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Wikileaks: Vatican shows 'remnants of anti-Semitism'
Amplify’d from www.jpost.com
"Despite the real progress" under Pope John Paul II, some still "manifested remnants of anti-Semitic sentiments," according to the cable from 2002.
"An older desk officer of French origin" complained that America's "strong interest in modern European anti-Semitism stemmed from the 'excessive influence of Jews in your media and government.'" Another official said that lawsuits against the Holy See "were the result of 'Jewish judges having too much influence.'"
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Wikileaks cable exposes Vatican's anger over Irish sex abuse investigation
Amplify’d from www.examiner.com
Wikileaks cable exposes Vatican's anger over Irish sex abuse investigation
Pope Benedict XVI
A February 2010 cable exposed by the the so-called "Cablegate" Wikileaks release casts light on the Vatican's involvement in impeding the Irish investigation into the Church's sexual abuse scandal. The Guardian reported one such cable not showed that Pope Benedict XVI refuse to allow its officials to testify before the Murphy Commission investigation into clerical abuse of children, the Vatican was also angered when officials were summoned from Rome.
The cable, titled, "SEX ABUSE SCANDAL STRAINS IRISH-VATICAN RELATIONS, SHAKES UP IRISH CHURCH, AND POSES CHALLENGES FOR THE HOLY SEE," detailed a number of formerly undisclosed facts about the Vatican's reaction to the investigation.
- The Vatican believes the Irish government failed to respect and protect Vatican sovereignty during the investigations.
- The Murphy Commission's requests offended many in the Vatican, the Holy See's Assessor Peter Wells (protect strictly) told DCM, because they saw them as an affront to Vatican sovereignty. Vatican officials were also angered that the Government of Ireland did not step in to direct the Murphy Commission to follow standard procedures in communications with Vatican City. Adding insult to injury, Vatican officials also believed some Irish opposition politicians were making political hay with the situation by calling publicly on the government to demand that the Vatican reply. Ultimately, Vatican Secretary of State (Prime Minister equivalent) Bertone wrote to the Irish Embassy that requests related to the investigation must come through diplomatic channels via letters rogatory.
- Our contacts at the Vatican and in Ireland expect the crisis in the Irish Catholic Church to be protracted over several years, as only allegations from the Dublin Archdiocese have been investigated to date. Investigations of allegations from other Archdioceses will lead, officials in both states lament, to additional painful revelations.
Despite the Vatican's lack of assistance in the investigation, the Murphy Report, produced by the commission, substantiated many of the claims by sexual abuse victims. It concluded that some in the Church had tried to cover up the abuse.
In March of this year, Pope Benedict XVI issued a letter criticizing Irish bishops for their earlier handling of the issue. He also apologized to the victims. He said:
"Grave errors of judgment were made and failures of leadership occurred. All this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness.
"You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel."
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WikiLeaks exposes Vatican cover-up
Amplify’d from www.examiner.com
WikiLeaks exposes Vatican cover-up
Pope Scarface
The American media has been endlessly debating the merits of WikiLeaks over the past few weeks, but the U.S. government isn't the only one whose secrets are being leaked. Wikileaks has just released new documents that shed greater light on the Vatican's sordid role in the recent Irish priest sex scandal:
Pope Benedict refused to allow Vatican officials to testify in an investigation by an Irish commission into alleged child sex abuse by priests, according to U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Benedict was also reportedly furious when Vatican officials were called upon in Rome, The Guardian reported Saturday.
According to the documents, Benedict even went as far as to say the Murphy Commission of Inquiry into sexual and physical abuse "offended many in the Vatican."
"The Vatican believes the Irish government failed to respect and protect Vatican sovereignty during the investigations," it said.
