Wednesday, January 22, 2014

IOR EXPLAINS STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS TRANSPARENCY

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.

01/22/2014 VATICAN INSIDER

IOR explains steps taken towards transparency

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The main offices of the IOR
The main offices of the IOR

The IOR has issued a report on the progress of its compliance and transparency program. The fate of the Vatican “bank” will be decided in the coming months

Andrea Tornielli vatican city As new and worrying information has emerges concerning Mgr. Nunzio Scarano, his money-trafficking and the protection he received and as the Vatican collaborates fully with investigators, - a significant first effect of the changes Pope Francis is trying to introduce - “freezing” suspicious bank accounts at the request of the Italian authorities, The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) has issued a report on the steps it has taken to improve its transparency.“Today, the Board of Superintendence of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) has received a status report on the compliance reform process in course,” the IOR’s press release reads. This is one of the changes introduced by the Institute’s president, Ernst von Freyberg.“As an Institute of the Church we have a particular responsibility to live up to the high standards that are rightly expected of us,” the president states. “And whilst there is still a lot of implementation work ahead of us, there is no doubt that we are on the right track and have made significant process.”The IOR informs that “in the first quarter of 2013, the Board of Superintendence and Directorate of the Institute decided to thoroughly review and re-organize anti-money laundering (AML) procedures and to improve transparency.” As is known, in order to do this, “the IOR has enlisted external support to help accelerate the execution of the overall process in nine work streams.”The IOR’s internal handbook on anti-money laundering procedures - the most current version of which was submitted to AIF (the financial information authority headed by Cardinal Attilio Nicora) by the end of 2013 - has been revised and expanded. The IOR has started to expand “its data templates in areas such as verification of identification, source of funds, transaction activity, and overall customer risk profile.”The IOR has also been working on enhancing its IT systems to keep track of transactions more effectively. “The Institute has implemented a “know your customer”-application for individuals and legal entities and an automated internal client rating system that are currently being fine-tuned.”The IOR has initiated a “systematic screening” of all existing client records in order “to identify missing or incomplete information.” By the end of 2013 the IOR had “reviewed approximately 55 percent of all customers (around 10,000 client records), reaching-out to and requiring completion of data from those customers concerned. In this review process the Institute has given priority to larger and more active clients. The entire process is expected to last through the first half of 2014.” The Institute has also “updated its guidelines on client categories to be serviced by the Institute. As per decision of the Board of Superintendence, published on the Institute’s website in July 2013, these are: Catholic institutions, clerics, employees or former employees of the Vatican City State with salary and pension accounts and embassies and diplomats accredited to the Holy See. Currently institutions account for around 85 percent of all assets at the IOR.”  Relations with clients who do not fit into the categories set will be “terminated under close supervision of AIF. This is an on-going operational procedure that should not be confused with ending or suspending client relationships on the suspicion of infringement of anti-money laundering legislation. Such suspensions or closures are and will remain the sole prerogative of Vatican law-enforcement and supervision authorities.”“In parallel to the Customer Data Remediation process, the IOR has conducted an externally assisted forensic transaction review to verify the accuracy of the IOR customer list and to review unusual transactions. This included a reconciliation of the IOR’s booking records comparing general ledger entries with incoming and outgoing transaction payment records. In this effort the President of the Board of Superintendence has ordered several special investigations with regard to specific account and transaction activity. The findings were delivered to the Board and to Vatican supervising and law enforcement authorities as appropriate.”
 
