Fátima to become interfaith shrine

...all of the Pagan and Christian delegates were invited to participate in the Ecumenical celebrations...

Previously, the Orthodox Church has declined to participate in Ecumenical celebrations with Pagans. Hopefully, they will maintain this.

Vatican Opposition to the United Religions Initiative
By Lee Penn
http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=2924

Within the Catholic Church, opinion about the URI is divided. Rome stands firm against it, but some theologians, priests and sisters -- and a few members of the hierarchy -- actively support the URI.

At Rome in 1996, Bishop Swing met with Cardinal Arinze, head of the Vatican's Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue. Bishop Swing reported a firm rebuff from the Cardinal, the strongest "no" that he got from anyone during his global pilgrimage:

[Cardinal Arinze] "said that a United Religions would give the appearance of syncretism and it would water down our need to evangelize. It would force authentic religions to be on equal footing with spurious religions." (232)

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, who works under Cardinal Arinze, pointedly ignored Bishop Swing's invitation to attend the 1997 URI summit conference. (233)

At the time of the June 1999 summit conference, Bishop Swing said that "he doubted that the Roman Catholic Church would join [the URI], pointing out that it had not become a member of the World Council of Churches. But he added that he believed that Vatican would cooperate with, though not join, a body of world religions." (234)

This hope of Bishop Swing's has proved to be "a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty." (235) The Vatican recently restated its opposition to the URI. In a letter to the editor published in the June 1999 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review, a magazine for Catholic priests, Fr. Chidi Denis Isizoh, of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (the Vatican body responsible for interfaith work) said:

"Religious syncretism is a theological error. That is why the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue does not approve of the United Religions Initiative and does not work with it. Indeed, when Bishop Swing came to the Vatican City in 1996 to solicit support from the Council, Cardinal Arinze clearly expressed his reservations about the proposal. As the United Religions Initiative develops, the reasons for not collaborating with it become more evident." (236)

This much is clear: Rome stands against the URI.

Dissenters favor the URI

Some Catholics, however, are not following the Vatican's lead. In 1998, Bishop Swing said, "As for the Roman Catholic Church, we have got an awful lot of support from various individual Roman Catholic lay people, nuns, monks, priests, bishops, archbishops, and one cardinal, as a matter of fact." (237) Bishop Swing was telling the truth; Catholic liberals and dissidents are actively supporting the URI.

Dissenters in the hierarchy

Cardinal Paul Evaristo Arns, the recently retired Archbishop of São Paulo, Brazil, is claimed by the URI as a "strong supporter." (238) Archbishop Anthony Pantin, from Trinidad, is forming a URI group in his country. (239)

Material participation: Catholic board members and URI staff

Fr. Gerard O'Rourke, director of ecumenical affairs for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, has been an enthusiastic supporter of the URI from its beginning. He took an active part in the 1995 interfaith service that announced the URI to the public, (240) and now serves on the URI Board of Directors. Fr. O'Rourke said in 1997, "I am totally in support of Bishop Swing and the work that he is doing and the admirable team that he has created to reach out ... all across the world." (241) In 1997, Fr. O'Rourke served as the "convenor" of a URI task force that had been set up in 1996 with the duty of "Enrolling leaders of the different religious and faith traditions; mastering the articulation of the core message; locating leaders; reaching out; getting them on board." (242) Other prominent Catholic URI supporters include URI board member Fr. John LoSchiavo S. J. (former president of the University of San Francisco), and Latin American URI Coordinator Fr. Luis Dolan. (243)

The trendy theology of Fr. Luis Dolan

In a 1997 document published by Global Education Associates, Fr. Dolan described UN documents as new scriptures, and hailed the UN as "a cathedral where we can worship what is best in each other":

"I believe that the UN offers us the first scripture written by communities rather than by a single inspired author. This scripture is the composite of all the basic documents of the UN, starting with the Charter" (244)

"The UN 'extends the power of our hearts and souls.' The UN thus has become 'a cathedral where we can worship what is best in each other.' 'Little by little a planetary prayer book is being composed (at the UN) by an increasingly united humanity seeking its oneness'." (245)

Fr. Dolan forecasts and favors world government, a "global governance" that should also "be presented as a religious ideal":

"Another issue that has recently come to the consciousness of the UN is the concept of global governance. ... Global governance calls for a new vision, challenging people as well as governments to realize that there is no alternative to working together to create the kind of world they want for themselves and their children. ... Global governance is portrayed as essentially a civil ideal. It will not work, though, unless it is also presented as a religious ideal." (246)

This "religious ideal" will not be traditional Christianity. Dolan favors modifying the structure of the Church to fit the requirements of "the future world order," and opposes what he calls the "belligerent attitude" of the Church at UN conferences:

"The third element is the model of a Church we need to help create the future world order. In my many years of work with interreligious and/or international political groups, I have found this probably the Catholic voice's [sic] greatest need in order to be more credible. The Church of the future needs to come across primarily as a community of believers, rather than as an institution with a hierarchical structure. I believe ours is a hierarchical Church, and I love and respect it, but in my experience I have seen this aspect over-stressed ... A consequence of this is the apparent fear of theologians by the Vatican; its occasionally belligerent attitude at UN conferences; a certain defensiveness; and an overemphasis on ideology." (247)

Dolan also says that religious syncretism has benefits for individuals and for the "future world order":

