Pope: Don’t Take Bible Literally

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Pope: Don’t Take Bible Literally

In his latest treatise, Benedict XVI reverts to medieval teaching.

By Ron Fraser

Can you trust the Bible? Is it, in fact, the inspired Word of God?

The pope recently weighed in on these questions in an “apostolic exhortation” called Verbum Domini (“The Word of the Lord”), issued on November 11. As cna/ewtn News reported it, this papal message was “a lofty and impassioned plea for everyone in the church to rediscover the Bible.”

The truth of it is, this was more than an “impassioned plea” from this pope to his parishioners. It was a direct attack on all who believe the inerrancy of the literal Scriptures as inspired by God!

Pope Benedict “criticized ‘fundamentalist’ or ‘literalist’ interpretations and urged renewed appreciation for the symbolic and spiritual interpretation techniques used by the ancient fathers of the church” (ibid., emphasis mine).

“An authentic interpretation of the Bible must always be in harmony with the faith of the Catholic Church,” Benedict declared.

We must look at this declaration in light of other recent endorsements of the claim that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church. This pope has said more than once that all Christian denominations other than Roman Catholicism are illegitimate—either defective or not true churches. Now he has reasserted the medieval stance that only the interpretation of Scripture by the Roman Catholic Church has authenticity.

That is a blatant papal lie that the very Scriptures themselves oppose!

How to Understand the Bible

Your Bible clearly declares, first and foremost, that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20).

It further declares that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). There is no instruction here to resort first to any “symbolic and spiritual interpretation techniques used by the ancient fathers of the church”!

Those “interpretation techniques” as applied over the centuries have led to many contradictory interpretations of Scripture, even within Roman Catholicism. But Jesus Christ plainly said “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). The Bible does not contradict itself!

It is not for the pope, it is not for any of his priests, it is not for man at all to interpret the Scriptures based on any particular religious ideology!

Only one power can unlock the plain, straightforward meaning of Scripture. That is the power of the mind of God alone, exerting His influence on the mind of an individual by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ Himself, the Word of God personified, declared that when the Holy Spirit comes into the mind of an individual, it reveals all things. He called it “the Spirit of truth, [which] the world cannot receive, because it seeth [it] not, neither knoweth [it]” (John 14:17).

Christ called the Holy Spirit the “Comforter” (John 16:7). It is a revelatory Spirit, the Spirit of truth—actually a portion of God’s own supreme intellect embedded in the mind of a converted Christian. Christ declared that when it is given by the Father to a servant of God, it “will guide you into all truth … and [it] will shew you things to come” (verse 13).

cna/ewtn News described “The heart of Verbum Domini” as comprising “a long and often technical discussion of ‘hermeneutics,’ or the proper method for interpreting the sacred texts.”

The reality is that Jesus Christ, the very Author of the Word of God, gave us the proper method for understanding the Bible. We read of the direct experience of His original disciples, from whom the original apostles were ordained and who in turn formed the very foundation of the one true Church. Of their experience with the resurrected Jesus Christ, they remembered, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

It is thus the living Jesus Christ, the true Head of His one true Church, who opens up the Word of God to us by the power of God’s Holy Spirit!

The Real Reason Men Interpret the Bible

Yes, it takes dedicated study to grow in understanding the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15; Isaiah 28:10, 13). But, in reality, the Bible interprets itself!

Why do men insist on trying to interpret the Bible?

A quarter of a century ago, Herbert Armstrong gave the answer. In the Plain Truth magazine of November 1983, he wrote, “The Scriptures are profitable for the purpose of reproving and correcting us. But we resent being reproved and corrected. How many people do you know who are even willing to be corrected where they are in error—to be reproved for the wrong things they do?

“People do not like to be reproved and corrected. They love praise and flattery. But reproof and correction they surely hate.

“That’s why it is so hard for so many people to understand the Bible and to agree on just what it says. The Bible is God’s great spiritual mirror. It shows up every flaw in our thinking and reveals every spot on our characters. It pictures us as we really are—as God sees us, not as we like to think we are or to have other men look upon us.”

That’s the plain and simple truth.

Hebrews 4:12 reads, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Bible is a powerful weapon that cuts both ways, opening up and laying bare the inner man!

