francis’ “radical critique of the hypercapitalist system, world system.”
The Pope “believes that, in democratic societies, government itself should play a very strong role in protecting the most vulnerable people amongst us,” he said.
“That is a direct critique of conservative politics, and, of course, he’s going to be attacked for that.”
Faith in the State
During an interview with the Register, Sam Gregg, the director of research at the pro-free market Acton Institute, explained the key principles that set socialism and “liberalism,” as that term was once understood, apart.
“Socialists have faith in the state to solve most problems, are generally hostile to private property and stress equality of outcome,” said Gregg.
Liberals “see private property as foundational to civilization and stress equality in the sense of equality before the law.”
Gregg added, “The Democratic Party presently allows more room for markets, but, generally, I would suggest that it is moving closer to Sen. Sanders’ positions.”
As Sanders stirs deep enthusiasm within the Democratic base, Clinton’s allies in the party have challenged the Vermont senator’s proposals and expressed doubt that the majority of Americans would vote for a socialist.
“I haven’t yet seen anyone add up the cost of all of Sanders’ proposals, but he is clearly talking about tax increases that have no historical precedent in peacetime,” warned Paul Starr, a public-policy expert at Princeton University, who worked on health-care issues in the Clinton administration, in a January 2016 column for Politico.
“Sanders says people would save money because they wouldn’t be paying for health insurance or co-pays. But he is asking Americans to have a level of trust in the efficiency of government that they do not have.”
Electability and Foreign-Policy Concerns
Starr also raised concerns about Sanders’ foreign-policy credentials and expressed doubts that he could effectively serve as commander in chief, while the left-leaning Nation magazine endorsed the senator as a “foreign-policy realist” best suited to deal with the growing array of geopolitical crises facing Obama’s successor.
But the Democratic base is much more concerned with economic issues than in stopping the Islamic State, the international terrorist organization.
A January 2016 NBC poll found that just 11% of Democrat respondents saw terrorism as the most important issue in the campaign.
“Fewer Democrats are concerned with terrorism than are concerned with the economy (29%), health care (17%), the environment (15%) or education (13%),” noted NBC.
Yet Democrat leaders also fear that a terrorist attack on the homeland could change voters’ priorities, increasing Sanders’ electability problem.
Last week, the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev., endorsed Hillary Clinton, joining a total of 40 Democratic senators who have closed ranks around their party’s front-running presidential hopeful.
“I think the middle class would be better served by Hillary,” said Reid, explaining his decision.
Sanders still has a chance to prove the minority leader and most of his other Senate colleagues wrong. But even while his youthful supporters stay the course and embrace his vision of “political revolution,” the socialist Senator from Vermont may find more doors closing in the upcoming weeks, if current primary polls prove accurate.
...an editorial cartoonist gets the religion of Francis
Pell: The Vatican ‘mucked things up’ on sexual abuse
Peter Blenkiron, a victim of clerical sexual abuse in Australia, wore a T-shirt showing him at the age in which he was abused as he met reporters in front of the Quirinale hotel in Rome where Cardinal George Pell testified before an Australian commission via video link Feb. 28. 2016. (Alessandra Tarantino / AP)
By Inés San MartÃn
Australian Cardinal George Pell also admitted that he often believed priests over alleged victims who came forward: “I must say in those days, if a priest denied such activity, I was very strongly inclined to accept the denial.”
“I’m not here to defend the indefensible,” Pell said at the beginning of a grueling four-hour hearing late Sunday night via video from a Rome hotel. In order to be take place in the morning in Australia, Pell has agreed to appear beginning at 10 p.m. Rome time and continue until roughly 2 a.m. each day. The hearing is expected to last three or four days.
“The Church has made enormous mistakes, but is working to remedy them,” he said. “In many places, the Church certainly has mucked things up, has let people down.”
Pell, Pope Francis’ handpicked finance czar, is the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify about the sexual abuse of children in the Church, and was called by the commission about his time as a priest in the city of Ballarat and as archbishop of Melbourne prior to his Vatican assignment.
The commission is investigating whether Pell responded appropriately to reports of sexual abuse. It initially asked the cardinal to return to Australia to appear in person, but upon advice from a physician that a heart condition made the long flight dangerous, Pell volunteered to testify via video. It marks the third time he’s been deposed by the commission.
The hotel, two miles from the Vatican, was chosen by the commission. About 20 people, between survivors and supporters, made the trip thanks to the campaign, which raised $130,000 in a few days. At the end of the hearing, Pell didn’t shake hands with the survivors, but he acknowledged their presence and made eye contact with several of them.
Anthony and Chrissie Foster are among those who traveled to Rome to hear Pell’s testimony.
