Saturday, October 16, 2004
THE VAMPIRE'S BALL
Dom has the story behind the story on the Salem Knights of Columbus over at Bettnet.
Friday, October 15, 2004
IS THE PATIENT REALLY DEAD ?
Earl Appleby, Jr. has an editorial up on the Christian Order website that discusses the confusion that has krept in over defining the moment of death. He goes on to make the following startling statement:
Anyone unwise enough to have signed an organ donor card also has legitimate cause for concern. Would you trust a doctor who regards your body "not as an organism in need of healing but as a container of biological useful materials" (to use bioethicist Arthur Caplan’s apt description)? That’s exactly what organ donors do.
He elaborates on this further at the website.
RED ARMY SERENADES POPE
From BBC News:
Pope John Paul II has marked his 26th year as head of the Roman Catholic Church by attending a concert given by Russia's Red Army choir.
Unthinkable before the fall of the Soviet Union, the event staged in the Vatican's general audience hall was televised live in Italy and Russia.
A Swiss Guard marched across the stage and a Russian military guard goose-stepped in the opposite direction.
Cossack dancers capered where religious ceremonies normally take place.
FATIMA IN THE NEWS AGAIN
From Frontpage online: The Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, D. Serafim Ferreira e Silva, has this week admitted to the existence of “enemies” of Fátima, saying many emanate from within the Catholic Church. Speaking at a press conference held at the Sanctuary, the Bishop preferred not to identify these “enemies”, saying only that some of them are involved in “science or pseudo-science”. He added he has personal instructions from the Pope to promote interfaith dialogue.
The Bishop used the conference to highlight the fact that the Fátima Sanctuary is open to all, including the “Dalai Lama or an agnostic, and to those who believe and to those who do not”.
He further explained that he has “personal instructions” from the Pope regarding inter-religious dialogue.
"Science or pseudo-science." Now how are we to interpret that? There seems to be two opposing factions over there. Last message was that heads were going to roll over the Hindu prayer service. Now we're back to everything is copacetic. This is getting old and I am getting jaded.
E-MAIL FROM DR. BOND
Dear Friends,
The Times Leader reports that Fr. Eric Ensey of the Society of St. John has filed a petition in federal court for personal bankruptcy. This all-too-predictable move is the latest in a series of legal maneuvers designed to forestall the release of Ensey's psychosexual evaluation. As has become clearer with every new stalling tactic, Ensey is desperate to keep his evaluation locked up in Canada and out of the courtroom where he is accused of homosexually molesting a minor.
I wonder if Ensey has considered filing a petition for moral bankruptcy.
Pax vobiscum,
Dr. Jeffrey Bond
THE FLAP OVER BUTTTIGLIONE
First of all Sodano calls the spade:
The row over Italian EU justice commissioner designate Rocco Buttiglione widened on Friday when a senior Vatican official said the case showed Roman Catholics were the object of discrimination in Europe.
In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica, the Vatican's secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano made no direct reference to the Buttiglione case, in which the Italian's nomination as EU commissioner was rejected because he said homosexuality was a sin.
However, the cardinal said: "This is not the first time that Catholics, Christians, men of the Church find themselves confronted by problems of this type and in danger of becoming victims of isolation and discrimination."
Just an early salvo of the coming culture war. Oh, and while you're in there, look at the last paragraph:
In the interview, Sodano, the second most powerful cardinal in the Vatican, also said that the Catholic Church's real problems lay elsewhere.
"The big problem of the future will be our relationship with the Islamic world. It is a challenge that does not only concern the Church," he said.
I think that is more significant than we realize at the moment. But back to Butligione. In a post from BBC News which you can read down below, Peter Mandelson is quoted as saying "his colleague Rocco Buttiglione was 'unwise' to express his views on homosexuals at an EU committee hearing."
Peter Mandelson. Paragraph 4 is pertinent.
Gay.com offers a much more revealing story of the situation over there. Has Tremaglia been seen having lunch with Cardinal Martino? Just wondering...
Thursday, October 14, 2004
ANOTHER BUDDHIST PRAYER SERVICE
This time in Mexico's National Cathedral with Cardinal Rivera looking on.
Photos courtesy of a link at Novus Ordo Watch.