That is not a comfortable process—and thus, too often, men simply won’t subject themselves to it. As Herbert Armstrong further stated, “Too often men have applied some different meaning to the scriptures that reproved them. They have passed right over some scriptures that corrected and rebuked them. Instead they studied diligently to find some other scripture into which they could read a meaning that would justify their course of action.

“That is how men began, centuries ago, to interpret the Bible. And so God’s Word has become perverted, twisted, wrested, distorted. And almost every false and counterfeit meaning imaginable is read into it instead of seeing the natural meaning—the plain, simple meaning God intended.

“Today we have hundreds of interpretations of the Bible. But you never hear of hundreds of interpretations of a biology textbook. Why? Because biology textbooks do not rebuke and correct men.

“Instead of acknowledging the truth, repenting of the sin, having it legally justified by the blood of Christ, men seek to justify their own acts by perverting the sacred and holy Word of God.”

Melanie Phillips recently mused that the Vatican today, under this pope, may be taking “a giant step backwards into a darker age”—an age when the Vatican dictated that the Roman Catholic Church alone was the sole authority for interpretation of the Bible! (Oct. 25, 2010).

Could it be that this pope is in reality seeking to hide what inerrant Scripture reveals as to the true nature of the religious body he leads, its true beginnings, and its prophesied end? Hide the truth by insisting on the application of the interpretation techniques imposed by the “ancient fathers of the church” and thus interpreting, or rather wresting, the Scriptures to suit the whim and the will of the Vatican? (2 Peter 3:16).

You need to allow the Bible to interpret itself on this burning question and all others. Request our free booklet Daniel—Unsealed at Last! for insight into, and for the biblical answers to, this question. • Read more at www.thetrumpet.com

 

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Pope’s Christmas warning: ‘the future of the world is at stake’

Amplify’d from www.lifesitenews.com

Pope’s Christmas warning: ‘the future of the world is at stake’

by John-Henry Westen

VATICAN, December 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his traditional Christmas greeting to Vatican officials this morning, the Pope drew a link between the times of the fall of the Roman Empire and our own times, arguing that “the future of the world is at stake.”

Read the pope’s complete talk here.

Describing the decline of the Roman Empire he said, “The disintegration of the key principles of law and of the fundamental moral attitudes underpinning them burst open the dams which until that time had protected peaceful coexistence among peoples. “The sun was setting over an entire world,” he continued. “Frequent natural disasters further increased this sense of insecurity. There was no power in sight that could put a stop to this decline.“ Comparing those times to our own he said: “For all its new hopes and possibilities, our world is at the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing, consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function. Consequently the forces mobilized for the defence of such structures seem doomed to failure.” The pope tied the priestly sexual abuse crisis, which he referred to as “the great tribulations to which we have been exposed during the past year,” into the overall theme of the talk. He began by pointing out that the past year had been designated the “Year of the Priests.” “We were all the more dismayed, then, when in this year of all years and to a degree we could not have imagined, we came to know of abuse of minors committed by priests who twist the sacrament into its antithesis, and under the mantle of the sacred profoundly wound human persons in their childhood, damaging them for a whole lifetime,’” he said. While he spoke of the need for the Church to reflect upon its own inner workings to determine how such a thing could have happened, he also pointed to the moral disintegration of society as a contributing cause. We cannot, he said, “remain silent regarding the context of these times in which these events have come to light.” In this context the Pope noted child pornography, sex trafficking and drug abuse, saying that, “No pleasure is ever enough, and the excess of deceiving intoxication becomes a violence that tears whole regions apart – and all this in the name of a fatal misunderstanding of freedom which actually undermines man’s freedom and ultimately destroys it.” The Pope stated that in order to resist these evils it is necessary to resist relativism, and the warping of the idea of the conscience: In order to resist these forces, we must turn our attention to their ideological foundations. In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children. This, however, was part of a fundamental perversion of the concept of ethos. It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a “better than” and a “worse than”. Nothing is good or bad in itself. Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist. The effects of such theories are evident today. He also called on political leaders to “put a stop to Christianophobia,” and noted that “healing can only come from deep faith in God’s reconciling love.” In the final analysis, he suggested that “only if there is …  a consensus on the essentials can constitutions and law function.”  The Pope explained that the public agreement on essential truths which is “derived from the Christian heritage” is at risk from an approach where morality is ignored in the pursuit of certain goals. He concluded: “To resist this eclipse of reason and to preserve its capacity for seeing the essential, for seeing God and man, for seeing what is good and what is true, is the common interest that must unite all people of good will. The very future of the world is at stake.” Read more at www.lifesitenews.com

