KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
A GIANT ROCK FALLS IN BESIDE OF A CAR IN CHINA AFTER MUDSLIDE RESULT
http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2013/08/31/giant-boulder-almost-crushes-car-in-taiwan-video/
NEW
YORK – Pope Francis’ decision to replace the Vatican
secretary-of-state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a close friend of Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI, has prompted speculation among seasoned Vatican
observers that the dismissal announced Friday was a fallout of efforts
to reform the Vatican Bank.Secretary of state is arguably the most powerful Vatican office, second only to that of the pope.The current controversy began with a series of tweets
posted by 30-year-old journalist Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, the
only female and the only Italian appointed by Pope Francis to the
eight-person Vatican financial reform panel now looking into claims of
Vatican Bank impropriety.After being appointed to the reform panel, Chaouqui attacked former
Italian minister of the economy Giulo Tremonti in a tweet that read:
“Tremonti held an account with the Vatican Bank. They shut it down when
they found out he was gay.”Chaouqui has a history of controversial Twitter posts, having tweeted
in February that former pope Benedict XVI had cancer, a claim that has
not been substantiated.Before her appointment, Chaouqui also posted a tweet calling Cardinal
Bertone “corrupt,” alleging he had questionable business links to an
unspecified Italian company.In response, Tremonti has threatened to sue Chaouqui as well as
Alessandro Sallustri, the editor-in-chief of Il Giornale, the Italian
daily newspaper that first published Chaouqui’s offensive tweets.On Aug. 26, Sandro Magister, an influential Vatican journalist who writes for the Italian news magazine L’Espresso, accused
Chaouqui of being the source of what in Italy is known as the
“Vatileaks” scandal involving Vatican documents embarrassing to Pope
Benedict XVI. The documents were stolen by a valet to the pope and first
published in March by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi in the Italian
newspaper La Repubblica.The Vatileaks documents allegedly exposed financial corruption
involving the Vatican Bank as well as schemes to blackmail various
homosexual clergy.Sandro Magister also has charged that Msgr. Battista Ricca, the
cleric tapped by Pope Francis to become prelate of the Vatican Bank, was
involved in a homosexual scandal of his own. Magister has insisted in
print that Msgr. Ricca’s continued presence at the Vatican Bank is a
“glaring contradiction” to Pope Francis’ claims for reform.All this sounded a bit like a B-rated soap opera until Friday, when Francis made the stunning announcement that he is preparing to replace Bertone, a powerful figure within the Vatican and a close friend of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before Ratzinger became pope.The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported Friday that to replace
Bertone, Francis has chosen Venezuelan Archbishop Pietro Parolin, a
58-year-old prelate who has worked in Nigeria and Mexico for the Vatican
office of secretary of state under Bertone.The newspaper also reported speculation that Bertone will be allowed
to retain his position of president of the Commission of Cardinals only
until December, when the European Union’s MONEVAL Committee is expected to release a report on anti-money laundering practices in the Vatican that is anticipated to be highly critical of the Holy See.Bertone’s position on the commission was bestowed on him after Ratzinger decided to resign as pope,In a television interview in Venezuela after the announcement,
Archbishop Parolin said he was “very emotional” on being informed of
Pope Francis’ decision.Controversy continues over charges that during the papacy of John
Paul II, Cardinals Ratzinger and Bertone, in their functions as top
officials in the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith,
conspired not to release the complete and final text and commentary
associated with what is known as the “Third Secret” of Fatima.
The Third Secret is an apocalyptic prophecy possibly forecasting the assassination of the pope through corruption within the church that threatens its very survival. It was said to be communicated by the Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds in a series of visions starting on May 13, 1917.In an attempt to end the controversy over the Virgin’s message to the peasant children at Fatima, Bertone published a book, “The Last Secret of Fatima: My Conversations with Sister Lucia,” with a foreword written by Ratzinger, who by the time the book was published was already positioned as Pope Benedict XVI.In the book, both Ratzinger and Bertone insist the Catholic Church has withheld nothing of the Third Secret.In 2000, Ratzinger and Bertone collaborated to have Pope John II release the Third Secret to the world in a proclamation issued that year, reversing a previous decision made in 1960 by Pope John XXIII.Then, Pope John XXII decided to withhold the secret because its contents at the time were considered too explosive, despite the insistence by Sister Lucia, one of the three Portuguese seers at Fatima, that the Virgin had specifically asked for the Third Secret to be made public in 1960.
