Vatican Comes Under U.N. Scrutiny Over Priest Abuse Scandal
by Scott Neuman
The Vatican came in for tough public scrutiny over its handling of
the clergy sex abuse scandal at a United Nations hearing Thursday in
Geneva.
The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child took church officials to task during what that insisted the Holy See "take all appropriate measures to keep children out of harm."
The Vatican ratified the in 1990, but as the BBC reports,, well after revelations of child sex abuse in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.
"The Holy See gets it," Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the Vatican's former sex crimes prosecutor, told the committee. "Let's not say too late or not. But there are certain things that need to be done differently."
NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that Scicluna was the Holy See's chief sex crimes prosecutor for the past decade. He is credited "with overhauling Vatican procedures to prosecute pedophile priests, but the Vatican has refused to instruct its bishops to report suspected cases of abuse to police whether required to do by local law or not," Sylvia says.
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told the committee that sex crimes could "never be justified" and that every child should be "inviolable."
"Abusers are found among members of the world's most respected professions, most regrettably including members of the clergy and other church personnel," Tomasi said. "This fact is particularly serious since these persons are in positions of great trust and they are called to levels of service that are to promote and protect all elements of the human person, including physical, emotional and spiritual health."
In April, Pope Francis recommended that the church "act decisively with regard to sexual abuse" by promoting the protection of minors, offering assistance to the victims and holding the guilty accountable.
Sylvia reports that "Victims groups and human rights organizations have presented documentation from across the world showing the Vatican was fully aware of the extent of clerical sex abuse long before the cases were made public."
The responded to the testimony on Thursday, saying that the Vatican had told the panel that it has "little real power to stop bishops from hiding sex crimes."
"Before the cameras, the church hierarchy often denounces predators and thanks victims. But behind closed doors, the church hierarchy often protects predators and rebuffs victims," Mary Caplan, national board member of SNAP, said in a statement.
The U.N. committee is expected to issue its nonbinding recommendations on Feb. 5. Tomasi said he welcomes the committee's suggestions on promoting and respecting children's rights.
The questioning in Geneva comes a day after thousands of pages of documents were turned over pertaining to sexual abuse by priests in the Chicago Archdiocese.
NPR's David Schaper reports that the information, set to be released to the public next week, is part of a settlement agreement with victims.
"The information is upsetting. The information is painful. It's difficult to read even without the benefit of hindsight," , a lawyer with the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The reports of sexual abuse and the responses of church leaders include files on 30 abusive priests in the archdiocese, Schaper says.
Bishop Francis Kane, vicar general of the archdiocese, apologized on Wednesday to the victims for what he calls "terrible sins and crimes."
"You know, it's humiliating as a priest to know that there were other priests that did something like that," Kane said. "It's a terrible thing. And I think one of the things we have to do is re-earn the trust of people."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/16/263060258/vatican-comes-under-u-n-scrutiny-over-priest-abuse-scandal
Former Vatican Chief Prosecutor of Clerical
Sexual Abuse Charles Scicluna, appearing at the U.N.'s Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, on Thursday. Martial Trezzini/EPA/Landov
The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child took church officials to task during what that insisted the Holy See "take all appropriate measures to keep children out of harm."
The Vatican ratified the in 1990, but as the BBC reports,, well after revelations of child sex abuse in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.
"The Holy See gets it," Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the Vatican's former sex crimes prosecutor, told the committee. "Let's not say too late or not. But there are certain things that need to be done differently."
NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that Scicluna was the Holy See's chief sex crimes prosecutor for the past decade. He is credited "with overhauling Vatican procedures to prosecute pedophile priests, but the Vatican has refused to instruct its bishops to report suspected cases of abuse to police whether required to do by local law or not," Sylvia says.
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told the committee that sex crimes could "never be justified" and that every child should be "inviolable."
"Abusers are found among members of the world's most respected professions, most regrettably including members of the clergy and other church personnel," Tomasi said. "This fact is particularly serious since these persons are in positions of great trust and they are called to levels of service that are to promote and protect all elements of the human person, including physical, emotional and spiritual health."
In April, Pope Francis recommended that the church "act decisively with regard to sexual abuse" by promoting the protection of minors, offering assistance to the victims and holding the guilty accountable.
Sylvia reports that "Victims groups and human rights organizations have presented documentation from across the world showing the Vatican was fully aware of the extent of clerical sex abuse long before the cases were made public."
Bishop Francis Kane, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, at a news conference on Wednesday in Chicago. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
The BBC says:
"While Thursday's questions were numerous and far-ranging, they were asked in blocs, with the Vatican delegation given time to retire to prepare its answers."