 

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Arlington Diocese - Heed Pope Benedict XVI - "Repair the Injustice" of sexual abuse in the church

Amplify’d from ministryvalues.com

Arlington Diocese - Heed Pope Benedict XVI - "Repair the Injustice"

By Stephen Ryan

Today, from the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI,  in his annual Christmas speech to Bishops and Cardinals, speaking of the sex abuse crisis, forcefully said to his audience "We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustice that has occurred," To repair the damage that the Holy See speaks of  we strongly urge the Arlington Diocese to open an investigation into the events known as the Seton Miracles which manifested itself in the form of an extraordinary display of weeping statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The miraculous events were silenced by the Chancellor of the diocese of Arlington, an alleged pedofile with mulitple accusations, who committed suicide a few months after coldly ending the Catholic Church's role in the mysterious events. It is time for the diocese of Arlington, as the Pope urges the leadership of the faith,  to repair this great injustive. (editor's note: We have spoken with eye-witnesses to the  strange events. Minsitryvalues.com is based in Alexandria, Va and the author has been a member of the diocese of Arlington for thrity years and a graduate of Bishop Ireton High School)  The Mystery For years, many close to the Church, clergy and lay, had speculated on how an Evil - the Smoke of Satan - would manifest itself inside the Catholic Church - inside “certain chanceries” and then on a hot summer day in August - a clue.  On August 11, 1992, the long time Chancellor to the diocese of Arlington in Virginia, 53-year-old Monsignor William Reinecke, walked into a non-descript cornfield in Berryville, Virginia, near the Holy Cross Trappist Monastery with a loaded shotgun and killed himself.  His death would leave behind a long shadow of untold secrets – secrets of both good and evil- secrets whose scope, nearly twenty years later, are today just beginning to be fully understood.  During an implausible six months in 1992, Chancellor Reinecke would quite literally come face to face with both the divine and the damned.   Before the Chancellor’s death, five months earlier, on March 6, 1992, a local television affiliate of CBS news aired a story, initially without much fanfare, about mysterious occurrences of weeping statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary taking place in Lake Ridge, Virginia, a quite suburb twenty miles south of the Nation’s Capitol. The extraordinary events were mostly occurring at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church (SEAS) and its rectory.     The reported weeping Madonnas were associated with a local priest named Father Jim Bruse – they seemed to tear in his presence – who was also experiencing the “wounds of Christ” known as the Stigmata.   Many eye-witnesses to the events and those who have investigated the incident argue that never in the entire history of the Catholic Church, has there been a greater manifestation of the supernatural or momentous occurrence of weeping statues and other physical signs of God's presence through the Blessed Virgin Mary than what took place on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.  in 1991 – 1993.   There were hundreds, if not thousands, of credible witnesses who saw the statues of the Virgin Mary weep before their eyes, including lawyers, military officers and government employees. Most significantly the Bishop of the Arlington Diocese, John R. Keating along with  Monsignor William Reinecke both witnessed  the weeping Madonnas -  “On March 2, 1992  Father Hamilton and Father Bruse met with Bishop Keating at the Chancery along with Monsignor William Reinecke. “Both prelates had Madonna statues. Bishop Keating had two in his office and Monsignor Reinecke brought one of his own. In addition, Fr Bruse, had brought his little Fatima statue with him. All the statues wept. Reportedly, this convinced Bishop Keating that the weeping is a genuine phenomenon and should be so treated.” - The Seton Miracles  Within days of the CBS news report, the story of the weeping statues and the priest experiencing the stigmata would become a worldwide media sensation.  The Washington Post and a throng of other national and international news organizations descended onto the community to report and investigate the miraculous occurrences. To this day, the spontaneous media frenzy that engulfed the unexplained events stands as a singular moment in television history in the coverage of mystical religious phenomena.  Then suddenly, the Chancery Office to the diocese of Arlington, headed by Monsignor Reinecke, concerned about the “circus atmosphere” at the Lake Ridge parish and with the blessing of the Bishop, John R. Keating coldly shut everything down. The statues of the Madonna, mind you, continued to weep, at times profusely, but as far as the diocese of Arlington and the Catholic Church were concerned the matter was officially over.  The Chancery stated its position regarding the miraculous events in a formal declaration to the Pastor of SEAS, Father Hamilton.  In a nutshell, the declaration said that since there was no overt divine message being delivered, there was nothing to investigate and the parish and the clergy from that point forward were forbidden to talk about the events.  This decision, to many parishioners was not only profoundly sad but seemed to be an odd determination since only physical phenomena can be investigated. Reports of apparitions and locutions cannot be investigated. They can merely be assessed as to whether they are consistent with Catholic faith and morals.   The Scandal and The Smoke of Satan Within months of dismissing the tears of Our Lady and silencing the talk of the highly publicized miraculous events, Monsignor William Reinecke,  would again make newspaper headlines -  this time by committing suicide in the cornfield by the monastery.  After the suicide, at first, shocked priests, parishioners,and friends searched for answers.  