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Pope Benedict receives PM Nouri Al-Maliki Vatican City, Jul 25, 2008 / 10:31 am (CNA).- Today at Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father met with Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri Kamel Al-Maliki.  During the course of their meeting, Pope Benedict stressed the need to end violence in the country, and received an invitation to visit Iraq. According to a press release from the Vatican, their discussion, “provided an opportunity to examine a number of fundamental aspects of the situation in Iraq,” and its surrounding region.The heads of stated focused on the struggles of the “many Iraqi refugees, both inside and outside...

Just a Humble Public Servant As the Great Man triumphantly tours Europe... I'm reminded to lookin in on the Obamamessiah blog. They have been doing yeoman work compiling all the deranged messianic tributes to this god for the godless. I continue to be astonished at the towering humility of the Lightworker and his disciples. Here's just some of the press the Son of the Living God is getting (and is in no hurry to discourage): Barack Obama isn't really one of us. Not in the normal way, anyway. No, it's not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring...

Pope Benedict XVI's refusal to address the European parliament for fear it is becoming "militantly secularist" initially struck me, a humanist MEP, a triumph of equality and rationality for the EU. But on deeper reflection, I think it's a cop-out of the grandest scale, setting a dangerous precedent for other cultural and religious leaders to "opt out" of EU proceedings if they are dissatisfied with their values and methods. By refusing to take part in the parliament's Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the pontiff is effectively holding the EU to ransom. Declining to speak to MEPs, giving the excuse of other...

La Stampa July 22nd 2008 The Pope and Bush united by the same errors HANS KÜNG Last April, Benedict XVI  celebrated his 81 years with George W. Bush at the White House. Odd: the Pope, ambassador of peace and truth who touches glasses with a war president who, even in the eyes of many Americans, dragged a great democracy into a war by means of lies and propaganda, with no apparent exit strategy. According to a recent survey, 80% of Americans are convinced that the US is “on the wrong track�. Hence the slogan for the current electoral campaign...

THREE PROPHETIC PARALLELISMS CONCERNING ISRAEL. By Rev. JAMES C.SMITH, of Dufftown (At the Glasgow Conference, June, 1894.) To understand the the Old Testament you must understand Israel; to understand the New Testament you must study the Church. The great subject of the Bible is sin, and the great doctrine of the Bible is the putting away of sin by the grace of God. All other subjects fall under this great line of study. If the Bible casts its teaching in any special form or mould more than another, it is in the form of parallelism, and this is one of...

Breaking, big, news: The St. Louis Archdiocese filed suit today against the St. Stanislaus Kostka church in an attempt to regain control of the former Polish parish. Six parishioners, including three recent board members, joined the archdiocese in the suit. They are asking a St. Louis judge to void any changes to the St. Stanislaus' bylaws since 2001 and give the archbishop the authority to appoint a pastor and board there. Last month, the St. Stanislaus board voted 4-3 to dissolve itself and allow parishioners to elect a new board at its annual meeting in August. Eight St. Stanislaus...

Madrid, 2008 In 1936, during the great Socialist Terror of the early months of the Civil War, the large monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Cerro de los Ángeles, near Madrid, was attacked and demolished, a symbol of one of the harshest large-scale persecutions of the Church in History. From one of the stones of the demolished statue, a small sculpture of the Sacred Heart was sculpted and placed in the public garden outside the Parish Church of San Antonio de la Florida, in Madrid - otherwise a very famous building due to the extensive paintings of...

Two weeks ago I spoke with Bishops Mar Sarhad Jammo and Mar Bawai Soro about their plan to protect Iraqi Christians from violence and ensure religious liberty. The bishops expressed hope that one day the provisions of the Iraq Constitution protecting all religious minorities from discrimination and persecution could be implemented. In speaking with Manny Miranda, who recently returned from 12 months in Iraq, I found out that in the short term, legal remedies are not the answer. Miranda served at the embassy in Baghdad for the U.S. Department of State as director of legislative statecraft, advising the country on...

Rome, 23 July (AKI) - Pope Benedict XVI will meet Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki on Friday for the first time during his official visit to Italy. Al-Maliki is due to arrive in Rome on Thursday to meet his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi on the second leg of his European visit after talks with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin on Tuesday. The Iraqi prime minister will meet the Pope at the pontiff's summer residence at Castelgandolfo, outside Rome. He will then hold separate talks with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state. Iraq is home to the Chaldean...

