KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
Eaton – who won in a 600-287 landslide at the denomination’s triennial Churchwide Assembly in Pittsburgh, against outgoing president Mark Hanson and two other female candidates – is Bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, based in her hometown Cleveland and is married to the Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest. Like Hanson, Eaton supported the decision to allow gay clerics to be ordained bishops, taking what was perhaps an even “softer” line, because more understanding than many of those who were against. “Being an inclusive church meant respecting those who had a different understanding of Scripture and doctrine.” “These people also have voice in this church,” she said.Last 12 May, Guy Erwin, a member of the Osage tribe who holds a degree from Yale and a PhD from Yale, was the first openly gay figure to be elected bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Southwest California Synod, becoming one of 65 ELCA bishops across the U.S.The ELCA changed its rules in 2009 to allow gay and lesbian individuals to be ordained priests in what is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. It is estimated that over 600 congregations abandoned the Lutheran Church following this decision. Today, the Lutheran Church has almost ten thousand congregations (9638 to be precise) across the U.S., the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands, with over sixteen thousand priests and more than four million members.The main problem President Eaton will be facing is how to hold the Lutheran Church together and in particular how to meet the varying needs and expectations of families and young people. In her acceptance speech, she stressed the need to meet people’s needs by going out to meet them. Missionary action needs to be strengthened. “Today people search for a new church on the Internet, so those without a website are invisible,” she said. Hence new technologies need to be used in a more efficient and intelligent way, although searching for God’s help through prayer remains the number one priority, Eaton stressed.Bishop Eaton will be installed on 5 October (probably at Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago’s Hyde Park) and her first day in office will be N1 November. She is now on a par with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who in 2006 became the first woman to become a primate of an Anglican province. The two Churches are in full communion, meaning they are able to share clergy and have shared ministries. “Today we are closer,” said the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber the day after Eaton’s election.When asked, in a press conference, to comment on what it meant for a woman to be elected president, she replied: “Everyone has gifts to serve” When we say everyone is welcome and that God’s gifts have been poured out on everyone, as it says in Joel, that it can also be poured out on someone who happens to be female from Ohio.” “We are a church that is overwhelmingly European in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic. We need to welcome the gifts of those who come from different places, that is a conversation we need to have as a church,” she said.
An Iranian man, converted from Islam to Christianity, was sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes against state security".
This is neither the first nor the last of such cases unfortunately. This time it was Mohammad-Hadi Bordbar’s turn. The man, also known as Mostafa is a native of the city of Rasht and has been found guilty for distributing copies of the Gospel in Iran.As reported to Fides news agency, “the court documents show that the man confessed to "having abandoned Islam to follow Christianity", and "considering evangelization his duty, he distributed 12,000 pocket gospels". After having received baptism, Mostafa had set up a "house church", an assembly of home worship, with prayer meetings at home, which are considered "illegal".”“Mostafa was arrested in Tehran on December 27, 2012, after a police raid at his house. The security officers detained and interrogated all those present at the meeting for hours, about 50 Iranian Christians,” Fides news agency reports.“In his home the police found material and Christian publications, such as movies, books, CDs and over 6,000 copies of the Gospel. Mostafa had already been arrested in 2009 for conversion to Christianity, found guilty of apostasy, then released on bail. In another recent case, reported to Fides by the Iranian Christian Agency "Mohabat News", a court in the city of Robat-Karim, south of Tehran, sentenced the young Ebrahim Firouzi, another Iranian Christian to one year in prison and two years of exile, for "evangelization activities and distribution of Bibles", considered "in opposition to the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran”,” Fides went on to say.“In the ruling, the judge describes Ebrahim Firouzi of being "guilty of criminal acts for holding prayer meetings at home and for having spread among the young doubts on Islamic principles". The young man was arrested in March 2013.” “As recalled by the NGO "Barnabas team" and "Christian Solidarity Worldwide", committed to the defence of Christians in the world, in recent years the interest of young Iranians towards Christianity has made conversion to Christianity a disturbing problem for the Iranian authorities,” Fides wrote.“Many churches of Farsi-language have been closed in Tehran and in other cities, while the pressure on Christian converts from Islam is on the rise. The new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, spoke of a possible "reform of civil rights" recently asking Islamic religious clergy to "stop state interference in the private lives of people".”