Francis chose freely, denying the various rumours circulating in recent months about the likely candidate being one of the cardinal advisors Bergoglio had appointed to help him govern the Church and advise him on Curia reform. The Pope’s choice should create a calmer climate in the Holy See. With Parolin at its helm, the Secretariat of State of the Pope “from the other side of the world”, will once again turn its attention to world issues: to existing crises, starting with the one that is afflicting the Middle East, and to the big challenges Asia and Latin America are facing.Traditionally, the Holy See’s “diplomatic” approach has never been a “political” or “geopolitical” one. And with a Pope like Francis, it will be even less so in the years to come. Francis is above all a shepherd of souls, who is asking the entire Church for a “pastoral conversion”, encouraging it to come out of itself and go out to the geographical and existential peripheries, where men and women live and suffer.But just because the Church does not seek to be centre stage geopolitically, does not mean it should be silent and withdrawn. On the contrary, the freedom that comes with representing a State that is not like any other State and a voice which over the past century has acted time and time again as a recognised and often prophetic reference point, in the midst of conflicts and international crises, will inspire the Secretariat of State to work with renewed commitment towards finding solutions and paths for peace. It will probably be less concerned with Italy’s minor political affairs and more globally focused.Parolin’s appointment as Secretary of State is indicative of the esteem Pope Francis has for him. Parolin has worked either directly or indirectly with two Popes, three Secretaries of State and four Vatican “foreign affairs ministers”. The fact that Francis has chosen to keep the other top officials of the Secretariat of State in their current posts (their positions were confirmed yesterday along with Parolin’s appointment) shows that the Pope wants to avoid shaking things up too much before the reform of the Curia begins. But the choice of Parolin as Bertone’s successor definitely marks the start of a new chapter after two very difficult years. It is also a logical consequence of the change of chapter marked by Pope Francis’ surprise election.
In doing so, he has chosen a man whom he came to know when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. His choice has met with immediate approval in many quarters and, in the first place from those who in these years have worked with the new pro-Secretary of State (He only becomes Secretary of State - a post equivalent to that of Prime Minister – once he is made cardinal, probably in 2014).Parolin, the youngest Secretary of State since Eugenio Pacelli (who later became Pope Pius XII), succeeds Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who held that post since September 2006. He will now head a staff of some 250 persons – clergy, religious and laity, in the 500 years-old Secretariat of State, the Roman Curia dicastery or super-department that works most closely with the Bishop of Rome in the exercise of his universal mission, and coordinates the work of all the other Vatican offices.“Pope Francis has chosen a person of outstanding integrity, an intelligent, discreet, serious and patient diplomat, a man of the Church”, one source who worked with Parolin for several years told me. Another source who also knows him well agreed and recalled that “he had a very good rapport with the Diplomatic Corps and is well thought of in capitals around the world.”Much sought after by ambassadors from the different continents when he was under-Secretary for Relations with States (2002-2009), Parolin’s popularity among ambassadors sparked envy and even criticism from some Vatican colleagues during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, but he bore all this with patience and humility and never sought to defend himself.Western diplomats and Vatican officials to whom I have spoken to since the breaking news of his appointment, concurred in describing Parolin as a “profoundly spiritual man, professionally competent as a diplomat, a loyal Churchman and man of dialogue.”Significantly, both the diplomats and Vatican officials alike highlighted “humility” as one of his distinguishing marks. Many also noted that he is not an ambitious man. “He is not in the slightest ambitious”, one Vatican colleague stated. “He’s the best combination of priest-diplomat that I have come across, and priest first”, a senior European diplomat who’s had many dealings with the Vatican told me. “He’s able to set an agenda, he’s able to look for opportunities, and at the same time he’s able to defend the Holy See’s fundamental positions without offending or alienating people. Moreover, he has the imagination to make things happen”, he said. He recalled that “the building of bridges and the maintaining of relations is at the heart of diplomacy”, and said “Parolin is able to do both very well.”Another senior diplomat said Parolin understands well “the nuances of the situation”, and “understands the exercise of power as service”. “He’s very respectful of the local Churches”, he said, and “He’s very much his own man.”A former European ambassador to the Holy See with wide experience in the international field described Parolin as “a highly professional, self-effacing diplomat, who carried a huge amount of responsibility with great skill and patience”. “He was respected by all of the Diplomatic Corps when I was there”, he told me.At the time of his appointment, Parolin was nuncio to Venezuela – a particularly difficult assignment, but prior to that he had worked in the Second Section of the Secretariat of State – the one for relations with States, from 1992 to 2009, under both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He served as under-Secretary for Relations with States (a rank equivalent to that of deputy-Foreign Minister) from 2002-2009, and in that role was a key point of point of reference for the diplomatic corps, to whom he made himself totally available.