The responded to the testimony on Thursday, saying that the Vatican had told the panel that it has "little real power to stop bishops from hiding sex crimes."
"Before the cameras, the church hierarchy often denounces predators and thanks victims. But behind closed doors, the church hierarchy often protects predators and rebuffs victims," Mary Caplan, national board member of SNAP, said in a statement.
The U.N. committee is expected to issue its nonbinding recommendations on Feb. 5. Tomasi said he welcomes the committee's suggestions on promoting and respecting children's rights.
The questioning in Geneva comes a day after thousands of pages of documents were turned over pertaining to sexual abuse by priests in the Chicago Archdiocese.
NPR's David Schaper reports that the information, set to be released to the public next week, is part of a settlement agreement with victims.
"The information is upsetting. The information is painful. It's difficult to read even without the benefit of hindsight," , a lawyer with the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The reports of sexual abuse and the responses of church leaders include files on 30 abusive priests in the archdiocese, Schaper says.
Bishop Francis Kane, vicar general of the archdiocese, apologized on Wednesday to the victims for what he calls "terrible sins and crimes."
"You know, it's humiliating as a priest to know that there were other priests that did something like that," Kane said. "It's a terrible thing. And I think one of the things we have to do is re-earn the trust of people."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/16/263060258/vatican-comes-under-u-n-scrutiny-over-priest-abuse-scandal
Has the U.S. Supreme Court Committed Treason?
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.When our Founding Fathers were looking for direction in establishing a governing document, they found none from other nations, past or present that were sufficient for their cause. When addressing the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin said:
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.John Adams also warned us about what a miserable land this would be if we started to listen to foreign nations when he said:
But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practising iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world;…Our Founding Fathers firmly believed that God gave them divine inspiration in formulating our founding documents, including the Constitution. To turn to the laws and statutes of foreign nations would have been tantamount to treason at a time when so many sacrificed so much to secure our independence and freedom.
If someone or some other nation were to try to subvert our government, are we not obligated to stand up and let the rest of the country know about it? To remain silent of such a subversion would make us as equally guilty of treachery as those attempting the subversion. At least, that is how Patrick Henry felt when he said:
Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.These days, we have repeated acts of subversion taking place within our nation and we cannot remain silent about it any longer.
Back on May 17, 2010, the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision in the Graham v. Florida case. In that decision, the majority of the Court cited a 1989 United Nations Treaty that was NEVER approved of or agreed to, by the United States, as the part of the basis for their ruling.
In doing so, the Supreme Court was using foreign laws to define our own Constitution. Does this constitute Treason as defined by the Constitution? In order to make a determination, we would have to examine the source of the foreign laws and their intentions towards the United States of America.
The source of the international treaty was the United Nations.
Their intentions towards the United States are hostile to everything our Founding Fathers stood for and wrote into our governing documents.
Proof of their hostile intentions:
- The United Nations is pressuring the United States to subvert our First Amendment right to free speech with their hate speech laws. These laws go so far as define hate speech as preaching the Word of God if it offends someone by revealing their sinful behavior.
- The United Nations is pressuring the United States to subvert the Second Amendment right to bear arms with their Small Arms Treaty. The purpose of this treaty, and others like it, is to limit and restrict our right to bear most of the sporting and hunting firearms. Incidentally, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has signed this treaty for the United States.
- The United Nations has been pressuring the United States to have its military serve and swear allegiance to the United Nations instead of their allegiance to the United States. This has been evidenced with the U.S. military serving under the U.N. peace keeping forces and wearing U.N. insignias on their uniforms.
- The United Nations has been actively pursuing the redistribution of wealth and technology. Their goal is to forcibly take the wealth and technology from nations and individuals and GIVE it to other nations and people that are considered to be poor and underdeveloped.
- The United Nations is actively pursuing the goal of establishing a One World Economy and One World Government which would result in the complete dissolution of the sovereignty of the United States of America.
No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.When Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion of the Court it was an open confession of their “adhering to the Enemies”. Here are Justice Kennedy’s words:
We also note, as petitioner and his amici emphasize, that Article 37(a) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U. N. T. S. 3 (entered into force Sept. 2, 1990), ratified by every nation except the United States and Somalia, prohibits the imposition of 'life imprisonment without possibility of release . . . for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.'I believe that not only did the Supreme Court committed Treason against the U.S. Constitution, but they have openly confessed the same.
