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.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Japan pledged more than $200
million in aid Saturday to help the Palestinian Authority, as
representatives from 22 nations reiterated their support of the
Palestinians' quest for their own state.The pledge was announced by Japanese Foreign
Minister Fumio Kishida at the second Conference on Cooperation among
East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development, held in the Indonesian
capital of Jakarta.Kishida said the first disbursement of the aid — about $62 million — was expected later this month.
Ministers and high-ranking officials from 22 countries and five international organizations participated in the one-day conference, which was jointly chaired by Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority and Japan.The conference agreed to expand the number of participants and encourage greater engagement of civil societies in East Asia to assist the Palestinians.Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed hope that "universal recognition of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state and as a full member state of the United Nations" would eventually be achieved."We can make this happen if we redouble our effort to support them in nation and state building," Yudhoyono said.A joint statement issued at the conclusion the conference said the participants agreed to encourage greater engagement of civil society and nongovernment organizations in East Asian countries.The statement also said participant countries and international organizations had pledged $210 million to the Palestinians since last year's conference, held in Tokyo.
So there are now nine Qumran scrolls to keep experts busy. The discovery was made very recently and was announced a few days ago at the international research seminar “The history fo the Qumran grottoes” organised by the Faculty of Theology in Lugano and coordinated by Professor Marcello Fidanzio. The news was announced by the archaeologist Yonatan Adler of Israel’s Ariel University which found the scrolls inside the tefillin that were being kept at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, in the Qumran artifact section. The material comes from grottoes 4 and 5, where most of the manuscripts were found during the 1952 excavations led by Dominican French archaeologist Roland de Vaux. The three tefillin in question were examined by the Israel Antiquities Authority using a special photography technique which showed that there were three scrolls inside each phylactery. The material is extremely fragile so much care will need to be taken when removing them from the recipients and the process will take some time. There will undoubtedly be those who will snatch at the opportunity to stress the arguments contained in the literature on this subject, which claim that the Qumran holds the key to certain mysteries that will rewrite the history of early Christianity. But any such surprises are unlikely, at least as far as the tefillin are concerned. These should contain traditional Torah texts, probably some verses from Deuteronomy. But from a biblical archaeological point of view, this is precisely why said material is so valuable.“The new discovery shows that the research being carried out on the Qumran is not complete yet. There are a thousand reasons, especially political ones, why the material unearthed is still being studied and why the the findings have not yet been published. What is causing the greatest suspense now is the wait to find out the precise contents of the new scrolls. But another important aspect is the fact that great progress has been made in the more than sixty years since the excavations were carried out in the grottoes, thanks to technologies used. This may help us gain a better understanding through these new scrolls.”
In his interview with Avvenire, Kasper recalled Francis’ words about the authority of consecrated ministers is not to dominate but to serve the people of God and comes from the power of administering the sacrament of the Eucharist. Therefore, seeing the exercise of authority within the ordained ministry in terms of power is tantamount to clericalism. The reluctance of many presbyters – priests and bishops – to hand over positions of responsibility that do not require a person to be ordained, to lay people, is evidence of this. “In the Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope asks whether it is necessary for a priest to always be the leader. This actually leads to clerical immobility which sometimes shows a fear to give room to women and give them the voice they are entitled to in areas that require important decisions to be taken.”The cardinal then dealt with the key issue of giving women a stringer presence in decision-making environments bearing in mind that “some roles in the Church require the exercise of jurisdictional power attached to the ordained ministry.” But not all government or administrative roles in the Church “imply jurisdictional power. Said roles could be entrusted to lay people and therefore to women as well. If this does not happen, there is no way to justify the exclusion of women from decision-making processes in the Church.”Women “can have roles of responsibility – high level roles as well - in bodies, that do not necessarily imply the exercise of the power of jurisdiction that comes with the ordained ministry: the pontifical councils for example. The councils for the family, the laity (let us not forget that half of the laity are women), culture, social communications, and for the promotion of the new evangelisation, to name but a few. There are currently no women in any of these that hold a role of any importance. This is absurd. In the councils and in other Vatican bodies, women could be given positions of authority even at higher levels, with full responsibility.” Women’s presence could be invaluable in offices that deal with administrative and economic matters and in the courts. These are areas in which women are renowned for their professional skills but they are not given due consideration here.”As far as the Congregations are concerned, the cardinal said: “Although the boundaries of authority remain clear, a woman