Born at Schiavon, near Vicenza, 1955, Parolin studied classics in High School (Liceo Classico) before going on for the priesthood. After gaining a degree in theology at the Faculty of Theology of the North (Milan), he was ordained priest in Vicenza for the diocese of that same name on 27 April 1980, and for the next two years served as assistant parish priest in Schio. Sent to Rome to study Canon Law, after obtaining a degree in the subject from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University he was called to study at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy – where Vatican diplomats are trained. He joined the Holy See’s diplomatic corps in 1986, at the age of 31, and since then has served in missions in Nigeria (1986-89), Mexico (1989-92) and Venezuela (2009-2013).During his seven years service as under-Secretary for Relations with States, Parolin was the Holy See’s chief negotiator with China, Israel, and Vietnam, and headed its delegations at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings. Building on the progress made by his predecessor, Mgr. Claudio Mari Celli, he engaged in successful negotiations with Vietnam that led to the historic visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Pope Benedict in January 2007. That visit opened the path to further positive development in relations between the two sides – under his successor, Mgr Ettore Balestrero, which have resulted in the agreement to have a special non-resident representative of the Pope to that country, with the establishment of diplomatic relations as the stated final goal.In those seven years too, Monsignor Parolin worked hard to improve relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China and from 2007 to 2009 he was the Vatican’s chief negotiator in sensitive talks with Beijing aimed at reaching an accord on the crucial issue of the appointment of bishops in that country, with a view to gaining greater religious freedom for the Church, and the eventual establishment of diplomatic relations. Those talks were said to be making considerable progress but ground to a halt in the years soon after his reassignment as nuncio to Venezuela.In those years too, Parolin was the Holy See’s chief negotiator with Israel and its neighboring states, and many in the diplomatic corps credited him with making a vital contribution to the success of Pope Benedict’s trip to the Holy Land in May 2009. Earlier, he had participated in the Middle East Peace Conference at Annapolis, Maryland, November 2007.When he left Rome for Venezuela in 2009, after being ordained bishop by Pope Benedict XVI, many then predicted that Parolin could return one day to a position of higher responsibility in the Vatican, perhaps as Secretary of State. Thanks to Pope Francis this has now become a reality, and sooner than most people had expected. He will take up his new post on October 15.
DEAD ANIMALS
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,(EARTH) because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
Peru’s government has declared a state of emergency in parts of the southern Andean region of Puno that have been hit with the coldest temperatures in a decade, the daily El Comercio reported.
H/T: Drudge Report
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Smoke
from a huge wildfire blanketed Yosemite Valley for the first time on
Saturday, a blow to tourists -- and their health -- on one of the
busiest weekends in one of the nation's most popular national parks.
"I'm in Yosemite Valley right now, and I cannot see the cliffs around me," park spokeswoman Kari Cobb told The Associated Press. "The wind has shifted and smoke is impacting the entire park. We have been lucky until now."Air quality data on the park's website showed that the maximum one-hour average for particulates on Saturday, measured at the visitor center on the valley floor, was in the most unhealthy portion of the five-part scale. The air quality had improved by Saturday evening but was still rated "unhealthy for sensitive groups."The Rim Fire broke out in the neighboring Stanislaus National Forest on Aug. 17 and burned into the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park late last week.By Saturday afternoon, it had consumed nearly 223,000 acres, making it the fourth-largest wildfire ever in California, surpassing a 1932 fire in Ventura County. Only about a quarter of that is within the park, but National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said Saturday that it still amounts to about 6 percent of Yosemite's backcountry, Reuters reported.