"The more I become involved in interreligious work, the more I feel the need of the Eucharist, the sharing of Jesus, the enlightenment of the Magisterium, the quietness of prayer. Having said this, I still believe that before the twenty-first century begins we need a congress on syncretism in which the participants will not be just members of the hierarchy ... but representatives of the common folk who in their daily devotional life may be practicing syncretism or irenicism ... We need in that congress to ask questions such as: What is syncretism today? Is syncretism a natural consequence of living in a secularized world? ... Let no one fear the supernatural power of such a conference on syncretism: it will deepen each one's faith and allow all to enter more deeply into the heart of 'the other'; above all it will give an essential element to the future world order that only religions can give." (248)

Dolan states that the Church should be "better educated on all aspects of human sexuality" in order to provide "more future-oriented norms on human sexuality" as "the new world order takes concrete forms":

"At times I have wished that official representatives of our Church at international meetings would show less defensiveness and more understanding of countries, organizations, and individuals holding different opinions. Having said this, it is my belief that, as the new world order takes concrete forms, the Church will be looked to as one of the main champions on education for a healthy human sexuality. For this, all Church members need to be better educated on all aspects of human sexuality ... If the Church does not take this long-term approach, I fear there will be many more discussions and debates, and name-calling meetings rather than the meeting of minds, and that this will cause considerable delay in giving the world more future-oriented norms on human sexuality." (249)

Dissenting priests, religious, and theologians join the URI parade

Brother Wayne Teasdale supports the URI. (250) He is an adjunct professor at the Catholic Theological Union, and describes himself as a "Christian Sannyasi;" (251) "sannyasi" is a Hindu term for "a wandering mendicant and ascetic." (252) In an article published in the Summer 1997 issue of the URI Journal, Teasdale favors popular election of the Pope and of other bishops. (253)

Sister Joan Kirby also supports the URI. (254) Both Fr. Dolan and Sr. Kirby are active in the Temple of Understanding. Sister Joan Chatfield, a Maryknoll nun from Hawaii, attended the 1997 URI summit conference; (255) she also contributed to the URI Workbook (256) that the URI has used in its local and regional planning sessions.

Szabolcs Sajgo, a Jesuit and head of a retreat center in Hungary, attended the spring 1997 European URI conference; he said, "Religion no longer means the religious authorities but all the mature members of that specific religion also count, to reach the goals of UR. Humanity lives more and more in a world which is created by himself or herself and this world reflects the human being as a creator." (257) Other Catholic URI participants include Sr. Lilian Curaming and Brother Eli Andrade, in Manila, (258) and Sr. Laetitia Borg, of the Franciscan Sisters in Ethiopia. (259) Dr. Carol Zinn SSJ, a staff member of Global Education Associates,(260) said of the 1998 URI summit conference, "I know the value of faith-based initiatives; [sic] hope-filled imaginations and passion-oriented inspirations and I have experienced this trinity of grace this week." (261) Fr. O'Rourke stated that Fr. Gene Boyle, from the Diocese of San Jose, is also active in the URI.(262)

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a U.S.-based organization of Catholic nuns, is encouraging its members to participate in the URI global cease-fire project.(263) Other supporters of the cease-fire include Sister Mary Margaret Funk, associated with "Monastic Inter-Religious Dialogue," Fr. Ruben J. Villote, a priest in the Philippines,(264) and the auxiliary Catholic Bishop of Detroit, Thomas Gumbleton.(265) There will be a service organized by the URI in honor of the global cease-fire project on January 1, 2000 at the Catholic Cathedral in Washington DC.(266)

Theologians supporting the URI include Paul Knitter, senior editor at Orbis Books and professor of theology at Xavier University,(267) and Leonard Swidler, professor of "Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue" at Temple University.(268) Both theologians are open dissenters from official Catholic teaching. Knitter favors artificial birth control and the ordination of women as priests, and denies that Jesus is the unique Savior, the Son of God. (269) Knitter also finds the Resurrection to be "problematic," and denies the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.(270) Swidler's work includes such writings as "Feminism -- the Renewal of the Catholic Church," "Seven Reasons for Ordaining Women," and "Yeshua, Feminist and Androgynous: An Integrated Human"; a course in "The Significance of the Thought of Teilhard de Chardin for the Future Global Community"; and a lecture titled, "Why Christians Need to Dialogue With -- NOT Proselytize -- Non-Christians."(271)

Last but not least, Hans Küng supports the URI. (272) Bishop Swing hails Küng as "the prime spokesperson for Vatican II and the single most important person who has written volumes on interfaith and ecumenical matters." (273) However, since 1979, Küng has been banned from teaching as a Catholic theologian at Tübingen University.(274) (Küng continued to teach at the University; the school moved him from the religious faculty to the secular faculty.) Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, says of Küng that since 1979, "in Christology and in trinitarian theology he has further distanced himself from the faith of the Church." (275) Küng is not a representative of the Catholic Church or "the prime spokesperson for Vatican II"; he speaks only for himself.