can still be present in decision-making processes and can easily carry out the role of under-secretary. I am convinced, therefore, that even under the current canon laws, some things can be done in the Congregations, looking at possibilities individually.” The cardinal specifically mentioned the Congregation for Catholic education to illustrate how invaluable women’s talent in the field of education. Women’s contribution would also be invaluable in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. “I exclude the possibility of giving roles of responsibility to women in the Congregations for bishops and the clergy. But in the Congregation for the doctrine of the Faith, for example, there is an assembly of theologians that prepares its sessions and where female presence is still nil. And yet we have so many female theologians who teach in the pontifical universities. Their contribution would be beneficial. This is even truer in the case of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life: 80% of consecrated people are women.”The criterion for choosing the candidates “should be competence and spirit of service. Naturally, women can also be driven by the desire to build career for themselves, just as men are. Some do show this problem but many others don’t. So it’s about choosing carefully and selecting the right people.” The cardinal mentioned Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard professor as an example. The Holy See has given her an important role as its representative at UN conferences and “she has done an excellent job that is recognised by everyone.” “I believe that a certain number of women like this could help rid the Curia of clericalism and careerism which is a terrible vice,” the cardinal said.Speaking about careerism in the Curia, Kasper said “fixed-term roles could be a solution to this. People with pastoral experience with experience in dioceses and parishes could be employed and give fixed-term, five-year roles for example. After this, some could stay but all others would go back to the dioceses taking their experience to the local Churches. This could eliminate the problem posed by people who act in such a way as to move up the career ladder.”Finally, Kasper asked himself whether it was necessary for “all secretaries of Vatican dicasteries to be bishops.” “There is a high concentration of bishops in the Curia today,” the cardinal noted. “Many are bureaucrats and this is not good. Bishops are pastors. Episcopal consecration is not an honorary title, it is a sacrament; it is to do with the Church’s sacramental structure. So why must a bishop carry out bureaucratic tasks? This is where the sacraments risk being violated in my opinion.”
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Embarking for US, Netanyahu says Israel will reject pressures
Prime minister sets out to discuss Iran with Washington, but Obama said to be focusing efforts on peace talks
March 2, 2014, 1:46 pm
0
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu left for Washington Sunday for talks about the US-led peace
process with the Palestinians and nuclear negotiations between world
powers and Iran.Before
departing from Ben-Gurion International Airport for his “important trip
to the United States,” Netanyahu took a hard line on his Monday meeting
with President Barack Obama, saying he would resist “pressures” and
“stand steadfast on the State of Israel’s vital interests.”“In recent years the State of Israel has been
under various pressures. We have rejected them in the face of the
unprecedented storm and unrest in the region and are maintaining
stability and security,” he said, referring to the three-year-old Arab
Spring. “This is what has been and what will be.”Although Netanyahu would like the talks with
Obama on Monday to focus on Iran, the White House appears to have a
different agenda.“Obama will press him to agree to a framework
for a conclusive round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that is
being drafted by Secretary of State John Kerry,” The New York Times
quoted senior US officials as saying this week.Direct peace talks between Israelis and
Palestinians, which began last July with the goal of reaching a deal
within nine months, have made no visible progress.
Kerry is now focused on getting the two sides
to agree on a framework proposal which would extend the deadline until
the year’s end.Although the document has not yet been made
public, it is understood to be a non-binding proposal laying out
guidelines for negotiating the central issues of the conflict, such as
borders, security, Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and the right of
return for Palestinian refugees.The proposal, or its outline, is likely to be
presented to Netanyahu next week and to Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas on March 17 when he meets Obama at the White House.Both Kerry and Netanyahu are scheduled to address the annual AIPAC conference in Washington this week.
Japan pledges $200 million in aid for Palestinians
21 hours ago-MAR 2,14-Yahoonews
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, right, talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida …
Ministers and high-ranking officials from 22 countries and five international organizations participated in the one-day conference, which was jointly chaired by Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority and Japan.The conference agreed to expand the number of participants and encourage greater engagement of civil societies in East Asia to assist the Palestinians.Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed hope that "universal recognition of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state and as a full member state of the United Nations" would eventually be achieved."We can make this happen if we redouble our effort to support them in nation and state building," Yudhoyono said.A joint statement issued at the conclusion the conference said the participants agreed to encourage greater engagement of civil society and nongovernment organizations in East Asian countries.The statement also said participant countries and international organizations had pledged $210 million to the Palestinians since last year's conference, held in Tokyo.
