Saturday, November 08, 2003
JESUITS AND FREEMASONRY I keep running into this combination as I read Theosophical literature. My world history is sorely lacking. I don't know if this article from Puritan News Weekly is historically accurate or a fabrication such as The Da Vinci Code. Henry, if you check in here, can you shed any light on this? From the website: Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, was himself a member of a Gnostic Illuminist group in Spain called �Los Alumbrados.� Evidence suggests that high level Gnostic Jesuits (following in the course of the Order�s founder) formed ties with other underground Gnostics for centuries before speculative freemasonry�s public rise in the early eighteenth century. And there has been an historic connection between the Jesuit Order and higher level Gnostic speculative freemasonry, as documented in such books as Let My People Go and Rulers of Evil. One such evidence of the Jesuit-Masonic connection in the history of the Masonic Knights Templar is found at http://www.templarhistory.com/mts.html : It comes up repeatedly in the history of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, and is usually associated with the Chapter of Clermont. The Roman Catholic Stuarts utilized freemasonry as a tool to try to re-gain the throne of England, a goal the Jesuits had as well, even as the Stuart Charles II seems to have used masonry to help accomplish his Restoration to power in the seventeenth century. The Gnostic movement went public subtly in the form of speculative English freemasonry in the early 18th century in Protestant England. Though started by �professed� (albeit questionable) Protestants, it was not long before the Roman Catholic Duke of York was the most powerful English freemason. And Scottish Rite and Knight Templar freemasonry was led by Romish Jacobites with Jesuit ties. Here is an example of what I'm talking about, at a website called "The Reformation Online." It talks about a secret Jesuit document which reveals the Jesuit connection with Scottish Rite Freemasonry. But there is also a reference in William Whalen's Christianity and American Freemasonry to the Rite of Perfection. It says: The 33-degree system of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is built on the Rite of Perfection of 25 degrees devised in the College of Clermont in 1754. Some of the original degrees are said to have been composed by the Chevalier Ramsey, a Scotch Presbyterian turned Catholic, who attempted to use the new Masonic order to restore the Stuarts to the English throne. p. 55 Also there are often claims that Opus Dei is Masonic. This website indicates Opus Dei and the Jesuits were replaced by Opus Dei. And it does look as though the website has a stanford.edu address. It's certainly not difficult to see the similarities between the structure of the Jesuit Order and Opus Dei. The venom escalates a notch in this website. On the other hand, John Allen paints a rather bland picture of Opus Dei which is somewhat surprising considering his rather liberal politics. While ODAN (Opus Dei Awareness Network), a decidedly anti-Opus Dei organization, offers this book: Saints & Schemers: Opus Dei & Its Paradoxes by Joan Estruch, Oxford University Press, 1996. This book gives a comprehensive, factual history of Opus Dei, with much emphasis on the Founder as the definer of Opus Dei. The author shows how Opus Dei through the years has altered facts of its own history in a desire to change its image. This fascinating book is scholarly written, with an emphasis on theories and questions, making it difficult to read at times. Includes a history of the conflict between the Jesuits and Opus Dei. Suggested donation is $26, plus $4 shipping ($11 shipping outside the United States). For more details, see the review of the book. It's no secret H. P. Blavatsky disliked the Jesuits. They are mentioned throughout her books. It's also no secret that the Jesuits have fallen off the Catholic cliff into the modernist pit. CarrieTomko@aol.com
WHILE THE RCC ATTEMPTS SELF-DESTRUCTION IN PORTUGAL ECUSA leads the way down the Schism road. Dr. John MacArthur, pastor and uathor offers this advice to frustrated Episcopalians: MacArthur minces no words, saying the church is not the Church of Jesus Christ but "the church of Anti-Christ.� The denomination, he says, should be shunned because of its unbiblical actions. "This is not the true Church.� Their theology is aberrant, their conduct is aberrant, and they engage themselves in things that are utterly ungodly and unbiblical," MacArthur says.� "I think you have to see it as the church of Anti-Christ -- and why would a believer want to be a part of the church of Anti-Christ?" MacArthur admits he was not surprised to see the Episcopal Church consecrate an openly homosexual bishop.� He says for years the denomination has reinvented the gospel. "Their view of Christ is apostate, therefore their view of everything else is warped and twisted.