127 Individuals Charged in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Manhattan, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; and Providence, R.I.

Amplify’d from newyork.fbi.gov

Ninety-One Leaders, Members, and Associates of La Cosa Nostra Families in Four Districts Charged with Racketeering and Related Crimes, Including Murder and Extortion Total of 127 Individuals Charged in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Manhattan, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; and Providence, R.I.

WASHINGTON—Ninety-one members and associates of seven organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra (LCN), including the New England LCN family, all five New York-based families, and the New Jersey-based Decavalcante family have been charged with federal crimes in 16 indictments returned in four judicial districts, announced Attorney General Eric Holder. Another 36 defendants also have been charged for their roles in alleged associated criminal activity.

Joining in the announcement were Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Division; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta E. Lynch; U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara; U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul J. Fishman; U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Peter F. Neronha; Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor Daniel R. Petrole; and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.

More than 110 of the 127 charged defendants have been arrested, and will appear in federal court in the districts in which they are charged. The charges relate to a wide range of alleged illegal activity, including murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, arson, narcotics trafficking, extortion, robbery, illegal gambling and labor racketeering, in some cases occurring over decades. The indictments charge leaders of these criminal enterprises, as well as mid-level managers, numerous soldiers and associates, and others alleged to be corrupt union officials.

“Today’s arrests and charges mark an important step forward in disrupting La Cosa Nostra’s illegal activities,” said Attorney General Holder. “This largest single day operation against La Cosa Nostra sends the message that our fight against traditional organized crime is strong, and our commitment is unwavering. As we’ve seen for decades, mafia operations can negatively impact our economy—not only through a wide array of fraud schemes but also through the illegal imposition of mob “taxes” at our ports, in our construction industries, and on our small businesses. The violence outlined in these indictments, and perpetrated across decades, shows the lengths to which these individuals are willing to go to control their criminal enterprises and intimidate others. The Department of Justice and our partners are determined to eradicate these criminal enterprises once and for all, and to bring their members to justice.”

“Some believe organized crime is a thing of the past; unfortunately, there are still people who extort, intimidate, and victimize innocent Americans. The costs legitimate businesses are forced to pay are ultimately borne by American consumers nationwide,” said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III.

“Today’s indictments represent a major milestone in the Office of Inspector General’s statutory responsibility to investigate labor racketeering and organized crime influence and control of unions, employee benefit plans and their workers,” said Daniel R. Petrole, Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor. “Through the alleged domination of these unions, these investigations revealed that union officials and associates and members of La Cosa Nostra Organized Crime Families conspired to steal from and extort hard working union members. My office remains committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to combat these types of crimes.”

Among those charged are Luigi Manocchio, 83, the former boss of the New England LCN; Andrew Russo, 76, street boss of the Colombo family; Benjamin Castellazzo, 73, acting underboss of the Colombo family; Richard Fusco, 74, consigliere of the Colombo family; Joseph Corozzo, 69, consigliere of the Gambino family; and Bartolomeo Vernace, 61, a member of the Gambino family administration. In total, more than 30 official members of the LCN, or “made men,” were charged in the indictments unsealed today.

According to the indictments, the LCN operates in numerous cities around the United States and routinely engages in violence and threatens violence to extort money from victims, eliminate rivals, settle vendettas and obstruct justice. In the New York City-area, five LCN families principally operate: the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese families. The Decavalcante family operates principally in New Jersey, while the New England LCN family operates in areas including Providence and Boston. Each LCN family has a hierarchical structure, with an administration comprised of a boss, underboss and consigliere at the top overseeing crews of criminals led by captains, who in turn supervise organized crime soldiers and associates.

In Brooklyn, 12 indictments were unsealed today charging 85 defendants from all five New York-based families as well as defendants from the Decavalcante family. One indictment (United States v. Russo) charges 39 defendants, including the entire leadership of the Colombo family not currently in prison—street boss Andrew Russo, acting underboss Benjamin Castellazzo and consigliere Richard Fusco—as well as four of the crime family’s official captains and eight of its soldiers, with crimes including racketeering and racketeering conspiracy committed during an approximately 20-year period. Among other acts of violence, Colombo family acting captain Anthony Russo is charged with the 1993 murder of Colombo family underboss Joseph Scopo during an internecine war among family members. According to court documents, Scopo was shot in the passenger seat of a car outside of his residence in Ozone Park, Queens, N.Y. The Russo indictment also charges numerous crimes of extortion and fraud, including charges related to the Colombo crime family’s alleged long-standing control of Cement and Concrete Workers Union Local 6A, and its alleged defrauding of the City of New York in regard to an annually held feast, the Figli di Santa Rosalia. The indictment is based in part on hundreds of hours of recorded conversations of members and associates of the Colombo family, including meetings of the Colombo family administration.