Many blamed themselves for failing to see Monsignor’s Reinecke quiet despair. But soon after the suicide a startling report surfaced in the Washington Post. Joe McDonald, a former altar boy from another parish, claimed that Father Reinecke sexually molested him twenty-five years ago and said he had confronted the priest about the incident two days before Reinecke killed himself. Then another bombshell. After reporting the allegations of sexual molestation, The Washington Post revealed that William Reinecke was also, scandalously, the person in charge of investigating claims of pedophilia for the Arlington Diocese. On August 30, 1992, after being rebuffed by the diocese of Arlington to discuss Reinecke’s death,  Joe McDonald contacted the Washington Post and  told his story of  his sexual abuse by Father Reinecke. Then, according the Post, Bishop John R. Keating, after reading the story in the newspaper, sought out Mr. McDonald to discuss the matter. In the meeting with the Bishop’s representatives he asked the diocese to establish support groups for victims and priests, but Mr. McDonald said no "concrete proposals" came out of his meeting and was upset that they asked him to “stop speaking out”.  Five months earlier Bishop Keating and Monsignor Reinecke had also asked the parishioners of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to stop speaking and the diocese has rebuffed all inquires to investigate the mysterious events of the weeping Madonnas  for nearly twenty years. In 2006 Becky Ianni came forward saying that in the late 1960s, when she was ten years old, she  had been sexually abused by  Fr. Reinecke.  She told the Washington Post that Father Reinecke gave  her family their first color TV and  within days while watching the brand new TV in the basement  the molestation started.  "I didn't tell anyone what happened," she said. "I was basically told that I'd go to hell if I did." Ianni said she no longer considers herself a practicing Catholic."I became so disillusioned," she said. "I realized I couldn't be a part of a church that wouldn't deal appropriately with these victims."  Did Our Lady’s unprecedented tears in 1992 forewarn of the great Catholic priest sex abuse crisis?  Did "Our Lady confront the "Smoke of Satan"?   Of course nobody on that tragic day would hear the gun go off that killed Monsignor Reinecke.   But now, looking back on the events of 1992, as Our Lady was weeping like never before in history,  perhaps the gunshot was the “shot heard ‘round the world” because within months of the accused pedophile’s suicide - a man in charge of pedophilia investigations for the diocese, the Catholic Church’s  sexual abuse crises would begin to unfold.   In the 2004  John Jay Report on sexual abuse, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,  it stated that “prior to 1993, only one-third of sex-abuse cases were known to church officials,"    The Sex abuse catastophe, as we now know, has become, arguably, the single greatest challenge to the hearts, minds, and souls of the Catholic faithful – many have left the faith because of it - and to this day the Vatican continues to endure the ramifications of what Pope Benedict XVI has described as a “wretchedness” inside the Church.  The Smoke of Satan had indeed entered the Church and the Blessed Virgin Mother  wept for the loss of so many souls.  The Aftermath  Bishop Keating and Monsignor Reinecke’s  decision to ignore the miraculous events of the weeping statues continues to be an unsolved  mystery and to many  a very unfortunate one. The decision to ignore the events did not leave a neutral opinion in its wake. It left a negative implication, some even believe the events have been condemned by the diocese of Arlington.   The bishop's apparent disinterest suggested that he must know something negative about the cause of the phenomena.  The tragedy of this situation is that the local bishop, then Most Rev. John R. Keating and now Most Rev. Paul Loverde, have refused to even acknowledge the events much less investigate them to determine whether they constitute a true sign from God that the faithful could consider as miraculous.  Perhaps the most disturbing aspect to all of this is that the point man in charge of silencing talk of the Seton Miracles, a man who was also overseeing investigations into claims of sexual abuse by clergy, may well have been a pedophile.  Recently the bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin, just recognized the first official apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the United States to a nun in 1859.  The church is the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help at Champion, just east of Green Bay near Lake Michigan.  http://www.gbdioc.org/newsevents/news/857-worthy-of-belief.html.  For purposes of the Seton Miracles, it demonstrates that it is not too late to conduct this investigation and make a determination of validity.  Indeed it is never to late to investigate the miraculous and to be sure prominent people still seek answers and guidance from the diocese of Arlington. Citing the weeping statues and miracles that took place in the outskirts of Washington D.C.,Justice Scalia recently argued that “It isn’t irrational to accept the testimony of eyewitnesses to miracles. What is irrational,” is to reject a priori, with no investigation… which is, of course, precisely what the worldly wise do. Why wasn’t that church absolutely packed with nonbelievers, seeking to determine if there might be something to this?”  The answer was obvious, he said with disdain: “The wise do not investigate such silliness.” The words of Supreme Court Justice leaves us asking why indeed was the church not packed with officials of the diocese of Arlington to investigate the mysteries that obviously to this day haunt Justice Scalia. Clearly, Justice Scalia has not heard evidence to his satisfaction to make a ruling in the extraordinary case of the weeping statues of the Blessed Mother.  If an honest investigation determines that there were natural causes for all of the strange things that happened around Fr. Bruse, in Lake Ridge, Va. great!   - the matter could then be put to rest  But we don't believe that will be the outcome of a true investigation.  We don't see how such a conclusion would be possible.  But, that's the purpose of investigating.  Read more at ministryvalues.com