“Over the course of 2013 IOR has designed and has delivered to all employees a mandatory general and specialized anti-money laundering training curriculum with the aim to achieve and maintain an adequate level of trained and knowledgeable employees and ensure their full compliance with all obligations stipulated in the IOR Handbook.”“The Board of Superintendence has nominated a Chief Risk Officer at Directorate level with a specific brief to focus on compliance and reporting,” communicating all information to the AIF. “In addition the IOR standardized reporting procedures in order to strengthen the overall reporting system. Some of the effects of this overhaul have been documented in the MONEYVAL Progress Report published on December 9th 2013.”“The IOR operates ca. 35 correspondent bank relationships worldwide. Through this network the IOR offers global payment services, particularly for its institutional clientele (religious orders and Church entities) owning the vast majority of assets. In 2013 the IOR has entered into new correspondent banking relationships. The IOR looks forward to a resumption of full interaction with Italian financial institutions pending review by Italian regulatory authorities of the Holy See/Vatican City State’s anti-money laundering provisions.”Other reforms carried forward and described in the report, include: “a systematic effort to improve the management of financial risk” and “transparency improvements.” The IOR points out that it published its first Annual Report on October 1st, 2013, and launched its website on July 31st, 2013. In addition, the Institute has set up a dedicated press office available for information and dialogue. It also announced it will be publishing its next annual report around mid-March 2014.These considerable efforts to improve the IOR’s communication, demonstrate its eagerness to show it is taking transparency seriously and that it is a body that is necessary to the Vatican and the Church as a whole. The future of the Vatican “bank” will become clearer in about a week or so, once the work of the Commission for Reference on the IOR (chaired by Cardinal Raffaele Farina) is concluded and once the meeting of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, or C8, comes to a close.On the return flight from Rio following last July’s World Youth Day celebrations, Francis said: “I don’t know how the IOR will end up. Some say that, perhaps, it’s best that it be a bank, others that it be an aid fund, others say to close it … But this, I cannot tell you how this story will end … we must find the best. But, this yes. But the characteristics of the IOR - be it a bank, be it an aid fund, be it whatever it may be - [must be] transparent and honest.”

01/21/2014 VATICAN INSIDER

President Obama will meet Pope Francis in the Vatican on March 27

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President Obama
President Obama

Questions on their agenda are likely to include: peace in the Holy Land, Syria and Middle East, the situation of Christians there, religious liberty in the world, and global poverty

gerard o'connell rome President Barack Obama will meet Pope Francis in the Vatican on March 27, the White House announced today.“The President looks forward to discussing with Pope Francis their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality," according to a White House news release, January  21.It will be Obama’s first meeting with Francis, but not with a Pope: he met Benedict XVI on 10 July 2009.
In interviews last year, the US President said he was “hugely impressed” with the Pope’s humility and his empathy with the poor.  He praised the Jesuit Pope as “a “very thoughtful and soulful messenger of peace and justice”. “I haven’t had a chance to meet him yet,” Obama said then. “But everything that I’ve read, everything that I’ve seen from him, indicates the degree to which he is trying to remind us of those core obligations.”Indeed peace and justice are likely to feature high on the agenda when the first Latin American Pope and the first black President of the United States meet in March, in what will undoubtedly be a most important meeting.  Their encounter comes ahead of Pope Francis visit to the Holy Land, May 24-26.  The two leaders are sure to discuss the elusive quest for peace in that land, even as the US with other major powers pushes amidst a thousand difficulties for a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. The Pope and the President are also likely to discuss the effort of the major powers to bring peace in Syria and the wider Middle East, as well as the dramatic situation of Christians in that region. World poverty and the plight of the poor are also expected to feature strongly in their discussion. It is one of the issues closest to the Pope’s heart, indeed he has called for a change in how the world’s economy is governed and organized.  Last December, Obama referred to the Argentinean Pope’s great concern in this whole area when, in an economic speech, he noted that "across the developed world, inequality has increased”, and told his audience, “Some of you may have seen just last week, the Pope himself spoke about this at eloquent length.  'How can it be,' he wrote, 'that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”Other issues expected to be addressed when they sit and talk together will be the role of the Catholic Church in the USA, where 25% of the population is Catholic (that is, 78 million Catholics).  In recent years the US Bishops Conference and the Obama administration have clashed harshly in public over the contraception requirements in the affordable health care legislation promoted by the Administration, with the bishops insisting that this infringes on religious freedom.   Right now however, another issue is moving into the forefront, the bishops are pushing Congress to pass legislation that deals in a more human way with the major issue of immigration.  In addition to these, the question of religious freedom across the globe may also enter the discussion.Some months back when he presented his credentials to the Pope, the new US Ambassador to the Holy See, Ken Hackett, who formerly worked for Catholic Relief Services in the USA, wrote on his blog, that “The United States and the Holy See have converging global interests that span a broad range of issues, including a desire to promote human rights”.  