Two of the indictments returned in Brooklyn (United States v. Vernace and United States v. Dragonetti) charge 13 members and associates of the Gambino family, including Bartolomeo Vernace, a member of the current Gambino family administration. The Vernace indictment includes, among others, charges against Vernace in regard to the 1981 double murder of Richard Godkin and John D’Agnese inside the Shamrock Bar in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens. D’Agnese died from a single gunshot to the face and Godkin died from a point-blank gunshot to his chest. The Dragonetti indictment charges numerous acts of extortion, including a conspiracy by the Gambino family to extort a New York City cement manufacturer, as well as various construction companies and sites outlined on the crime family’s so-called “Construction List.”

In nine of the indictments charged in Brooklyn (United States v. Alesi, United States v. Balzano, United States v. Caramanica, United States v. Cicalese, United States v. Colandra, United States v. Gallo, United States v. Gioia, United States v. Messina and United States v. Samperi), members and associates of the Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Decavalcante families are charged variously with racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, extortion, perjury, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, receipt of stolen property and possession of contraband cigarettes. For example, in United States v. Messina, Bonanno family associate Neil Messina is charged with the murder of Joseph Pistone during a home invasion robbery in 1992. The Alesi indictment charges, among other things, a former member of the Suffolk County, N.Y., Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit with obstructing a state investigation of illegal gambling businesses by tipping off the business to upcoming law enforcement raids. The Cicalese indictment charges three members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) with committing perjury during testimony before a federal grand jury investigating organized crime’s infiltration of the waterfront and the ILA.

Another indictment (United States v. Depiro), being prosecuted jointly by the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of New York, charges 15 defendants with various racketeering related crimes, including extortion of members of ILA Local Union 1235 and other New Jersey ILA locals, as well as for acts of illegal gambling through the management of a sports betting operation and a poker club, and extortionate collection of credit related to gambling debts. Certain defendants, who include numerous current and former officials in local ILA unions based in New Jersey, are alleged to be affiliated with the Genovese family. According to court documents, the Gambino and Genovese families have engaged in a multidecade conspiracy to influence and control the unions and businesses that work on the New York-area piers. According to court documents, Stephen Depiro managed the Genovese family’s illegal activities on the New Jersey piers, including the Genovese family’s long-standing conspiracy to extort ILA members each year during the Christmas period, when the longshoremen annually receive a portion of royalty payments paid by shipping companies using the ports of New York and New Jersey. Depiro and others allegedly conspired with his cousin, Nunzio LaGrasso, an associate of the Genovese family and the vice-president of ILA Local 1478 in Newark, to extort ILA members each year.

In Manhattan, 26 defendants, primarily from the Gambino family, have been charged in two indictments that include charges related to racketeering conspiracy, murder, narcotics trafficking, extortion, assault, arson, loansharking, illegal gambling, mail and wire fraud, and stolen property crimes. Among the defendants charged are Joseph Corrozo, 69, who has served at times as the Gambino family consigliere; Bartolomeo Vernace, 61, a member of the Gambino family administration, who is also charged in Brooklyn; Gambino family captains Alphonse Trucchio, 34, and Louis Mastrangelo, 66; and Gambino soldiers Michael Roccaforte, 34, Anthony Moscatiello, 40, and Vincenzo Frogiero, 43.

According to court documents filed in the Manhattan cases, the criminal conduct allegedly occurred for more than two decades, from the late 1980s to approximately 2010. Gambino associate Todd LaBarca, 39, is charged with the 2001 conspiracy to murder and murder of Gambino family associate Marty Bosshart. According to the indictment, Bosshart was murdered on Jan. 2, 2002, with a single gunshot to the back of his head, and his body was left on the side of the road in Queens. According to court documents, a cooperating witness consensually recorded more than 100 conversations with other members and associates of the Gambino family, including conversations with LaBarca about the murder. In addition, according to court documents, the cocaine and marijuana trafficking involved multiple thousands of kilograms of the illegal drugs.