Jarvis said the fire is heading toward two groves of the park's famed sequoia trees, Reuters reported.
"This is not a catastrophe for Yosemite National Park," he said by phone after surveying the area, Reuters reported. "These trees are very old and it's not the first fire they've ever seen."
Cobb told the AP that
all campgrounds in the valley still were full Saturday morning despite
the smoke, which was expected to stay through the holiday weekend.More
than 5,000 people are fighting the fire, and Jarvis estimated that
state and federal agencies have spent about $54 million battling it.Smoke
grounded firefighting aircraft Saturday morning, but they were cleared
to fly again later in the day. The AP noted that the fire now covers an
area larger than San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined. It was 40
percent contained as of Saturday evening.The cause of the fire
is under investigation, but the possibility that it was started by an
illegal marijuana growing operation was raised recently by a fire chief
in Tuolomne County.
Todd McNeal, fire chief in the town of Twain Harte, west of Yosemite, said at an Aug. 23 community meeting that officials "know it's human caused, there’s no lightning in the area. … (We) highly suspect that it might be some sort of illicit grove, marijuana grow-type thing.”
His comments surfaced in a YouTube video of the meeting.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that in June, 15,000 marijuana plants were pulled out the forest to the south and four miles of irrigation pipe were removed. The newspaper said a 40-acre wildfire the month earlier in the same area was blamed on marijuana growers tied to Mexican drug cartels.
A GIANT ROCK FALLS IN BESIDE OF A CAR IN CHINA AFTER MUDSLIDE RESULT
http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2013/08/31/giant-boulder-almost-crushes-car-in-taiwan-video/
WND EXCLUSIVE
Controversy rocks pope's effort to clean up Vatican Bank
Dismisses top Vatican official, a close friend of Benedict
The Third Secret is an apocalyptic prophecy possibly forecasting the assassination of the pope through corruption within the church that threatens its very survival. It was said to be communicated by the Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds in a series of visions starting on May 13, 1917.In an attempt to end the controversy over the Virgin’s message to the peasant children at Fatima, Bertone published a book, “The Last Secret of Fatima: My Conversations with Sister Lucia,” with a foreword written by Ratzinger, who by the time the book was published was already positioned as Pope Benedict XVI.In the book, both Ratzinger and Bertone insist the Catholic Church has withheld nothing of the Third Secret.In 2000, Ratzinger and Bertone collaborated to have Pope John II release the Third Secret to the world in a proclamation issued that year, reversing a previous decision made in 1960 by Pope John XXIII.Then, Pope John XXII decided to withhold the secret because its contents at the time were considered too explosive, despite the insistence by Sister Lucia, one of the three Portuguese seers at Fatima, that the Virgin had specifically asked for the Third Secret to be made public in 1960.