So after all the protests by Catholic officials and parishioners that the Pope knew nothing about these atrocities and that the Church conspired to cover them up, here's further evidence of their complicity. So eager was the Pope to protect the Vatican thta he even denied investigators access to Vatican officials, interfering with the Irish abuse investigation and putting even more children in danger. There is simply no way an intellectually honest person could conclude from the facts that the Pope values the safety of Catholic children more than protecting the reputation of the Catholic Church.
And the most disturbing part of this whole story is that Irish officials let the Pope get away sabotaging the investigation. The leaked documents reveal the Vatican was granted immunity by Irish investigators because of the belief that opposition politicians were publicly putting pressure on their government to vilify the Vatican just to further their own careers.
The Irish government, meanwhile, wanted "to be seen as co-operating with the investigation" because its churches and education department were also involved in the scandal.
So the Irish government eventually just gave in. And so rapists and their accomplices just get away with their crimes and more and we have every reason to believe more and more child rapes will continue to take place among Catholic priests who will never see the inside of a jail cell.
Oh, and then there's the whole Vatican money laundering scandal.
There will never be a better business model for an organized crime syndocate than the Catholic Church. Al Capone has nothing on Ratzinger.
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Vatican Bank 'allowed clergy to act as front for Mafia and corrupt businessmen'
Amplify’d from www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Vatican Bank 'allowed clergy to act as front for Mafia and corrupt businessmen'
The Vatican Bank is under new scrutiny in a case involving money-laundering
allegations that led police to seize €23m (£19.25m) in September.
The Vatican calls the seizure of assets a "misunderstanding" and expresses
optimism it will be quickly cleared up. But fresh court documents show that
prosecutors say the Vatican Bank deliberately flouted anti-laundering laws
"with the aim of hiding the ownership, destination and origin of the
capital". The documents also reveal investigators' suspicions that clergy
may have acted as fronts for corrupt businessmen and Mafia.
The documents pinpoint two transactions that have not been reported: one in
2009 involving the use of a false name, and another in 2010 in which the
Vatican Bank withdrew €650,000 from an Italian bank account but ignored bank
requests to disclose where the money was headed.
The new allegations of financial impropriety could not come at a worse time
for the Vatican, already hit by revelations that it sheltered paedophile
priests. The corruption probe has given new hope to Holocaust survivors who
tried unsuccessfully to sue in the United States, alleging that Nazi loot
was stored in the Vatican Bank.
Yet the scandal is hardly the first for the bank, already distinguished from
other banks by the fact that its cash machines are in Latin and priests use
a private entrance.
In 1986, a Vatican financial adviser died after drinking cyanide-laced coffee
in prison. Another, Roberto Calvi, was found dangling from a rope under
London's Blackfriars Bridge in 1982, his pockets stuffed with money and
stones. The incidents blackened the bank's reputation, raised suspicions of
ties with the Mafia, and cost the Vatican hundreds of millions of dollars in
legal clashes with Italian authorities.
On 21 September, financial police seized assets from a Vatican Bank account.
Investigators said the Vatican had failed to furnish information on the
origin or destination of the funds as required by Italian law.
The bulk of the money, €20 million, was destined for the American JP Morgan
bank branch in Frankfurt, Germany, with the remainder going to Banca del
Fucino, an Italian bank.
Prosecutors alleged the Vatican ignored regulations that foreign banks must
communicate to Italian financial authorities where their money has come
from. All banks have declined to comment.
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U.S. Air Force is Developing Insect-Size Robots Designed For Espionage, Reconnaissance and Assassinations
U.S. Air Force is Developing Insect-Size Robots Designed For Espionage, Reconnaissance and Assassinations
Micro Air Vehicles (AVMs)
The USAF, the U.S. Air Force, is working on a project to develop insect-size robots, designed for espionage missions, reconnaissance and even murder. According to the speech made on Wednesday by the Office of Scientific Research Air Force - AFOSR, engineers from the laboratories of California will learn how to build tiny flying robots - called Micro Air Vehicles (AVMs) - who can fly through doors, vents and coatings, says the site The Register. To do so, researchers are analyzing the behavior of flies in tunnels with many obstacles, seeking measures to improve the stabilization of flight and navigation in cars of that size, said Dr. William Larkin, of the AFOSR.