The court has treated the laws and practices of other nations and international agreements as relevant to the Eighth Amendment not because those norms are binding or controlling but because the judgment of the world's nations that a particular sentencing practice is inconsistent with basic principles of decency demonstrates that the court's rationale has respected reasoning to support it.
So what course of action do we as citizens take? Listen to the words of Samuel Adams, the Father of the American Revolution:
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors; they purchased then for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.If you consider yourself to be patriotic to the United States, then you are obligated by the words of our Founding Fathers to speak out against the treachery of our Supreme Court.
But are you patriotic?
In Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, the definition of patriotism is:
patriotism, n. Love of one’s country; the passion which aims to serve one’s country, either in defending it from invasion, or protecting it rights and maintaining its laws and institutions in vigor and purity. Patriotism is the characteristic of a good citizen, the noblest passion that animates a man in the character of a citizen.Do you have the conviction and courage to stand up and speak out to preserve our nation and the Constitution?
If so, then the first thing you need to do is to drop to your knees and pray for our nation, our leaders and for the revival of the Christian Church in America. Next, get out, support and vote for Christians as the elections come to your area. Now start writing your congressmen and senators to let them know that they need to do their part to protect the Constitution. And lastly, let all your friends know about this and urge them to do the same.
Finally, what can Congress do to stop the treachery of the Supreme Court? According to Article II, Section 4 of The Constitution of the United States:
The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.According to the U.S. Constitution, I believe that the Supreme Court justices that concurred with the opinion written by Justice Kennedy last year, MUST be impeached from the bench. The House of Representatives MUST move to impeach the guilty justices and then the U.S. Senate MUST try them on the Senate floor and find them guilty by their own words and remove these men and women from the highest court in the land before they continue to subvert the Constitution and destroy our country from within.
Read more at http://godfatherpolitics.com/250/has-the-u-s-supreme-court-committed-treason/#U0wIwfCClgZ60c5P.99
A Jesuit Pope? Understanding The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church
Lighthouse Trails Editors
LTRP Note: Nearly two years ago, we issued this special report. With a newly elected Jesuit Pope in the Vatican, we thought it would be timely to repost this important article. It is also in booklet form as one of our new Print Booklet Tracts.
An Understand the Times/Lighthouse Trails Special Report
(Booklet Form)
According to Bible prophecy, a one-world religion that will offer the promise of peace throughout the world is going to commence prior to Christ’s return. To most, this global body will seem like a wonderful thing and very possibly will be a pseudo-Christianity (coming in the name of “Christ”); however, contrary to how the masses will view it, it will actually help establish and set up the antichrist and his one- world government.
In order for this to happen, all religions must come together in an ecumenical plan. Today, as part of this Satanic scheme, the evangelical/Protestant church is being drawn seductively into the Roman Catholic church, largely through what we call “The Jesuit Agenda.” Incredibly, while the evidence is obvious to some, the majority of proclaiming Christians are not at all aware it is happening.
So, what should we expect if we are in the time when such a system unfolds? First, many who once were Protestant and evangelical will become ecumenical and eventually assimilate with the Roman Catholic church. Second, all religions will unite in solidarity of purpose. Understanding the Jesuit Agenda is essential if we are to understand how this worldwide deception will come about.
Who are the Jesuits?
Since its foundation, the Catholic papacy has been zealous and often brutal in its endeavor to establish the kingdom of the Pope (of whom it is believed within the Catholic church is headed by Jesus Christ). In fact, the Pope has been referred to as the “Vicar of Christ.” This determination was witnessed during the Inquisition where countless thousands, if not millions, died cruelly for resisting Rome. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs describes many of these atrocities.
While many believers in Christ during the Reformation period attempted to spread the truth that God’s Word was truly God’s Word and could not be squandered and kept hostage by the papacy and the Catholic Church, it was not long before the Counter Reformation was founded to bring the “Separated Brethren” back to the “Mother of All Churches.”
This Counter Reformation was largely headed by Ignatius Loyola, the man who founded the Jesuit Order in the mid 1500s and launched an all-out attack against those who dared stand against the papacy and Rome. This excerpt from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs gives us an idea of the nature and determination of this Counter Reformation:
The emperor Ferdinand, whose hatred of the Bohemian Protestants was without bounds, not thinking he had sufficiently oppressed them, instituted a high court to prosecute the reformers upon the plan of the Inquisition, with this difference, that the court was to travel from place to place and always to be attended by a body of troops. This court was conducted chiefly by Jesuits and from their decision there was no appeal, by which it may be easily conjectured that it was a dreadful tribunal indeed.