Footnotes

232 Bishop William Swing, "The United Religions Initiative," document issued in April 1996, p. 7

233 Bishop William Swing, "The United Religions Initiative," document issued in April 1996, p. 7

234 Ross Dunn, "Anglican bishop hopes to set up 'United Religions' organization," Ecumenical News International, June 22, 1999

235 The Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer, Article XXII, "Of Purgatory," in the Articles of Religion, Seabury Press, New York, 1979, p. 872

236 Fr. Chidi Denis Isizoh, letter to the editor, Homiletic & Pastoral Review, Vol. XCIX, June 1999, p. 60

237 Baxter and Sax, (first names not stated), "Exclusive Interview: Bishop William Swing, Head of the United Religions Organization," Endtime, July/August 1998, Internet document, http://www.endtime.com/bishop.htm, p. 5

238 Information received by Lee Penn during a telephone conversation with Barbara Hartford, May 11, 1998; confirmed by Paul Andrews, May 14, 1998

239 "News Updates from Around the World," URI News Update, Spring 1998, No. 4, p. 5

240 List of people performing the "reading from the Parliament of World Religions' Declaration Towards a Global Ethic," service sheet for June 25, 1995 interfaith service celebrating the 50th anniversary of the UN and the launch of the United Religions Initiative

241 Transcribed by Lee Penn from URI-provided tape of the January 19, 1997 URI forum at Grace Cathedral

242 United Religions Initiative, "Resource Groups Structured At the Conclusion of the June 1996 URI Summit in San Francisco," Journal of the United Religions Initiative, Spring 1997, p. 14

243 United Religions Initiative, "United Religions Initiative: Building spiritual partnerships for a just, sustainable and peaceable world," leaflet issued September 15, 1998, "Board of Directors" and "Staff & Leadership" sections

244 Fr. Luis Dolan, "Development and Spirituality: Personal Reflections of a Catholic," Internet document (Global Education Associates), http://www.globaleduc.org/dolan.htm, p. 3

245 Fr. Luis Dolan, "Development and Spirituality: Personal Reflections of a Catholic," Internet document (Global Education Associates), http://www.globaleduc.org/dolan.htm, p. 4

246 Fr. Luis Dolan, "Development and Spirituality: Personal Reflections of a Catholic," Internet document (Global Education Associates), http://www.globaleduc.org/dolan.htm, pp. 6-7

247 Fr. Luis Dolan, "Development and Spirituality: Personal Reflections of a Catholic," Internet document (Global Education Associates), http://www.globaleduc.org/dolan.htm, pp. 9-10

248 Fr. Luis Dolan, "Development and Spirituality: Personal Reflections of a Catholic," Internet document (Global Education Associates), http://www.globaleduc.org/dolan.htm, p. 11

249 Fr. Luis Dolan, "Development and Spirituality: Personal Reflections of a Catholic," Internet document (Global Education Associates), http://www.globaleduc.org/dolan.htm, p. 12

250 See, for example, his two articles in the URI Journal: "Becoming the Community of Religions: The Necessity of a Vital Collaboration Among Interfaith Organizations," Journal of the United Religions Initiative, issue 3, Summer 1997, and "The Interfaith Movement Must Be Based on Prophetic Courage," Journal of the United Religions Initiative, Spring 1997

251 "Jean Houston On Line supports: World Tibet Day," 1998, Internet document, http://www.jeanhouston.org/global.mindfulness/Tibet/3.html, pp. 2, 6

252 The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright (c) 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved.

253 Brother Wayne Teasdale, "Becoming the Community of Religions: The Necessity of a Vital Collaboration Among Interfaith Organizations," Journal of the United Religions Initiative, issue 3, Summer 1997, pp. 14-15

254 Charles Gibbs, "Report from the Executive Director," Journal of the United Religions Initiative, issue 3, Summer 1997, p. 2

255 "Voices of the Light," No. 15, July 1, 1997; electronic newsletter of the United Communities of Spirit; Internet document, http://origin.org/ucs/text/vol015.htm, p. 3

256 United Religions Initiative, The United Religions Initiative Workbook -- Draft Workbook for Pilot Groups, p. 2

257 Josef Boehle (Coordinator, URI Europe), "United Religions Initiative," Internet document, http://members.tripod.com/~hknrp/religions.htm, p. 3

258 "URI in the world," URI Update, no. 5, spring 1999, p. 4

259 "URI in the world," URI Update, no. 5, spring 1999, p. 5

260 Global Education Associates, "International Education Council," Internet document, http://globaleduc.org/edcouncil.htm, p. 3

261 United Religions Initiative, "Highlights URI Global Summit III," leaflet issued July 1998, front page

262 Interview by Lee Penn of Fr. Gerard O'Rourke, May 4, 1998

263 Leadership Conference of Women Religious, "Update ... Update ... Update," Internet document, http://www.paulist.org/lcwr/Newsltr.html, p. 6

264 Fr. Ruben J. Villote, "Like The Wind Blowing Where It Pleases," Philippine Daily Inquirer, Internet document, http://www.inquirer.net/mags/may99wk4/mag_9.htm, pp. 1-2

265 United Religions Initiative, "What People Will Be Doing ... ," Internet document, http://www.united-religions.org/72hours/doing.htm; United Religions Initiative, "Some Early Supporters ... ," Internet document, http://www.united-religions.org/72hours/supporters.htm

266 Dennis Delman, "Peace Projects Proliferate for 72 Hours at the Millennium," Pacific Church News, June/July 1999, p. 21

267 Paul Chaffee, "Ring of Breath Around the World: A Report on the United Religions Initiative Global Conference," document issued in the summer of 1997 by the United Religions Initiative, p. 3

268 Bruce Schuman, "Letter to Drs. Leonard Swidler and Ingrid Shafer," Internet document, http://web-wiz.com/origin/uri/uri007.htm, p. 1; see also, curriculum vitae of Leonard Swidler, Internet document, http://blue.temple.edu/~dialogue/swidvit.html, p. 1. Swidler attended the 1997 URI summit meeting.