To follow the flies during their flight, the researchers constructed a 3D tracking system, which has the incredible challenge of finding the insects almost instantly into the testing arena. Also according to The Register, if scientists succeed USAF understand the mechanisms used by flies to orient themselves during flight, they may use the same ideas to improve the maneuvers with AVMs where the GPS signal is not enough.
(Earth)
Note: Again, the intelligent design observed in nature serves as a reference for scientists develop their research, spending much money, time, effort and intelligence. If the copy requires intelligent design, what about the original? Changing the subject, this news makes me think of Revelation 13 and the pretensions of the beast that emerges from the earth. Pretensions of absolute power and domination / surveillance world. Everything is planned. [MB]
Original Post at Following Link: http://www.criacionismo.com.br/2010/12/usaf-quer-construir-mosca-robo.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+criacionista+%28Criacionista%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
Micro Air Vehicles (AVMs)
The USAF, the U.S. Air Force, is working on a project to develop insect-size robots, designed for espionage missions, reconnaissance and even murder. According to the speech made on Wednesday by the Office of Scientific Research Air Force - AFOSR, engineers from the laboratories of California will learn how to build tiny flying robots - called Micro Air Vehicles (AVMs) - who can fly through doors, vents and coatings, says the site The Register. To do so, researchers are analyzing the behavior of flies in tunnels with many obstacles, seeking measures to improve the stabilization of flight and navigation in cars of that size, said Dr. William Larkin, of the AFOSR.
To follow the flies during their flight, the researchers constructed a 3D tracking system, which has the incredible challenge of finding the insects almost instantly into the testing arena. Also according to The Register, if scientists succeed USAF understand the mechanisms used by flies to orient themselves during flight, they may use the same ideas to improve the maneuvers with AVMs where the GPS signal is not enough.
(Earth)
Note: Again, the intelligent design observed in nature serves as a reference for scientists develop their research, spending much money, time, effort and intelligence. If the copy requires intelligent design, what about the original? Changing the subject, this news makes me think of Revelation 13 and the pretensions of the beast that emerges from the earth. Pretensions of absolute power and domination / surveillance world. Everything is planned. [MB]
Original Post at Following Link: http://www.criacionismo.com.br/2010/12/usaf-quer-construir-mosca-robo.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+criacionista+%28Criacionista%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
NY Times Wikileaks Vatican Cables
persisting anti-Jewish mentality, deeply involved in politics around the world
Amplify’d from continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com
NY Times Wikileaks Vatican Cables
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/world/europe/11vatican.html
By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: December 10, 2010
ROME — Recently released diplomatic cables show the Vatican fighting to shore up its eroding control over sexual abuse scandals in the United States and Ireland, highlighting complex tensions between the Vatican hierarchy, local bishops and civil authorities.
The cables were obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to The New York Times and other news organizations. They do not appear to contain any bombshells about the Vatican, but they provide a telling glimpse of how American diplomats often rely on the Roman Catholic Church’s worldwide network of prelates for intelligence.
Some cables read in part like thrillers, like when Opus Dei, the powerful religious order, took pains to distance itself from one of its members: Robert P. Hanssen, an F.B.I. agent who in a dramatic case in 2001 pleaded guilty to being a longtime Russian spy.
Others reveal some of the complex diplomacy between the United States and the Vatican during the abuse scandal that hit the United States in 2002.
A cable sent that year by the United States Embassy to the Holy See said that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Pope John Paul II’s last secretary of state, “took the bulk of his initial meeting” with Ambassador James Nicholson “to register his displeasure with the several lawsuits filed in U.S. courts that have been served at the Vatican.”
It added that Cardinal Sodano “complained about the ‘aggressive attorneys’ who had started in on the Vatican with the sexual abuse scandal and had also filed suits about Nazi-era gold allegedly acquired by the Holy See.”