The
United Nations voted overwhelmingly last year to recognize a
Palestinian state, but the Palestinians still face limitations in
controlling their borders and airspace and in trade, and have no unified
army or police.
Netanyahu’s US visit ‘crucial’ to future of peace talks
As 29 April deadline looms, PM heads to Washington, where Obama will likely press him on framework for negotiations
March 1, 2014, 4:33 am
4-The Times of Israel
AFP
— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talks with US President Barack
Obama next week are likely to prove crucial for determining whether
peace negotiations with the Palestinians have a future beyond April.
The
premier leaves Sunday for a series of meetings in Washington squarely
focused on two key issues: the fate of the US-led peace process in light
of an April 29 deadline, and nuclear talks between world powers and
Iran.Although Netanyahu would like his talks with
Obama on Monday to deal predominantly with Iran, the White House appears
to have a different agenda.“Obama will press him to agree to a framework
for a conclusive round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that is
being drafted by Secretary of State John Kerry,” the New York Times
said this week, quoting senior US officials.Direct peace talks, which began in July 2013
with the goal of reaching a deal within nine months, have made no
apparent progress, with Kerry now focused on getting them to agree a
framework proposal which would extend the deadline until the year’s end.Although the document has not yet been made
public, it is understood to be a non-binding proposal laying out
guidelines for negotiating the central issues of the conflict, including
such as borders, security, Jerusalem, the settlements and the right of
return for Palestinian refugees.The proposal, or its outline, is likely to be
presented to Netanyahu next week and to Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas on March 17 when he meets Obama at the White House.While Kerry faces an uphill battle to win over
a Palestinian leadership which has steadfastly refused any extension,
following months of relentless Israeli settlement expansion, pundits
said the prime minister was likely to agree, albeit with reservations.“This is a crucial meeting with Obama, which
is going to determine the shape of the framework for further
negotiations,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israeli relations at
Bar Ilan University.“What both Kerry and Obama are hoping to get
is some kind of approval from Netanyahu for the document,” he told AFP,
saying the Israeli leader was likely to accept the framework rather than
risk being portrayed as the party who brought about the collapse of the
talks.The aim is reportedly to secure an agreement
before the end of March when Israel is due to release a fourth and final
batch of 26 veteran Palestinian security prisoners in line with
commitments to the US.“Israel won’t be the one who derails the talks
to achieve an American framework paper,” Eli Bardenstein wrote in the
Israeli Ma’ariv daily.However, there may be a price to pay. Army
Radio suggested last week that Washington was to demand a partial freeze
on construction in isolated settlements outside the major West Bank
blocs that Israel hopes to retain in any peace deal.Freezing settlement construction is a central
demand of the Palestinians, but Israel has so far resisted persistent
pressure to renew a one-time, 10-month partial freeze on new West Bank
building.The freeze expired in late 2010, contributing to the collapse of the last round of peace talks.Hardliners in Netanyahu’s fractious coalition
have cautioned the premier against any such move, warning it could cost
him dearly.Netanyahu’s
main message is that Israel has so far demonstrated flexibility, and the
time has come to demand the same of the Palestinians.“We want the process with Kerry to succeed but
obviously it’s not just dependent on us,” a senior Israeli official
told AFP, on condition of anonymity.“Ultimately this process will only work if the Palestinians too are open to be creative and flexible,” he said.Last week, the Palestinians said Kerry’s ideas
for a framework “cannot be accepted,” denouncing a clause stipulating
recognition of Israel as the Jewish state, and the fact that the
framework glossed over their demand for a capital in east Jerusalem.Nimrod Goren, chairman of the Israeli
think-tank Mitvim, said a key aspect of the Washington talks would be