The original statue was brought back to the Vatican on 8 October 2000, when John Paul II entrusted the new millennium to Mary in the presence of 1500 bishops from all across the world. His words –pronounced eleven months before the September 11 attacks – were not understood at the time. He said the world was at a crossroads and could either transform itself into a blooming garden or into a pile of ruins. Pope Francis mentioned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in his first Angelus prayer on Sunday 17 March, referring to one of the replicas of the statue that were travelling around the world. “I remember, when I had only just become a bishop in the year 1992, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima had just arrived in Buenos Aires and a big Mass was celebrated for the sick. I went to hear confessions at that Mass…” Francis said, before going on to recount a story about an old woman who came to him for confession and surprised him with the simplicity of her faith: “If the Lord did not forgive everything, the world would not exist.” A month later, the then Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal José Policarpo, announced that Pope Francis had asked him to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima: “Pope Francis asked me twice if I could consecrate his new ministry to Our Lady of Fatima.”Cardinal Policarpo accepted ad the consecration was carried out last 13 May. “O Blessed Virgin, we are at your feet to carry out the request clearly expressed by Pope Francis to consecrate to you, O Virgin of Fatima, his ministry as Bishop of Rome and universal pastor,” Cardinal Policarpo said, marking the 96th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children. Francis has made his devotion to Our Lady of Fatima very clear, visiting the Basilica of St. Mary major as many as five times to pray. His first visit was on 14 March, straight after he was elected Pope. He laid some flowers before the Salus Populi Romani icon and asked the Virgin Mary to protect the city of Rome.The Pope returned there on 4 May to recite the Rosary and again on the Feast Day of Corpus Domini after the procession to the basilica. Francis also went to pray before the Salus Populi Romani before his trip to Rio, to entrust World Youth Day to the care of the Virgin Mary. He then visited the basilica again, straight after landing in Ciampino last 29 July and before returning to the Vatican, to pray and give thanks to the Virgin Mary. One of Francis’ favourite Marian devotions is to the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots (Maria Knotenlöserin), a devotion he helped spread across Argentina. This devotion is inspired by an 18th century Bavarian image, which currently adorns one of the chapels of the St. Peter am Perlach church in Augsburg, Germany.Fr. Bergoglio discovered it on one of his study trips and began to spread word of it in Argentina. When he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he dedicated a shrine in the city to Mary Untier of Knots and had a prayer printed on the back of an image of the Virgin Mary which he used to send out with his correspondence; this roughly translates as: “May evil never ensnare you in its chaotic web… May you act as an example of how to unravel the knots in our lives and help us through difficult times with simplicity and patience, through the intercession of Your Son.”
MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
Since the reports of a mass chemical gas
attack outside Damascus surfaced last week, debate has raged in the US
and Europe about possible military intervention. Israel is said to be
preparing for the possibility that, in response to an American attack,
Syria might retaliate against targets in Israel. Syria is reported to
have an arsenal of at least 100,000 missiles, some of which can target
any area in the country.In Israel, gas masks are distributed via the post office, which maintains an information page (Hebrew). Citizens can order and check availability by calling *2237.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Addressing the families of children killed in
the alleged chemical attack, al-Golani said: “The revenge for the blood
of your children is a debt to be paid back … 1,000 rockets will be fired
at them in revenge for the massacre of Ghouta.”In Jordan, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was set to meet with Arab and Western peers
later in the day to discuss ways to bolster the security of Syria’s
neighbors against possible attacks, chemical or other, by Assad’s
regime, a Jordanian security official said.The meeting, closed to the press and held at
an unspecified location, gathers chiefs of staff from Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, the
official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he
is not allowed to brief reporters.