 

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Amplify’d from www.knoxnews.com

Letters: Muslim columnist hits, misses on Christianity

The Dec. 12 Perspective column by Shadab Siddqi was an interesting, eye opening window into the mind of a well educated Muslim living in the United States.

He is correct (in) observing that most Americans know little about Islam and its history. He, however, demonstrates his limited understanding of Christianity and freedom of conscience by comparing the tiny Vatican, measured by acreage, with the vast and draconian Islamic theocracies, established by force of arms, where citizens are Muslim by birth and may be subject to capital punishment if they wish to leave the Muslim faith.

He is correct (in) noting that hundreds of churches exist in predominately Muslim countries, largely in Indonesia, but he neglects to mention that hundreds have been burnt to the ground, an action that would ignite world wide jihad if the roles were reversed. Observe also that mosques are bombed by fellow Muslims who hold somewhat differing views, while Christians of various denominations gather together to bring aide to others, regardless of their faith.

Siddiqi said that Americans don’t want mosques built in the United States. Although many may not desire it, they would allow it and protect it. Lastly, Siddiqi should not confuse the actions of government with the actions and attitudes of its people, as American society remains open and tolerant, which is why Siddiqi’s column found its way to such prominence in this newspaper.

Eric Rockwell

Knoxville Read more at www.knoxnews.com

 

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Pontiff Denounces Child Pornography, Pedophilia