Indeed, he  said, “The Vatican and the Holy Father have the ability to influence world events in a positive way through the calling of faith and they will continue to be important partners in future collaboration, where social justice is the foundation of a relationship that is strong, relevant, and enduring”.The Ambassador told the Pope then that “President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have both highlighted the need to engage with religious leaders and the faith community in the policy process to address critical global issues”.The President will have that chance soon. He will meet the Pope at the end of a four-day visit to Europe that will take him first to the Netherlands for a Nuclear Security Summit, March 24-25, and then to Belgium, March 26, for a US-European Union summit.  After meeting the Pope, Obama will also visit with the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, and Italy’s Prime Minister, Enrico Letta. 

EU proposes 'affordable' climate targets

Today @ 15:38-DEC 22,14-EUOBSERVER
By Honor Mahony
BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Wednesday (22 January) proposed new greenhouse gas targets which it said would see the EU remain the global leader on climate change action, without damaging the bloc's fragile economy.Under the proposals, the EU would curb its CO2 emissions by 40 percent - compared to 1990 levels - by 2030 and obtain "at least" 27 percent of its energy from renewable sources by the same year.Both figures were disputed until the last minute.The greatest tussle was over renewable energy sources. As part of the overall deal, the commission abandoned the current system of national targets - which it said led to fragmentation of the internal market - in favour of an overall binding EU goal.Member states will be free to decide how they contribute to the 2030 renewable energy target, with a new "governance system" to be established to make sure countries do their bit.Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the proposals are both "ambitious and affordable" and go "beyond the debate" of either being green or supporting the industry.No energy efficiency target was set.Guenther Oettinger, energy commissioner, said the commission was waiting for a July review of energy efficiency policy.Concrete targets will then be laid down in autumn, he noted. He indicated that energy efficiency targets will play a substantial role in the EU's green plans as energy prices in the EU are considerably higher than in the US, however."On average we're paying twice as much as the Americans for electricity," he said.Climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaarde pre-empted criticism by environment groups that the 40 percent target is too weak by saying it will still need "real sincere effort" by member states."The art of politics is proposing something you can get through," she said, noting that NGOs can propose much stiffer targets but "it's not their responsibility" to implement them.The EU's current green programme runs until 2020, and saw it commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent and having 20 percent renewable energy.The latter was reached by national targets which will, despite Wednesday's more flexible approach for the future, continue to remain in place until 2020.The proposals are due to be discussed by EU leaders at their March summit, with Barroso saying that he believes it is possible to get agreement from all 28 member states.Both he and Hedegaard urged a quick positive signal from governments so that the EU takes the lead ahead of global climate change discussions next year, culminating in Paris at the end of 2015.Barroso said he would be "so happy" if other countries made a "comparable" proposal.Green groups however accused the EU of putting too much focus on industry's wishes."Barroso and his commissioners seem to have fallen for the old-think industry spin that there must be a trade-off between climate action and economic recovery," said Brook Riley of Friends of the Earth.The European Environment Bureau said both the targets contained in the proposal represent "barely more than a business-as-usual scenario."