This bloody court, attended by a body of troops, made the tour of Bohemia. They seldom examined or saw a prisoner, for the soldiers were permitted to murder the Protestants as they pleased and then to make a report of the matter to them afterward.1You see, the Jesuits were commissioned by the Pope to do whatever it took to end the Protestant Reformation. The 1540 Constitution of the Jesuits states:
[L]et whoever desires to fight under the sacred banner of the Cross, and to serve only God and the Roman pontiff, His vicar on earth, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity,- let him keep in mind that he is part of a society, instituted for the purpose of perfecting souls in life and in Christian doctrine, for the propagation of the faith . . . Let all members know, and let it be not only at the beginning of their profession, but let them think over it daily as long as they live, that the society as a whole, and each of them, owes obedience to our most holy lord, the pope, and the other Roman pontiffs, his successors, and to fight with faithful obedience for God. (Emphasis added.)While most Christians think that the Counter Reformation is a thing of the past because we are not seeing Inquisitions today, this movement continues until today and with renewed effort through various avenues of the evangelical/Protestant church. In a way, it is more insidious than the Inquisitions, because now it has infiltrated Christianity and is being disguised as the “new” Christianity. (Rick Warren promotes it as the “new” or second reformation.) But disguised or not, it is the Jesuit Agenda, and it is bringing about ecumenism and a one-world religion. And at the same time, it is attempting to destroy the message that so many died for – the message that Jesus Christ is not found in a wafer and a cup of juice to be re-crucified day after day but has died once and for all for the sins of man and offers a salvation that is an entirely free gift, unearned to those who believe on Him (Hebrews 7:27; 10:11-14).
Who Was Ignatius Loyola?
After a serious injury in the military and during a lengthy rehabilitation, Ignatius Loyola (b. 1491, d. 1556) turned his focus from “military enthusiasm to ghostly fanaticism.”2 Ignatius assumed the name and office of Knight of the Virgin Mary, seeing himself as Mary’s favorite. Ignatius wanted to start a new order, The Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits) and presented the idea to the Pope. He told the Pope that the idea had been inspired by heavenly revelations. At first, the Pope hesitated, but when Ignatius added a fourth vow (in addition to the regular poverty, chastity, and obedience), “absolute subservience to the pope,” promising to do whatever the Pope wanted and go wherever he wanted, the Pope agreed and sent the new order out to “invade the world.” While other monks of other orders sought to separate themselves from the world, the Jesuits went out into the world and obeyed whatever command the Pope gave. Often this was to win the world with the sword. No violent act was withheld if the order came from their top “general.”3
In time, the Jesuits entered the education system, especially that of the Protestants. The Jesuit maxim was: “Give us the education of the children of this day – and the next generation will be ours.”4 The Reverend W. C. Brownlee, D.D. stated: “They pretended to be converted and to enter into Protestant churches.” One Jesuit even boasted that the Jesuits were successfully able to imitate the Puritan preachers. They used trickery and deception to become “all things to all men.” Within 48 years, there were eleven thousand Jesuits around the world, quite a large number for back then. 5
By 1773, the order was abolished because of their horrible reputation of bloodiness, deception, and immorality. However, they were reinstated fully in 1814 by Pope Pius VII. Even by this time, the influence and infiltration into the United States by the Jesuits was significant.
In 1857, the Reverend W.C. Brownlee, D.D. compiled a book of a translated document called Secret Instructions of the Jesuits (found on the Boston College Libraries website, for one). While Catholic sources say that the Secret Instructions of the Jesuits is an untrue document, there is enough evidence to indicate that it is true indeed. Naturally, it is so indicting against the papacy and the Jesuit Order that one can understand from a human point of view why Catholic sources would say the document isn’t true. But the facts are that the Jesuit Order was performing brutal cruel acts to bring the world to “Christ” and the Mother Church and that they were infiltrating every area of society to do so. This cannot be denied. Brownlee’s book would be a worthwhile read for those who wish to understand more of the history of the Jesuits.
The Jesuit Oath
It is said that the ancient Jesuits took the Jesuit Oath. This has been refuted by Catholic sources as a true oath taken by Jesuits of the past; nevertheless, there is evidence enough that the oath did exist to include excerpts of it in this report. We have taken these excerpts from a book titled Political and Economic Handbook by Thomas Edward Watson published in 1916, and found in the Harvard College library:I do declare from my heart, without mental reservation, that the Pope is Christ’s Vicar General and . . . He hath power to depose Heretical Kings, Princes, States . . . that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power I will defend this doctrine. . . . I do further declare the doctrine of the Church of England, of the Calvanists [sic], the Huguenots, and other Protestants to be damnable and those to be damned who will not forsake the same.