The Chosen “Grandpa Abyssal, what did he mean today at Synagogue, that the Jews are the chosen? Chosen for what? What were we chosen to do?” “Ahh, Chaadrean, that is a long story. We would have to venture far, far out into the future to try to see that clearly. It is too late now. I came up here to tell you that your light was supposed to be off fifteen minutes ago. If your mother sees your light on, there will be trouble…. Now go to sleep!” “But grandpa! Deep religious questions are torturing my mind, they will not...

According to some reports, Ukrainian authorities negotiate with the Constantinople Patriarchate so that it takes in Ukrainian schismatics Moscow, July 22, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate Ukrainian Orthodox Church accuses Ukrainian authorities of their attempts to split the country's Orthodoxy with Constantinople involved. Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations Archimandrite Kirill (Hovorun) said that Kiev-Constantinople negotiations had recently activated with Viktor Yushchenko engaged, the Segodnya Ukrainian paper has reported on Tuesday. According to Fr. Kirill, they want Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to declare that two schismatic Ukrainian organizations "The Kiev Patriarchate" and "The Ukrainian Autocephalous...

A Statement from the Virginia Annual Council of the United Methodist Church July 11, 2008 On June 27, 2008, the Circuit Court of Fairfax County declared constitutional—as applied to the case before it—a Virginia statute which gives ownership of church property to breakaway congregations of a church denomination, which for years had held the property in trust for the purpose of worship within the denomination, according to denominational doctrine. The statute, known as the “Division Statute,” was enacted by the Virginia legislature only a few years after the end of the Civil War, and was used then as a vehicle...

When Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ appeared on FOX News’ Hannity and Colmes he asked Sean Hannity, “How many books by Cone have you read?” He implied that Hannity had no right to question him on a subject which Hannity was not informed. Having read the first of Dr. Cone’s books allows this author to question black liberation theology in light of Black Power. Although it will be denied by black liberation theologians, Dr. Cone’s teaching points to separatism regardless the statements of Jeremiah Wright. Black liberation theology is a racist theology.

America was Methodist, once upon a time-Methodist, or Baptist, or Presbyterian, or Congregationalist, or Episcopalian. A little light Unitarianism on one side, a lot of stern Calvinism on the other, and the Easter Parade running right down the middle: our annual Spring epiphany, crowned in bright new bonnets. The average American these days would have ­trouble recalling the dogmas that once defined all the jarring sects, but their names remain at least half alive: a kind of verbal remembrance of the nation's religious history, a taste on the tongue of native speakers. Think, for instance, of the old Anabaptist congregations-how...

There is a new wave of Atheists that have hit the scene. Well not so new anymore but they think their ideas are new, which they are not. In our popular culture they are seen as ‘cutting edge’ and ‘deep’ but an analysis of their beliefs, attitudes and actions shows that they are actually more like a bunch of petulant adolescents that have yet to get smacked in the mouth for talking back to their parents. They are of course products of our time where very weak thinkers play to ignorant people and think themselves clever as they preach to...

Contact: Rev. Fr. John Trigilio, Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, 717-957-2662 BALTIMORE, Maryland, July 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy celebrated the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the encyclical from Paul VI, by asking every deacon, priest and bishop to reread and re-educate their flock with this prophetic document. The organization also pledged support for all bishops who confront and deny Holy Communion to unrepentant Catholic politicians that support abortion, if prior attempts to enlighten their consciences fail. A national association of 600 priests and deacons, the CCC met in Baltimore, MD, July 14-17 for its 33rd annual convocation....

I was privileged this week to preview, before its release to the public, what may well prove to be a masterpiece of the documentary film-making art—a new look at the Biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt in the light of contemporary archeology and politics in the Middle East. Filmmaker Tim Mahoney´s "The Exodus Conspiracy",[1] due to be released within a few months, seeks to demonstrate the historical accuracy of the Biblical narrative of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt on the basis of recent archaeological discoveries and geographic explorations. A secondary thesis of the film is...

Where to begin? Delving into this particularly sordid bit of Failed Academic Dementia is difficult, both because one hardly wants to start the day wading through a sewer, and because there are so many angles and implications to the story that it makes for large and unwieldy blogposts. For those who have been in a cave since last week, PZ Myers, a washed-up academic at a third tier school who takes out his bitterness on Christians, claimed that some human toothache named Webster Cook had received death threats for stealing a Eucharist and threatening to desecrate it. Reader John Farrell...