“It’s one thing for them to sue bishops,” the cable quoted him as saying, “but another thing entirely to sue the Holy See.”
Cardinal Sodano urged Ambassador Nicholson to help defend the Holy See’s sovereignty.
In 2005, the State Department argued that Pope Benedict XVI should be immune from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiracy to hide abuse because he was a head of state. A federal judge later dismissed the case.
The sovereignty issue emerged again more recently in Ireland, where two government-appointed commissions released reports in 2009 revealing a widespread cover-up of abuse, shaking the Irish church to its core.
According to a cable sent in February from the American Embassy to the Holy See, requests by Irish investigators “offended” many in the Vatican “because they saw them as an affront to Vatican sovereignty.”
“Our contacts at the Vatican and in Ireland expect the crisis in the Irish Catholic Church to be protracted over several years, as only allegations from the Dublin Archdiocese have been investigated to date. Investigations of allegations from other Archdioceses will lead, officials in both states lament, to additional painful revelations,” the cable read.
It added that the Vatican had “learned some important lessons from the U.S. sex abuse scandal of 2002,” including “acting quickly to express horror at allegations, to label the alleged acts both crimes and sins, and to call in the local leaders to discuss how to prevent recurrences.”
Other cables show the Catholic Church to be deeply involved in local politics worldwide and a useful source of information for American diplomats, especially in places like Cuba and Venezuela. One cable from 2006 said that a Venezuelan clergyman might be a good source on President Hugo Chávez.
The Holy See has also had full diplomatic ties with Iran for decades. A cable briefing President Obama ahead of his meeting with Benedict at the Vatican in July 2009 said that the Holy See was “deeply concerned” about the violence during the Iranian elections the previous month.
“It has been publicly silent to date on the current crisis, in part to preserve its ability to act as an intermediary if an international crisis emerges,” the cable read, adding, “it is unclear how much clout the Vatican really has with Iran, however.”
A cable from November 2008 cited Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican’s longtime point person on Catholic-Jewish relations, as saying that Benedict was “not likely to move forward” with the beatification of Pius XII, who led the church during World War II, “until the Vatican finishes the process of opening its archives to outside researchers, which is expected to take several more years.”
Jewish groups have protested that Pius did not do enough to save Jews during the Holocaust and have called on the Vatican to open its archives. Last year, Benedict moved Pius one step closer to sainthood.
A 2002 cable said that “despite the real progress” under John Paul in the Vatican’s relations with Judaism, some in the hierarchy still “manifested remnants of anti-Semitic sentiments.”
It cited “an older desk officer of French origin” who complained that the United States government’s “strong interest in modern European anti-Semitism stemmed from the ‘excessive influence of Jews in your media and government,’ ” while another curial official said some lawsuits against the Holy See “were the result of ‘Jewish judges having too much influence.’ ”
In one of the most mysterious cables in the lot, in March 2001, the chancellor of the Prelature of Opus Dei, the Rev. Thomas G. Bohlin, “requested an urgent meeting” with the chargé d’affaires at the American Embassy to the Holy See. “Bohlin said that Opus Dei had conducted an accounting of all financial contributions” made by Mr. Hanssen, then accused and later convicted of spying for Russia.
Father Bohlin “claimed that Hanssen contributed $4,000 through 1992 and made no contributions after 1992” and added that when arrested he was still “a member in good standing.”
“Request for urgent meeting struck post as unusual. This is the first time Opus Dei has officially asked for a meeting,” the cable continued. “It appears that Opus Dei is attempting to preempt any charges that it profited financially from alleged activities of Hanssen.”
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Suicide Bombing in Stolkholm Kills one
Amplify’d from gawker.com
An apparent suicide bombing in Stockholm, Sweden killed one person and injured two others
Send an email to Adrian Chen, the author of this post, at adrian@gawker.com.