08/31/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Fr. Pietro, a man of real dialogue
Pietro Parolin
With Pietro Parolin's nomination, the Vatican Secretary of State will no longer be seen as a "deputy Pope" figure
ANDREA TORNIELLI rome Before any reforms are even made to the Roman Curia, Pietro Parolin’s nomination as Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s successor means the Vatican Secretary of State is no longer perceived as the Pope’s deputy but as a Secretary. Of State, yes. But he is still a Secretary. The figure chosen for the position not only comes from the Holy See’s best diplomatic school but is notoriously disinterested in being centre stage.Francis chose freely, denying the various rumours circulating in recent months about the likely candidate being one of the cardinal advisors Bergoglio had appointed to help him govern the Church and advise him on Curia reform. The Pope’s choice should create a calmer climate in the Holy See. With Parolin at its helm, the Secretariat of State of the Pope “from the other side of the world”, will once again turn its attention to world issues: to existing crises, starting with the one that is afflicting the Middle East, and to the big challenges Asia and Latin America are facing.Traditionally, the Holy See’s “diplomatic” approach has never been a “political” or “geopolitical” one. And with a Pope like Francis, it will be even less so in the years to come. Francis is above all a shepherd of souls, who is asking the entire Church for a “pastoral conversion”, encouraging it to come out of itself and go out to the geographical and existential peripheries, where men and women live and suffer.But just because the Church does not seek to be centre stage geopolitically, does not mean it should be silent and withdrawn. On the contrary, the freedom that comes with representing a State that is not like any other State and a voice which over the past century has acted time and time again as a recognised and often prophetic reference point, in the midst of conflicts and international crises, will inspire the Secretariat of State to work with renewed commitment towards finding solutions and paths for peace. It will probably be less concerned with Italy’s minor political affairs and more globally focused.Parolin’s appointment as Secretary of State is indicative of the esteem Pope Francis has for him. Parolin has worked either directly or indirectly with two Popes, three Secretaries of State and four Vatican “foreign affairs ministers”. The fact that Francis has chosen to keep the other top officials of the Secretariat of State in their current posts (their positions were confirmed yesterday along with Parolin’s appointment) shows that the Pope wants to avoid shaking things up too much before the reform of the Curia begins. But the choice of Parolin as Bertone’s successor definitely marks the start of a new chapter after two very difficult years. It is also a logical consequence of the change of chapter marked by Pope Francis’ surprise election.
08/31/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Francis to meet World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder
Ronald S. Lauder
The Pope will meet the organisation’s president in a private audience on Monday morning
Alessandro Speciale vatican city Pope Francis is to hold his first private audience with a top Jewish figure next Monday. The Pope will meet the President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.Issues to be discussed during the meeting include the situation in the Middle East, in particular Syria (which is being followed closely by the Vatican and the Jewish community), growing anti-Semitism in the world and the potential for Catholic-Jewish cooperation. The two leaders will also address other issues to do with religious freedom in Europe, such as Poland’s ban on kosher slaughter and Germany’s anti-circumcision law. The two may also talk about Pope Pius XII’s controversial beatification process.Since his election, Francis has held a number of meetings with rabbis and members of the world Jewish community. He even sent a private invitation to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, to attend the mass for the inauguration of his pontificate. The Rabbi of Buenos Aires, Abraham Skorka, whom he became friends with in Argentina (the two also co-wrote the book of dialogue “On Heaven and Earth”), came to visit him with a delegation of religious leaders invited by the Focolare Movement. But the Pope’s meeting with Lauder will be his first private meeting with a representative of the Catholic Church’s “older brother in the faith” since the start of his pontificate.A businessman, billionaire and former U.S. Ambassador to Austria, Lauder, has been head of the Jewish Congress since June 2007.
08/31/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Pope’s appointment of Parolin welcomed by diplomats and churchmen alike
Pietro Parolin meets Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister
Western diplomats say new Secretary of State is a man “who is able to build bridges and maintain relations” and has the ability to present Holy See’s fundamental positions “without offending or alienating people”
gerard o'connell rome Pope Francis has made an excellent and wise choice in appointing the Italian archbishop, Pietro Parolin, an experienced and highly esteemed 58-year old Holy See diplomat, as his new Secretary of State, according to several senior Western diplomats and Vatican colleagues.“It’s a concrete sign of reform, there’s no doubt about it”, a colleague who worked with Parolin for many years in the Vatican told me, but he – like others I have spoken to for this article, requested anonymity.After months of widespread consultation, serious reflection and prayer, the Jesuit Pope chose Parolin to be his “first collaborator in the governance of the Universal Church” and “the one primarily responsible for the diplomatic and political activity of the Holy See, and in some circumstances representing the person of the Supreme Pontiff himself”, as the Vatican website describes the role of Secretary of State,In doing so, he has chosen a man whom he came to know when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. His choice has met with immediate approval in many quarters and, in the first place from those who in these years have worked with the new pro-Secretary of State (He only becomes Secretary of State - a post equivalent to that of Prime Minister – once he is made cardinal, probably in 2014).Parolin, the youngest Secretary of State since Eugenio Pacelli (who later became Pope Pius XII), succeeds Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who held that post since September 2006. He will now head a staff of some 250 persons – clergy, religious and laity, in the 500 years-old Secretariat of State, the Roman Curia dicastery or super-department that works most closely with the Bishop of Rome in the exercise of his universal mission, and coordinates the work of all the other Vatican offices.