Finally, an indictment unsealed in Providence charges two defendants—longtime boss of the New England LCN Luigi Manocchio, 83, and LCN associate Thomas Iafrate, 61—with extortion and extortion conspiracy. The extortion conspiracy allegedly spans almost two decades of illegal activity and involves the extortion of local pornographic bookstores and nightclubs, including the Satin Doll and the Cadillac Lounge, both in Providence.

The charges carry a variety of maximum penalties, up to life in prison on certain charges.

The charges announced today are merely allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

The defendants charged in each district will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys from each of the respective districts in which the cases were charged, including the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the District of Rhode Island, and the District of New Jersey. The case charged in Providence is also being prosecuted by trial attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section.

The cases were variously investigated by the FBI’s New York and Newark Field Offices, and the Boston Division’s Providence Resident Agency; the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; the New York City Police Department; the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; the U.S. Secret Service; the Suffolk County Police Department; the Rhode Island State Police; and the Providence Police Department. The Drug Enforcement Administration; the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; the U.S. Marshals Service in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; the Monmouth County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office; the New York State Police; the New Jersey State Police; the New Jersey Department of Corrections; the U.S. Army-Ft. Hamilton; and the Italian National Police also provided assistance.

Copies of the indictment can be found at www.justice.gov/opa/lacosanostra.htm. Read more at newyork.fbi.gov

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne34

Brunswick Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Posting Ads on Craigslist to Entice a Minor to Have Sex

Amplify’d from baltimore.fbi.gov

Brunswick Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Posting Ads on Craigslist to Entice a Minor to Have Sex

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg sentenced Richard Edward Woodward, age 52, of Brunswick, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by supervised release for life, for using a computer to entice a minor to have sex.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins.

According to Woodward’s plea agreement, in October and December of 2009, Woodward used his computer to post four advertisements on Craigslist seeking sex with a minor. After the Frederick County Police Department was notified of the postings, an undercover detective established an e-mail account to respond to an advertisement, portraying himself as a 14-year-old boy. Thereafter, Woodward exchanged a series of sexually explicit e-mails with the “boy” in January of 2010 in which he sent child pornography.

On January 29, 2010 Woodward arranged to meet the “boy” at a park in Frederick, Maryland. Woodward told the boy that he could teach him how to perform sex acts and that he would bring boy briefs for the minor, as well as lubricant and condoms. Law enforcement arrested Woodward at the park. A search warrant was executed and police seized from his car boy briefs, a pornography video, condoms and lubricant, and child pornography images from Woodward’s home computer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Details about Maryland’s program are available at www.justice.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation, and recognized Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel M. Yasser, who prosecuted the case. Read more at baltimore.fbi.gov

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne32

Complaints to Police About Man Peeking Into Girls' Windows Leads to Cache of More Than 13,000 Child Porn Images

Amplify’d from sanfrancisco.fbi.gov

San Ramon Man Sentenced to 57 Months for Possession of Child Pornography Complaints to Police About Man Peeking Into Girls' Windows Leads to Cache of More Than 13,000 Child Pornography Images

OAKLAND, CA—Dave Prem Chhabria was sentenced yesterday to 57 months in prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

Pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Chhabria, 30, pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 2010, to possession of child pornography in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section 2252(a)(4)(B). According to the plea agreement, Chhabria admitted to possessing computer equipment and media that was found to contain more than 13,000 images of child pornography, and more than 200 child pornography videos.

Chhabria first came to the attention of the San Ramon police when members of the public complained that he had been seen peering into the bedroom windows of young girls, and on one occasion had aimed a flashlight into a 13-year-old girl’s bedroom while she was undressing for bed. Chhabria later admitted to police that he had used Google Earth software to plot escape routes if he was ever caught peering into young girls’ bedrooms, and would time his visits based on when he thought girls would be trying on new clothes for school.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton following a guilty plea to a one count information charging possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). Judge Hamilton also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release. The defendant is currently in custody.

Owen Martikan is the Assistant United States Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Elise Etter. The prosecution is the result of a one-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with the San Ramon Police Department.

Further Information:

Case #: CR10-0803 PJH

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by e-mail at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov. Read more at sanfrancisco.fbi.gov

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne2y

Production of Child Pornography Results in More Than 27 Years in Prison for 23-Year-Old Austin Man

Amplify’d from houston.fbi.gov

Production of Child Pornography Results in More Than 27 Years in Prison for 23-Year-Old Austin Man

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—A 23-year-old Austin man convicted of producing child pornography has been sentenced to more than 27 years in federal prison without parole, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

Timothy Cyrus Flores, 23, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced late Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, by Senior United States District Judge John D. Rainey to 327 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. Judge Rainey ordered Flores to register as a sex offender and for the duration of his term of supervised release must comply with any number of standard and special conditions designed to protect children and limit Flores’ access to the Internet.