269 St. Catherine Review, "Theology of Dr. Paul F. Knitter," Internet document, http://www.aquinas-multimedia.com/catherine/theoknitter.html, pp. 4,6,7 (including quotations from a textbook of which Knitter was co-author)

270 Bob Buse, "Xavier Theology Professor's Threefold Denial," St. Catherine Review, Internet document, http://www.aquinas-multimedia.com/catherine/knitter.html, pp. 4,5

271 Curriculum vitae of Leonard Swidler, Internet document, http://blue.temple.edu/~dialogue/swidvit.html, pp. 5-8, 12

272 Bishop William Swing, "The United Religions Initiative," document issued in April 1996, p. 6

273 Bishop William Swing, "The Surprise Factor," Pacific Church News, June/July 1996, p. 10

274 Adoremus Bulletin, "Hans Küng: Vatican Rehab or Challenge to Change?," May/June 1998, Vol. IV, no. 3, Internet document, http://www.adoremus.org/Kungweb.html, p. 1

275 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth: Christianity and the Catholic Church at the End of the Millennium -- An Interview with Peter Seewald, translated by Adrian Walker, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1997, ISBN 0-89870-640-8; p. 96

NOTE: Internet document citations are based on research done between September 1997 and August 1999. Web citations are accurate as of the time the Web page was printed, but some documents may have been moved to a different Web site since then, or they may have been removed entirely from the Web.

Text URL: http://www.united-religions.org/newsite/72hours/projects.htm

For additional information: The Roman Curia and the Ecumenical Council (The article illustrates Hans Kung's dissident status during Vatican Council II.)

Conditions of use:

This story is an extract from a book-length manuscript by Lee Penn titled False Dawn, Real Darkness: the Millennial Delusions of the United Religions and the New Age Movement. You may re-distribute this story by hard copy or electronically, and you may abridge or quote from this story - IF you give credit to Lee Penn as the author, and IF you include -- in the body or as a footnote -- the following statement:

"An abridged version of this information will appear as part of the article "The United Religions Initiative: Foundations for a World Religion" (Part 2), to be published in the fall of 1999 by the Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. You may order the complete story from the Journal, or subscribe to the Journal, by calling (510) 540-0300, or by writing to the Spiritual Counterfeits Project, Post Office Box 4308, Berkeley, CA 94704, or by visiting the SCP web site, http://www.scp-inc.org/."

This item 2924 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org

I'm Jewish, and I find it bizarre.

Sure I can get along with people of other faiths, or no faith, but I could never consider Fatima a shrine to worship "my" God as my favorite among the pantheon.

Dialogue is good. This isn't dialogue, it's homogenization.

I wouldn't want a Mass celebrated at my shul. That doesn't mean I hate Roman Catholics or that I won't listen to what they have to say.

I'm suprised that the Roman Catholic Church would put up with this.

Someone please tell me this isn't true. Please.

Regards,

I think the name of the convention, "The Future of God" is funny.

It's worse than what you said, it's positively blasphemous. God has no "future". I don't mean that He will not exist, I mean developmental progress. It implies that God changes. Eternal is beyond past, present, and future.

This looks strangely familiar to me...

Is this the same symbolism that is depicted at the new monstrosity in the Cathedral (aka Taj Mahoney) in Los Angeles, Ca?

"Should this be viewed as a fruit of Vatican II?"

Not really - this is the fruit of apostasy and syncretism

"One of the principle speakers, the Jesuit theologian Father Jacques Dupuis, was insistent that the religions of the world must unite. "The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all"

Dupuis is a notable culprit here. He is to orthodoxy what Vicky Robinson is to oral hygiene.

His work has been censured by the Holy See, and he is clearly in breach of this notification which he signed:

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

NOTIFICATION
on the book
Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism
(Orbis Books: Maryknoll, New York 1997)
by Father
JACQUES DUPUIS, S.J.

...

At the conclusion of the ordinary procedure of examination, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided to draft a Notification,[1] intended to safeguard the doctrine of the Catholic faith from errors, ambiguities or harmful interpretations. This Notification, approved by the Holy Father in the Audience of November 24, 2000, was presented to Father Jacques Dupuis and was accepted by him. By signing the text, the author committed himself to assent to the stated theses and, in his future theological activity and publications, to hold the doctrinal contents indicated in the Notification, the text of which must be included in any reprinting or further editions of his book, as well as in all translations.

The present Notification is not meant as a judgment on the author’s subjective thought, but rather as a statement of the Church’s teaching on certain aspects of the above-mentioned doctrinal truths, and as a refutation of erroneous or harmful opinions, which, prescinding from the author’s intentions, could be derived from reading the ambiguous statements and insufficient explanations found in certain sections of the text. In this way, Catholic readers will be given solid criteria for judgment, consistent with the doctrine of the Church, in order to avoid the serious confusion and misunderstanding which could result from reading this book.

I. On the sole and universal salvific mediation of Jesus Christ

1. It must be firmly believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, crucified and risen, is the sole and universal mediator of salvation for all humanity.[2]

2. It must also be firmly believed that Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary and only Saviour of the world, is the Son and Word of the Father.[3] For the unity of the divine plan of salvation centred in Jesus Christ, it must also be held that the salvific action of the Word is accomplished in and through Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of the Father, as mediator of salvation for all humanity.[4] It is therefore contrary to the Catholic faith not only to posit a separation between the Word and Jesus, or between the Word’s salvific activity and that of Jesus, but also to maintain that there is a salvific activity of the Word as such in his divinity, independent of the humanity of the Incarnate Word.[5]