“Pope Francis has chosen a person of outstanding integrity, an intelligent, discreet, serious and patient diplomat, a man of the Church”, one source who worked with Parolin for several years told me. Another source who also knows him well agreed and recalled that “he had a very good rapport with the Diplomatic Corps and is well thought of in capitals around the world.”Much sought after by ambassadors from the different continents when he was under-Secretary for Relations with States (2002-2009), Parolin’s popularity among ambassadors sparked envy and even criticism from some Vatican colleagues during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, but he bore all this with patience and humility and never sought to defend himself.Western diplomats and Vatican officials to whom I have spoken to since the breaking news of his appointment, concurred in describing Parolin as a “profoundly spiritual man, professionally competent as a diplomat, a loyal Churchman and man of dialogue.”Significantly, both the diplomats and Vatican officials alike highlighted “humility” as one of his distinguishing marks. Many also noted that he is not an ambitious man. “He is not in the slightest ambitious”, one Vatican colleague stated. “He’s the best combination of priest-diplomat that I have come across, and priest first”, a senior European diplomat who’s had many dealings with the Vatican told me. “He’s able to set an agenda, he’s able to look for opportunities, and at the same time he’s able to defend the Holy See’s fundamental positions without offending or alienating people. Moreover, he has the imagination to make things happen”, he said. He recalled that “the building of bridges and the maintaining of relations is at the heart of diplomacy”, and said “Parolin is able to do both very well.”Another senior diplomat said Parolin understands well “the nuances of the situation”, and “understands the exercise of power as service”. “He’s very respectful of the local Churches”, he said, and “He’s very much his own man.”A former European ambassador to the Holy See with wide experience in the international field described Parolin as “a highly professional, self-effacing diplomat, who carried a huge amount of responsibility with great skill and patience”. “He was respected by all of the Diplomatic Corps when I was there”, he told me.At the time of his appointment, Parolin was nuncio to Venezuela – a particularly difficult assignment, but prior to that he had worked in the Second Section of the Secretariat of State – the one for relations with States, from 1992 to 2009, under both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He served as under-Secretary for Relations with States (a rank equivalent to that of deputy-Foreign Minister) from 2002-2009, and in that role was a key point of point of reference for the diplomatic corps, to whom he made himself totally available.
Born at Schiavon, near Vicenza, 1955, Parolin studied classics in High School (Liceo Classico) before going on for the priesthood. After gaining a degree in theology at the Faculty of Theology of the North (Milan), he was ordained priest in Vicenza for the diocese of that same name on 27 April 1980, and for the next two years served as assistant parish priest in Schio. Sent to Rome to study Canon Law, after obtaining a degree in the subject from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University he was called to study at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy – where Vatican diplomats are trained. He joined the Holy See’s diplomatic corps in 1986, at the age of 31, and since then has served in missions in Nigeria (1986-89), Mexico (1989-92) and Venezuela (2009-2013).During his seven years service as under-Secretary for Relations with States, Parolin was the Holy See’s chief negotiator with China, Israel, and Vietnam, and headed its delegations at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings. Building on the progress made by his predecessor, Mgr. Claudio Mari Celli, he engaged in successful negotiations with Vietnam that led to the historic visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Pope Benedict in January 2007. That visit opened the path to further positive development in relations between the two sides – under his successor, Mgr Ettore Balestrero, which have resulted in the agreement to have a special non-resident representative of the Pope to that country, with the establishment of diplomatic relations as the stated final goal.In those seven years too, Monsignor Parolin worked hard to improve relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China and from 2007 to 2009 he was the Vatican’s chief negotiator in sensitive talks with Beijing aimed at reaching an accord on the crucial issue of the appointment of bishops in that country, with a view to gaining greater religious freedom for the Church, and the eventual establishment of diplomatic relations. Those talks were said to be making considerable progress but ground to a halt in the years soon after his reassignment as nuncio to Venezuela.In those years too, Parolin was the Holy See’s chief negotiator with Israel and its neighboring states, and many in the diplomatic corps credited him with making a vital contribution to the success of Pope Benedict’s trip to the Holy Land in May 2009. Earlier, he had participated in the Middle East Peace Conference at Annapolis, Maryland, November 2007.When he left Rome for Venezuela in 2009, after being ordained bishop by Pope Benedict XVI, many then predicted that Parolin could return one day to a position of higher responsibility in the Vatican, perhaps as Secretary of State. Thanks to Pope Francis this has now become a reality, and sooner than most people had expected. He will take up his new post on October 15.