08/22/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
American Lutheran Church elects first female presiding bishop
Elizabeth Eaton
Elizabeth Eaton was elected leader of the Evangelical Lutherans last week
Maria Teresa Pontara Pederiva Rome While the Anglican Church has pulled back the handbrake on women’s ordination to the priesthood in England, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has stepped down on the accelerator, electing its first female presiding bishop last week. The woman in question is Harvard Divinity School graduate Elizabeth Eaton, 58.Eaton – who won in a 600-287 landslide at the denomination’s triennial Churchwide Assembly in Pittsburgh, against outgoing president Mark Hanson and two other female candidates – is Bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, based in her hometown Cleveland and is married to the Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest. Like Hanson, Eaton supported the decision to allow gay clerics to be ordained bishops, taking what was perhaps an even “softer” line, because more understanding than many of those who were against. “Being an inclusive church meant respecting those who had a different understanding of Scripture and doctrine.” “These people also have voice in this church,” she said.Last 12 May, Guy Erwin, a member of the Osage tribe who holds a degree from Yale and a PhD from Yale, was the first openly gay figure to be elected bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Southwest California Synod, becoming one of 65 ELCA bishops across the U.S.The ELCA changed its rules in 2009 to allow gay and lesbian individuals to be ordained priests in what is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. It is estimated that over 600 congregations abandoned the Lutheran Church following this decision. Today, the Lutheran Church has almost ten thousand congregations (9638 to be precise) across the U.S., the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands, with over sixteen thousand priests and more than four million members.The main problem President Eaton will be facing is how to hold the Lutheran Church together and in particular how to meet the varying needs and expectations of families and young people. In her acceptance speech, she stressed the need to meet people’s needs by going out to meet them. Missionary action needs to be strengthened. “Today people search for a new church on the Internet, so those without a website are invisible,” she said. Hence new technologies need to be used in a more efficient and intelligent way, although searching for God’s help through prayer remains the number one priority, Eaton stressed.Bishop Eaton will be installed on 5 October (probably at Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago’s Hyde Park) and her first day in office will be N1 November. She is now on a par with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who in 2006 became the first woman to become a primate of an Anglican province. The two Churches are in full communion, meaning they are able to share clergy and have shared ministries. “Today we are closer,” said the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber the day after Eaton’s election.When asked, in a press conference, to comment on what it meant for a woman to be elected president, she replied: “Everyone has gifts to serve” When we say everyone is welcome and that God’s gifts have been poured out on everyone, as it says in Joel, that it can also be poured out on someone who happens to be female from Ohio.” “We are a church that is overwhelmingly European in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic. We need to welcome the gifts of those who come from different places, that is a conversation we need to have as a church,” she said.
08/20/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Iran: Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing copies of the Gospel
The Iranian Parliament
Young people’s interest in and conversion to Christianity is concerning Iranian authorities
vatican insider staff RomeAn Iranian man, converted from Islam to Christianity, was sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes against state security".
This is neither the first nor the last of such cases unfortunately. This time it was Mohammad-Hadi Bordbar’s turn. The man, also known as Mostafa is a native of the city of Rasht and has been found guilty for distributing copies of the Gospel in Iran.As reported to Fides news agency, “the court documents show that the man confessed to "having abandoned Islam to follow Christianity", and "considering evangelization his duty, he distributed 12,000 pocket gospels". After having received baptism, Mostafa had set up a "house church", an assembly of home worship, with prayer meetings at home, which are considered "illegal".”“Mostafa was arrested in Tehran on December 27, 2012, after a police raid at his house. The security officers detained and interrogated all those present at the meeting for hours, about 50 Iranian Christians,” Fides news agency reports.“In his home the police found material and Christian publications, such as movies, books, CDs and over 6,000 copies of the Gospel. Mostafa had already been arrested in 2009 for conversion to Christianity, found guilty of apostasy, then released on bail. In another recent case, reported to Fides by the Iranian Christian Agency "Mohabat News", a court in the city of Robat-Karim, south of Tehran, sentenced the young Ebrahim Firouzi, another Iranian Christian to one year in prison and two years of exile, for "evangelization activities and distribution of Bibles", considered "in opposition to the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran”,” Fides went on to say.“In the ruling, the judge describes Ebrahim Firouzi of being "guilty of criminal acts for holding prayer meetings at home and for having spread among the young doubts on Islamic principles". The young man was arrested in March 2013.” “As recalled by the NGO "Barnabas team" and "Christian Solidarity Worldwide", committed to the defence of Christians in the world, in recent years the interest of young Iranians towards Christianity has made conversion to Christianity a disturbing problem for the Iranian authorities,” Fides wrote.“Many churches of Farsi-language have been closed in Tehran and in other cities, while the pressure on Christian converts from Islam is on the rise. The new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, spoke of a possible "reform of civil rights" recently asking Islamic religious clergy to "stop state interference in the private lives of people".”