Indicted in July 2010, Flores was convicted of producing child pornography after pleading guilty to the federal felony offense in October 2010. At the time of his re-arraignment, Flores admitted to filming and photographing his sexual assaults of a young child contained in the photos and videos discovered by the FBI at his residence among other images of child pornography. Flores further admitted to having committed the assaults on the child while residing in Corpus Christi, Texas.

An investigation into the sending and receiving of child pornography brought Flores to the attention of law enforcement after a cell phone number utilized by Flores was found to have sent child pornography to another individual who was under investigation for possession of child pornography. In February 2009, agents with the Austin office of the FBI conducted a search of the cell phone and computers possessed by Flores at his Austin apartment. A forensic analysis of these devices led to the discovery of numerous images and videos of child pornography, many of which had been previously identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as known child victims. After the analysis was received by the investigating agent, he recognized a distinctive article of clothing found in some of the child pornography images as clothing seen in Flores’ apartment at the time of the search. In June 2010, FBI agents confronted Flores with their discovery leading to his admitting the assaults on the child. Agents identified the child and confirmed the sexual assaults had indeed occurred.

In handing down the sentence yesterday, Judge John Rainey noted the need to protect the public from Flores as well as the need to deter others from engaging in other similar conduct.

In custody without bond since his June 2010 arrest, Flores will remain in custody pending his transfer to Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future where he will serve his sentence.

The charges and conviction are the result of the investigation conducted by the Austin and Corpus Christi offices of the FBI. This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Duke, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Read more at houston.fbi.gov

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne2x

Amplify’d from www.debbieschlussel.com

FUNNY Video: America’s Finest “Chase a Suspect”

By Debbie Schlussel

Ever since the live televising of the O. J. chase on the California highway, the live TV coverage of police chases has gotten silly and out of hand. Sometimes, the moronic anchors covering it live are caught in a quandary.  Hey, police officers gotta eat, too.

Read more at www.debbieschlussel.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne2w

Amplify’d from news.adventist.org

In Azerbaijan, Adventists questioned, accused of illegal worship, evangelism

Loopholes frustrate registration process for minority religions 20 Jan 2011, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ANN staff

Tensions between Seventh-day Adventists and government authorities in Azerbaijan increased last month when officials interrupted a church worship service in Sumgait to question members.

State authorities reportedly searched the meeting place, confiscating church property -- including hundreds of books and DVDs -- and accusing members of meeting illegally. Officials have conducted similar seizures of church property in recent years.

Religious liberty advocates said the incident stems from a recent parliamentary vote, which sharply increases fines for unauthorized worship and evangelism in the country. State officials told Forum 18 News that the congregation did not have the required permission to meet.

Azerbaijan's constitution allows for religious freedom, but only for registered faith groups whose churches have official permission to meet. While Adventists have sought registration for the Sumgait congregation since 2003, the process is fraught with delays and denials, local religious liberty advocates said.

Despite repeated meetings with authorities, registration applications are always returned or met with silence, they said.

Next, local church leaders plan to meet with Azerbaijan's Secretary of Religious Affairs, hoping to find a solution.

"We hope that the authorities will recognize the right of a community of believers -- which is not a threat to the security of the state -- to exist and worship according to its traditions," said John Graz, director of the Adventist world church's department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty. Read more at news.adventist.org

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne2m

Amplify’d from gawker.com

The Definitive Account of Daniel Pearl's Death

A lengthy new report on the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl says that a photo of a hand definitively proves that 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed killed and decapitated Pearl, on video.

The report from the Center for Public Integrity (which is over 80 pages—the Washington Post has it all here) says that U.S. officials matched the veins in the hand seen on a video decapitating Pearl to the veins in the hand of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who's currently in Guantanamo Bay, never to be freed. It was confirmation of KSM's own confession to the CIA. Here is the WaPo's summary of Pearl's awful end:

Mohammed slashed Pearl's throat, killing him, but one of his accomplices failed to operate the video camera, which they had brought to capture the murder for propaganda purposes. Mohammed restaged the killing, this time decapitating Pearl, according to the report. He then dismembered Pearl's body, and it was buried on the compound. Guards washed the bloody floor and then prayed, foreheads to the ground, on the same surface where their prisoner had just been killed, the report said.