DEAD ANIMALS
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,(EARTH) because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
250,000 alpacas freeze to death in Peru
Hundreds of families
have been affected and more than 250,000 alpacas have died due to
freezing temperatures and snow storms that have hit the southern
highlands of Peru, reports the Peruvian Times.
Peru’s government has declared a state of emergency in parts of the southern Andean region of Puno that have been hit with the coldest temperatures in a decade, the daily El Comercio reported.
H/T: Drudge Report
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
California's fourth-largest wildfire fills Yosemite Valley with smoke on holiday weekend
Al Golub / Zuma Press
The Rim Fire jumps Highway 120 near Hodgdon Meadows in Yosemite National Park on Friday.
"I'm in Yosemite Valley right now, and I cannot see the cliffs around me," park spokeswoman Kari Cobb told The Associated Press. "The wind has shifted and smoke is impacting the entire park. We have been lucky until now."Air quality data on the park's website showed that the maximum one-hour average for particulates on Saturday, measured at the visitor center on the valley floor, was in the most unhealthy portion of the five-part scale. The air quality had improved by Saturday evening but was still rated "unhealthy for sensitive groups."The Rim Fire broke out in the neighboring Stanislaus National Forest on Aug. 17 and burned into the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park late last week.By Saturday afternoon, it had consumed nearly 223,000 acres, making it the fourth-largest wildfire ever in California, surpassing a 1932 fire in Ventura County. Only about a quarter of that is within the park, but National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said Saturday that it still amounts to about 6 percent of Yosemite's backcountry, Reuters reported.
Jarvis said the fire is heading toward two groves of the park's famed sequoia trees, Reuters reported.
"This is not a catastrophe for Yosemite National Park," he said by phone after surveying the area, Reuters reported. "These trees are very old and it's not the first fire they've ever seen."
Mike Mcmillan / U.S. Forest Service via AP
In
a Friday image provided by the U.S. Forest Service, members of the BLM
Silver State Hotshot crew perform burn operations on the southern flank
of the Rim Fire in California.
Todd McNeal, fire chief in the town of Twain Harte, west of Yosemite, said at an Aug. 23 community meeting that officials "know it's human caused, there’s no lightning in the area. … (We) highly suspect that it might be some sort of illicit grove, marijuana grow-type thing.”
His comments surfaced in a YouTube video of the meeting.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that in June, 15,000 marijuana plants were pulled out the forest to the south and four miles of irrigation pipe were removed. The newspaper said a 40-acre wildfire the month earlier in the same area was blamed on marijuana growers tied to Mexican drug cartels.
Handout / Reuters
The Rim Fire burns at night near Yosemite National Park, California, in an undated Forest Service photo released Friday.
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.