I do further declare that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of His Holiness agents in any place wherever I shall be; and to do my utmost to extirpate [exterminate] the heretical Protestant doctrine, and to destroy all their pretended power. (p. 437)In another version of the Jesuit Oath, the Jesuit is asked to promise that he will make “relentless war” against “all heretics, Protestants” and to “hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics” (found in U.S. House Congressional Record, 1913, p. 3216).
The Jesuit Agenda Today
While we are not saying that Jesuits today are murdering Protestants if they don’t convert to Catholicism, we are saying that the determination and efforts to convert Protestants back to the Mother Church still exist. Basically, while the methods may have changed, the plan and objectives have not. The following quote from an article titled “Essay on Popery” by Rev. Ingram Cobbin M.A. (taken from one edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) is insightful:The Jesuits, though at times expelled or pretendedly so from Rome, have been its awful emissaries to augment its power. The intrigues and deceptions of these men would fill volumes, and the conveniency of their creed to deny or affirm anything, or assume any profession as it may serve their purpose, is too well known to need recapitulating here.
These men have at times assumed so much that every papal state has alternately ejected them; and large numbers are now in this country—doubtless many under false colours —waiting the most favourable opportunities to corrupt the rising generation, and, as much as possible, restore the dark days of former ages. The Jesuits are unchangeable.The Jesuits were driven in the past to bring back the lost brethren, and they are driven today with the same vision. Today, that vision is part of the pope’s Eucharistic Evangelization, drawing people to the Eucharistic Christ. The Eucharistic Evangelization is discussed at length in Another Jesus: The Evangelization of the Eucharistic Christ and in several articles on the Understand the Times website.
Jesuit (Mystical) Spirituality and the Protestant/Evangelical Church
So if the methods of converting lost or prodigal souls back to Rome have changed, what is the method to accomplish these goals today? It is largely through what is called Jesuit Spirituality. A 2002 book titled Contemplatives in Action: The Jesuit Way reveals how the Jesuit order has had and continues to have a “great influence” in people around the world. It attributes this “vitality” to “its spirituality” which has also “evoked fierce loyalty and fierce opposition.”6What is the spirituality of the Jesuits that was so controversial? By their very roots, Jesuits are proponents of mystical prayer practices. The founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola, created “spiritual exercises” that incorporated mysticism, including lectio divina. Today, millions of people worldwide practice the “Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola.”
One Jesuit priest who resonates with the mystical spiritual outlook is Anthony De Mello (d. 1987), author of Sadhana: A Way to God. De Mello is often quoted today by contemplative and emerging authors and embraced the mysticism of Hinduism. He stated:
To silence the mind is an extremely difficult task. How hard it is to keep the mind from thinking, thinking, thinking, forever thinking, forever producing thoughts in a never ending stream. Our Hindu masters in India have a saying: one thorn is removed by another. By this they mean that you will be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on. – Anthony de Mello, Sadhana: A Way to God (St. Louis, the Institute of Jesuit Resources, 1978), p. 28 (cited from A Time of Departing, by Ray Yungen, p. 75).Ray Yungen explains that Sadhana “is very open in its acknowledgment of Eastern mysticism as an enrichment to Christian spirituality.”
It doesn’t take a long search to find De Mello within the evangelical/Protestant camp. In fact, Richard Foster, one of the pioneers of the evangelical spiritual formation (contemplative) movement wrote the introduction to one of De Mello’s books, The Sacrament of the Present Moment. In A Glimpse of Jesus, popular contemplative author Brennan Manning quotes De Mello. Amazon shows that De Mello’s book, The Sacrament of the Present Moment is cited in 82 books, some of which are written by some of evangelicalism’s most popular authors: John Ortberg, Richard Foster, Jan Johnson, Philip Yancey, and Calvin Miller – incidentally all these are contemplative advocates.
Another example of Jesuit influence in the evangelical/Protestant church is the Be Still DVD, where Richard Foster quotes 18th century Jesuit priest, Jean Nicholas Grou as saying: “O Divine Master, teach me this mute language which says so much.” This “mute language” Grou speaks of is the mystical “silence” practiced by contemplatives and mystics throughout all religions.