ALJAZEERA COLUMNIST DR. MUSTAFA AL-BAZERGAN COMMENTS ON IRAQ
painting a dismal picture of the situation on the ground. He concludes his opinion piece with this: Events in Iraq are bound to impact on the outcome of the American presidential elections in November.
Whether Iraq can still emerge from the debacle as a democratic and united country will depend on Bush's ability to break the stranglehold of the neo-conservatives who surround him and control America's defence and foreign policies.
But with time running out and American casualties, as also the Iraqi resentment, mounting, there is little hope for such a change. But most Iraqis believe that if the US pulled out of Iraq and handed over the control to the UN, it might even save the Bush administration.
Hard to believe he's talking about the same war Bush talked about in the debate last night.
LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD
is heating up at this end, as it does from time to time. Posting may be light to non-existent over the next week or so, depending upon what's happening here.
BIG FLAP ACROSS THE POND OVER REJECTION OF BUTTIGLIONE
From BBC News:
Nominee EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson says his colleague Rocco Buttiglione was "unwise" to express his views on homosexuals at an EU committee hearing.
The Italian candidate for EU justice commissioner told a panel of MEPs that he thought homosexuality was a "sin".
The MEPs decided that Mr Buttiglione, a devout Catholic, was unsuitable for the justice post.
Mr Mandelson said some arguments were best deployed in academic seminars rather than at political gatherings.
He stopped short of directly criticising his Italian colleague, insisting it was a matter for the incoming president, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
Buttiglione has written, among other things, a book on the philosophy of John Paul II, and is on good terms with the Pope.
CINCINNATI BISHOP GRIFFIN RESIGNS
The pope has accepted the resignation of Bishop James Griffin of Columbus.
The Vatican has given no specific reason for the resignation of the 70-year-old Griffin.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus has a news conference scheduled for later this morning but has refused to say what it is about.
Bishop Griffin kept Columbus on an orthodox path. The replacement is coming out of Minneapolis-St. Paul, not exactly a conservative diocese. I hope this is good news, but have some looming misgivings.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for Columbus!
RUSSIA WANTS YOU TO "VOTE FOR BUSH"
From Pravda:
Leaders of some Western countries have already experienced Bush's tough character on their own skin. As it is known, Bush has been refusing to converse with Chirac and Schroeder over the phone. This is something absolutely unheard of in world politics! AS for the Russian president Vladimir Putin however, Bush behaves quite friendly. Obviously, there is a huge amount of condescension in his good attitude towards the Russian president. In general, Bush and Putin just like their Defense Ministers Rumsfeld and Ivanov understand each other very well. Their worldviews are somewhat similar. Both presidents view the world in black and white colors: one can either be for or against us! ...
At the moment, one thing is clear: slogans of the democratic presidential candidate concerning foreign affairs suit Russia the most. Our country will definitely benefit in case Kerry keeps his word to pay closer attention to America"s partners and to think through his actions. The problem however is such that it is still unclear how Kerry"s slogans will be implemented in reality if he wins. This candidate from the democrats has absolutely no work experience in the system of executive power. In addition, Kerry is famous for his habit to change his mind quite frequently as well as for his innate inability to provide concise answers such as "yes" and "no". ...
Democrats can blab with enthusiasm about Bush"s miscalculations. However, as soon as liberals attempt to explain what actions should be taken, foreigners cannot believe their ears. It turns out, it would be enough to put UN in the forefront in order to solve all world problems.
GET YOUR TICKETS FOR SPACE-SHIP-ONE
They appear to be serious about it. From Pravda:
Recent manned flight of privately-owned SpaceShipOne, which was able to reach a 100 km height and remain up there for several seconds, turned out to be a great success.
The flight fascinated everyone involved in the project including directors of major tourist agencies. One of them got so anxious, he exclaimed that tens of thousands of men will travel to space in the nearest future.
In reality however, things are not as simple as one would hope them to be. ...
What will happen with a tourist aboard SpaceShipOne for instance should the spaceship"s controls malfunction? Today"s spaceship is not equipped with the ejection seat, no durable space-suit is designed for the tourist, he hasn't spent numerous hours practicing like professional astronauts. ...
Safety requirements get tougher when one wishes to make an orbital flight around the Earth. In this case, one will need a much more powerful carrier with state of the art equipment as well as more reliable safety features.