08/22/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Francis and Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima
In October, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima will travel from Portugal to Rome, where the Pope will entrust the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Andrea Tornielli vatican city This coming 13 October Pope Francis will entrust the world to Mary, as part of the Year of Faith initiative. This is in continuation with the acts performed by his predecessors, from Pius XII to John Paul II and is a demonstration of Francis’ deep devotion to the Virgin Mary.The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, with the bullet that struck John Paul II (in the 13 May 1981 attempt on his life) set in the Virgin Mary’s crown, will arrive in St. Peter’s Square in the afternoon of Saturday 12th and Francis will be there to receive it. This is the 10th time in just under a century that the Marian effigy leaves the Chapel of Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal. In the evening the statue will be taken to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome, where a prayer vigil will be held. On morning of October 13th, the statue will return to St. Peter’s Square, where the Pope will celebrate mass after the Rosary and will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.The first of these consecrations took place during Pius XII’s pontificate. On 31 October 1942, right in the middle of the Second World War, Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the radio in Portuguese, mentioning Russia especially, according to the instructions received by the three little shepherds during the apparition at Fatima. Another consecration was made by John Paul II on 25 March 1984, when tensions were running high because of the European missile crisis.The original statue was brought back to the Vatican on 8 October 2000, when John Paul II entrusted the new millennium to Mary in the presence of 1500 bishops from all across the world. His words –pronounced eleven months before the September 11 attacks – were not understood at the time. He said the world was at a crossroads and could either transform itself into a blooming garden or into a pile of ruins. Pope Francis mentioned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in his first Angelus prayer on Sunday 17 March, referring to one of the replicas of the statue that were travelling around the world. “I remember, when I had only just become a bishop in the year 1992, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima had just arrived in Buenos Aires and a big Mass was celebrated for the sick. I went to hear confessions at that Mass…” Francis said, before going on to recount a story about an old woman who came to him for confession and surprised him with the simplicity of her faith: “If the Lord did not forgive everything, the world would not exist.” A month later, the then Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal José Policarpo, announced that Pope Francis had asked him to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima: “Pope Francis asked me twice if I could consecrate his new ministry to Our Lady of Fatima.”Cardinal Policarpo accepted ad the consecration was carried out last 13 May. “O Blessed Virgin, we are at your feet to carry out the request clearly expressed by Pope Francis to consecrate to you, O Virgin of Fatima, his ministry as Bishop of Rome and universal pastor,” Cardinal Policarpo said, marking the 96th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children. Francis has made his devotion to Our Lady of Fatima very clear, visiting the Basilica of St. Mary major as many as five times to pray. His first visit was on 14 March, straight after he was elected Pope. He laid some flowers before the Salus Populi Romani icon and asked the Virgin Mary to protect the city of Rome.The Pope returned there on 4 May to recite the Rosary and again on the Feast Day of Corpus Domini after the procession to the basilica. Francis also went to pray before the Salus Populi Romani before his trip to Rio, to entrust World Youth Day to the care of the Virgin Mary. He then visited the basilica again, straight after landing in Ciampino last 29 July and before returning to the Vatican, to pray and give thanks to the Virgin Mary. One of Francis’ favourite Marian devotions is to the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots (Maria Knotenlöserin), a devotion he helped spread across Argentina. This devotion is inspired by an 18th century Bavarian image, which currently adorns one of the chapels of the St. Peter am Perlach church in Augsburg, Germany.Fr. Bergoglio discovered it on one of his study trips and began to spread word of it in Argentina. When he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he dedicated a shrine in the city to Mary Untier of Knots and had a prayer printed on the back of an image of the Virgin Mary which he used to send out with his correspondence; this roughly translates as: “May evil never ensnare you in its chaotic web… May you act as an example of how to unravel the knots in our lives and help us through difficult times with simplicity and patience, through the intercession of Your Son.”