� So this is no stretch for them; this is normal conduct for an organization that is opposed to Jesus Christ and the Word of God," he says.� "If anybody in it [the Episcopal Church] is a true believer, they need to get out." ECUSA is coming apart at the seams. Meanwhile another from the intimate circle of the Polish archbishop who has gotten himself into a homosexual scandal has been promoted: The weight of influence of the first two, in particular, has increased beyond measure. In the previous century, never has a pope�s secretary had power like Dziwisz. Prior to the pope�s ratification of the list of thirty new cardinals appointed on October 21, it was Dziwisz who got in the next-to-last word. The fact that a close friend of his and of Marini � archbishop Julius Paetz from Poland � was expelled from his dioceses of Poznan for homosexual wrongdoings did no damage to him. Driven away the black sheep, only a few days ago Dziwisz had another Pole from his intimate circle, Stanislaw Rylko, promoted to president of the Pontifical Council for Laity � a post normally reserved for cardinals. CarrieTomko@aol.com
ANOTHER STORY ON FATIMA at the REMNANT, which I suppose will get this blog branded "Lidless Eye" for posting it. So be it. CarrieTomko@aol.com
THE LABOR OF THE SUN IS COMPLETE. THE END OF THESE CATHOLIC TIMES IS HERE Check out "IT" at San Francisco Faith. THE GREAT TRIBULATION Matt. 24:15-16 When you see the desolating abomination spoken through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains Matt. 24:23-25 If anyone says to you then, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or, "There he is!' do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. So much for the "New Springtime." It seems that someone forgot about winter. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Friday, November 07, 2003
EU MINISTERS DISCUSS EUROPE'S RELIGIOUS FAITHS In his address to the conference the French interior minister, Jacques de Monteforte, said that France was in the process of drawing up new laws on the public display of religious insignia including crucifixes and pictures of Christian saints. In keeping with last month's F�tima congress, which called for the development of a "One World Religion" where individual faiths can live side-by-side under one umbrella, the interior ministers called for a coming together of European religions to establish peace and prosperity in the European Union. Religious observers at the conference suggested that there should be a sharing of mosques, Christian church buildings and other places of worship between the various faiths. They pointed to the example set by Pope John Paul II in Assisi in 1986 when he encouraged the leaders of the world's religions, including Buddhists and Muslims, to celebrate their religious ceremonies in the city's Catholic churches. CarrieTomko@aol.com
THE LINK IS WORKING RIGHT NOW The Portugal News MAIN - 01/11/2003 Fatima to become interfaith shrine CarrieTomko@aol.com
WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY AND THE LORD OF THE FLIES Tom Horn proposes that the description in Scripture of insects which oppress man appears to be fulfilled in weapons which are currently being developed. It's enough to make me wonder if I woke up in a Matrix movie this morning! CarrieTomko@aol.com
CLONING was on the table at the UN via a U.S.-backed initiative presented by Costa Rica calling for a moratorium on human cloning. Discussion on the ban has been postponed until the end of 2005. The vote was close--80-79. Frequently we are told that the Pope sides with Islamic countries because those nations hold similar moral positions to Christian countries. For that reason this comes as a surprise. The vote exposed the deep political and religious differences between the United States and the Islamic world, which does not believe that life begins at conception and opposes prohibitions on "therapeutic cloning," which involves the medical and scientific use of human embryos. "Therapeutic cloning is acceptable universally by all the Shia and the Sunni Muslims," said Abdulaziz Sachedina, an expert on the ethics of cloning in Islam at the University of Virginia's Department of Religious Studies. "Embryos don't have the same sanctity (that they do in the Christian faith). They are not regarded as a person in any sense." What does that say about the Vatican support for Iraq? There are a multitude of contradictions coming from Rome. CarrieTomko@aol.com
SOME THINGS SCHOOL SYSTEMS DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT are spelled out in this article by Dr. Laura Schlessinger at WorldNetDaily. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Thursday, November 06, 2003
FATIMA AN INTERFAITH SHRINE? I am speechless. Can anyone verify this? There is another thread at FreeRepublic that gives more details. Here is the original source for the story. I haven't yet been able to get into it. The website seems to be down. The message that comes up indicates the website has "surpassed the resources allocation." Which means, I guess, that there have been too many hits on this website. CarrieTomko@aol.com
