Sunday, February 17, 2013

POPE HAS 11 DAYS YET IN POWER

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

Pope, nearing retirement, says pray "for me and next pope"

By Philip Pullella | Reuters – 1 hr 29 mins ago FEB 17,13
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, addressing a crowded St. Peter's Square in his penultimate Sunday address before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign.The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will resign on February 28, thanked them in several languages.Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd which the Vatican said numbered more than 50,000: "I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next pope".It was not clear why the pope chose Spanish to make the only specific reference to his upcoming resignation in his Sunday address.
A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia, as opposed to another from Europe, where the Church is crisis and polarized.After his address, the pope retired into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for a scheduled, week-long spiritual retreat and will not make any more public appearances until next Sunday.Speaking in Italian in part of his address about Lent, the period when Christians reflect on their failings and seek guidance in prayer, the pope spoke of the difficulty of making important decisions."In decisive moments of life, or, on closer inspection, at every moment in life, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the ‘I' or God? The individual interest or the real good, that which is really good?" he said.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH
Since his shock announcement last Monday, the pope has said several times that he made the difficult decision to become the first pope in more than six centuries to resign for the good of the Church."In a funny way he is even more peaceful now with this decision, unlike the rest of us, he is not somebody who gets choked up really easily," said Greg Burke, a senior media advisor to the Vatican."I think that has a lot to do with his spiritual life and who he is and the fact he is such a prayerful man," Burke told Reuters Television.
The pope has said his physical and spiritual forces are no longer strong enough to sustain him in the job of leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics at a time of difficulties for the Church in a fast-changing world.Benedict's papacy was rocked by crises over the sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.
People in the crowd said the pope was a shadow of the man he was when elected on April 19, 2005.
"Like always, recently, he seemed tired, moved, perplexed, uncertain and insecure," said Stefan Malabar, an Italian in St. Peter's Square."It's something that really has an effect on you because the pope should be a strong and authoritative figure but instead he seems very weak, and that really struck me," he said.
The Vatican has said the conclave to choose his successor could start earlier than originally expected, giving the Roman Catholic Church a new leader by mid-March.Some 117 cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to enter the secretive conclave to elect Benedict's successor. Church rules say the conclave has to start between 15 and 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant, which it will on February 28.But since the Church is now dealing with an announced resignation and not a sudden death, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Vatican would be "interpreting" the law to see if it could start earlier.
CONSULTATIONS BEGUN
Cardinals around the world have already begun informal consultations by phone and email to construct a profile of the man they think would be best suited to lead the Church in a period of continuing crisis.
The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected and then formally installed before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.New details emerged at the weekend about the state of Benedict's health in the months before his shock decision.Peter Seewald, a German journalist who wrote a book with the pope in 2010 in which Benedict first floated the possibility of resigning, visited him again about 10 weeks ago and asked what else could be expected from his papacy.
According to excepts published in the German magazine Focus, the pope answered: "From me? Not much from me. I'm an old man and the strength is ebbing. I think what I've done is enough."Asked if he was considering resigning, the pope said: "That depends on how much my physical strength will force me to that".
Seewald said he was alarmed about the pope's health."His hearing had deteriorated. He couldn't see with his left eye. His body had become so thin that the tailors had difficulty in keeping up with newly fitted clothes ... I'd never seen him so exhausted-looking, so worn down."The pope will say one more Sunday noon prayer on February 24, hold a final general audience on February 27. The next day he will take a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castle Gandalf, south of Rome, flying into the history books.Vatican officials said he would stay there for the two months or so needed to restore the convent inside the Vatican where he will live out his remaining years.(Additional reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Pope blesses thousands at St. Peter's Square