However, what a space tourist should fear the most is weightlessness. Here is how one of our famous astronauts describes the sensation during his flight to the "MIR" space station: "During my spacewalk on the near-earth orbit, I found myself in a state of weightlessness. It felt as though someone hung me by my feet. I naturally wanted to return to the normal position. In addition, even the slightest motion made me spin like a whipping top. It made me feel dizzy. While inside the station, it took me sometime before I could differentiate floor from the ceiling. It took a lot of time to adapt. .However, the most mind-boggling experience was the moment of descent. I felt as though I was flying through a volcano"s core. When the parachute opened, our apparatus began jerking back and forth. The landing itself was very rough.".
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
THE KNIGHTS AND THE VAMPIRES BALL
I have still not received a response to my email to the Massachusetts Council of the Knights of Columbus regarding the Vampires Ball at the Salem KofC hall. As you can see at the above link, the ball is still being advertised on their website as taking place in the Knights' facility, as of 11 o'clock this morning.
I did receive another email from Christian Day--a cc of an email she sent to the Knight's representative which appears to be a response to something sent to her. Since I have no further information to go on and there is nothing on the Massachusetts KofC website about this, I'm posting unedited both the KofC email and her response, exactly as they appear in my mailbox. The statement from the KofC deputy appears below her response to it.
Dear Mr. Guerriero,
Given that all of the people I emailed were also assured by the Salem Knights of Columbus that the Cabot Witches' Reunion last November was not happening when it in fact was (according to my dvd), I certainly hope that, this time, this is in fact the case.
While I understand the reasons behind your canceling of our event last October, we did not appreciate Mr. Thomas Ledbetter's identifying our event as Satanic or implying that we misled the local KofC hall, which had knowingly rented to Witches for years without incident. If you can look beyond us as merely Witches, I'm sure you can understand our point of view that it seems unfair to cancel us only to have another Witch's event a mere month later (again, captured on dvd), and now, a vampire's ball.
When Mr. Ledbetter told Dave Gershman of the Salem News last year that the second Witchcraft event to be held after ours was cancelled was merely "a rumor on the internet," our organization did not and will never know whether it was Mr. Ledbetter who lied to the Salem News, or the Salem council who lied to Mr. Ledbetter, but one of them surely did lie and I make no bones about saying so since, as I mentioned above, I have the proof of this lie captured on dvd. We hope that both your council and theirs are telling the truth in unison this time around, but hopefully the reporters on this list will be present on the 29th at your hall to make sure.
I may sound harsh in all of this, but you left our event host scrambling the week before her event to find something else, only to welcome in not one but two events that fit the criteria under which you cancelled us. You'll simply have to understand our skepticism as a result.
Best regards,
Christian Day
Festival of the Dead
On Oct 13, 2004, at 10:15 AM, Mastatekofc@aol.com wrote:
> > To clarify the e-mail being sent to many people from Christian Day of > Festival of the Dead about the renting of the Knights of Columbus Hall > in Salem for the Vampire and Victims Ball,, there will be no rental to > this Vampire group.
> > The hall was rented under the pretense of a Halloween Party by a > member of the Knights of Columbus who was contacted as a caterer to > cater and use the hall for this Halloween party for local > individuals. No mention was ever made of Vampires. When informed of > rental, this member canceled his contract and was quite upset at being > placed in the middle by this > group's methods of rental the K of C hall.
> > We have been reassured by the Grand Knight of the Salem Knights of > Columbus that the hall rental has been canceled.
> > Richard Guerriero
> State Deputy
AN AMERICAN PILGRIMMAGE
Pilgrimmage is a word not usually spoken in post Vatican II Roman Catholicism. It's being revived in New York by traditional Catholics. Seattle Catholic reports:
Auriesville, NY - The ninth annual Pilgrimage for Restoration drew throngs of enthusiastic Catholics from across the US, Canada, and beyond to the Shrine of Our Lady of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, central New York State, from Wednesday, September 15 through Saturday, September 18.
Saturday's participants, which included senior citizens and many young parents pushing infants in strollers, were joining those pilgrims who began the pilgrimage for the seventh straight year from the shores of the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament (commonly called Lake George, NY) on the previous Wednesday.