JAPANESE--CHINESE RELATIONS TENSE Lee Penn sent out this link to an article at The Age which describes worsening tensions between China and Japan. What is the possibility for war in the Orient? Is this typical posturing or a legitimate escalation of tension? And would Japan seriously contemplate taking on China? Lee further assesses the international build-up to a potential war with these stories: Some headlines from a leading intel service: A tsar is born What Russia's leader plans for the short term. [Jane's Foreign Report - first posted to Foreign Report- 4 November 2003] Iran: caving in or buying time? Although an escalating international crisis over Iran's nuclear programme appears to have been averted, or at least postponed, many key questions remain unanswered about the Islamic Republic's activities and the intentions of its leadership. JID reviews the latest developments. [Jane's Intelligence Digest - first posted to Jane's - 4 November 2003] Palestinian militants target USA In the months ahead, the detonation of a massive bomb underneath a US diplomatic vehicle travelling in the Gaza Strip is likely to be regarded as the beginning of a major shift in Palestinian politics - a transition in which US interests in both Israel and the Occupied Territories became targets of Palestinian militant attacks. JID's regional correspondent reports from the West Bank on why the USA is now in the firing line. [Jane's Intelligence Digest - first posted to Jane's - 4 November 2003] Iraq: a war without intelligence As the security situation in Iraq deteriorates daily, serious questions need to be asked about the shortcomings in the standard of intelligence gathering, both in the USA and the UK. JID has asked experienced intelligence experts to highlight the key problems. [Jane's Intelligence Digest - first posted to Jane's - 4 November 2003] China steps up security on North Korean border China has transferred responsibility for securing its borders with North Korea and Myanmar from the police to the People's Liberation Army. [Jane's Intelligence Review - first posted to Jane's - 15 October 2003] {{{ note that I had sent you a story about this several weeks ago. Remember, the Chinese also sent troops to their border with NK before .... in late 1950}}} Islamist terrorism in Latin America The devastating 11 September terrorist attacks focused US attention on finding the perpetrators; US officials were shocked to find signs of activity far from Al-Qaeda's mountain lairs in Afghanistan, in their own hemisphere. In the last two years, investigators have uncovered an intricate web of Islamic terrorist movements and cells concentrated in the USA's back door, Latin America. Islamic terrorists of every movement from Hamas to Al-Qaeda have been uncovered in Latin America, ensconced in emigre communities. The USA has paid the price for its gringo superiority and the terrorists, in an arc sweeping through central and Latin America, have yet to be decisively defeated. [Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor - first posted to Jane's - 13 October 2003] {{{{ Please connect this with the rise of anti-US governments in Latin America, and the increasing strength of Communist insurgents in Colombia and Peru; the Shining Path is on the rebound. When the World War gets going full speed, we will have serious opposition to our south.}}}}} CarrieTomko@aol.com
THE ATOMIZATION OF CATHOLICISM is discussed in an article at Christian Order which compares the morphing of an English village from Catholicism to Protestantism during the Protestant Reformation to what is happening in the church today. Their assessment of the current situation is explained in these paragraphs: While traditionalists of different stripes pride themselves on their uncompromising stance, on seeing the �big picture� and confronting neo-Modernism head-on, their internal divisions and convulsions are endless. As one traditionalist cleric described the cycle within his own milieu: "without fail, dissent erupts, parties form, priests leave, denunciations are made, and splits occur." At the same time, in the neo-conservative arena disagreements, tensions and rifts continue to mount over anything and everything, depending on one�s personal response to papal and Vatican inaction, the elevation of notorious Modernists, tampering with the Rosary, Charismatic Renewal and the New Movements, fake �apparitions� and �seers�, the Fatima Consecration, Assisi inter-faith extravaganzas and the ecumenical push, the death penalty, prayerful picketing of abortuaries, school chastity/sex-ed programmes, the Lefebvre schism� pick a subject! And of course Iraq polarises opinion across the board, with as many diehard conservatives and traditionalists at odds with the Vatican�s post-9/11 application of "just war" theory as supportive of