By FRANCES D'EMILIO | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago FEB 17,13
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI blessed the faithful from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square for the first time since announcing his resignation, cheered by an emotional crowd of tens of thousands of well-wishers from around the world.Smiling broadly, Benedict raised his arms outstretched to the massive crowd in his second-to-last Angelus blessing before leaving the papacy. A huge banner in the square read: "We love you."The Sunday noon appointment is one of the most cherished traditions of the Catholic Church, and this moment is one of Benedict's last opportunities to connect with the Catholic masses.The pope's voice was strong and clear as he looked into hazy sunshine over the square packed with at least 50,000 pilgrims, whom he addressed in Italian, English, French, German, Polish and Spanish.
Benedict made no direct reference to his stunning decision to step down on Feb. 28. But in his comments to Spanish-speaking pilgrims he asked the faithful to "continue praying for me and for the next pope." And he thanked the faithful for their "affection and spiritual closeness."The crowd broke out into cheers and wild applause.The pope gave particular thanks to the "beloved inhabitants of the city of Rome," a possible hint at the title he will take after retirement. The Vatican has suggested he may be called "emeritus bishop of Rome."
The traditional noon appointment normally attracts a few thousand pilgrims and tourists, but city officials prepared for a crush of people seeking to witness a moment of history."We wanted to wish him well," said Amy Champion, a tourist from Wales. "It takes a lot of guts to take the job and even more guts ... to quit."
From Sunday evening, the pope will be out of the public eye for an entire week: A meditation service at the Vatican marks the beginning of the traditional Lenten period of reflection and prayer.Rome threw on extra buses and subway trains to help deal with the crowds, and offered free shuttle vans for the elderly and disabled.While cardinals elect his successor next month in a secrecy-steeped conclave in the Sistine Chapel, the 85-year-old Benedict, the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, will be in retreat at the Holy See's summer estate in the hills southeast of Rome.After several weeks, he is expected to move into a monastery being refurbished for him behind Vatican City's walls and lead a largely cloistered life.The Vatican hasn't announced the date of the start of the conclave, but said on Saturday that it might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date it can be launched under current rules. Benedict would have to sign off on any earlier date, an act that would be one of the last of his nearly eight-year papacy.Meanwhile, the first cardinals started arriving in Rome to begin a period of intense politicking among the "princes of the church" to decide who are the leading candidates to be the next pope. Guinea-born Archbishop Robert Sarah, a cardinal who leads the Vatican's charity office, told reporters when he arrived Sunday at Rome's airport that the churchmen should select their new leader with "serenity and trust."__Daniela Petroff contributed reporting.

GIULIO ON TAMAR YONAH SHOW TALKING ABOUT THIS STORY
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/4515
NEXT POPE MAY FOCUS ON ISRAEL
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/4511#.USIwQ_IwneE
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2013/02/vatican-news-with-6-days-from-popes.html

Op-Ed: The Pope was Not a Friend of the Jews

Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 8:47 AM
If you read the records, the picture that unfolds is not the rosy one Israel described upon hearing of the Pope's resignation.


Giulio Meotti
The writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book "A New Shoah", that researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published by Encounter. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Frontpage and Commentary. He is at work on a book about the Vatican and Israel.
► More from this writer