II. On the unicity and completeness of revelation of Jesus Christ

3. It must be firmly believed that Jesus Christ is the mediator, the fulfilment and the completeness of revelation.[6] It is therefore contrary to the Catholic faith to maintain that revelation in Jesus Christ (or the revelation of Jesus Christ) is limited, incomplete or imperfect. Moreover, although full knowledge of divine revelation will be had only on the day of the Lord’s coming in glory, the historical revelation of Jesus Christ offers everything necessary for man’s salvation and has no need of completion by other religions.[7]

4. It is consistent with Catholic doctrine to hold that the seeds of truth and goodness that exist in other religions are a certain participation in truths contained in the revelation of or in Jesus Christ.[8] However, it is erroneous to hold that such elements of truth and goodness, or some of them, do not derive ultimately from the source-mediation of Jesus Christ.[9]

III. On the universal salvific action of the Holy Spirit

5. The Church’s faith teaches that the Holy Spirit, working after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is always the Spirit of Christ sent by the Father, who works in a salvific way in Christians as well as non-Christians.[10] It is therefore contrary to the Catholic faith to hold that the salvific action of the Holy Spirit extends beyond the one universal salvific economy of the Incarnate Word.[11]

IV. On the orientation of all human beings to the Church

6. It must be firmly believed that the Church is sign and instrument of salvation for all people.[12] It is contrary to the Catholic faith to consider the different religions of the world as ways of salvation complementary to the Church.[13]

7. According to Catholic doctrine, the followers of other religions are oriented to the Church and are all called to become part of her.[14]

V. On the value and salvific function of the religious traditions

8. In accordance with Catholic doctrine, it must be held that «whatever the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures and religions, serves as a preparation for the Gospel (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 16)».[15] It is therefore legitimate to maintain that the Holy Spirit accomplishes salvation in non-Christians also through those elements of truth and goodness present in the various religions; however, to hold that these religions, considered as such, are ways of salvation, has no foundation in Catholic theology, also because they contain omissions, insufficiencies and errors[16] regarding fundamental truths about God, man and the world.

Furthermore, the fact that the elements of truth and goodness present in the various world religions may prepare peoples and cultures to receive the salvific event of Jesus Christ does not imply that the sacred texts of these religions can be considered as complementary to the Old Testament, which is the immediate preparation for the Christ event.[17]

The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience of January 19, 2001, in the light of the further developments, confirmed the present Notification, which had been adopted in Ordinary Session of the Congregation, and ordered its publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, January 24, 2001, the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales.

+ JOSEPH Card. RATZINGER
Prefect

+ Tarcisio BERTONE, S.D.B.
Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli
Secretary

[1] Because of tendencies in some circles, which have become increasingly evident in the thinking of the Christian faithful, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published the Declaration “Dominus Iesus” on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church (AAS 92 [2000], 742-765) in order to protect essential truths of the Catholic faith. The Notification draws from the principles expressed in Dominus Iesus in its evaluation of Father Dupuis’ book.

[2] Cf. Council of Trent, Decree De peccato originali: DS 1513; Decree De iustificatione: DS 1522, 1523, 1529, 1530; Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 10; Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 8, 14, 28,49,60; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 5: AAS 83 (1991), 249-340; Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, 14: AAS 92 (2000), 449-528; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 13-15.

[3] Cf. First Council of Nicaea: DS 125; Council of Chacledon: DS 301.

[4] Cf. Council of Trent, Decree De iustificatione: DS 1529, 1530; Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5; Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 22.

[5] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 6; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 10.

[6] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei verbum, 2, 4; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et ratio, 14-15, 92: AAS 91 (1999), 5-88; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 5.

[7] Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 6; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 65-66.

[8] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 17; Decree Ad gentes, 11; Declaration Nostra aetate, 2.

[9] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 16; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 10.

[10] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 22; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 28-29.

[11] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 5; Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, 15-16; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 12.

[12] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 9, 14, 17, 48; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 11; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 16.

[13] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 36; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 21-22.

[14] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 13, 16; Decree Ad gentes, 7; Declaration Dignitatis humanae, 1; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 10; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 20-22; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 845.

[15] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 29.

[16] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 16; Declaration Nostra aetate, 2; Decree Ad gentes, 9; Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 53: AAS 68 (1976), 5-76; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 55; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 8.

[17] Cf. Council of Trent, Decree De libris sacris et de traditionibus recipiendis: DS 1501; First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius, 2: DS 3006; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 8.

Thank you for all that detailed info on the URI. Quite revolting; it brings to mind phrases such as "abomination of desolation," etc.

I see that it is such an attractive project that there has not a been a flake who was able to stay away from it. All of the names one would expect are there.

However, the truly disturbing thing is the fact that Abp. Levada in SF (where it's all the rage) doesn't seem to have any objection to it. Or if he does, he hasn't been very vocal about it, and we all know what silence means.

Dupuis. This guy is one of the handful of theologians who is so blatantly heretical that not even the extraordinarily lenient CDF could turn a blind eye to him. Read the smackdown:

CDF Notification about our buddy Jacques Dupuis, S.J.

After thorough investigation, Mr. Dupuis gave his consent to a list of propositions that later formed the core of Dominus Iesus. All future editions of his book are required to have the Notification printed in it.

"I thought that Teilhard de Chardin was dead and buried, but apparently there are those who want to resurrect him."

Your analysis is quite correct - I am fairly certain that Dupuis is a disciple of Teilhard.

"From everything she said, she did not proselytize"

No but she sure did evangelise. Many were reconciled to Christ through her work.