it. Disputation and fragmentation is the order of the day. Moreover, barring Divine intervention, it will only worsen as the Church comes under increasing attack from the godless secular hegemony now seeking to legislate Her into submission to its nihilistic New World Order. As the Catholic persecution intensifies and with few noble exceptions, the damning effect of endemic Modernism looks set to fully reveal itself in the cowardly non-response of our Shepherds to the onslaught of the neo-pagans. The refusal of Florida�s bishops to stand up and fight for the life of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo against a legal decision last month to starve and dehydrate her to death, despite massive appeals from their flock urging them to do so, is a case in point. While the English episcopate�s misrepresentation and dampening down of Rome�s recent call to arms against the legislative push for homosexual �marriage,� and their studiously gutless decision not to engage a hostile media over the Vatican document, is also representative of why we can expect the abandoned sheep to scatter and splinter anew. That's what I mean by "atomization." It's becoming increasingly difficult to find just one other Catholic who agrees with me on everything I believe. Amy Welborn has blogged on the poor catechesis which has allowed a gap in our concept of truth large enough to permit The Da Vinci Code to undermine our faith. We need strong leadership to point us to the truth. What we have gotten since Vatican II is leadership that is too confused about the truth to know what to believe. They pass their confusion on to the laity, who then become entrenched in whatever pocket of truth they take to be reality, and afraid to consider any other position on the points at issue because frankly they are scared--we are all scared--that the whole idea of God might turn out to be a figment of our imagination. We retreat in anger into our guarded position because it's all we have in the face of a thousand proposals we don't know how to deny, that are capable of showing us all that we are fools. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
THE POPE AND THE POLITICIANS ACCORDING TO CHIESA ROMA � There is a clear contrast in the Vatican between the pope and those around him. John Paul II seems ever more drawn within and concentrated upon himself, a sacramental body, the rock upon which the Church is born, though the flesh is so sick and fragile. But around him there is the noisy and confused agitation of the final phase of a pontificate: promotions, careers, lobbies, alliances, ambushes. CarrieTomko@aol.com
WANT TO LIVE FOREVER? If you do, Aubrey de Grey, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge might be able to help Personally I'd have conditions. 1. The body of a 25-year-old 2. The mind of a 40-year-old 3. The wisdom of a 55-year-old If Aubrey can accommodate, I might consider volunteering. CarrieTomko@aol.com
CHRISTOPHER FERRARA challenges EWTN's Fr. Vincent Serpa, for his position on the salvation of the Jews: Answer by Catholic Answers on 08-14-2003: Dear Jacob, Would that you were given the grace to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and could join the Catholic Church. But if you honestly cannot accept Him as such, by living a life as a devout Jew, you can reach Heaven. This is what the Catholic Church teaches. AND Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion" does NOT contradict this. Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P. �������In other words, Jews have no obligation to convert if they "sincerely" cannot bring themselves to believe that Christ is the Son of God and the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. Of course, that notion would exempt virtually every Jew on earth from the duty of conversion. ������� Responding to a small storm of criticism from Catholics who remember what the Church teaches about Jewish conversion, Fr. Serpa "clarified" his answer by making it even worse. He stated: "[T]hose who honestly (the key word here is "honestly") cannot see Jesus by means of the light of faith, can still be saved by that same Jesus Christ, even though they do not realize it � providing that they seek God and try in their actions to do His will, etc. as above." ������� Here the "expert" Fr. Serpa hopelessly mangles the Church�s teaching on invincible ignorance. He misapplies the concept of invincible ignorance of Christ and His Gospel to Jews who know of Him yet, according to Serpa, cannot "see" Jesus by means of "the light of faith." But if they have the light of faith, and if they know of Jesus, then they cannot be invincibly ignorant, for their faith would lead them to accept the Jesus of whom they know. That is exactly what the Apostles did, and what every Jewish convert since their time has done. Catholics have gotten themselves into a hopeless muddle on the subject of the salvation of the Jews. CarrieTomko@aol.com