08/21/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
The Pope and the Curia’s spoil system
The Roman Curia
The U.S. has criticised Pope Francis for not having replaced the Vatican Secretary of State yet
andrea Tornielli vatican city
“We also wanted someone with good managerial skills and leadership
skills, and so far that hasn't been as obvious.” This is what the
Archbishop of New York and American papal candidate, Cardinal Timothy
Dolan, had to say about Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Rio a few
weeks ago. The cardinal voiced this rather frank criticism during an
interview with Vatican correspondent John Allen, published on the National Catholic Reporter website last 24 July.Basically, one of the most media-friendly protagonists of the last
Conclave that elected Bergoglio to the Throne of Peter just four months
ago has said that Francis, the Argentinean Pope “from the other side of
the world” has not been enough of a “manager”. In his comment, Dolan was
particularly referring to the fact that the Vatican Secretary of State,
Tarcisio Bertone, has not been replaced yet. Bertone, who was Benedict
XVI’s right hand man, was widely criticised during the pre-Conclave
discussions. “I would expect that after the summer lull, we'll see some
more signs of management changes,” Cardinal Dolan added, after stating
that he had expected the replacement to happen before the summer, as
many had wrongly predicted.Dolan’s comment is completely separate from other statements made by top figures in the U.S. Catholic Church, such as the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput. In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter he admitted that "the right wing of the church ... generally have not been really happy about his election, from what [he has] been able to read and to understand." Unlike certain conservative and traditionalist circles, the Archbishop of New York does not complain about such things as the little changes made to the liturgy, about the current Pope’s simple style or about the fact he has not repeatedly stressed the Church’s well-known position with regard to abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality. But Dolan has not hidden his dissatisfaction regarding Francis’ failure so far to act as a real “manager” - a typically American concern.After he had been Pope for one month and just before Holy Week was
about to begin, with all its demanding rites, on 13 April, Francis
announced he was setting up a group of eight advisors to help him reform
the Curia and govern the Church. He got stuck in straight away with the
Vatican Bank (the IOR) given the rather unevangelical scandals it was
at the centre of. He nominated a trusted prelate as its head and set up a
commission to reform the Bank. He started restructuring all of the Holy
See’s economic and financial structures. He met and listened to
numerous people and took decisions. Dolan, and perhaps even others,
expected to see some important figure get the axe, starting with
Cardinal Bertone who will turn 79 at the start of December.In the weeks following their election, neither Paul VI, John Paul I,
John Paul II nor Benedict XVI changed the Secretary of State they
inherited from their respective predecessors. They waited years (Paul VI
waited six and Benedict XVI over one year) or months (the Secretary of
State Jean Villot was replaced less than five months after the Conclave
which elected Wojtyla, but only because he died). Pope Francis is
waiting to do so “post aquas”, after the summer holidays that is,
although he has in fact continued working throughout this period.In his book Open Mind, Faithful Heart, a collection of spiritual
reflections published in 2012, Bergoglio, who was still a cardinal at
the time, speaks of Abraham and detachment from oneself and reminds
readers of certain priests who, once appointed to a higher position,
immediately start making changes to the office, changing secretaries,
putting new carpets down, curtains up, kitting themselves out with all
sorts of office equipment and reshaping the environment they’re in to
suit them. This inevitably leads to conflict.Francis’ words may say something about the method used by the new
Pope, who is prepared to make changes to the structures and composition
of the Roman Curia - starting with the position of Secretary of State,
which could undergo changes as part of the reforms that are being
prepared – but without making any hasty decisions, always taking people
into account. On the return flight from Rio de Janeiro, Francis told
journalists he appreciated collaborators who told him “I don't see that,
I disagree: that's what I think, you do as you wish,” because those who
do say such things are real collaborators, as opposed to those who say:
“Oh, how wonderful, how wonderful, how wonderful”, and then they say
the opposite somewhere else.”As the last 8 years show, Benedict XVI’s pontificate was conditioned
by collaborators who were not always up to the job. It is understandable
therefore, that his successor should exercise due caution when
selecting his key collaborators.MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
Iran warns US over military move against Assad
Republican Guards commander says Washington should beware of ‘trespassing over the red line in Syria’
August 25, 2013, 1:35 pm
2-The Times of Israel
Iran is considered one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest backers.The Times of Israel contributed to this report.