With the number of participants again increasing, 250 pilgrims prayed, sang and walked 68 miles to the Fonda Shrine in three days to meet up with hundreds more walking the last leg to Auriesville Saturday. This year again many families with small children, and seniors, joined the ranks of those pilgrims walking more than one day.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
UPDATE ON THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS AND THE VAMPIRES
I have not yet received a reply to my email to the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus. Later yesterday I did receive a cc of email sent to the Mass. office by Christian Day, explaining basically what I've posted about the ball, so the state office should be aware what is going on. Seattle Catholic, the website that reported the scheduled event in the K of C hall last year, has nothing up about this year's event on their website tonight.
PART 2 OF THE ZENIT INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS MADDEN
is up at the Zenit website. Madden addresses the Pope's apology at the end of the interview. He seems to be splitting hairs to exempt the Pope from actually apologizing for the Crusades. I think the statement could be read either way. It would sure have been helpful had the Pope been more clear. But perhaps the ambiguity was intentional?
Thanks to a reader for the link.
NUN'S HABITS DECLARED ILLEGAL IN GERMANY
From the Chicago Sun Times:
Nuns who teach in state schools in the Black Forest region of Germany are to be banned from wearing their habits in the classroom in line with a judgment on Muslim headscarves, a federal court has ruled.
The federal administrative court decreed that it would be unjust if a law passed this year in the southern state of Baden Wurttemberg prohibiting Muslim women teachers from wearing headscarves did not also apply to Christian symbols.
"There can be no exception. Any form of religiously motivated clothing in certain regions is not in question," said the written ruling from the court in Leipzig, eastern Germany.
Nuns who form an active part of the teaching staff in the predominantly Roman Catholic state will in future have to change from their habits into ordinary clothing before they enter the classroom, according to today's edition of Spiegel magazine, which has published details of the ruling for the first time.
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CALIFORNIA SITUATION
An AP story at newsobserver.com documents the scope of the cases soon to come up for trial:
Hundreds of sexual abuse claims targeting the Roman Catholic Church in California have converged into one of the most complex civil litigation cases the state's judicial system has ever faced.
More than 850 alleged victims are suing dioceses throughout the state, with millions of dollars in potential settlements at stake in a legal battle that involves more than 300 attorneys and dozens of church insurers. The scope is so vast that the lawsuits have been lumped geographically into three consolidated cases, known simply as Clergy I, Clergy II and Clergy III.
After nearly two years, the pace of the complicated legal drama is finally starting to accelerate. Some trial dates have been set, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles is expected to be deposed by year's end in cases related to his tenure in the Stockton and Fresno dioceses and a hearing on public access to internal church documents is scheduled for Wednesday.
Legal analysts and attorneys agree that the developments, all of which involve Northern California cases, will affect settlement negotiations that have dragged on for months in Southern California - though exactly how is less certain.
Trials in a handful of Northern California cases, scheduled for March, May and June, could prompt settlements beforehand. Others say that, if there are a few multimillion-dollar jury verdicts, they could chill the ongoing talks in Southern California by giving plaintiffs inflated expectations and exhausting church resources.
Sounds like it's a difficult time to be a Catholic in California, and destined to get worse.
SEATTLE ARCHBISHOP SAYS PROBLEMS STARTED IN 60'S
From the Detroit Free Press:
Archbishop Alexander J. Burnett was an academic dean at a seminry in the 60's. He complained about the homosexuality among the students and was rewarded with reassignment to parish work.
THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS AND THE VAMPIRES
Some of you may remember that last year the Salem Knights of Columbus rented their facility to a Wiccan group for their Halloween party. When the information became public, the party was cancelled.
Tonight I've received an email from someone who claims to be a member of that Wiccan group, who indicates that this year's Halloween party at the Knights of Columbus hall will be this:
Welcome to the homepage for the 2004 Vampire and Victims Ball. New England's vampire Queen ( Tracy Devine ) rises from her coffin once again, calling all October's children to partake in the celebration of this the most dark and magical season, when the veil is thin, and the spirits beckon from the grave. Join your vampire brothers and sisters, drink in the morbidly romantic atmosphere, feel the vampires kiss. This years Vampire and Victim's Ball should not be missed.