One of the key figures in the “new” progressive Christianity today is Leonard Sweet. Sweet has partnered on a number of occasions with Rick Warren and speaks at evangelical events frequently. In Sweet’s book, Quantum Spirituality, he states:
Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is now situated in postmodernist culture near the center. . . . In the words of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, “The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing.” [Mysticism] is metaphysics arrived at through mindbody experiences. (p. 76)How fitting that Sweet would quote a Jesuit priest’s prediction about the “Christian” of the future.
Tony Campolo, another popular figure in the evangelical church, reveals something quite interesting in his book, Letters to a Young Evangelical. In the book, he explains the role mysticism had in him becoming a Christian. He explains:
I learned about this way of having a born-again experience from reading Catholic mystics, especially The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. (p. 30, see “Coming to Christ Through Mysticism,” Oakland )For skeptics who may need further evidence that Jesuit Spirituality has come into the evangelical/Protestant church, consider this. In 2006, Baker Books, one of evangelicalism’s top book publishers, released a book titled Sacred Listening: Discovering the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola written by James Wakefield. A publisher description of the book states:
Central to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Spiritual Exercises is a manual used to direct a month-long spiritual retreat. Now adapting these time-honored Exercises specifically for Protestant Christians, James L. Wakefield encourages readers to integrate their secular goals with their religious beliefs and helps them reflect on the life of Jesus as a model for their own discipleship.7Wakefield’s book, devoted to the Jesuits and Ignatian Exercises, should be proof enough that the Jesuit Agenda has entered the Christian church and that mysticism is the tool by which the Jesuit Agenda is largely being brought into the lives of countless evangelicals and Protestants. Is it any wonder Wakefield’s book found praise within the Jesuit community? Armand M. Nigro, professor emeritus at the Jesuit school, Gonzaga University, said:
As a Jesuit for 62 years, I have been formed by the Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, our principal founder. I rejoice, then, at the long-awaited publication of Sacred Listening. It will be for its readers, I hope, a classic manual for spiritual growth in genuine mystical prayer. (on back cover of book)Incidentally, Eugene Peterson, author of The Message wrote an endorsement of Wakefield’s book on the front cover.
These are just a few of a great many examples where the “Jesuit Spirituality” has come into the Protestant church; thus this new modern (post-modern) mystical method to accomplish the goals of the papacy is working.
If Protestants and evangelicals can be convinced to practice mysticism (i.e., contemplative), this conditions them to begin embracing Rome and even all religions. It’s important to understand that mysticism is the bridge that unites all the religions of the world. In order to unite them, there would need to be a uniting, common denominator, so to speak. That common uniting medium is mysticism.
Thomas Merton recognized this. In a conversation he was having with a Sufi master, the topic of Christian atonement arose. The Sufi master said this was an area they could never agree on, to which Merton replied:
Personally, in matters where dogmatic beliefs differ, I think that controversy [atonement] is of little value because it takes us away from the spiritual realities into the realm of words and ideas . . . in words there are apt to be infinite complexities and subtleties which are beyond resolution. . . . But much more important is the sharing of the experience of divine light, . . . It is here that the area of fruitful dialogue exists between Christianity and Islam.8 (Emphasis added.)Tilden Edwards, co-founder of the Shalem Institute (where Ruth Haley Barton was educated), would agree with Merton. He said, “This mystical stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality” (Spiritual Friend, p. 18). And in a New Age book titled, As Above, So Below, the author states (quoting Aldous Huxley) that “the metaphysical [mystical] that recognizes a divine reality” is the “highest common factor” that “links the world’s religious traditions.” And even evangelical-turned-emerging author Tony Campolo recognizes this commonality in mysticism when he states: “Beyond these models of reconciliation, a theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam” (pp 149-150).
Incidentally, when we say all the religions of the world uniting, we include the New Age movement (perhaps one of the largest “religions” in the world today). New Agers believe that in order to enter into an age of enlightenment (or Age of Aquarius), the world needs to become “vibrationally sympathetic,” meaning that a sufficient mass (critical mass) of people will need to engage in mystical prayer.9
The Counter Reformation Continues
Jesuit influence in the world today is everywhere: in the business world, in education, in government, and yes, in the evangelical/Protestant church. According toContemplatives in Action: The Jesuit Way, there are over one million people living in the United States alone who have graduated from Jesuit high schools, colleges, and universities (Introduction, p. 1).While there have often been tensions between the Pope and the Jesuit Order over various issues, the current Superior General of the Jesuit Order, Adolfo Nicolas Pachon, reassured the Jesuit commitment to Rome when he stated:
The Society of Jesus was born within the Church, we live in the Church, we were approved by the Church and we serve the Church. This is our vocation…[Unity with the pope] is the symbol of our union with Christ. It also is the guarantee that our mission will not be a ‘small mission,’ a project just of the Jesuits, but that our mission is the mission of the Church.”10
Where Else in Evangelicalism is the Jesuit Evangelism Showing Up?