THE DANGERS OF SPIRITUALISM explained by exorcist Fr.Francesco Bamonte: Date: 2003-11-04 Spiritualism and Its Dangers Interview With an Exorcist, Father Francesco Bamonte ROME, NOV. 4, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Superstition offends Jesus because it shows a lack of trust in him, says an exorcist who has written a book on the hidden action of the Evil One and supposed communications with the beyond. Father Francesco Bamonte's volume, available in Italian and soon due out in other languages, is entitled "I Danni dello Spiritismo" (The Damages of Spiritualism), published by Ancora. Father Bamonte, a religious of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, dedicates his pastoral ministry to helping people who have fallen prey to wizards or self-styled mediums. In this interview with ZENIT, Father Bamonte describes in detail the physical and psychic damages caused by spiritualism. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
UPDATES ON TERRI SCHIAVO are still being posted inFr. Rob's blog. The Schindlers will be on Larry King this Friday night at 9 p.m. Also a new Guardian ad litem has been appointed. CarrieTomko@aol.com
SANDRA MIESEL will be on EWTN radio on Monday at 11 a.m. discussing The Da Vinci Code. CarrieTomko@aol.com
JESUITS CONDEM TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANS IN ISLAMIC SOCIETIES From frontpagemagazine.com: The Vatican's New Realism about Islam By Robert Spencer FrontPageMagazine.com | October 31, 2003 The semi-official Jesuit magazine La Civilt� Cattolica has done nothing less than shock the world by publishing an absolutely scathing criticism of the mistreatment that Christians suffer in Islamic societies. Why so shocking? It�s a sharp break with Pope John Paul II�s long-standing policy toward Islam, which some have characterized as �dialogue to the point of extremism.� Nothing is published in La Civilt� Cattolica without the approval of the Vatican Secretary of State � so this blistering article presumably corresponds to the views of some very high placed Vatican officials, if not the ailing Pope himself. The Civilt� Cattolica piece represents the first indication that any Catholic Church officials recognize the dimensions of the religious conflict that jihadists are waging against Christians and others around the world. Up to now the signals have all been in the other direction: the Pope has been such a relentless proponent of dialogue with Islam that Rome�s criticism of the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries has been muted. And in a paroxysm of enthusiasm for peace and brotherhood, he actually kissed the Qur�an on May 14, 1999, during an audience with several Muslim officials from Iraq and the late Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, Raphael I Bidawid. Aghast attendees preserved the moment in pictures, which now can be found on numerous websites � mostly of the tinfoil-hat variety, which use the photos to support their claims that the Pope has no legitimate claim to lead the Church and may even be the Anti-Christ. Certainly the Pope�s Qur�an kiss was a moment that would have appalled the saints and martyrs who encountered in Islam a relentless and implacable enemy over many centuries of the Church�s life. But perhaps those great souls were mollified by this new Civilt� Cattolica article, which is just the opposite of na�ve and appeasement-minded irenicism. The article brushes aside decades of misleading historical revisionism about the Muslim conquests, daring to point out that �in all the places where Islam imposed itself by military force, which has few historical parallels for its rapidity and breadth, Christianity, which had been extraordinarily vigorous and rooted for centuries, practically disappeared or was reduced to tiny islands in an endless Islamic sea.� Civilt� Cattolica also counters the dozens of misleadingly incomplete analyses of jihad that Muslim advocacy groups have used to befuddle the public over the last few years. Jihad, it points out, �has two meanings, both of which are equally essential and must not be dissociated, as if one could exist without the other. In its primary meaning, jihad indicates the �effort� that the Muslim must undertake to be faithful to the precepts of the Koran and so improve his �submission� (islam) to Allah; in the second, it indicates the �effort� that the Muslim must undertake to �fight in the way of Allah,� which means fighting against the infidels and spreading Islam throughout the world. Jihad is a precept of the highest importance, so much so that it is sometimes counted among the fundamental precepts of Islam, as its sixth �pillar.�� The only meaning of jihad you will get from American Muslim spokesmen is the first. Is there some reason why they don�t want you to know that radicals are acting on the second all over the world today? CarrieTomko@aol.com