Vampire and Victims Ball
Friday October 29, 2004
8pm till Midnight 18+
Knights of Columbus Hall
94 Washington Square
Salem, MA
Right across from the common
The writer of the email who signs herself "Christian Day, Festival of the Dead" indicates that:
Last fall, after a wave of protest on the part of traditional Catholic organizations, your organization cancelled an October 2003 event that my organization was to hold at the Knights of Columbus hall in Salem because we were Witches,. The reason Thomas Ledbetter gave in his press release was that "no event relating to Witchcraft would ever be held in a Knights of Columbus hall." Interestingly, only a month later, that same Salem Knights of Columbus hall was host to a Cabot Witches' Reunion, hosted by the state's most famous Witch Laurie Cabot. While the event was scheduled before ours was cancelled, it was not cancelled because they did not advertise their venue as we did, but advertising the venue was not the reason given for our cancellation. Of course when anyone interested asked about the second Witchcraft event, Thomas Ledbetter told them it was not happening, even going so far as to tell one Salem News reporter that "that's just a rumor on the internet" before hanging up on him. Strange, because I have a dvd of Laurie Cabot's reunion that was allowed to proceed at the Salem Knights of Columbus Hall while ours was cancelled. Needless to say, we were confused about this apparent ambiguity of morals presented by your organization at the time.
Here is the website for the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus. The website link doesn't work. I will email them asking for a comment.
Monday, October 11, 2004
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CONDEMN CONTRACEPTION
The Russian Orthodox Church condemned abortion, contraception, pre- and extra-marital sexual activity for their role in Russia’s “moral degradation”.
An Assembly of Hierarchs, meeting in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin Wednesday, said the pervasive use of “family planning is a pernicious practice that leads not only to the reduction of the country’s population but also to its moral degradation,” an Itar-Tass news agency report said.
At the meeting, Putin himself said that lack of faith was one of the reasons for the spread of terrorism. The Assembly of Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church condemned abortion, and blamed it for the collapse of the Russian population.
Thanks to a reader for the link.
WHILE CATHOLICS CONTINUE TO REEL FROM DAN BROWN'S NOVEL
new books are being published on Gnostic themes.
VATICAN DOES 180 ON IRAQ
A reader sent in this story from the UK Telegraph:
Senior Vatican officials have decided to put aside their differences with Tony Blair over the war in Iraq, calling for multinational troop reinforcements to secure the country's fledgling democracy.
In February last year, both Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, offered some of the fiercest denunciations of Mr Blair and President George W Bush for their strike on Saddam Hussein.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano Their private criticism of Mr Blair was made embarrassingly public by Vatican officials, who revealed at a press conference that the Pope had urged him to "make use of all the resources offered by international law to avoid the tragedy of war".
Now, in light of the post-war chaos, Cardinal Sodano has announced a newly hawkish line on Iraq from Rome. "The child has been born," he declared recently on behalf of the Vatican. "It may be illegitimate, but it's here, and it must be reared and educated."
Is this a subtle, or perhaps even not so subtle, vote of support for Bush in the election?
COURAGE ON THE BATTLE LINES - "FREEDOM" UNDER KERRY
A reader sent in a link to this story about a group of seminarians for life who wanted to attend a Kerry campaign stop, but found out they were being uninvited under escort because their pro-life position made them unwelcome. It's a good story that reveals the fate of the pro-life position if Kerry is elected. The bit about the letter from the ACLU is priceless! These guys did their homework.
Life for some but not for all morphs into freedom for some but not for all. Think about it!
UPDATE
Dom has blogged part two of the story. Things didn't get any better when they moved outside. The Kerry people treated them as could be expected from anti-life supporters. Again the question of "Freedom Kerry-style" is dramatically presented for consideration.
If you check out the story, consider dropping them a word of appreciation.
IS FREEMASONRY ANTI-CATHOLIC ?
The question invariably arises when any discussion involves both Catholicism and Freemasonry. Masonry is invariably quick to deny any antagonism. Gustavo Raffi, Grand Master, Grande Oriente d'Italia, presents an excellent example of the denial in an Allocution to the Grand Lodge 2004, titled "The City of Man."
Freemasonry, therefore, does not oppose the concept of God or intend to rationalise it in a deist way a priori. It does not oppose religion in general or the Christian one in particular, especially the Catholic one. The legends, which are still circulating, concerning the hostility of the Freemasonry towards Christianity are unfortunately founded on bad faith and ignorance and sometimes on both. Not by chance the founding rules of the universal Freemasonry were drawn up by a Protestant minister and therefore with great difficulty can they be antithetic to the spirit of Christianity also seeing that in the following years even the extremely Christian sovereigns of the United Kingdom were able to unite the government of the Church of England with that of the Grand Lodge of their country.