Earlier this year, Understand the Times released an article titled Jerry Boykin and the Calvary Chapel Connection. It was a difficult article for many to read. People do not want to think that Christian leaders and pastors they have trusted for years would be so foolish as to associate with and promote someone who is part of a group that wants to bring the “lost brethren” back to the Mother Church.But the fact is that a high officer in the Vatican’s Jesuitical, “Knights of Malta” was a featured speaker at a Calvary Chapel sponsored Preach the Word prophecy conference.
Another example, and I believe an important one, has to do with one of the most well-known and influential evangelical organizations in America. Robert Siciro is a Protestant turned Catholic Paulist priest, and he is one of the featured speakers in the very popular Truth Project by Focus on the Family. While the Paulist Order is not a Jesuit Order, it has basically the same objective as the Jesuit order with regard to winning souls for the Catholic church. According to one Catholic source , the Paulist order is “A community of priests for giving missions and doing other Apostolic works, especially for making converts to the Catholic faith.” Robert Siciro is President of the Acton Institute, an ecumenical think tank where, incidentally, there are scores of articles by or about those in the Catholic faith, including a number of Jesuits. Now, through the Truth Project, thousands and thousands of evangelical/Protestant Christians have been introduced, by way of proxy, to the Eucharistic Evangelization.
The Fatima Plan
For those who are not convinced that we are headed toward a one-world religion for “peace,” take a trip some time to Fatima, Portugal where annual pilgrimages bring people from the religions of the world to pray to “the queen of heaven,” also called “our lady of Peace.”Pope John Paul II was dedicated to Mary and especially “Our Lady of Fatima.” He believed this entity saved him from an assassin’s bullet on May 13, 1981, on the anniversary of the so-called apparition’s appearance (to have first occurred in 1917).
People from all around the world have been coming to Fatima to pray to “Our Lady.” At a gathering for “world peace” in Fatima, Jesuit priest Jacques Dupuis stated:
The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all. The other religious traditions in the world are part of God’s plan for humanity and the Holy Spirit is operating and present in Buddhist, Hindu and other sacred writings of Christian and non-Christian faiths as well. The universality of God’s kingdom permits this, and this is nothing more than a diversified form of sharing in the same mystery of salvation.11Fatima is just another avenue through which the Jesuit Agenda is being accomplished.
In Summary
Perhaps the best way to understand the Jesuit Agenda that undermines biblical Christianity is to recognize the move toward a so-called “social gospel” that unites the religions of the world for the cause of peace. Like mysticism, this social gospel is a vehicle through which all religions will be united. Who would have believed this could have happened to the Protestant evangelical church? But we have already been warned in Scripture that Satan’s ministers are “transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15).Rick Warren has been one of the many pied pipers of this move to unite through “good works.”
Called “America’s pastor,” Warren has become the evangelical/Protestant spokesperson for a one-world religion. His Purpose Driven model has become the battle cry for let just all get along and do good. We can work together as one for one common purpose – peace in the world.
Willow Creek has helped to escalate this global religious body through their Global Leadership Summits, where they are “bringing people together from all nationalities to complete our shared Kingdom assignment in the Church and beyond”12 (emphasis added). Warren and Hybel’s global agenda is moving full force throughout the earth today.
Rick Warren and Bill Hybels – protégés of Peter Drucker, by the way – have advanced the Jesuit Agenda by leaps and bounds. Many of these “new” Christianity, new reformation leaders have ignored the prophetic warnings of Jesus Christ’s soon return based on the signs we see from Bible prophecy. Instead, they promote the establishment of the kingdom of God with all the world’s religions.
The emerging church movement, which has been widely propagated by Warren, Hybels, and a host of other Christian figures, has been used by Satan to quickly bring about this worldwide deception by introducing mystical experiences and the social gospel to an entire generation of young people.
Sensual experiences that tickle the flesh of the postmodern generation are often the same ones that Rome has used in the past to convince the faithful that they have encountered the God of the Bible. History reveals that history is repeating, and the same tools of delusion are being used over and over.