Two of their three daughters were abused by the Rev. Kevin O’Donnell, and one of them committed suicide. A second struggled with alcohol addiction, and while intoxicated was struck by a car, leaving her severely disabled.
“If we don’t see humility the moment he comes in, I don’t think we’ll get the truth,” Anthony Foster told Crux before the hearing begun. “So we need humility, we need the truth, and we need action.”
“I want him to take action,” Foster added. “I want him to change the Church in Australia, change the systems that he put in place, so that they give true justice for victims, to make sure that this doesn’t happen again in the future.”
It’s a sentiment shared by several of the survivors who traveled to Rome. Tony Wardley of Ballarat said he wants Pell to admit that the Church got it wrong, and to “put things in place to stop these things from happening.”
“I’d rather see things changing for the future than continue looking to the past,” he said.
At the beginning of the hearing, the lead counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, asked Pell about his current position in the Vatican, where he serves as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
Furness also asked about the Church’s current position regarding the way bishops have to respond to allegations of clerical sexual abuse. Pell replied that bishops are called to “respect the law of the land.”
He was then walked through individual cases, such as the case of former Rev. Paul David Ryan, jailed in 2006 for 18 months after admitting three charges of indecent assault against one victim between 1990 and 1991.
Ryan has previously said that Ballarat’s former Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, Pell’s superior at the time, knew that he was abusing children in 1977, but did not revoke his priestly faculties until 1993.
Pell was also asked about the Rev. Gerald Ridsdale, one of the world’s most notorious sexual offenders who was shifted around the diocese. Ridsdale is an Australian laicized Catholic priest who was convicted between 1993 and 2013 of a large number of child sexual abuse and indecent assault charges against 54 children aged as young as four years from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Regarding the way this case was handled by Mulkearns, Pell said it was “a catastrophe for the victims and a catastrophe for the Church.”
When asked directly if, while he was the general vicar of education for the Diocese of Ballarat, he had received complaints of clerical sexual abuse, he said, “I can’t remember any such case, but my memory might be playing me false … it’s sometimes fallible.”
Pell has long denied allegations that he was involved in transferring Ridsdale. The priest’s nephew, David Ridsdale, who says he was repeatedly abused by his uncle, has also accused Pell of trying to buy his silence, which he also denies.
In a statement released by his office on Sunday, Pell expressed his support for the Royal Commission’s work, reiterated his commitment to meet with the victims who had traveled to Rome, and said he hoped the coming days “will eventually lead to healing for everyone.”
The statement also said that he had joined the “Loud Fence” movement launched in Ballarat to support survivors of sexual abuse. He did so by tying a yellow ribbon on the fence in the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens.
“I am aware of the Loud Fence movement and how it has grown rapidly,” Pell said in the statement. “This is my gesture of support, especially for the people of Ballarat.”
On previous occasions, Pell has expressed regret over meetings he had with victims seeking compensation, admitting that he and others in the Catholic Church have failed in their moral and pastoral responsibilities to make them a priority.
The group of survivors who traveled across the world to participate in the hearing sat in the first row. Many sported red or light blue shirts that read on the front, “No more silence,” and on the back, “Some don’t remember, others won’t forget.”
Others had ribbons hanging out of their pockets, as a sign of adherence to the Loud Fence movement.
David Ridsdale said he was not at the hearing to see Pell “crucified,” because “if we got rid of him, he’d be the scapegoat, and everyone else back home will be left alone.”
“We’re not interested in a distraction,” he said. “We want change, and that can’t happen unless those who were involved help us.”
“I want for (Pell) to acknowledge that this systemic abuse didn’t only affect us, but our city,” Ridsdale said. “I want to make sure that the future is brighter for our children, for our grandchildren, and the Catholic Church has a moral responsibility to make that happen.”
“We need the hierarchy of the Vatican to stand up instead of hiding in legal processes,” he said. “We don’t need more survivors; we need to be the last.”
Modernist NewSpeak!
A dictionary for understanding fifty of Francis’ meaningless soundbites
The Vocabulary of Pope Francis: Endorsed (Written) by Fifty Great Journalists and Writers
We couldn't make this up if we tried! Another installment straight out of absurdistan! A book has been released explaining fifty of the catchphrases Francis loves to use. Notice in the video below, the editor of the book, Fr. Antonio Carriero says,
“Pope Francis speaks with the style of a pastor and his language is so simple that it becomes accessible to everyone, young and old and in particular, the elderly.”
That statement is opposite what the narrator of the video said right before,
““The Vocabulary of Pope Francis”...is a comprehensive guide for those who wish to have a better understanding of how each of these words relates to the Holy Father.”
So which is it? Is Francis’ language so simple that it’s accessible to all or do we need to have a comprehensive guide to better understand these phrases?