Does saying it make it so? Not if the evidence presented by Raffi in this Allocution can be trusted:
...the Grande Oriente d'Italia turns a great deal of attention to the world of the young because it believes that eduction in the highest values of civil living must be strongly instilled in our schools. The school, therefore, becomes a strong point in the democratic and educational system of our country. Such a school must be multi-cultural and multi-religious. In this context the defence of the state school must not be sacrificed as the State must guarantee a high level of formation for its citizens, even for those that have had and will have only little or inadequate opportunity of promotion and formation from their families. Only a school capable of sowing profound subject matter, different from the everydayness of the television and of the talk shows, capable of producing culture and giving it to everyone, capable of forming the citizen over and above the diversity of religion, can give a strong response to fundamentalisms. Globalization and multi-ethnicity cannot be stopped. Up to us is the task of directing this process according to a way of peace, knowledge and respect - not building new ghettoes or new forms of school apartheid, in which every religion can build its own school - what sort of society would rise from such a model? Not a multi-cultural complex society even though embracing the civil values of the Constitution, human rights, the law and the State, but a society of separateness, or antagonistic areas, of parts split up among religious and ethnic groups, of racism and inter-ethnic antagonism.
To us this perspective would seem to be madness and therefore we feel it right to underline its dangerousness.
Get that? Freemasonry targets the young and considers a Catholic school dangerous because it is fundamentalist. That may not sound antagonistic to Gustavo Raffi, but it certainly sounds antagonistic to me.
Once again echoes of the Alta Vendita come to mind. Quoting from the document, Mgr. George E. Dillon writes:
"It is to the youth we must go. It is that which we must seduce; it is that which we must bring under the banner of the secret societies. In order to advance by steps, calculated but sure, in that perilous way, two things are of the first necessity. You ought to have the air of being simple as doves, but you must be prudent as the serpent. Your fathers, your children, your wives themselves, ought always to be ignorant of the secret which you carry in your bosoms. If it pleases you, in order the better to deceive the inquisitorial eye, to go often to confession, you are as by right authorised to preserve the most absolute silence regarding these things. You know that the least revelation, that the slightest indication escaped from you in the tribunal of penance, or elsewhere, can bring on great calamities and that the sentence of death is already pronounced upon the revealer, whether voluntary or involuntary." (`Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked, p. 92-93)
Considering that Raffi openly states that Freemasonry is not opposed to Catholicism, and shortly thereafter states that Catholic schools are dangerous, it is not illogical to conclude that deception does not break the Masonic code of ethics.
Consider the intention to target the youth in the light of the evidence that has been coming out of sexually abused minors, of poorly written catechetical texts, and the emerging multi-cultural aspect of Catholic schools which sometimes employ teachers who are not Catholic.
BL. ANNE KATHERINE EMMERICK
I have just pulled Yves Dupont's book Catholic Prophecy down from the shelf in order to read Emmerich's prophecies again. Thought I'd blog some, including this one which is dated October 7, 1820:
"As I was going through Rome with St. Francoise and the other saint, we saw a great palace engulfed in flames from top to bottom. I was very much afraid that the occupants would be burned to death because no one came forward to put out the fire. As we came nearer, however, the fire abated and we saw the blackened building. We went through a number of magnificent rooms (untouched by the fire), and we finally reached the Pope. He was sitting in the dark and slept in a large arm-chair. He was very ill and weak; he could no longer walk. The ecclesiastics in the inner circle looked insincere and lacking in zeal; I did not like them. I told the Pope of the bishops who are to be appointed soon. I told him also that he must not leave Rome. If he did so, it would be chaos. He thought that the evil was inevitable and that he should leave in order to save many things beside himself. He was very much inclined to leave Rome, and he was insistently urged to do so. The Pope is still attached to the things of this earth in many ways.
Another one about the pope is dated June 1, 1821:
I saw what I believe to be nearly all the bishops of the world, but only a small number were perfectly sound. I also saw the Holy Father--God-fearing and prayerful. Nothing left to be desired in his appearance, but he was weakened by old age and by much suffering. His head was lolling from side to side, and it dropped onto his chest as if he were falling asleep. He often fainted and seemed to be dying. But when he was praying, he was often comforted by apparitions from Heaven. Then, his head was erect, but as soon as it dropped again onto his chest, I saw a number of people looking quickly right and left, that is, in the direction of the world.