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Religious Group Protests Holiday Display in Florida
Exodus 20
4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Amplify’d from www.foxnews.com
Religious Group Protests Holiday Display in Florida
A religious group is protesting what they are calling discrimination after the City of Boca Raton left a manger out of a holiday dispaly inside City Hall.
Members of a Christian group are protesting what they call discrimination after a city in Florida left a manger out of a holiday display.
In addition to a Christmas tree, menorah and sign that reads "Seasons Greetings" on display inside Boca Raton City Hall, the Christian Coalition religious group also wants to see a manger displayed for the holidays, Fox7News reported.
Anthony Verdugo of the Christian Coalition said the nativity scene, not a Christmas tree, should be on display as the symbol of the holiday.
Several members of the Christian group marched into city hall on Friday afternoon with mangers in hand and placed them below the Christmas tree inside. They said they had filed a formal request to include a manger in the holiday display.
But when they were told "no" by public officials, the group placed the nativity scenes below the tree in protest, saying it was religious discrimination to place a menorah in the scene without a manger.
"We came here as tax-paying citizens for redress of grievances toward local governments asking them for fairness, asking them for equality, asking them to allow us to display the nativity scene just like they've chosen to display the menorah, which is also another religious symbol," Verdugo told Fox7News.
These citizens would like to see the manger made a permanent part of the display.
"We feel like we have been marginalized, and we feel like they have not given any credibility to the Christian faith," said the Rev. Mark Boykin, pastor of the Church of All Nations. "We have determined that we are not going to be put off, we are not going to be ignored, we are not going to be marginalized. We are going to seek an answer."
The city released a statement saying: "The City of Boca Raton celebrates the holiday season by having displays in the lobbies of public buildings in a manner consistent with court and other judicial buildings. These displays are city-owned decorations and are comprised of a Christmas tree, a menorah and a 'Seasons Greetings' sign."
City officials said they have offered Sanborn Square Park as a spot of free expression of religious symbols, but the city can only display city-bought ornaments within their government buildings. "Our city believes that your First Amendment rights are only exercised at Sanborn Square?" Boykin said. "That's a disgrace."
Read more at www.foxnews.com
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Drug shootout mars religious festival in Mexico
Amplify’d from news.yahoo.com
Drug shootout mars religious festival in Mexico
Reuters – Chairs lie scattered in a courtyard after hitmen attacked a group of pilgrims in Tecalitlan late December …
GUADALAJARA Mexico (Reuters) – Suspected drug cartel gunmen attacked each other during annual religious celebrations in a small Mexican town, killing 11 people and wounding 22 others, local authorities said on Saturday.
The rival gangs shot machine guns into the packed central square of Tecalitlan late Friday night and wreaked havoc on the festival in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, one of Mexico's most cherished national and religious symbols.
"During the celebration, a group of subjects arrived in several vehicles to attack another group in the town plaza, sparking a battle," a statement from the attorney general's office in the central state of Jalisco said.
The gunmen also lobbed a grenade into the crowd.
The shootout sparked panic in the town, with people afraid to leave their houses and canceling plans to visit family on what is usually a festive holiday across the country, local radio reported.
Mexico's spiraling war against powerful drug cartels escalated this week when security forces killed one of the leaders of the cult-like drug cartel La Familia based in Michoacan, which borders the state of Jalisco.
Tecalitlan is close to Apatzingan, where the worst violence flared in clashes to track down the drug lord.
Jalisco state is famous for traditional mariachi music and locals were enjoying a concert as part of several days of events for the Virgin, who is said to have appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century. About 33,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the past four years across Mexico, worrying Washington and some investors who are freezing investment just as the country pulls out of a recession.
In 2008, drug gangs threw a grenade into a crowd celebrating Mexico's independence day in Michoacan's capital Morelia, killing eight people and wounding more than 100.
(Reporting by Roman Ortega in Guadalajara and Mica Rosenberg in Mexico City; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
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