A sample of a few of the phrases in the book:
“peripheries of existence”
“throw away culture”
“don't be observers of your life”
It leaves us, here at Call Me Jorge..., to wonder will the book contain and explain our favorite Francis’ insult?
“self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism”
IS THE PEDOPHILIA CRISIS RE-IGNITING?
Atila Sinke Guimarães
After a period when the fire was burning under the ashes, four recent cases seem to indicate that the flames of the shameful crisis of pedophile priests and the correspondent cover-up by Bishops/Vatican are rapidly re-igniting and becoming an open blazing fire.
In Rome Card. George Pell, head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy and former Archbishop of Sydney, was summoned by an Australian court of law to give evidence about sexual abuse. The Royal Commission on Child Abuse is questioning Pell in a series of hearings about his alleged role in moving pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale from one parish to another in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
The hearing room in Sidney shows Card. Pell in Rome swearing on the Bible to tell the truth
The Australian police is presently investigating accusations that Pell himself committed sexual abuse when he was a priest in Ballarat. These accusations were published by the press thanks to a police leak. Card. Pell’s office in the Vatican affirmed these accusations are baseless and false. They are made, the statement affirms, with the sole aim of harming Pell’s reputation and the Catholic Church.
In principle, since Card. Pell has been outspoken against Francis’ encyclical on ecology, we cannot exclude the possibility that this “leaked” scandal involving him is orchestrated and fueled by some of Francis’ minions inside the Vatican.
Actually, this would fit with the fact that on his return trip from Mexico, Pope Francis said that when a Prelate is found transferring a pedophile priest from one parish to another, “the best thing he can do is to present his resignation.” (Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2016, p. A3)
In Belgium 1046 cases of pedophilia were reported in the last three years (2012-2015). Of this number, 418 victims accused priests or religious men of sexually abusing them. The additional 628 cases were settled with the victims since the crimes were committed more than 30 years ago and the statute of limitation had expired. These accusations were presented in the many hearing offices the Belgian Bishops established for this purpose. The Catholic Church spent more than 4 million euro (US$4.35 million) in compensations to the victims.
Bishop Harpigny, Prof. Keirse & Bishop Bonny presenting the report on sexual abuses
Here is my comment, first, on a noteworthy fact in these cases: The complaints were made straight to the Bishops’ offices and are no longer lawsuits against the priests judged in civil tribunals. This fact signals an improvement. The Bishops are now acknowledging that pedophile crimes exist in the Church in gigantic proportions.
Second, it is not clear whether the Bishops will actually punish the guilty priests since all the legal procedures – it seems – will take place under the secrecy of ecclesiastical tribunals, which do not allow the public access to their procedures and decisions. I believe that if the Bishops were really concerned about resolving the problem of pedophile priests, they should make all their juridical decisions transparent – who was punished, why and how – giving the public full access to coverage of these procedures and judgments.
Third, it is certainly much more advantageous for the Belgian Bishops to pay 4 million euros to settle 628 cases than it was for Card. Roger Mahony to pay US$660 million to settle with 500 victims in Los Angeles in 2007. Thus, some questions necessarily come to mind: Were these hearing offices established simply to avoid much larger expenses if the cases were brought to civil courts of law? Then, what is real motive of the Bishops behind this move: to assist the victims or to benefit themslves?
In India, Bishop Arulappan Amalraj of the Diocese of Ootacamund announced on February 11, 2016, that he has lifted the suspension of predator priest Fr. Joseph Jeyapaul. The latter had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl by a Minnesota court of law a decade ago. The suspension of the priest was lifted on January 16, 2016 after the Bishop consulted with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reports Jeff Anderson, the lawyer for the two victims involved.
Top, Megan Peterson in 2012 at age 22, with her lawyer Jeff Anderson; bottom, Fr. Jeyapaul in 2010
At the time of his alleged sexual abuse, Fr. Jeyapaul was working in Blessed Sacrament Church in Greenbush, Minnesota, in the Diocese of Crookston. Megan Peterson went public in 2004, accusing Jeyapaul of forcing her to have oral sex with him at age 14 when she went to him privately to ask his advice about becoming a nun. In 2005 a lawsuit was filled; later he was convicted of the crime. Soon after he was publicly accused, the priest fled the United States. In 2006, another girl, Jane Doe, went public, alleging she was also sexually abused by Jeyapaul when she was 16.
In 2010, reporters found the priest working at a job overseeing schools in the Diocese of Ootacamund, India. Both Fr. Jeyapaul and his supervising Bishop Amalraj alleged ignorance of the criminal charges against the priest. On that occasion he announced his intent to return to the U.S. “to prove his innocence,” which in fact never happened. Instead, he disappeared again.