Though this story was written nearly 2 years ago, Bishop Su's whereabouts are still unknown. The search continues. Perhaps you or someone you knows, can help solve this mystery. Searching for Bishop Su: Persecuted Chinese bishop gone but not forgottenTheresa Marie Moreau  (TMMoreau@yahoo.com)From the back seat of the gypsy cab, Ming-Chuan “Joseph” Kung watched Beijing blur by. Everything had been pre-arranged. Everything. As the hired driver steered through the streets of the capital city of the People’s Republic of China, the seven passengers – a small delegation of Americans in town for a human rights conference – rode mostly in...

Under the Heading THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES (THINGS TO COME, A Journal of Biblical Literature, Book One, Volume I, For July 1894, p.17) JEWISH LITERATURE A PALESTINE literature has sprung up, and books, pamphlets, and newspapers are taken up with this now all-absorbing theme. JEWISH SOCIETIES The whole nation [The United Kingdom] is honeycombed with societies having different names, but one object, viz., The Colonization of Palestine. 1. THE CHOVEVI SION is perhaps the largest. Its name means The Lover of Sion, and is from the word [Sorry, I can’t reproduce the Hebrew script], Chavav, which occurs only once...

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' too. For those who didn't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer)...

Although I agree on much of what they say, I think their voting guide falls short from being a true consensus document for U.S. Catholics. Folks, the National Catholic Reporter published today on its online edition this report, Common good gets boost from Catholic gathering that I found of interest. These are the first few paragraphs: The concept of the common good, an idea that winds through time from Plato to Aquinas, to the U.S. Founding Fathers and, on the way, through a number of popes, got a boost in Philadelphia July 11-13 when a crowd of more than 800,...

Another step toward the persecution. My emphases and comments.  FAITH UNDER FIREMajor U.S. city officially condemns Catholic ChurchInstructs members to defy ‘Holy Office of Inquisition’ Posted: July 15, 2008 San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church’s moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution’s prohibition of government hostility toward religion.Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the latest developments to surface regarding the pledge made by Paul Z. Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota, to desecrate the Eucharist: “Myers was quoted yesterday saying, ‘I have to do something. I’m not going to just let this disappear.’ [Last Friday it was reported that he had acquired a Host.] He continued, ‘Something will be done. It won’t be gross. It won’t be totally tasteless, but yeah, I’ll do something that shows this cracker has no power.’ “The biology professor made it clear that he would never disrespect Islam the...

Vatican City, Jul 14, 2008 / 02:34 pm (CNA).- L’Osservatore Romano published an article last week explaining how Pope Pius VII decided in 1808 that the Vatican colors would be white and yellow.  Historian Claudio Ceresa explained the history behind the Pope’s choice.In an article entitled, “Two centuries of yellow and white as the papal colors,” Ceresa explained that in order to understand why the colors were chosen, one must consider the “occupation of the city by Napoleonic troops in February of 1808.”“The commander of the French forces, General Miollis, posted notices on the walls informing that the Pope’s army...

Tony Snow: An Integrated Life July 14th, 2008 by Mary Kochan The news that Tony Snow, a Catholic convert and national media figure, had lost his battle with colon cancer in the wee hours of Saturday morning was not a surprise, but it was still a sad disappointment. He is survived by his wife Jill and three children. God comfort them.Tony Snow always considered himself a very lucky man — even during his years of struggle with the same cancer that had taken his mother when he was 17.  His gratitude for his many blessings bubbled out of him like a...

This year, in addition to Woodland Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, more than a dozen PCUSA congregations have left with their property from the denomination, or are seeking dismissal.

Rome, Jul 12, 2008 / 03:58 am (CNA).- The Australian government has denied visas to dozens of World Youth Day pilgrims from Iraq, citing concerns that participants will not return home and instead will seek asylum in Australia. One Chaldean Catholic priest called the decision “a slap at young people who wanted to go to witness to the faith and the joy of the church’s living in Iraq despite sufferings.” Initially the Australian government denied visas for nearly 170 pilgrims, allowing only ten visas to aspiring World Youth Day participants, the SIR News Agency says. According to the website Baghdadhope,...

Next week's interfaith conference in Madrid, sponsored by the Saudi King, may be inherently limited in scope — but that doesn't diminish its capacity for trouble. Like the debate over Senator Obama's proposal to enter into direct talks with the president of Iran, critics are put in the awkward position of opposing dialogue in favor of conflict. Why, ask proponents of dialogue, should we look a gift horse in the mouth. The danger in interfaith dialogues, as in diplomatic ones, is the price of admission. The thing to watch will be not what is said but what isn't. And whose...