Those who shine the light on the Jesuit Agenda are considered to be conspiratorial crackpots. The prophets of the past when they exposed the Babylonian worship by the leaders of Israel were also deemed to be crazy, as have been Bible-believing Christians since Christianity began. One of those was John Huss (1372-1415). John Foxe describes what happened:
[Huss] compiled a treatise in which he maintained that reading the books of Protestants could not be absolutely forbidden. He wrote in defense of Wickliffe’s book on the Trinity; and boldly declared against the vices of the pope, the cardinals, and clergy of those corrupt times. He wrote also many other books, all of which were penned with a strength of argument that greatly facilitated the spreading of his doctrines. . . . 13Eventually Huss was arrested, and when he was brought before the council (of the papacy), he was mocked and called “A ringleader of heretics,” to which he replied:
My Lord Jesus Christ, for my sake, did wear a crown of thorns; why should not I then, for His sake, wear this light crown, be it ever so shameful? Truly I will do it and willingly.14At 43 years of age, John Huss was burned at the stake, singing hymns during the brutal execution. Why was he called a “ringleader of heretics”? For standing up for biblical truth against the Pope and Rome.
Discerning Christians should be asking many questions. But one question that stands out foremost is: why are so few saying anything about the Jesuit Agenda? Do they see it but are afraid to speak? Or do they see it and are part of it?
Speaking of questions, Jesus asked one: “[W]hen the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find it in the pastors and theological professors? Will He find it in your own church? Or will He only find those who have remained silent?
Just as God raised up others to carry the torch of truth after Huss was eliminated from this earth, God will and is raising up others today who are willing to risk all to stand for the truth and speak against the lies.
To believers who are standing fast, look up, for “your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. . . . See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:6-11, 15-17)Notes:
- John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Publishing edition), p. 169.
- Rev. W.C. Brownlee, D.D., Secret Instructions of the Jesuits, http://www.archive.org/details/secretinstructio00brow at Boston College Libraries archives
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- https://lists.ateneo.edu/pipermail/blueboard/2004-May/003422.html
- From the Publisher’s description at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Listening-Discovering-Spiritual-Exercises/dp/080106614X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309703869&sr=8-1#_
- Rob Baker and Gray Henry, Editors, Merton and Sufism (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1999), p. 109, as cited in A Time of Departing, p. 60.)
- Ken Carey, The Starseed Transmissions (A Uni-Sun Book, 1985 4th printing), p. 33.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_Nicol%C3%A1s and see http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801316.htm
- Jesuit theologian Father Jacques Dupuis, at the 2003 interfaith congress “The Future of God; http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c19.shtml
- http://www.growingleadership.com/summit/speaker_brenda_salter_mcneil.asp
- John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (Eureka, MT, Lighthouse Trails Publishing edition), pp.160-164.
- Ibid.
Understand the Times, International
Lighthouse Trails Research Project
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=6844
The Catholic takeover of the U.S. is almost complete
The Roman Catholic magazine Commonweal pointed out that the four
people in line of succession for the presidency of the United States
should something happen to President Obama are all Roman Catholic. They
are, in order, Vice-President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner,
Senator Leahy (as president Pro Tempore of the Senate) and Secretary of
State John Kerry.
Six out of nine members of the Supreme Court are Roman Catholic, as well as a number in the President’s Cabinet.
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:11, 12
http://www.ktfministry.org/news/3768/the-catholic-takeover-of-america-almost-complete
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/catholic-takeover-us-almost-complete
Six out of nine members of the Supreme Court are Roman Catholic, as well as a number in the President’s Cabinet.
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:11, 12
http://www.ktfministry.org/news/3768/the-catholic-takeover-of-america-almost-complete
At MOJ, Michael Moreland notes:
Upon the passing of Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii (a war hero from WWII, leaving Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey the sole remaining WWII veteran in Congress), Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont becomes the President pro tempore of the Senate and, I believe, the first Catholic to hold the position. Indeed, if Senator John Kerry is nominated and confirmed to be Secretary of State, the four offices in line of succession to the presidency will all be held by Catholics: Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner, Senator Leahy, and Secretary Kerry.UPDATE: My original post had a "slight correction" to Moreland's post, noting that Sen. Allan J. Ellender (d. 1972) of Louisiana was actually the first Catholic president pro tempore of the Senate.But Michael has done real research, and adds:
Ellender was baptized a Catholic but later listed himself as a Presbyterian and belonged to no church in his adult life. See Thomas Becnel, Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography (LSU Press, 1995), 149-50. But I take the modification to my earlier post.Still, with six Catholics on the Supreme Court, Charles C. Marshall must be rolling in his grave. And the poor U.S. bishops -- they say Catholics haven't had it this bad since the persecutions of Diocletian. That could be a tougher sell now than it was in November.
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