FR. GABRIEL AMORTH ON THE RITE OF EXORCISM This website carries a 30 Days interview with Fr. Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome, speaking about the new Rite of Exorcism, which he doesn't like. It's an old article, but the topic has come up in the blogs, and I thought it was worth posting again. From the website: The Smoke of Satan in the House of the Lord 30 Days: Father Amorth, the Italian translation of the new Ritual for Exorcists is finally ready. Father Gabriel Amorth: Yes, it is ready. Last year the CEI didn't want to approve it because it contained errors in the translation from Latin to Italian. And we exorcists, the ones who would have to use it, we took the opportunity to point out that, on a number of points, we were in disagreement with the New Ritual. But the underlying Latin text has remained the same in this revised translation. This long-awaited Ritual has turned into a farce. An incredible obstacle that is likely to prevent us acting against the demon. 30 Days: A heavy accusation. What is it that you are thinking of? Fr. Amorth: I will give you but two examples. Two spectacular examples. Point 15 treats of evil spells and how one should behave when dealing with them. An evil spell is an evil brought about on a person by means of recourse to the devil. It can be accomplished under a variety of forms like spells, curses, the evil eye, voodoo and macumba. The Roman Ritual used to explain how one should confront it. The New Ritual on the other hand categorically declares that it is absolutely forbidden to perform exorcisms in such cases. Absurd. Evil spells are by far the most frequent causes of possessions and evil procured through the demon: at least 90% of cases. It is as good as telling exorcists they can no longer perform exorcisms. Then Point 16 solemnly declares that one should not carry out exorcisms if one is not certain of the presence of the devil. This is a masterstroke of incompetence: the certainty that the devil is present in someone can only be obtained by carrying out an exorcism. What is more, the authors of the Ritual failed to notice that on two points they were contradicting the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For this points out that exorcism should be practiced in cases of diabolical possession and in those of evil caused by the demon. And it also recommends that it be performed on people as well as on things. And in things, there is never the presence of the demon, there is only his influence. There is a lot more to the interview at the website for those who are interested. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Monday, November 03, 2003
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE or so it's said. I just saw a good example of it. Usually I don't watch TV, but the program about The Da Vinci Code on ABC was just too tempting. So I watched it. Elizabeth Vargas spent an hour telling us--reporting in very sober and serious terms--that little purple creatures had invaded our nation and were going to destroy us at midnight unless three cats were found that could sit atop a flagpole for two hours while whistling "Catfish Joe". I mean, the program was just about that credible. The medium was deadly serious news broadcasting. And so I suppose that we were intended to take the proposition seriously. But the subject matter was a fairy tale! A what if...? A could you imagine...? As I listened to what she was saying, I heard that most art historians do not agree with this proposition. That there is no evidence in Scripture for this idea being presented. That serious scholars reject the notion. That there is nothing written to support. Even Fr. McBrien, whom I expected to bear witness to the idea that this might be plausible, waffled. No one except the author, and Margaret Starbird seemed to be totally convinced. So why did Vargas pretend to take it seriously? It did nothing for her credibility as a journalist. My husband asked me if I liked it or thought I could have done a better job writing the script. I told him I could have done a better job--I would have inserted the laugh track where it was appropriate. He suggested that would probably have been from the beginning to the end. When did ABC documentaries become tabloid press? I must have slept through that transition. CarrieTomko@aol.com
WHAT TO MAKE OF THE DISAPPEARING GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS? described at this CNET News.com website? I'm not familiar with either the website or Declan McCullaugh. Anyone else read his reports? The article caught my attention because of this paragraph: First, biographical information about TIA project leaders, including retired Adm. John Poindexter, disappeared. Then the TIA site shrank even more, with the slogan and logo for the TIA project--a Masonic pyramid eyeballing the globe--vanishing, a highly unusual move for any government agency. Finally, a few weeks later, a diagram explaining the TIA project was erased. CarrieTomko@aol.com