Eurozone bank network getting smaller

21.01.14 @ 17:52-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS - The number of banks in the eurozone fell by almost 4 percent in 2013, according to data published Tuesday (21 January) by the European Central Bank .
  • The number of eurozone banks continues to fall, according to the European Central Bank (Photo: ECB)
There were 6,790 monetary financial institutions (MFIs) based in the euro area at the start of 2014, compared with 7,059 one year ago, a 3.8 percent reduction.Crisis countries Cyprus and Greece saw the largest reductions, losing 26 percent and 17 percent of their financial sector firms over the past year.
Greece now has just 62 financial institutions, while Cyprus' sector has fallen from 409 firms when it joined the EU in 2004 to 103.As part of a hastily agreed €17 billion bailout package, the Mediterranean island was forced to liquidate Laiki bank, its second largest lender, leaving rival Bank of Cyprus to take over 312 Laiki branches.But a decline in the number of financial firms is not a trend that is exclusive to the EU's crisis countries.Despite seven EU countries having joined the currency union since 2001, the number of MFIs has fallen by 3,066 - equivalent to 31 percent - since the launch of the euro in 1999.Germany and France accounted for 42 percent of all euro area MFIs, a figure almost unchanged from a year ago.Meanwhile, Portugal, Slovenia and Latvia are the only eurozone countries to have seen an increase in their number of institutions over the last twelve months.The bloc's shrinking bank network, which saw more than 5,500 bank branches shut down last year across the EU, also threatens to reduce access to basic bank services for thousands of Europeans.The European Commission estimates that over 58 million EU citizens do not have a bank account.Access to cash machines and basic services is also becoming an acute problem for the bloc's poorest citizens.

EARTHQUAKES

ISAIAH 42:15
15  I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide

29 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2014-01-22 11:55:21 UTC-05:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-05:00)29 earthquakes in map area
  1. 4.5 203km SW of Hachijo-jima, Japan 2014-01-22 09:47:48 UTC-05:00 354.9 km
  2. 2.9 67km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-22 09:12:14 UTC-05:00 64.0 km
  3. 2.8 85km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-22 08:09:26 UTC-05:00 19.0 km
  4. 2.5 13km SW of Rio Dell, California 2014-01-22 08:09:05 UTC-05:00 30.6 km
  5. 4.7 163km S of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2014-01-22 06:00:07 UTC-05:00 38.0 km
  6. 5.3 219km NNE of Ile Hunter, New Caledonia 2014-01-22 05:20:31 UTC-05:00 10.1 km
  7. 3.0 75km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-22 04:43:25 UTC-05:00 59.0 km
  8. 2.6 5km ESE of Caruthers, California 2014-01-22 04:23:40 UTC-05:00 14.0 km
  9. 2.7 74km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-22 04:01:09 UTC-05:00 24.0 km
  10. 2.5 78km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-22 03:56:14 UTC-05:00 24.0 km
  11. 3.1 69km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-01-22 00:48:18 UTC-05:00 38.0 km
  12. 4.5 22km SSW of Putre, Chile 2014-01-21 23:46:37 UTC-05:00 89.9 km
  13. 2.5 2km N of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 23:01:18 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
  14. 2.5 4km WNW of Volcano, Hawaii 2014-01-21 22:19:09 UTC-05:00 1.7 km
  15. 2.8 86km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 21:23:16 UTC-05:00 53.0 km
  16. 4.8 125km NNW of Claveria, Philippines 2014-01-21 20:59:53 UTC-05:00 49.6 km
  17. 2.8 100km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 19:30:54 UTC-05:00 40.0 km
  18. 3.1 82km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 18:39:24 UTC-05:00 37.0 km
  19. 4.4 63km S of Attu Station, Alaska 2014-01-21 18:24:53 UTC-05:00 35.1 km
  20. 2.8 60km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 17:52:41 UTC-05:00 47.0 km
  21. 2.7 22km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 17:44:14 UTC-05:00 68.0 km
  22. 4.5 78km E of Iquique, Chile 2014-01-21 17:06:33 UTC-05:00 91.7 km
  23. 3.1 59km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 16:44:58 UTC-05:00 46.0 km
  24. 3.1 79km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 16:09:53 UTC-05:00 41.0 km
  25. 4.5 50km WSW of Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan 2014-01-21 15:46:37 UTC-05:00 3.6 km
  26. 2.5 12km SW of Volcano, Hawaii 2014-01-21 15:42:36 UTC-05:00 0.0 km
  27. 4.9 278km ESE of Lambasa, Fiji 2014-01-21 15:19:21 UTC-05:00 568.5 km
  28. 2.6 21km ENE of Sterling, Alaska 2014-01-21 13:38:14 UTC-05:00 40.1 km
  29. 3.1 82km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-01-21 12:48:18 UTC-05:00 33.0 km

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