Only 60% of Israelis have gas masks
Postal Service says requests have jumped fourfold in recent days
August 25, 2013, 3:53 pm
1-The Times of Israel
Syrian Islamists vow revenge for alleged gas attack
Leader of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front says he will target Shiite Muslim villages to hit back at Assad regime
August 25, 2013, 3:58 pm
0-The times of Israel
Forbes ranks Sara Netanyahu Israel’s most powerful woman
The prime minister is ‘totally influenced’ by his wife, magazine says, placing her ahead of bank chiefs, billionaires and cultural icons
March 26, 2013, 1:24 am
0-The Times of Israel
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote in the Likud primary
elections together with his wife Sara, on November 24 (photo credit:
Gil Yohanan/Flash90)
She may not hold an official
government post, draw a huge salary or run an international corporation,
but Sara Netanyahu’s purported influence over her husband, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, earned her the No. 1 spot on Forbes
Israel’s list of the country’s 50 most powerful women, published last
week.
Netanyahu,
a child psychiatrist by training, beat out billionaires, CEOs, Cabinet
ministers and cultural icons to gain the top spot, with the magazine
citing her ostensible tight control over senior government appointments
as her main leverage tool.“She is not directly involved in making
decisions on economic, military or diplomatic matters. She won’t
intervene in deciding on raising the VAT or launching a strike on Iran,
but she is deeply involved in deciding who the people who make the
critical decisions are,” a source who worked closely with the Netanyahus
told Forbes. “Most of the appointments surrounding the prime minister —
not only in his bureau — go through Sara Netanyahu. Major roles in the
most important office in the country as well as minor government jobs —
she is involved in all of them,” the unnamed source said.
Another unnamed official described the
relationship as follows: “For someone to be influential, he or she needs
to find a subject willing to be so totally influenced; that is the
prime minister. He is completely under her influence, and doesn’t
indicate any desire to be freed of it. He is very committed to her, and
apparently loves her very much.”Immediately following Sara Netanyahu on the
list is a more conventional pick, Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet
Russak-Aminoach. Russak-Aminoach, 47, is the youngest person to stand at
the head of the leading Israeli bank and over the past year steered it
through tumultuous financial times, seeing through painful staff cuts
and internal reforms.Filling out the Forbes top three was real
estate magnate Shari Arison, who is also the driving force behind the
annual Good Deeds Day, a philanthropic venture that this year included
participants in 50 countries.The top ranked female politician was Tzipi
Livni in 11th place, followed closely by opposition head Shelly
Yachimovich. Both women led their parties (Hatnua and Labor
respectively) in January elections. Though the results were less
impressive than they had hoped for, today both find themselves in
positions of power, Livni as the country’s justice minister and
Yachimovich as the chief opposition political thorn in Netanyahu’s side.Israel’s favorite supermodel, Bar Refaeli made
the list in 45th place, with the magazine citing her constant coverage
by the media, her popularity on online social networks, and her income,
as her claims to power.
Rural Living
Bees dying by the millions
One of many dead hives at Schuit's Saugeen Honey, in Elmwood.