what could done to keep the Palestinians at the table.“Much of the discussion behind the scenes will
be about what Abbas should get in terms of being able to accept the
document, which now does not seem very favourable towards him.”On Tuesday, Netanyahu will be able to focus
his attention fully on Iran when he addresses the annual conference of
the powerful pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC.“Israel is worried about the post-interim
agreement which ends on July 20 and would like to know what the United
States is going to do,” said Gilboa of the initial six-month deal to
partially roll back Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for limited
sanctions relief.With Israel at odds with Washington over the
shape of a final deal, Netanyahu would seek to strengthen domestic US
support for Israel.“Netanyahu will perhaps want to strengthen
AIPAC on the Iranian issue… to keep up the pressure on the Obama
administration,” said Goren.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox head for Jerusalem ahead of massive protest
Organizers expecting hundreds of thousands at demonstration against draft bill; Route 1 and central bus station to close
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox
boarded buses and headed toward Jerusalem Sunday as the city geared for a
massive protest against plans to introduce compulsory military service
to the Haredi community.Some
3,500 police and other personnel were set to secure a massive
demonstration against a Knesset bill that would dramatically increase
IDF service among the ultra-Orthodox communities.Organizers, who have billed the event as a
“million-man protest” and a prayer rally, were expecting hundreds of
thousands of attendees.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said it
had upped its readiness level to prepare for the crush of demonstrators
at the event near the entrance to the capital.Police said the demonstration would snarl
traffic, close roads and shut down public transportation around the
entrance to the city and the Knesset.The authorities said that Route 1, the main
road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, would be closed after 2 p.m. Sunday
from the Latrun area to the capital, and the Jerusalem Central Bus
Station would also be shut down in the afternoon.Buses and light rail service near the entrance
to the city will cease Sunday afternoon, and public schools near the
entrance to Jerusalem closed at 1 p.m.“We have no intention of the large
demonstration turning into a riot,” police official Yossi Frianti told
Ynet. “We have coordinated with the protesters that there won’t be riots
and we hope they stand by it.”Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri, one
of the most vocal leaders of the protest against the emerging draft
bill, on Saturday night called on the ultra-Orthodox public to refrain
from engaging in violence against police. “I beseech the young people,”
he said. “Please, I beg of you, heaven forbid there should be any
desecration of God’s name… There may be provocations… be careful.”In the past, ultra-Orthodox protests over the
draft issue have turned violent. Earlier this month in Ashdod, a protest
that drew several hundred led to over a dozen arrests for rioting.
A major proponent of the Haredi draft, Economy
Minister Naftali Bennett, came out against the demonstration on
Saturday night, asserting that “military service is not a ‘decree’” – as
some ultra-Orthodox leaders have been referring to it – “but rather a
big mitzvah.”He instructed members of his Jewish Home party
to refrain from attending the demonstration, an apparent nod to MK Moti
Yogev, who said he was thinking of going.Jerusalem’s Deputy Mayor Yisrael Kellerman,
one of the organizers of the event, said he hoped attendance would be in
the hundreds of thousands. “We wanted to bring the Haredi community
from the entire country,” he told the ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar
Shabbat. “There were some difficulties because within a few short days
we had to bring everyone — we have to bring thousands of buses.”The latest version of the draft bill has faced
scathing criticism from ultra-Orthodox leaders over its inclusion of
individual criminal sanctions against draft-dodgers that would kick in
if the community as a whole failed to meet rising quotas for the draft. But it has also faced criticism from proponents of an equal draft for delaying such criminal sanctions until mid-2017, after the next election.