Tony Snow Dead at 53, A Tribute to a Catholic Journalist By Deacon Keith Fournier7/12/2008 Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)"It’s trendy to reject religious reflection as a grave offense against decency. That’s not only cowardly. That’s false. Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul. So don’t leave home without either one." President George W. Bush (L) and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow return from an event at the Quantico Marine Base to the White House in Washington, September 14, 2007. Snow, who battled colon cancer, has died. CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) – Tony Snow, whose Catholic faith, superb...

Charities are usually founded on high ideals and goals. But the difficult part comes when those behind the good cause must come up with the cold, hard cash to fund their charitable works. One always supposes that there are benefactors out there who will be happy to support the cause. But they rarely appear in the way you imagine. It takes years to cultivate a funding base, and there is a potential for many missteps that don't pay off: expensive letters sent that don't yield fruit, trips taken that turn up nothing, appeals that don't appeal. The job of finding...

Presidents “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” GEORGE WASHINGTON Commander-in-Chief in the American Revolution; Signer of the Constitution; First President of the United States “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” JOHN ADAMS Signer of the Declaration of Independence; One of Two...

Yesterday, Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued a news release calling attention to the plea that Paul Zachary Myers made on his blog: he solicited the Communion Host for the express purpose of desecrating it. Donohue now responds to the reaction he has received from the University of Minnesota Morris professor, as well as others:“Myers went on Houston radio station KPFT last night saying that Bill Donohue has ‘declared a fatwa’ against him. He should know better—I don’t need others to do the fighting for me. I’m quite good at it myself.  But he’d better be careful what he says,...

Protest disrupts bishop's sermon The man standing up and heckling the bishop Openly gay US bishop Gene Robinson was forced to halt a sermon at a west London church after being heckled. As Bishop Robinson began his sermon a member of the congregation repeatedly called him a "heretic" and said "repent, repent, repent". He began his sermon by saying how sad it was that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart. But he was stopped when the man in the congregation shouted that the schism was the bishop's fault.

Speaking Well of the Dead Crisis November 1997 Fr. George William Rutler 0n July 29, 1997, a representative philosophe of our abortion culture, retired Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, was lavishly eulogized in St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where the Requiem Mass for President Kennedy had been sung in 1963. Richard Cardinal Cushing was relatively constrained back then, because liturgical depredations had not yet switched into high gear. It was not thus when our president, who vetoed the ban on partial-birth abortions, was permitted to announce to all corners of the cathedral for consumption in all corners of the...

New legal threat to teaching evolution in the US New Scientist ^ | 7/9/2008 | Amanda Gefter Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 4:06:06 AM by Soliton Louisiana is another story. A hub of creationist activism since the early 1980s, it was Louisiana that enacted the Balanced Treatment Act, which required that creationism be taught alongside evolution in schools. In a landmark 1987 case known as Edwards vs Aguillard, the US Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional, effectively closing the door on teaching "creation science" in public schools. ID was invented soon afterwards as a way of proffering creationist concepts...

Strasbourg, Jul. 10, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The European Court for Human Rights has handed an important victory to the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, and a rebuke to the government of Turkey, the AsiaNews service reports. In a unanimous verdict, the court in Strasbourg ruled that the Turkish government had violated the rights of the Orthodox patriarchate by taking possession of an orphanage in Buyukada. The government had appropriated the orphanage on the grounds that the patriarchate is not a legal entity and therefore cannot own property. While the Ankara government does not recognize the legal rights of the Orthodox body,...

The nature and extent of the violations of religious freedom were not only severe, they also were tolerated by the government and, in some cases, committed by forces within the government. As such, a bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom included Iraq on a "watch list" of countries where religious liberty is severely threatened. Religious leaders have made numerous attempts to broker resolutions. In 2007, American president George W. Bush recounted, the pontiff " was concerned that the society that was evolving (in Iraq) would not tolerate the Christian religion." Indeed, Iraqi Christians have continued to find themselves in...

If it is hard for the church to understand the political issues it can be said that it is nearly impossible for the secularists to understand why abortion and the attack on marriage is so critical for the church. Conservative Biblical theology is the single reason that the church can’t take its eye off the ball. For the church it is like cause and effect with a promise. It is a law not a theory or a possibility. The biblically grounded believer knows that to continue with the abortions and the attack against marriage will produce a long range negative...

Well, It's official. Jack Kevorkian, Dr. Death, is on the ballot in Michigan in his run for the U.S. Congress. [Det. news] Jack Kevorkian -- nicknamed "Dr. Death" for the high-profile assisted suicides he performed -- gathered enough valid signatures to be on the November ballot and try to unseat veteran Rep. Joe Knollenberg, the chief of elections for Oakland County said Monday. "He has enough qualifying petition signatures," said Joe Rozell, director of elections for Oakland County. "They are valid." Now we realize that Dr. Death's campaign is an uphill battle. Therefore, we once again make our offer...