Amplify’d from www.catholic.net

Pontiff Denounces Child Pornography, Pedophilia

Rome's Zenit News

The Pope stated this today during his traditional meeting with the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and members of the Roman Curia and of the Governorate of Vatican City State, for the exchange of Christmas greetings.  "For all its new hopes and possibilities, our world is at the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing, consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function," he observed.  The Pontiff continued, "Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni [stir up your power O Lord and come]: Amid the great tribulations to which we have been exposed during the past year, this Advent prayer has frequently been in my mind and on my lips."  He mentioned in particular the abuse of minors by clergy that came to light over the past year, crimes of "priests who twist the sacrament into its antithesis, and under the mantle of the sacred profoundly wound human persons in their childhood, damaging them for a whole lifetime."  "We must accept this humiliation as an exhortation to truth and a call to renewal," the Holy Father said. "Only the truth saves."  Reparation  He continued "We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustice that has occurred.  "We must ask ourselves what was wrong in our proclamation, in our whole way of living the Christian life, to allow such a thing to happen. We must discover a new resoluteness in faith and in doing good.  "We must be capable of doing penance. We must be determined to make every possible effort in priestly formation to prevent anything of the kind from happening again."  "In my meetings with victims of this sin," Benedict XVI stated, "I have also always found people who, with great dedication, stand alongside those who suffer and have been damaged."  He also expressed gratitude to "the many good priests who act as channels of the Lord's goodness in humility and fidelity and, amid the devastations, bear witness to the unforfeited beauty of the priesthood."  The Pope stated that we cannot "remain silent regarding the context of these times in which these events have come to light."  "There is a market in child pornography that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society," he lamented.  Terrifying signs  "The psychological destruction of children, in which human persons are reduced to articles of merchandise, is a terrifying sign of the times," the Pontiff asserted. "From bishops of developing countries I hear again and again how sexual tourism threatens an entire generation and damages its freedom and its human dignity."  "In order to resist these forces, we must turn our attention to their ideological foundations," he said.  The Holy Father said: "In the 1970s, pedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children. This, however, was part of a fundamental perversion of the concept of ethos."  "It was maintained -- even within the realm of Catholic theology -- that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself," he noted.  Benedict XVI warned against this theory that "anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances," in which "morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist."  "The effects of such theories are evident today," he stated.  The Pope noted, "Against them, Pope John Paul II, in his 1993 encyclical letter 'Veritatis Splendor,' indicated with prophetic force in the great rational tradition of Christian ethos the essential and permanent foundations of moral action."  "Today, attention must be focused anew on this text as a path in the formation of conscience," the Pontiff stated.  He added, "It is our responsibility to make these criteria audible and intelligible once more for people today as paths of true humanity, in the context of our paramount concern for mankind."  --- --- ---  On ZENIT's Web page:  Full text: www.zenit.org/article-31289?l=english Read more at www.catholic.net

 

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Prayers for hundreds of victims of abusive former priest and paedophile Tony Walsh

Amplify’d from www.christiantoday.com

Prayers for victims of abusive former priest

by Brian Hutt

Prayers were said at Mass on Sunday for victims of former Catholic priest and paedophile Tony Walsh following the publication of Chapter 19 of the Murphy Report.

The previously censored chapter of the report described Walsh as the “most notorious” paedophile encountered by the Commission of Inquiry and estimated his victims to run into the hundreds.

The report also found that in spite of being a serious danger to children, the Vatican had wanted Walsh to serve 10 years in a monastery rather than force him out of the Catholic Church.

Although the Murphy Report was published in November 2009, chapter 19 was not published until last week because Walsh was being tried in the courts for abuse. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier this month for abusing three boys.

Most of Walsh’s victims were from the Ballyfermot parish, where he worked from 1978 to 1985.

Responding to the publication of chapter 19, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the abuse by Walsh was “tragic and shocking”.

“In many aspects the Church in Ireland had allowed itself to drift into a position where its role in society had grown beyond what is legitimate,” he said.

“It acted as a world apart. It had often become self-centred and arrogant. It felt that it could be forgiving of abusers in a simplistic manner and rarely empathised with the hurt of children.

“The first step on the road to renewal is for our Church to recognise what went wrong, to honestly acknowledge with no ‘buts’ and no conditionally the gravity and the extent of what happened.”

Catholics gathered at Our Lady of Assumption Church in Ballyfermot, Dublin, to pray for Walsh’s victims and all those affected by the latest details from the Murphy Report.

According to the Irish Times, parish priest Fr Michael O’Kelly said people were shocked by the extent of the abuse.

“In the end of the day there is nothing we can say that will help; words can seem so empty,” he was quoted as saying.