Words of Encouragement from St. Athanasius

... to the early Christians of the 4th century who refused to accept the Arian heresy, Christians who had lost their Church buildings to the heretics, but Christians who kept the faith. In the 20th century, we are in a quite similar situation. St. Athanasius was a Doctor of the Church. He lived from 296 to 373 A.D.

"May God console you! ... What saddens you ... is the fact that others have occupied the Churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises -- but you have the apostolic faith.

They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the faith? The true faith, obviously.

Who has lost and who has won in this struggle -- the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the faith? "True, the premises are good when the apostolic faith is preached there; they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way ... "You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the faith which has come down to you from apostolic tradition, and if an execrable jealously has tried to shake it in a number of occasions, it has not succeeded.

They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. "No one, ever, will prevail against your faith, beloved brothers, and we believe that God will give us our Churches back some day.

"Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church but in reality they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going astray.

"Even if Catholics faithful to tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ. (Coll. Selecta SS. Eccl. Patrum. Caillu and Guillou, Vol. 32, pp 411-412)."

"It's being heavily promoted by the aptly named Bishop Swing, of the ECUSA."

Retired "Catholic" bishop Remi de Roo of Canada proudly told me that he was also one of the founders of this satanic initiative.

(Did he ever boast to the wrong guy!)

The Shrine's rector, Monsignor Luciano Guerra is, I believe, the same man who arranged to have Fr. Gruner beaten up on one of his visits to Fatima.

He appears to be a truly nasty piece of work - probably masonic!

Ping.

Reparations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart became even more popularized after Mary's appearing to the three young shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal in 1917 (before the Russian Revolution), when she asked that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart to prevent the spread of "the errors of Russia." Eight years later, in 1925, Mary appeared to one of the visionaries -- Lucia, who'd since become a nun -- and requested reparations for the various ways in which her Immaculate Heart was offended -- such as attacks against her Immaculate Conception, virginity and divine maternity, and for those who teach their children contempt of Mary or who insult her by desecrating her images.

To make these reparations, she asked that we do 5 things, all with the intention of making reparation to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart :

recite at least Five Decades of the Rosary every day
wear the Brown Scapular
offer our daily duty to God as an act of sacrifice (ie., make the Morning Offering)
make Five First Saturdays of Reparation to Her Immaculate Heart (see below)
the Pope, in union with all the bishops of the world, must consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. Russia would be converted through this means, and a period of peace to be given to the world. If this is not done (and it hasn't been done), Russia will "spread her errors throughout the world." This consecration must be of Russia -- not "the world," but Russia by name.

The "First Saturdays of Reparation" was not a new devotion, but it was even more popularized after Our Lady appeared at Fatima. It consists of, on the first Saturday of each month for five consecutive months:

going to Confession (may be 8 days before the Saturday as long as one stays in a state of grace)
receiving the Eucharist
praying 5 decades of the Rosary, including the Fatima Prayer
"keeping her company" for 15 minutes while meditating on all of the Mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to her. This can be done by reading Scripture or other writings relevant to the Mysteries, meditating on pictures of the Mysteries, or simple meditation.

The promise given by Mary to those who make the First Saturday devotion is her assistance at the hour of their death.

When are people ever going to realize how evil the UN really is?

Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Catholic Reflection on the New Age, A One-World Religion Which = Satanism
Did Communists Infiltrate the Catholic Church?

The Lucis (Lucifer) Trust and the United Nations seem very innocuous on the front but their agenda is the ruination of souls and the conversion of the world to Satanism.

The Lucis (Lucifer) Trust is on WOR radio, New York, New York City's 2nd-Largest AM Radio Station WOR Radio 710 AM on you dial every Sunday from 7:30 am - 8 am.New Age and Satan Worship.

Here are some links

http://www.lucistrust.org/arcane/nasymb.shtml

http://www.oneworld.ru/lucis-rus/lucispub/

Teaching God's children to worship "Divine Nature"
http://getusout.org/un/articles/essay.htm

The Earth Charter
http://getusout.org/earthcharter/

http://getusout.org/earthcharter/index.htm

UNESCO: A Budding Global School Board
http://getusout.org/un/articles/unesco.htm

http://getusout.org/un/articles/newworldreligion.htm

http://thenewamerican.com/tna/2002/12-16-2002/vo18no25_ark.htm

http://thenewamerican.com/focus/earth_charter/index.htm

Rebutting Rockefeller
http://thenewamerican.com/tna/2002/11-04-2002/vo18no22_rockefeller.htm

http://getusout.org/earthworship/index.htm

http://getusout.org/un/articles/rockford_ark.htm

http://thenewamerican.com/tna/2002/12-16-2002/vo18no25_ark.htm

The European Union's Stealth Attack on Religion
http://thenewamerican.com/tna/2000/07-31-2000/insider/vo16no16_eu.htm

http://thenewamerican.com/focus/religion/index.htm____________________________________________________

The Catholic Church is against Communism and Socialism, Make sure the socialists do not take over; they are working from within the church and are part of the media and will stop at nothing from destroying the Church.