03/ 1/2014 VATICAN INSIDER
Nine new Qumran scrolls discovered
The Qumran grottoes on the Dead Sea
They were hidden inside some phylacteries discovered during some excavations sixty years ago but never opened. The news was announced at a conference at the Faculty of Theology in Lugano
Giorgio Bernardelli They lay inside the desert grottoes for centuries and remained hidden for another sixty years inside what were catalogued as tefillin, the phylacteries worn by observant Jews during prayer. This is the background to the sensational discovery of nine new Qumran scrolls. The Dead Sea area of the Qumran is the site where hundreds of fragments of texts from the Torah and Jewish literary pieces dating back to two thousand years ago were discovered in the mid Twentieth century. The scrolls remained in tact thanks to the microclimate of a complex of desert grottoes and have become a key reference point in biblical science studies. These grottoes were inhabited by a community about which many theories have emerged.So there are now nine Qumran scrolls to keep experts busy. The discovery was made very recently and was announced a few days ago at the international research seminar “The history fo the Qumran grottoes” organised by the Faculty of Theology in Lugano and coordinated by Professor Marcello Fidanzio. The news was announced by the archaeologist Yonatan Adler of Israel’s Ariel University which found the scrolls inside the tefillin that were being kept at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, in the Qumran artifact section. The material comes from grottoes 4 and 5, where most of the manuscripts were found during the 1952 excavations led by Dominican French archaeologist Roland de Vaux. The three tefillin in question were examined by the Israel Antiquities Authority using a special photography technique which showed that there were three scrolls inside each phylactery. The material is extremely fragile so much care will need to be taken when removing them from the recipients and the process will take some time. There will undoubtedly be those who will snatch at the opportunity to stress the arguments contained in the literature on this subject, which claim that the Qumran holds the key to certain mysteries that will rewrite the history of early Christianity. But any such surprises are unlikely, at least as far as the tefillin are concerned. These should contain traditional Torah texts, probably some verses from Deuteronomy. But from a biblical archaeological point of view, this is precisely why said material is so valuable.“The new discovery shows that the research being carried out on the Qumran is not complete yet. There are a thousand reasons, especially political ones, why the material unearthed is still being studied and why the the findings have not yet been published. What is causing the greatest suspense now is the wait to find out the precise contents of the new scrolls. But another important aspect is the fact that great progress has been made in the more than sixty years since the excavations were carried out in the grottoes, thanks to technologies used. This may help us gain a better understanding through these new scrolls.”
03/ 1/2014 VATICAN INSIDER
Francis is feeling better and has met with Romanian PM
Bergoglio has recovered from his fever
Pope Francis is feeling better after yesterday’s temperature and even received Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta for a 20 minute meeting
vatican insider staff Rome The Pope has recovered from the slight temperature he had yesterday afternoon which prevented him from visiting Rome’s Major Seminary and has gone back to his normal routine. This morning he met Romania’s Prime Minister, Victor Ponta. The private meeting lasted twenty minutes and there was no interpreter present.“You speak Italian,” Francis noted when he welcomed his guest who arrived with his wife and entourage. When the delegation was presented to the Pope, he commented on how young its members were: “a young team”.The meeting was cordial and dealt with the family, education, religious freedom and the safeguarding of common values in the spirit of fruitful cooperation between the Holy See and Romania at the bilateral level and within the international community, a Vatican statement says.The statement also mentions “the potential of the Catholic Church to contribute toward the common good in society” and adds that “certain issues of interest to the Catholic community in Romania were also discussed.”When it came to the moment of exchanging gifts, the president gave the Pope a basket with organic produce from Romania, a football jersey with Gheorghe Hagi’s name and an icon commissioned by the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania.“This is Romania’s Pelé, or should I say Maradona,” the prime minister said when he presented the football jersey to Francis. The Pope reciprocated with some medals and rosaries given to each member of the delegation. The customary photo session followed: “I hope to do my best and work hard to achieve what we have talked about,” the Romanian prime minister said before exiting the papal library.