“Our first thoughts are for the victims and what we’ve just heard. Their desire was to be heard and to be believed, that was the most important thing that they wanted from all of this.” Read more at www.christiantoday.com

 

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Pope: Society needs better health care systems | Sounds exactly like Obamacare! He is following orders!

Amplify’d from www.catholicnews.com

Society needs better health care systems, pope says in message

By John Thavis Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a message for the 2011 World Day of the Sick, Pope Benedict XVI called on civil authorities to invest more in health care systems, especially for the poor and needy. The pope also thanked the many thousands of Catholic health workers and volunteers who help care for the sick and elderly. The World Day of the Sick is celebrated annually Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Vatican released the text of the papal message Dec. 18. Pope Benedict expressed his affection for all those suffering from disease or infirmity, and he prayed that they receive "peace and healing of the heart." He said sickness can be seen with "eyes of hope" if one understands that through his death and resurrection, Christ "did not remove evil and suffering from the world, but defeated them at their root." "For this World Day of the Sick, I invite the authorities to invest more and more in health care systems that can assist and support the suffering, especially the poorest and the most needy," he said. The pope offered a special greeting to young people who experience sickness, and appealed to all youths to recognize Christ in those who are poor, sick, suffering and in difficulty. He asked young people to "create bridges of love and solidarity, so that no one may feel alone." The pope said care for the sick is a mark of a civilized society. "A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through 'compassion' is a cruel and inhuman society," he said, quoting from his 2007 encyclical, "Spe Salvi" (on Christian hope). END Read more at www.catholicnews.com

 

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Office of Inquisition: Defying the Vatican

USF honors women's religious group under investigation by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Office of Inquisition)

Amplify’d from www.calcatholic.com

Defying the Vatican

USF honors women's religious group under investigation by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Jesuit-run University of San Francisco honored the Leadership Conference of Women Religious at its fall commencement exercises on Friday, Dec. 17, in what the National Catholic Reporter characterized as “a signal to the Vatican.” In 2009, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was under doctrinal review because of the “tenor and doctrinal content” of various addresses at the organization’s annual assemblies since 2001. That investigation is still under way, along with a series of apostolic visitations to women’s religious communities in the U.S. More recently, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was among a handful of Catholic groups that endorsed President Obama’s healthcare reform bill despite opposition from U.S. Catholic bishops. That action prompted George Wesolek, director of the San Francisco archdiocese’s Office of Public Policy & Social Concerns to write a letter published in the archdiocesan newspaper that said, in part, “For years, most of the leadership of the LCWR and the Catholic hospitals (most of which are owned by these very same LCWR leaders) have been advancing a view of Catholic social teaching that reflects a vision that they learned in the 60s and 70s – a tired feminism that distorts the role of women and has at its center the freedom of women to ‘choose’ to kill the infants in their womb if they so desire.” “Speaking at the College of Arts and Sciences commencement will be Sister Mary Hughes, O.P.,” said a news item posted on the USF website. “Sr. Hughes will accept an honorary doctoral degree on behalf of the Leadership Conference of Catholic Women Religious (LCWR), of which she is president, for their contributions to the country and to the Catholic Church.” The event was held at St. Ignatius Church on the USF campus. “We honor Catholic Women Religious to recognize their uncompromising commitment to serve those underrepresented and underprivileged with love and concern,” USF president Fr. Stephen Privett, S.J., was quoted as saying in the university’s announcement. “The sisters are extraordinary persons of faith devoted to building a better world through prayer and hard work. They offer an inspiring example of service in the modern world for our students and graduates.” The National Catholic Reporter said the honor bestowed on the LCWR “appears to be yet another visible contrary endorsement of the work of the women and one more signal to the Vatican that U.S. Catholics are not at all pleased with the Vatican moves.” “The investigations have revealed a rift between Rome and a large section of U.S. Catholics,” said the Reporter. “When the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith first told LCWR it was beginning an doctrinal inquiry, a letter to LCWR said the congregation was especially concerned that LCWR had not adequately held the official church line on abortion, women’s ordination and the primacy of the Catholic faith as the means of universal salvation.” According to the Reporter, “Cardinal Franc Rode, whose congregation heads the Apostolic Visitation is expected to retire in the coming weeks. Many women religious hope his successor will by more sympathetic to their work and could have a greater understanding for the way U.S. Catholics view their women religious.” “Meanwhile,” said the Reporter, “scores of U.S. and international religious and lay groups have issued statements in support for the U.S. women religious during the past eighteen months. However, the USF is the first university to honor the women with an honorary degree.” “Given both the tenor and the doctrinal content of various addresses given at the annual assemblies of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the intervening years, this Dicastery can only conclude that the problems which had motivated its request in 2001 continue to be present,” Cardinal Levada said in a letter announcing the Vatican’s review of the group. The Catholic Key, diocesan newspaper of the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, reported that a 2007 keynote address at the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious had provoked “particular concern and discussion.” The address, “A Marginal Life: Pursuing Holiness in the 21st Century,” was given by Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Laurie Brink, in which she discussed the decline of many women’s religious orders and criticized some successful new orders as “acquiescent” to others’ expectations, the Catholic News Agency reported. Sr. Laurie said a “sojourning congregation” was “the dynamic option for Religious Life.” Such a congregation, she said, involves “moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus.” “A sojourning congregation is no longer ecclesiastical,” said Sr. Laurie. “It has grown beyond the bounds of institutional religion. Its search for the Holy may have begun rooted in Jesus as the Christ, but deep reflection, study and prayer have opened it up to the spirit of the Holy in all of creation. Religious titles, institutional limitations, ecclesiastical authorities no longer fit this congregation, which in most respects is Post-Christian.” USF’s decision to honor the LCWR is not the first time the Jesuit school has singled out dissident nuns for acclaim. On Nov. 23, USF’s Office of University Ministry honored Sr. Carol Keehan, the leader of the Catholic Health Association who openly defied U.S. bishops on passage of 'healthcare reform' and supported the appointment of pro-abortion bureaucrats by the Obama Administration. Read more at www.calcatholic.com