GHOST HUNTING AT NRO Dave Shiflett, a member of the White House Writers Group, has an article at NRO titled "Ghosts on Speed Dial" which talks about modern ghost hunting techniques: Patrick Burns, for example, heads to a graveyard or other ghostly site once a month in search of disembodied spirits. Burns is founder of the Atlanta-based Ghost Hounds, whose motto might be: You can die, but you can't hide. I talked to him Tuesday; the night before he and a group of associates had spent the entire evening tracking ghosts at a restaurant called Anthony's. They weren't necessarily after Anthony's spirit; they'd been put on the hunt by other "paranormalists" who had photographed a "ghost cat" sitting at the top of a flight of stairs. "We collected what we call EVP � Electronic Voice Phenomena," Burns said. The process is simple: "You walk around with a cassette or digital recorder and ask questions such as, 'Is anyone here?' 'What's your name?' Later we replay the tapes and see if there are any responses." Well? "There was quite a bit of activity." One ghost could be heard to say, in a whisper, "Please turn that off. Quit crowding around." In another case, Burns reports, there was a loud sigh. "The ghosts clearly weren't very happy that we were there."... Ghost hunting is more than a passion. It's also a business. At Ghosthunterstore.com one finds "cell sensors," "gaussmeters" and this historical footnote: "Voices from beyond can easily be recorded using a regular cassette tape recorder with an external microphone. The discovery was made in 1959 by Friederich Jurgenson, a Swedish researcher, and it started a wave of interest in this field. . . . Mixed with the background sound, the wind shaking the leaves in the trees, it was possible to hear the conversations of people who were not visible in the place where the recordings were made." Talcum powder is also a ghost-hunting tool: It can help one detect movement. Dowling sticks, when operated properly, can lead one to a ghost. Geiger counters round out the arsenal. CarrieTomko@aol.com
CARL OLSON AND SANDRA MIESEL ON THE RADIO TODAY at Catholic Connection, talked with Teresa Tomeo about The Da Vinci Code. Tomeo held the interview today because of the upcoming ABC News special on this book tonight at 8 p.m. A few phone numbers to register a complaint, if anyone is so inclined: ABC News 212-456-7777 Ask for the News Department or Elizabeth Vargus (sp?) Also log on at ABCNews.com For a copy of Sandra Miesel's review of the book for "Crisis Magazine", contact Crisis at 202-861-7790. Contact "Envoy" at 1-800-553-6869. Your efforts are much appreciated, Sandra and Carl. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Sunday, November 02, 2003
WE HAD SIX ALTAR BOYS TODAY at noon Mass. Six. No altar girls. Ever. My pastor said Mass in a black vestment and talked about Purgatory during the homily. I can't even remember the last time I saw a black vestment. We also sang the chant Mass, in Latin. Traditional Catholicism survives in spite of the modernists best efforts! And I'm talking about the Novus Ordo, not the Tridentine. CarrieTomko@aol.com
CHRISTIAN ORDER has an article online from a back issue dated January 2002, titled "Cronies, Crooks and Crisis Popes" by Michael McGrade. I printed it and read it last night. It is frank in its assessment of the state of the Church in England and is not complimentary to Rome. Some quotes: Rome has contributed mightily to the decay by not only failing to act against episcopal transgressors but often, instead, preferring to honour even the worst of them. ...the consecration last month of England's Bishop Peter Smith as Archbishop of Cardiff is the latest glaring example of Vatican contradiction in this country. [The system for selecting bishops] ...seems only designed to work well...when Holy Mother Church is in a healthy state and led by an uncompromising Pope... [Quoting from the Wanderer] ...the Vatican has ignored pleas of both the clergy and the faithful in the Springfield diocese... ...Rome's complicity has entrenched the sort of mainstream Modernist cronyism treated above; with all its attendant liturgical, doctrinal and moral dissidence. ...the Vatican had known all about [Bishop] Ryan's homosexual activity for many years. ...Rome's seeming paralysis in the face of public scandal of the most shocking episcopal kind... ...the Vatican barely stirred. ...because dissent from on high has been tolerated by Rome for so long... ...mixed-messages and contradictions pouring out of Rome for several decades... It stands in stark contrast to the passive and morally dubious "let error destroy itself" approach of the modern postconciliar papacy, which has allowed Lamenais' progeny - our liberal priests and prelates - such free and devastating rein. One prays that Divine Providence will inspire John Paul II's successor to firmly correct the widespread and understandably liberal interpretation of his call in Ut Unum Sint... ...Rome's muted response to disobedience and dissent and even complicity in our postconciliar tumult... It adds up to a serious