Pope Benedict XVI just resigned and Israel’s chief rabbis have already lauded the relations the Pontifex cultivated with the State of Israel and the Jewish people.The contrary is the case. The Pope has not been a friend of the Jewish people and he supported the world's most important source of anti-Semitism: the Palestinianism.The proof is in the Pope's travel in Israel in 2009, when Benedict most went closely in touch with the Israelis.The Vatican authorities avoided calling the “State of Israel” by name but preferred to use the empty denomination “Holy Land”. And the Pope presented the Arabs as “victims” and the Israelis as “oppressors”. It was clear from the Pope’s speeches in Bethlehem and its surroundings that the Catholic attitude to the Jewish people remains unchanged since the Second World War.Benedict called the Palestinian Arabs “the people who have suffered so much”. Benedict told President Mahmoud Abbas that “the Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally guaranteed borders”. After expressing clear support for the Palestinian state, the Pope added that “Palestinians like any other people, have a natural right to marry, to raise families, and to have access to work, education and health care,” hinting that the Israelis are not allowing poor Palestinians to marry and to have access to work, education, and medical care. Rather, the contrary is true.Pope Benedict did not condemn Arab terrorism, but launched an appeal to young people: “Have the courage to resist any temptation you may feel to resort to acts of violence or terrorism.” His words “temptation for terrorism” hinted at the Vatican’s claim that Israeli policy is the root of Palestinian terrorism, while the truth is exactly the opposite.Pope Benedict XVI’s message at the village of Al Aida, near Bethlehem, was meant to symbolize the Arab claim of the “right of return”, according to Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Benedict XVI attacked Israel’s security fence saying that “it is tragic to see that even today walls are erected” and later added that “walls can be brought down,” a clear incitation to violence.
The Pope made Israel responsible for the “the alarming decline in the Christian population of the Middle East, including Israel, through emigration.” Not only the Pope's accusation is not corroborated by facts. But it ignores the Arab-Islamic grand plan to purge the Middle East of any Christian presence.Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the “land of the ancestors” of the Palestinian people and the State of Israel as defined by the Holocaust and facing a real people, aboriginal and native, heir of ancient Israel. This has been the frame of the entire Benedict’s course: piety on the Holocaust for the Jewish people and political sovereignty for the Arabs.Why did the Pope visite a refugees’ camp if not to certify the Palestinian propaganda? In his speech in the Palestinian territories, Benedict said: “May He blesses with peace the Palestinian people!”. At the Aida camp: “May God blesses his people with peace!”. In the Manger Square: “You, God’s chosen people in Bethlehem”. And to Palestinian president Abbas: “I invoke upon all the Palestinian people the blessings and protection of your heavenly Father”. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear the same blessings on the people of Israel. Pope Benedict’s words contained an encouragement to violence.By praising the “right of return” of the refugees, the Pope was asking the disappearance of the State of Israel. The Pope expressed his “solidarity with all Palestinians who have no home and waiting to return to their homeland”. This is the best way to uphold the Palestinians in their plan to eradicate the Jewish State.And how to find words of peace in the Pope’s condemnation of the “wall”? He said, “I saw the wall that intrudes into your territories, separating neighbors and dividing families. Although walls can easily be built, we know they do not last forever”.
Had the Pope forgotten that before the barrier Palestinian terrorism was rampant in the Israeli cities and Jews were slaughtered in the number of 2,000? Why did the Pope define the failure to commit terrorist acts as “courageous”, if not to assume implicitly understanding such a “temptation”? The Pope said to the Palestinians: “Have the courage to resist any temptation you may feel to resort to violence or terrorism”. To condemn the blockade of Gaza, the Pope has shown the same selective memory about “the embargo to be lifted soon”. Not a word about Hamas and the 15.000 rockets that Israel received from that territory after it destroyed Gush Katif in 2005.Moreover the Pope resorted to anti-Jewish theology when he said that “I have seen with anguish the situation of the refugees who like the Holy Family were obliged to leave their houses,” which recalls the Gospel of Matthew (2,13): 'Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.... Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him'”.If the Israelis are like Herod, are the Palestinians the modern version of Jesus? The Pope’s last most important political decision was that of granting an audience to Mahmoud Abbas. The Vatican should not have blessed the audience with overt political significance by accepting from the Palestinian leader the gift of a mosaic of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, bearing the inscription that it was presented to him by “the President of the State of Palestine”. A few days later, the Pope’s official notes began referring to the “State of Palestine”.In this day of revolution for the Catholic Church, the Israeli Jewish people didn’t lose a friend. They lost a contender.