"Then, I saw that everything that pertained to Protestantism was gradually gaining the upper hand, and the Catholic religion fell into complete decadence. Most priests were lured by the glittering but false knowledge of young school-teachers, and they all contributed to the work of destruction.
"In those days, Faith will fall very low, and it will be preserved in some places only, in a few cottages and in a few families which God has protected from disasters and wars."
One from April 22, 1823:
"I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church. They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church. Everyone as to be admitted in it in order to be united and have equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, sects of every description. Such was to be the new Church...But God had other designs."
And another from January 27, 1822:
"I saw a new Pope who will be very strict. He will estrange from him the cold and lukewarm bishops. He is not a Roman, but he is Italian. He comes from a place which is not very far from Rome, and I think he comes from a devout family of royal blood. But there must still be for a while much fighting and unrest."
She predicts that the Church will survive even if only one Catholic remains alive in the world, and that it will thrive once again when this turmoil has passed. Oddly enough, at the beginning of the section on her prophecies, DuPont refers to her as "blessed." The book was published in 1970 by Tan.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF A BOOK ON THE CRUSADES
at the Zenit website:
What the Crusades Were Really Like (Part 1)
Thomas Madden Dispels Myths
ST. LOUIS, Missouri, OCT. 10, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Crusaders were not unprovoked aggressors, greedy marauders or medieval colonialists, as portrayed in some history books.
In fact, Thomas Madden, chair of St. Louis University's history department and author of "A Concise History of the Crusades," contests that the Crusaders were a defensive force that did not profit from their ventures by earthly riches or land.
In fact, Thomas Madden, chair of St. Louis University's history department and author of "A Concise History of the Crusades," contests that the Crusaders were defensive wars, not wars of conquest.
Madden shared with ZENIT the most popular myths about the Crusades and the modern findings that prove them wrong.
Go to the website to read the rest of the interview.
FREEMASONS KEEP DIVIDE ALONG RACIAL LINES
In September, North Carolina white Masons voted against recognition of the black Prince Hall Lodge. The fraternity of brotherly love is racially prejudiced according to the AP story. N.C. is one of 14 states that still do not recognize Prince Hall Freemasonry.
THEOSOPHY AND THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS
There is a curious little story at The Capital Timesabout a woman who was a Theosophist, was thrice married, and knew Winthrop Rockefeller. She founded a restaurant in Madison based on Theosophical principles which featured local produce and cooking from scratch. It generated other restaurants and became a legend in Masidon. The founder's son, a university Vice Chancellor, reported that his mother had moved to Ohio to seek treatment for schizophrenia, and died recently at the age of 77.
The stories about Theosophists usually tend to be interesting.
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER SAYS AIDS WAS MANUFACTURED
as a biological weapon, according to an ABC Newsonline story linked by Spirit Daily.
THE GREY SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
have hired a speaker, and LifeSite exposes the subject.
PEMBROKE, Ontario, October 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Tickets are on sale now for the October 16 offering of “The Cosmic Culture of the Canoe”, offered as one of many new age programs running at the Marguerite Centre in Pembroke Ontario this year.
The Centre, run by the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and housed in their Motherhouse, features the Executive Director of the pro-abortion Sierra Club of Canada Elizabeth May as well as renegade Catholic Bishops Thomas Gumbleton and Remi De Roo as part of its series entitled “Created and Sustained By Love: Earth as Home.”
Bishop De Roo is the hard-left churchman who retired from his post as bishop of Victoria in disgrace after leaving the diocese in deep financial trouble losing millions in ‘investments’ of diocesan funds into a friend’s Arabian horses. He will be speaking on “Biblical Characters and the Enneagram” during November, just after the completion of “Introduction to the very Enneagram. De Roo is heavily involved in promotion of the new age Enneagram, speaks on it regularly and includes prominent links to Enneagram resources on his website.
Despite its vast popularity in certain sectors, a recent Vatican document on the new age noted the enneagram is a form of Gnosticism, a formally declared heresy, which says Pope John Paul II is in “distinct, if not declared, conflict with all that is essentially Christian."