03/ 1/2014 VATICAN INSIDER
Kasper proposes appointing women as heads of pontifical councils
(©Reuters) Young women attend church
In his interview with Italian Catholic newspaper “Avvenire”, Cardinal Walter Kasper suggests putting women at the helm of the pontifical councils. According to the cardinal who is against careerism in the Curia and believes in time limits for mandates, “there are too many bishops in the Curia”
ANDREA TORNIELLI vatican city “Women’s role in the Church should be rethought and integrated into the Pope’s ideas for greater synodal dynamism and a missionary conversion”: women should be offered leadership roles within the pontifical councils and in the future Congregation for the Laity given how many bishops the Curia has. Temporary mandates should be introduced in the Curia to prevent careerism, calling priests who already have some pastoral experience. This was the crux of what Cardinal Walter Kasper said in a long interview with Stefania Falasca published in today’s issue of Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire.“Up until now, women have generally only attended the synod as auditors, holding roles of little significance,” Kasper said. “There are always two or three female auditors who speak at the end of the meetings when everyone has already spoken. I ask myself how it is possible to prepare two synods on the family without giving a role of primary importance to women? A family cannot exist without women. It makes no sense to speak about the family without listening to what they have to say. I think they need to be called and listen as of right now, as we enter the preparatory phase.”The German cardinal who gave the opening speech at the recent Consistory on the family went on to say the following: “I think that women need to be present at every level and even given positions of full responsibility. The intuition which the female mind has to offer is a vital resource. A Church without women is a mutilated Church. There are so many of them actively involved in Church bodies. Can we imagine community, charity and cultural centres today with no women? Without them, parishes would close down tomorrow. Women are already ahead and out there in a Church like Francis’ that is “going out”.In his interview with Avvenire, Kasper recalled Francis’ words about the authority of consecrated ministers is not to dominate but to serve the people of God and comes from the power of administering the sacrament of the Eucharist. Therefore, seeing the exercise of authority within the ordained ministry in terms of power is tantamount to clericalism. The reluctance of many presbyters – priests and bishops – to hand over positions of responsibility that do not require a person to be ordained, to lay people, is evidence of this. “In the Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope asks whether it is necessary for a priest to always be the leader. This actually leads to clerical immobility which sometimes shows a fear to give room to women and give them the voice they are entitled to in areas that require important decisions to be taken.”The cardinal then dealt with the key issue of giving women a stringer presence in decision-making environments bearing in mind that “some roles in the Church require the exercise of jurisdictional power attached to the ordained ministry.” But not all government or administrative roles in the Church “imply jurisdictional power. Said roles could be entrusted to lay people and therefore to women as well. If this does not happen, there is no way to justify the exclusion of women from decision-making processes in the Church.”Women “can have roles of responsibility – high level roles as well - in bodies, that do not necessarily imply the exercise of the power of jurisdiction that comes with the ordained ministry: the pontifical councils for example. The councils for the family, the laity (let us not forget that half of the laity are women), culture, social communications, and for the promotion of the new evangelisation, to name but a few. There are currently no women in any of these that hold a role of any importance. This is absurd. In the councils and in other Vatican bodies, women could be given positions of authority even at higher levels, with full responsibility.” Women’s presence could be invaluable in offices that deal with administrative and economic matters and in the courts. These are areas in which women are renowned for their professional skills but they are not given due consideration here.”As far as the Congregations are concerned, the cardinal said: “Although the boundaries of authority remain clear, a woman can still be present in decision-making processes and can easily carry out the role of under-secretary. I am convinced, therefore, that even under the current canon laws, some things can be done in the Congregations, looking at possibilities individually.” The cardinal specifically mentioned the Congregation for Catholic education to illustrate how invaluable women’s talent in the field of education. Women’s contribution would also be invaluable in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. “I exclude the possibility of giving roles of responsibility to women in the Congregations for bishops and the clergy. But in the Congregation for the doctrine of the Faith, for example, there is an assembly of theologians that prepares its sessions and where female presence is still nil. And yet we have so many female theologians who teach in the pontifical universities. Their contribution would be beneficial. This is even truer in the case of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life: 80% of consecrated people are women.”The criterion for choosing the candidates “should be competence and spirit of service. Naturally, women can also be driven by the desire to build career for themselves, just as men are. Some do show this problem but many others don’t. So it’s about choosing carefully and selecting the right people.” The cardinal mentioned Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard professor as an example. The Holy See has given her an important role as its representative at UN conferences and “she has done an excellent job that is recognised by everyone.” “I believe that a certain number of women like this could help rid the Curia of clericalism and careerism which is a terrible vice,” the cardinal said.Speaking about careerism in the Curia, Kasper said “fixed-term roles could be a solution to this. People with pastoral experience with experience in dioceses and parishes could be employed and give fixed-term, five-year roles for example. After this, some could stay but all others would go back to the dioceses taking their experience to the local Churches. This could eliminate the problem posed by people who act in such a way as to move up the career ladder.”Finally, Kasper asked himself whether it was necessary for “all secretaries of Vatican dicasteries to be bishops.” “There is a high concentration of bishops in the Curia today,” the cardinal noted. “Many are bureaucrats and this is not good. Bishops are pastors. Episcopal consecration is not an honorary title, it is a sacrament; it is to do with the Church’s sacramental structure. So why must a bishop carry out bureaucratic tasks? This is where the sacraments risk being violated in my opinion.”
France24