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
48 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2013-09-01 04:05:17 UTC-04:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-04:00)- 3.0 61km S of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic 2013-09-01 13:20:43 UTC-04:00 84.0 km
- 4.5 34km W of Akbarabad, Iran 2013-09-01 11:58:58 UTC-04:00 19.6 km
- 4.4 39km SSE of Blenheim, New Zealand 2013-09-01 11:37:05 UTC-04:00 5.0 km
- 3.0 6km SSW of La Playa, Puerto Rico 2013-09-01 11:09:15 UTC-04:00 79.0 km
- 4.8 107km NNE of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea 2013-09-01 10:08:53 UTC-04:00 154.7 km
- 2.5 4km WNW of Luther, Oklahoma 2013-09-01 08:39:32 UTC-04:00 5.0 km
- 6.5 Kepulauan Barat Daya, Indonesia 2013-09-01 07:52:32 UTC-04:00 132.1 km
- 3.0 51km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2013-09-01 07:25:42 UTC-04:00 1
- 4.5 37km W of Ciudad Cortes, Costa Rica 2013-09-01 02:28:44 UTC-04:00 21.0 km
- 2.8 9km WNW of Greenville, California 2013-09-01 02:06:44 UTC-04:00 0.1 km
- 4.8 48km WNW of Abepura, Indonesia 2013-09-01 01:27:51 UTC-04:00 37.1 km
- 4.0 230km ENE of Socorro Island, Mexico 2013-09-01 01:03:43 UTC-04:00 10.0 km
- 3.1 86km SW of Atka, Alaska 2013-09-01 00:21:59 UTC-04:00 25.6 km
- 2.5 106km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-09-01 00:06:15 UTC-04:00 10.1 km
- 4.9 117km SSW of Vostok, Russia 2013-08-31 19:52:06 UTC-04:00 388.5 km
- 4.7 158km ENE of Miyako, Japan 2013-08-31 19:48:53 UTC-04:00 35.0 km
- 4.8 273km SE of Bristol Island, South Sandwich Islands 2013-08-31 18:47:47 UTC-04:00 10.0 km
- 4.4 146km N of Dobo, Indonesia 2013-08-31 17:58:39 UTC-04:00 28.2 km
- 4.4 56km SE of Tungdor, China 2013-08-31 17:06:33 UTC-04:00 23.9 km
- 2.7 116km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 16:36:28 UTC-04:00 11.5 km
- 2.9 12km ENE of Cloverdale, California 2013-08-31 16:02:08 UTC-04:00 3.5 km
- 3.1 12km ENE of Cloverdale, California 2013-08-31 16:02:02 UTC-04:00 3.1 km
- 4.3 9km W of Molagavita, Colombia 2013-08-31 16:00:52 UTC-04:00 172.1 km
- 3.6 114km SW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 15:42:42 UTC-04:00 15.6 km
- 5.2 100km SW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 15:01:38 UTC-04:00 29.3 km
- 4.8 99km SW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 14:59:53 UTC-04:00 39.1 km
- 5.3 164km NNW of Dobo, Indonesia 2013-08-31 13:56:55 UTC-04:00 6.8 km
- 4.3 5km NE of Aratoca, Colombia 2013-08-31 13:30:26 UTC-04:00 157.6 km
- 2.7 120km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 11:09:53 UTC-04:00 13.9 km
- 3.8 120km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 10:46:27 UTC-04:00 55.5 km
- 3.0 115km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 09:45:40 UTC-04:00 4.9 km
- 3.3 117km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 09:04:52 UTC-04:00 24.5 km
- 2.6 48km SW of Tanaga Volcano, Alaska 2013-08-31 08:58:19 UTC-04:00 16.9 km
- 3.8 90km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 07:36:59 UTC-04:00 24.9 km
- 3.0 114km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 07:21:45 UTC-04:00 16.0 km
- 4.8 42km ENE of Port-Olry, Vanuatu 2013-08-31 07:15:51 UTC-04:00 135.1 km
- 2.6 122km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 07:11:11 UTC-04:00 20.8 km
- 5.2 100km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 06:06:14 UTC-04:00 26.1 km
- 3.6 29km NW of Nikiski, Alaska 2013-08-31 05:57:38 UTC-04:00 62.8 km
- 5.0 105km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 05:54:13 UTC-04:00 25.1 km
- 5.2 97km SW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 05:50:52 UTC-04:00 25.5 km
- 3.0 1km SSW of Palo Cedro, California 2013-08-31 05:15:41 UTC-04:00 18.5 km
- 3.0 127km NNW of Kodiak Station, Alaska 2013-08-31 04:48:17 UTC-04:00 74.2 km
- 3.4 124km NNW of Talkeetna, Alaska 2013-08-31 04:47:06 UTC-04:00 11.9 km
- 4.0 130km SE of Adak, Alaska 2013-08-31 04:36:51 UTC-04:00 25.3 km
- 3.9 119km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 04:31:47 UTC-04:00 24.6 km
- 4.0 118km SSW of Atka, Alaska 2013-08-31 04:16:12 UTC-04:00 35.3 km