ELMWOOD - Local beekeepers are
finding millions of their bees dead just after corn was planted here in
the last few weeks. Dave Schuit, who has a honey operation in Elmwood,
lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees.“Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,”
Schuit said. He and many others, including the European Union, are
pointing the finger at a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids,
manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. used in planting corn and some
other crops. The European Union just recently voted to ban these
insecticides for two years, beginning December 1, 2013, to be able to
study how it relates to the large bee kill they are experiencing there
also.Local grower Nathan Carey from the Neustadt, and National Farmers
Union Local 344 member, says he noticed this spring the lack of bees and
bumblebees on his farm. He believes that there is a strong connection
between the insecticide use and the death of pollinators.“I feel like we all have something at stake with this issue,” he
said. He is organizing a public workshop and panel discussion about this
problem at his farm June 22 at 10 a.m. He hopes that all interested
parties can get together and talk about the reason bees, the prime
pollinators of so any different plant species, are dying.At the farm of Gary Kenny, south west of Hanover, eight of the 10
hives he kept for a beekeeper out of Kincardine, died this spring just
after corn was planted in neighbouring fields.What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides
are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing
the pesticide dust into the air when planted. The death of millions of
pollinators was looked at by American Purdue University. They found
that, “Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms, analysis of dead bees
revealed traces of thiamethoxam/clothianidin in each case. Seed
treatments of field crops (primarily corn) are the only major source of
these compounds.Local investigations near Guelph, led to the same conclusion. A Pest
Management Regulatory Agency investigation confirmed that corn seeds
treated with clothianidin or thiamethoxam “contributed to the majority
of the bee mortalities” last spring.“The air seeders are the problem,” said Ontario Federation of
Agriculture director Paul Wettlaufer, who farms near Neustadt. This was
after this reporter called John Gillespie, OFA Bruce County president,
who told me to call Wettlaufer. Unfortunately, Wettlaufer said it was,
“not a local OFA issue,” and that it was an issue for the Grain Farmers
of Ontario and representative, Hennry Vanakum should be notified.
Vanakum could not be rached for comment.Yet Guelph University entomologist Peter Kevan, disagreed with the EU ban.
“There’s very little evidence to say that neonicotinoids, in a very general sense, in a broad scale sense, have been a major component in the demise of honeybees or any other pollinators, anywhere in the world,” said Kevan.But research is showing that honeybee disorders and high colony losses have become a global phenomena. An international team of scientists led by Holland’s Utrecht University concluded that, ”Large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinator services at risk.” This research and others rsulted in the Eurpean Union ban.The United Church is also concerned about the death of so many pollinators and has prepared a “Take Action” paper it’s sending out to all its members. The church is basing its action on local research. The Take Action paper states among other things, “Scientific information gathered suggests that the planting of corn seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012.”Meanwhile Schuit is replacing his queen bees every few months now instead of years, as they are dying so frequently. “OMAFRA tells me to have faith. Well, I think it’s criminal what is happening, and it’s hard to have faith if it doesn’t look like they are going to do anything anyway,” Schuit says.
“There’s very little evidence to say that neonicotinoids, in a very general sense, in a broad scale sense, have been a major component in the demise of honeybees or any other pollinators, anywhere in the world,” said Kevan.But research is showing that honeybee disorders and high colony losses have become a global phenomena. An international team of scientists led by Holland’s Utrecht University concluded that, ”Large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinator services at risk.” This research and others rsulted in the Eurpean Union ban.The United Church is also concerned about the death of so many pollinators and has prepared a “Take Action” paper it’s sending out to all its members. The church is basing its action on local research. The Take Action paper states among other things, “Scientific information gathered suggests that the planting of corn seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012.”Meanwhile Schuit is replacing his queen bees every few months now instead of years, as they are dying so frequently. “OMAFRA tells me to have faith. Well, I think it’s criminal what is happening, and it’s hard to have faith if it doesn’t look like they are going to do anything anyway,” Schuit says.