In 2012, he was found and arrested by the Indian police at the request of Interpol after seven years as a fugitive. He went to trial in a New Delhi court, which postponed his extradition to the U.S. and made arrangements with Bishop Amalraj to hold a canonical trial. The priest was suspended and sentenced to some time in a monastery “to pray.”
On February 11, the Bishop announced that the suspension had been lifted in the name of the year of mercy… ( New York Times, April 6, 2010, Daily Mail, March 20, 2012)
The simple exposition of these facts shows that we are again facing a case of a cover-up of a pedophile priest by Bishop Amalraj, in addition to a clear case of obstruction of justice.
In Rome & England the press has given great publicity to the statements of Peter Saunders, who was a British member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors at the Vatican. This Commission was created in 2014 by Pope Francis on the suggestion of Card. Sean O’Malley of Boston. In 2015, Sanders had been invited to become a member by Francis.
In an official communiqué of that organ dated February 6, Saunders was advised “to take a leave of absence” from the Commission. The reason for this virtual dismissal was that he spoke too much to the press.
Top, Francis embraces Bishop Juan Barros; bottom, the people of Osorno protest against the cover-up
So, the bottom line is that Barros covered for Karadina and Francis covered for Barros. (Tablet, February 13, 2016, Crux, February 6, 2016, BBC Mundo, February 23, 2016).
My reader can watch the protest of the Chilean population of Osorno on March 21, 2015, at the inauguration of Bishop Barros, even inside the cathedral here.
Since Saunders has attacked the Commission as a façade organization with no effective way of either investigating individual cases or pressuring Bishops to follow its counsels, the mentioned Commission communiqué affirms in passing that the Vatican recently has expelled 880 priests guilty of the abuse of minors.
I record this datum with the hope it is true, but without understanding why the Vatican maintains secrecy about these alleged expulsions. Does it not realize that providing more details would project to the public a more positive image of the Holy See and its concern for abused children?
The reasons for this Vatican lack of transparency are open to speculation. I advance just one: Would it be because providing details could trigger a chain reaction, which would reveal that the number of pedophile priests is much higher than those expelled?
Praise for the Enemy: Ossevatore Romano Heaps Praise on Anti-CatholicNewspaper
Edit: some things that don't make the coverage on this issue:
1. The sexual proclivities
of the offenders. The overwhelming majority of offenders are
everybody's current favorite victim class.
2. The political and religious inclination of the offenders. (Most are not orthodox to begin with.)
3. Media pets in the
hierarchy are actually protected or their complicity in sexual abuse is
ignored or downplayed: see Pope Francis' record in Buenos Aires, it's
not pretty, or Cardinal Mahony's handling of sexual abuse, which did
lead to his resignation at 75, but he by no means gets the same lurid
coverage that the Boston Globe is unjustly praised for attacking the bumbling but mostly Pro-Life Cardinal Law.
4. The Boston Globe
has been an anti-Catholic and anti-Irish paper from the beginning, no
surprise that it's following the lead of similarly leftist papers like La Stampa (which has its own hit-man in Andrea Tornielli) by spawning Crux with its own Old Liberal ecclesiastical perspective.
Old Liberals love the
abuse crisis, because it allows them to settle scores with orthodox or
neoconservative clergy by employing the weapons of popular opinion,
which as we've seen with this pope especially, are very important in the
way he governs his Church.
What's especially
sickening is to see such uncritical and cowardly praise for Boston Globe
which has confused and muddled the situation more than anything else,
leading to the public perception that sexual abuse is first and
foremost, a Catholic problem when all too many of the perpetrators, even
where they wear cassocks, are no more Catholic than the evil and
luxurious Cardinal Marx.
[Guardian] The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has praised the 2016 best picture Oscar winner Spotlight for its convincing attempt to show abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic church.
The newspaper published a front-page editorial on
Monday hailing Tom McCarthy’s film and calling it “not anti-Catholic”.
The editorial said Spotlight, which centres on the work of a group of
Boston Globe reporters to uncover abuse by Roman Catholic priests,
faithfully presented the church’s attempts to defend itself in the face
of “horrendous realities”.
“Not
all monsters wear cassocks. Paedophilia [Most of them, however, are
aberrosexuals, others are from Hollywood itself and quite a few wear
yarmulkes.] does not necessarily arise from the vow of chastity,” wrote
the editorial’s author, Lucetta Scaraffia. “However, it has become clear
that in the Church some are more preoccupied with the image of the
institution than of the seriousness of the act.”
Now This:
How would Osservatore Romano be counted upon to know an anti-Catholic
film when it itself is demonstrably anti-Catholic? How much does
Hollywood pay them to promote their films?
http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2016/02/refugee-socialism-dont-convert-year-of.html
http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2016/02/francis-socialist-anti-christ-turkson.html
http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2016/02/francis-praises-abortionist-elaborates.html