 

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Italian judge upholds seizure of Vatican assets

$30 million held in money-laundering investigation

ROME — A judge has upheld the seizure of euro23 million ($30.2 million) in Vatican assets in a money-laundering probe involving the Holy See's bank, the second time the bank has been denied the return of the funds. Italian authorities seized the funds in September as part of a probe into whether Vatican banking had violated Italian laws mandating transparency in money movement — a key weapon in the war against organized crime and political and business corruption.

News reports quoted Judge Maria Teresa Covatta as saying the intended beneficiaries of the transactions from the Vatican bank account at a Rome bank were still unclear. The Vatican bank is formally named Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, in Italian. Covatta said that nothing had changed in the way the Vatican guards the identity of its clients since its initial appeal in late October. She added that Italian authorities lack "the possibility of checking" the identities of the beneficiaries of clients receiving checks or fund transfers through Italian banks while IOR continues to conduct business in this way. Court documents indicate that prosecutors have alleged that clergy might have been front men for corrupt businessmen and mobsters. The Vatican has blamed the seizure on a "misunderstanding" and has said it can clear up the matter. In September, Italian financial police seized assets from an IOR account at the Rome branch of Credito Artigiano SpA after investigators alleged that the Vatican had failed to provide information about the origin or destination of the funds. Most of the euro23 million ($30.2 million) was destined for JP Morgan investment bank in Frankfurt, with the rest going to another Italian bank, Banca del Fucino. In a separate case, police say they uncovered money laundering involving the use of a Vatican Bank account by a priest whose uncle was convicted of Mafia association. Read more at www.msnbc.msn.com

 

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WikiLeaks warns BofA customers

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 19 (UPI) -- WikiLeaks apparently is urging Bank of America customers to move their money "somewhere safer" after the bank blocked payments for the group.

The Bank of America announced Friday night it was joining other financial institutions in refusing to process payments intended for the anti-secrecy network.

The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported a tweet, believed to come from WikiLeaks, asking "all people who love freedom close out their accounts at Bank of America." That was followed by a message: "Does your business do business with Bank of America? Our advice is to place your funds somewhere safer."

A Bank of America spokesman Saturday declined to comment further about WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange has hinted of a coming "megaleak" on a major bank, and speculation centers on the Bank of America as the target.

Other companies that have cut ties to WikiLeaks have faced cyberattacks from hackers. MasterCard, for example, said its Web site was brought down but that card transactions were not compromised. Read more at www.upi.com

 

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