We understand Barack Obama’s appeal. It’s almost impossible not to like him. Like his tireless supporter Oprah Winfrey, he has an air about him that exudes candor and sincerity and real concern. And those things aren’t insignificant.In history, the direction of America has been changed by political leaders who have strong personalities that make their mark on the country: the noble Washington, Honest Abe, the sunny Ronald Reagan. The difference, of course, is that the political leaders who changed the direction of the culture are men who share the nation’s founding principles and stick to them.Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University...

I have watched with intense interest over the last several years the direction that America is headed. The title of this article is called, The Arrogant Liberal. But the fact is, the subject matter not only applies to those on the left who have decided to spit in Gods face, but to those on the right who have joined them in their move to push America into a politically correct society. Let me say this before I go on. There as been an attempt by those on the left to pass hate crime legislation that is completely aimed at Christians...

Jeremiah Wright boasts on reciting Black Liberation Theology authors. He did so repeatedly when trying to nail Sean Hannity, co-host of "Hannity & Colmes". He’d say to Hannity, "How many Black Liberation Theology authors have you read? How many of their books can you name? You don’t know anything about theology." On and on he went. What Wright did not know is that Hannity does know his theology, having graduated from St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary. It’s just not the lowbrow excuse for theology known as "Black Liberation Theology." This mix-and-match of revolutionary schemes by which to create racist wars...

Some Mormons are rejecting their prophet's call to campaign for a ban on same-sex marriage in California, suggesting the church leadership's sway over the issue of homosexuality may be weakening. In a letter circulated to all the state's congregations June 29, President and Prophet Thomas Monson called on Mormons to "do all you can" to support the November ballot measure "by donating of your means and time." The church strongly supported a successful 2000 California proposition that prohibited same-sex unions. The state Supreme Court struck down the measure May 15, opening the door for same-sex marriages. The intervening years have...

Newt Gingrich gave an excellent speech at the First Baptist Church in Atlanta, entitled "Rediscovering God in America". It can be viewed here: http://www.intouch.org/site/c.dhKHIXPKIuE/b.2287421/k.944D/This_Week_on_TV.htm

A University of Central Florida student, upset religious groups hold church services on public campuses, is holding hostage the Eucharist, an object so sacred to Catholics they call it the Body of Christ. Church officials say UCF Student Senator Webster Cook was disruptive and disrespectful when he attended Mass held on campus Sunday June 29. It was during that Mass where Cook admits he obtained the Eucharist.... A church leader was watching, confronted Cook and tried to recover the sacred bread. Cook said she crossed the line and that's why he brought it home with him. "She came up behind...

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory and President Ronald Reagan enjoyed a deep relationship for many years. National Day of Reflection By the President of the United States of America Amid the distractions and concerns of our daily existence, it is appropriate that Americans pause to reflect upon the ancient ethical principles and moral values which are the foundation of our character as a nation. We seek, and steadfastly pursue, the benefits of education. But education must be more than factual enlightenment-it must enrich the character as well as the mind. One shining example for people of...

Islam Factor is a bold experiment in Muslim freedom of expression, freedom of speech and cooperation with people from all walks of life. Some who follow, agree with or are amicable to Islam and some who are opposed. Whether you agree with or follow Islam or not, whether you oppose Islam or not, no matter the nation, race, religion or creed we are from, we all have one thing in common. We all are human-beings with the same basic needs, hopes and emotions. Our forum hopes to promote an almost unheard of tolerance (that eludes many Muslim groups) that transcends...

B. Hussein Obama has it in for America’s evangelicals. That is evident in his anathema of evangelical leader Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Evangelicals stand at the direct opposite of B. Hussein’s creed. He is a moral relativist. That is, for B. Hussein there are no moral absolutes. To state it in other terms, B. Hussein defines morality by “situation ethics.” That twosome was quite popular among liberals a few years ago; the term has since faded out as a frequency. However, it means that the specific situation governs the ethic of that situation. For example, if...

Our Times: The Age of Martyrs by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Never in the history of the papacy has any Bishop of Rome written at greater length about martyrdom than Pope John Paul II. His encyclical The Gospel of Life devotes a thousand or more words to the call to martyrdom in our age.He reminds us that the revelation from the Old Testament to the new, and from the time of Christ to the present day, is the history of martyrdom as a witness to the truth.He names Susanna, who refused to consent to lechery and was ready to...