QUOD APOSTOLICI MUNERIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO Xlll ON SOCIALISM
DECEMBER 28, 1878
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13apost.htm

NOSTIS ET NOBISCUM

ON THE CHURCH IN THE PONTIFICAL STATES
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS IX
DECEMBER 8, 1849
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9nostis.htm

QUADRAGESIMO ANNO
ON RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOCIAL ORDER
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS Xl MAY 15, 1931
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/P11QUADR.HTM

GRAVES DE COMMUNI RE
Encyclical of Pope leo XIII on Christian Democracy
January 18, 1901
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13grcom.htm

MATER ET MAGISTRA
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE JOHN XXIII ON MAY 15, 1961
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/John23/j23mater.htm

Part of the 45 Goals of Communism

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
__________________________________________

Lucis Trust - The Spiritual Foundation of the United Nations

33 Segments surrounded by sprigs of acacia
'Welcome to the United Nations. It's your World'...

By, Atrayu

The Spiritual Foundation of the United Nations

The Lucis Trust

UN Meditation Room The Lucis Trust is the Publishing House which prints and disseminates United Nations material. It is a devastating indictment of the New Age and Pagan nature of the UN. Lucis Trust was established in 1922 as Lucifer Trust by Alice Bailey as the publishing company to disseminate the books of Bailey and Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society. The title page of Alice Bailey's book, 'Initiation, Human and Solar' was originally printed in 1922, and clearly shows the publishing house as 'Lucifer Publishing CoIn 1923. Bailey changed the name to Lucis Trust, because Lucifer Trust revealed the true nature of the New Age Movement too clearly. (Constance Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, p. 49). A quick trip to any New Age bookstore will reveal that many of the hard-core New Age books are published by Lucis Trust.

At one time, the Lucis Trust office in New York was located at 866 United Nations Plaza and is a member of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations under a slick program called "World Goodwill". In an Alice Bailey book called "Education for a New Age"; she suggests that in the new age "World Citizenship should be the goal of the enlightened, with a world federation and a world brain." In other words - a One World Government New World Order.

Luci's Trust is sponsored by among others Robert McNamara, former minister of Defence in the USA, president of the World Bank, member of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Thomas Watson (IBM, former ambassador in Moscow). Luci's Trust sponsors among others the following organizations: UN, Greenpeace Int., Greenpeace USA, Amnesty Int. and UNICEF.

The United Nations has long been one of the foremost world harbingers for the "New Spirituality" and the gathering "New World Order" based on ancient occult and freemasonic principles. Seven years after the birth of the UN, a book was published by the theosophist and founder of the Lucis Trust, Alice Bailey, claiming that "Evidence of the growth of the human intellect along the needed receptive lines [for the preparation of the New Age] can be seen in the "planning" of various nations and in the efforts of the United Nations to formulate a world plan... From the very start of this unfoldment, three occult factors have governed the development of all these plans". [Alice B. Bailey, Discipleship in the New Age (Lucis Press, 1955), Vol. II, p.35.]

Although she did not spell out clearly the identity of these 'three occult factors', she did reveal to her students that "Within the United Nations is the germ and seed of a great international and meditating, reflective group - a group of thinking and informed men and women in whose hands lies the destiny of humanity. This is largely under the control of many fourth ray disciples, if you could but realise it, and their point of meditative focus is the intuitional or Buddhic plane - the plane upon which all hierarchical activity is today to be found'. [Ibid. p.220.]

To this end, the Lucis Trust, under the leadership of Foster and Alice Bailey, started a group called 'World Goodwill' - an official non-governmental organization within the United Nations. The stated aim of this group is "to cooperate in the world of preparation for the reappearance of the Christ" [One Earth, the magazine of the Findhorn Foundation, October/November 1986, Vol. 6, Issue 6, p.24.]

But the esoteric work inside the UN does not stop with such recognized occult groupings. Much of the impetus for this process was initiated through the officership of two Secretary-Generals of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld (held office: 1953-1961) and U Thant (held office: 1961-1971) who succeeded him, and one Assistant Secretary-general, Dr. Robert Muller. In a book written to celebrate the philosophy of Teilhard de Chardin (and edited by Robert Muller), it is revealed "Dag Hammarskjöld, the rational Nordic economist, had ended up as a mystic. He too held at the end of his life that spirituality was the ultimate key to our earthly fate in time and space". [Robert Muller (ed.), The Desire to be Human: A Global Reconnaissance of Human Perspectives in an Age of Transformation (Miranana, 1983), p.304.]

Sri Chinmoy, the New Age guru, meditation leader at the UN, wrote: "the United Nations is the chosen instrument of God; to be a chosen instrument means to be a divine messenger carrying the banner of God's inner vision and outer manifestation."

William Jasper, author of "A New World Religion" describes the religion of the UN: "...a weird and diabolical convergence of New Age mysticism, pantheism, aboriginal animism atheism, communism, socialism, Luciferian occultism, apostate Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism".

http://www.lucistrust.org

You can find out much more about them and how they're involved with the work of the United Nations by following their link "World Goodwill" at the top of their home page.

The Aquarian Age Community

http://www.aquaac.org/

This Website is sponsored by the United Nations and the whole NWO philosophy is there. The page which explains the work of the Aquarian Age Community, as they call themselves, has this proud quote at the header of their page at http://www.aquaac.org/about/about.html

Such a grandeur is ahead!
Such a great step awaits a fiery affirmation.
Our teaching and the affirmation of the Higher
Principles will reveal so much that is great to humanity!
A great period is drawing near: Thus we do create together.
Fiery World
Vol. III, par. 149

Amongst the many 'enlightening' pages in this website, you can easily find 'fascinating' articles entitled:

"The New World Order and the Work of the UN" http://www.aquaac.org/un/nwo.html

"The World Spiritual Teacher, the Esoteric Community and the United Nations" http://www.aquaac.org/meetings/rttop.html

Preparing the Way for the Reappearance of the World Spiritual Teacher, the Work of the United Nations and the World-Wide Esoteric Community

http://www.aquaac.org/meetings/RT2001.html and many more articles.