ISAIAH 17:1,12-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4  Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5  Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6  O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7  How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south ( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

Hezbollah warns Israel not to attack Lebanon

Associated Press – 23 hrs ago FEB 17,13
BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Hezbollah has refused to comment on a Bulgarian report that said members of the Lebanese militant group carried out an attack that killed five Israeli tourists in the European nation.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah says the "issue is being followed calmly and carefully."Speaking to hundreds of supporters via video link, Nasrallah warned Israel Saturday not to attack Lebanon, saying Hezbollah's response will be harsh.The July 18 bombing killed the five Israelis as well as a Bulgarian bus driver and the suspected bomber at the airport in the Black Sea resort of Burgas.Three men are suspected in the attack, including the bomber.The latter's identity has not been established. The names of the two other suspects, believed to still be alive, have not been made public.

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Meteor-broken windows in Russian city being fixed

Associated Press – 3 hrs ago FEB 17,13
MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities in a Russian city say more than half of the acres of windows smashed in the city by an exploding meteor's shock wave have been replaced.Friday's explosion, estimated to be equivalent to several atomic bombs, shattered glass in more than 4,000 buildings in Chelyabinsk and the surrounding region, leaving residents vulnerable in temperatures well below freezing.About 1,200 people were injured, mostly by broken glass, with 40 still hospitalized Sunday, the ITAR-Tass news agency said, citing Emergency Ministry figures.The Chelyabinsk city administration said in a Sunday statement that nearly 60 percent of the city's broken windows had been replaced.Pieces of the meteor are believed to have fallen into an ice-covered lake about 80 kilometers (50 miles) outside the city, but no fragments have been reported found.

Russia cleans up after meteor blast injures more than 1,000

By Andrey Kuzmin | Reuters – FEB 16,13
CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - Thousands of Russian emergency workers went out on Saturday to clear up the damage from a meteor that exploded over the Ural mountains, damaging buildings, shattering windows and showering people with broken glass.Divers searched a lake near the city of Chelyabinsk, where a hole several feet wide had opened in the ice, but had so far failed to find any large fragments, officials said.The scarcity of evidence on the ground fuelled scores of conspiracy theories over what caused the fireball and its huge shockwave on Friday in the area which plays host to many defense industry plants.
Nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky told reporters in Moscow it could have been "war-mongers" in the United States. "It's not meteors falling. It's a new weapon being tested by the Americans," he said.A priest from near the explosion site called it an act of God. Social media sites were flooded with speculation about what might have caused the explosion, if not a meteorite."Honestly, I would be more inclined to believe that this was some military thing," said Oksana Trufanova, a local human rights activist.Asked about the speculation, an official at the local branch of Russia's Emergencies Ministry simply replied: "Rubbish".
Residents of Chelyabinsk, an industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow, heard an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave that blew out windows and damaged the wall and roof of a zinc plant.A fireball traveling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second according to Russian space agency Roscosmos, blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail visible as far as 200 km (125 miles) away.
NASA estimated the meteor was 55 feet across before entering Earth's atmosphere and weighed about 10,000 tons.It exploded miles above Earth, releasing nearly 500 kilotons of energy - about 30 times the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in World War Two, NASA added.
"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," said Paul Chodas of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
"When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface and in this case there were probably some large ones."
DIVERS SEARCH LAKE
Search teams said they had found small objects up to about 1 cm (half-an-inch) wide that might be fragments of a meteorite, but no larger pieces.The Chelyabinsk regional governor said the strike caused about 1 billion roubles ($33 million) worth of damage.Life in the city had largely returned to normal by Saturday although 50 people were still in hospital. Officials said more than 1,200 people were injured, mostly by flying glass.
Repair work had to be done quickly because of the freezing temperatures, which sank close to -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) at night.Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov inspected the damage after President Vladimir Putin sent him to the region.His ministry is under pressure to clean up fast following criticism over the failure to issue warnings in time before fatal flooding in southern Russia last summer and over its handling of forest fires in 2010.Putin will also want to avoid a repeat of the criticism that he faced over his slow reaction to incidents early in his first term as president, such as the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000 which killed all 118 people on board.($1 = 30.1365 Russian roubles)(Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova, Writing by Timothy Heritage; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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