indictment. The article goes on to recount Freemasonry in the clergy: ...baffling phenomenon of ecclesiastical Freemasonry in the Vatican But what of England and Wales? One can only say that anecdotal evidence of deep-rooted clerical Masonry here is compelling. I am aware of a senior priest of the Westminster diocese who has been approached more than once about joining the Brotherhood by Lodge members who take ecclesiastical Freemasons for granted. I know, too, of at least one parish priest recently forced to receive into the Church a known Mason--a friend of the bishop--following severe pressure from diocesan curial officials. ...the very language of Masonry has penetrated the Church, especially increasing references to the "New World Order." Cardinal Hume, of course, mixed in Masonic circles such as London's City Livery Companies and more than anyone betrayed Masonic leanings in his addresses - his secular manifesto delivered in 1986 at All Hallows College, Dublin, being worthy of a Grand Master... The article closes with a description of "crisis popes." These are the popes who were "men who combine personal sanctity, a heart of gold and paternal solicitude with unremitting vigilance, holy discipline and a hand of iron in dealing with heretics, revolutionaries, schismatics, rebellious prelates, liberal clergy and anyone else who threatens Catholic truth and the independence and sovereign rights of the Holy See." These are popes who cared not at all for popularity, and indeed were hated in some circles while being loved in others. This robust, resolute, pro-active defence of the Faith accords with St. Cyprian's view that the poisoning of minds is a worse and more murderous evil than persecution. It stands in stark contrast to the passive and morally dubious "let error destroy itself" approach of the modern post conciliar papacy, which has allowed...our liberal priests and prelates - such free and devastating reign. Time and again, the Crisis Popes...were cautioned...against taking "drastic action" in delicate situations that might have split the Church. But these Popes largely kept their own counsel and...pinpointed the cause of the evil in the Church of their day and determined to quash it despite storms of opposition from every quarter. One pope's first act was to denounce most of the bishops of Lombardy and Germany for their worldiness. Crisis popes forbade priests guilty of unchastity from celebrating Mass as well as attempting to shame priests who defied the Council decrees into acknowledging their faults, by enjoining the faithful to absent themselves from Masses and religious ceremonies celebrated by such men. Crisis Popes tend to be "either...or" pontiffs; either loved or hated. There is no middle ground of opinion as there is today towards John Paul II, a loveable charismatic pontiff whose personal popularity and undoubted strengths are tempered in orthodox circles by his aversion to discipline and preference for collegial "dialogue" with recalcitrant prelates no matter what the ongoing cost to local Churches. ...enlargement of the Sacred College detracts from its prestige and quality... ...reprimands issued to national episcopates must be followed up to ensure that abuses are definitely remedied and demands, such as bishops teaching and propagating the Catechism, actually [are] met...rebellious universities and colleges should be closed down...priestly and Religious Orders that have sunk so low as to be beyond reforming should be dissolved... The article concludes: As it stands, Rome's veritable paralysis bnefore this endgame scenerio seems conditioned by a belief in the 'historical moment'; a sense of inevitability which holds one captive to events. During personal interviews, Italian writer Vittorio Messori has seen it in the resigned attitudes of Cardinal Ratzinger and John Paul II - commenting about the Pope's reference at one point to problems in the Church: "I had the impression that he felt powerless to intervene." This mentality is confirmed time and again in papal documents that simply endorse the disastrous liturgical and pastoral status quo at local Church level and urge more of the same - as in John Paul's Apostolic Letter Novo Millenio Ineunte ("At the Beginning of the New Millennium," Jan. 2001.) St. Pius V, on the other hand, who also inherited a thoroughly corrupt and compromising Church full of false optimism in the aftermath of a General Council [Trent], was never passively resigned to the present course of events and knew no half measures in his dealings.... With society once again overflowing "like a sewer swollen by the mingling of every sort of baseness and infamy" [Mirari vos], and the Church in "total chaos" as Modernists contrive to close parishes, laicise the clergy, Protestanise our children and profane or withhold the Mass and Sacraments, the increasingly marginalised orthodox must pray that God will yet again raise up a strong and holy Pope to save the day. CarrieTomko@aol.com