This is not Christian theology but New Age paganism. You can also read the NWO quotes I posted, further down this page. Here's another by Curtis Dall, FD Roosevelt's son in law as quoted in his book, My Exploited Father in Law:

"For a long time I felt that FDR had developed many thoughts and ideas that were his own to benefit this country, the United States. But, he didn't. Most of his thoughts, his political ammunition, as it were, were carefully manufactured for him in advanced by the Council on Foreign Relations One World Money group... Brilliantly, with great gusto, like a fine piece of artillery, he exploded that prepared "ammunition" in the middle of an unsuspecting target, the American people, and thus paid off and returned his internationalist political support.
The UN is but a long range, international banking apparatus nearly set up for financial and economic profit by a small group of powerful One World Revolutionaries, hungry for profit and power.
The depression was the calculated 'shearing' of the public by the World Money powers, triggered by the planned sudden shortage of supply of call money in the New York money market... The One World Government leaders and their ever close bankers have now acquired full control of the money and credit machinery of the U.S. via the creation of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank."

Under the U.N. Gavel
By Sen. Larry E. Craig, R-ID

At its founding, the mission of the United Nations, as stated in its charter, was "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." It made no claim to supersede the sovereignty of its member states. Article 2 says that the United Nations "is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members," and it may not "intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state."

Since then, the United Nations has turned the principle of national sovereignty on its head. Through a host of conventions, treaties and conferences, it has intruded into regulation of resources and the economy (for example, treaties on "biological diversity," marine resources and climate change) and family life (hyping phoney liberalism while masculinity is scorned and western manhood is amputated - causing untold grief to the family unit) (conventions on parent-child relations and women in society). It has demanded that countries institute racial quotas and laws against hate crimes and speech (while the U.N. itself can jail someone for 30 years without trial). Recently the United Nations tried to undermine Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms (with proposed restrictions on the international sale of small arms).

Fortunately, many of these have been dead on arrival in the U.S. Senate, successive presidents have refused to endorse others, and in any case the United Nations had little power of enforcement. But in 1998, one mechanism of global government (there it is in the Washington Post folks) came to life with the so-called "Rome Statute" establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (and abolishing the Magna Carta in Britain). Once this treaty is ratified by 60 countries, the United Nations will wield judicial power over every individual human being -- even over citizens of countries that haven't joined the court.

While the court's stated mission is dealing with war crimes and crimes against humanity (what about their own crimes against humanity when they committed widespread genocide in the Balkans and East Timor? Dare I say they are hypocrites?) -- which, because there is no appeal from its decisions, only the court will have the right to define -- its mandate could be broadened later. Based on existing U.N. tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which are models for the International Criminal Court, defendants will have none of the due process rights afforded by the U.S. Constitution, such as trial by jury, confrontation of witnesses or a speedy and public trial (that's a communist court system!).

President Clinton signed the Rome treaty last year, citing U.S. support for existing U.N. war crimes tribunals. Many suppose the court will target only a Slobodan Milosevic or the perpetrators of massacres in Rwanda, or dictators like Iraq's Saddam Hussein. But who knows? To some people, Augusto Pinochet is the man who saved Chile from communism; to others he is a murderer. Who should judge him -- the United Nations or the Chilean people?

In dozens of countries, governments use brutal force against insurgents. Should the United Nations decide whether leaders in Turkey or India should be put in the defendants' dock, and then commit the United States to bring them there? How about Russia's Vladimir Putin, for Chechnya? Or Israel's Ariel Sharon? Can we trust the United Nations with that decision (the more evil these premieres are - the more the U.N. loves them)?

The court's critics rightly cite the danger to U.S. military personnel deployed abroad. Since even one death can be a war crime, a U.S. soldier could be indicted just for doing his duty. But the International Criminal Court also would apply to acts "committed" by any American here at home. The European Union and U.S. domestic opponents consider the death penalty "discriminatory" and "inhumane." Could an American governor face indictment by the court for "crimes against humanity" for signing a death warrant?

Milosevic was delivered to a U.N. court (largely at U.S. insistence) for offences occurring entirely within his own country. Some say the Milosevic precedent doesn't threaten Americans, because the U.S. Constitution protects them. But for Milosevic, we demanded that the Yugoslav Constitution be trashed and the United Nations' authority prevail. Why should the International Criminal Court treat our Constitution any better (they're already destroying the 2nd amendment with their gun grab and the 1st with their phoney 'hate crime' nonsense)?

Instead of trying to "fix" the Rome treaty, the United States must recognize that it is a fundamental threat to American sovereignty. The State Department's participation in the court's preparatory commission is counterproductive. We need to make it clear that we consider the court an illegitimate body, that the United States will never join it and that we will never accept its "jurisdiction" over any U.S. citizen or help to impose it on other countries.
The New World Religion
What's UNESCO Good For?
UNICEF--United Nations International Children's Fund, The War on America's Family!!
UNICEF and Halloween--Vatican Halts Payment
The UN, your child, your land, your religion and your freedom, check links
A Call to Vigilance (Pastoral Instruction on New Age
The New World Religion! Satanism, New Ageism and Luciferism
Ushering One-World Religion, CBN News
Child Sex Book Given out at UN Summit
CHRISTIANITY UNDER SIEGE, TOWARD A ONE WORLD RELIGION
The New World Religion!

Rebutting Rockefeller and the New World Religion
Quotes on Religion
The EU's Stealth Attack on Religion
The New World Religion
Deconstructing the Western Mind: Gramscian-Marxist Subversion of Faith and Education

Our Lady of Fatima pray for us.