[Photo: AP]

Send an email to the author of this post at Hamilton@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne2k

Amplify’d from www.ydr.com

Activist announces York council bid

Joanne Borders will run for one of three available seats on York City Council.

By EMILY OPILO Daily Record/Sunday News

York City Council candidate Joanne Borders. (SUBMITTED) York, PA - Community activist Joanne Borders has announced a bid for York City Council. Borders, 65, is a resident of West Princess Street and a former city employee. She has served with a number of community organizations including the Salem Square Community Association, York City Dollars for Scholars, Weed and Seed, York City Police Partnership, AARP, Foundry Plaza Inc. and boards for the Lincoln and Helen Thackston charter schools. Borders will run for one of three seats up for re-election this fall. Councilwoman Toni Smith plans to run again, but council President Genevieve Ray has said she will not. Councilwoman Carol Hill-Evans remains undecided. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne2i

Graffiti death threats made against Governor Jerry Brown in Santa Ana

Amplify’d from caivn.org

Graffiti death threats made against Governor Brown in Santa Ana

CBS Los Angeles

by W. E. Messamore Sat, Jan 22nd 2011

So far, two death threats against California Governor Jerry Brown have been found by Santa Ana police, scrawled in graffiti on street-side walls and setting February 14th- Valentine's Day- as the date for the threatened assassination attempt. Police are investigating a link to similar graffiti from earlier this month, which called for violence against Catholics and directed racial slurs at ethnic minorities.

Police were called early Thursday morning to investigate the first of the graffiti death threats on a busy Santa Ana street, which read "We gonna kill GOV. BROWN 2/14/11." A few hours later, another Santa Ana police officer discovered a second graffiti threat saying "26 MORE DAYS 4 BROWN" with a swastika painted next to it and the 26 covering up a 27 to suggest a countdown toward February 14th and the threatened attempt on Gov. Brown's life.

Santa Ana's police spokesman, Corporal Anthony Bertagna said:

"We're taking this very seriously, of course, especially when they put out swastikas and threaten the governor, and with all that's going on in Tucson we have to take this seriously."

Bertagna was obviously referring to the recent shooting massacre which killed a sitting federal judge and nine-year-old girl, among others, and critically wounded a U.S. Congresswoman.  While the only suspect in the Tucson shooting, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, has shown every sign of severe mental illness- rather than any coherent political or ideological motivations for his violent rampage- the swastika in one of this week's death threats, as well as the possible connection to earlier ethnically-charged graffiti has police worried that this is an ideologically motivated act of terrorism against ethnic minorities and Roman Catholics. Gov. Jerry Brown is a Roman Catholic who attended private Jesuit schools throughout his life and even studied at a Jesuit seminary for some time to become a Catholic priest.

The Santa Ana homicide department is continuing to investigate the case in concert with the California Highway Patrol. All media inquiries to the governor's office are being referred to the California Highway Patrol, which has the following statement for the public:

"The CHP takes seriously any threat made to a public official and investigates each one. For security and investigatory reasons, the CHP does not discuss details of any threats or the investigative steps taken to identify those responsible for making them." Read more at caivn.org

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne22

Ex Corde Ecclesiae in America

Amplify’d from www.catholicculture.org

Ex Corde Ecclesiae in America

by Dr. Jeff Mirus

This year each Catholic college and university president will meet with his local bishop to review institutional progress in implementing The Application of Ex Corde Ecclesiae in the United States, which the American bishops put into effect in 2001. This application grew out of Pope John Paul II’s promulgation in 1990 of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, an Apostolic Constitution on Catholic universities, which was the first shot in a slow but systematic effort to renew and reform Catholic higher education around the world.

“Ex corde ecclesiae” means “from the heart of the Church”. The title represents the traditional Catholic perception, and John Paul II’s firm conviction, that an authentic Catholic university can develop properly only in a filial relationship with the Church, accepting her doctrines and values, guided by her Magisterium, and fostering a deeply Catholic understanding of all of reality. As the opening paragraph of the Apostolic Constitution states: “A Catholic University's privileged task is ‘to unite existentially by intellectual effort two orders of reality that too frequently tend to be placed in opposition as though they were antithetical: the search for truth, and the certainty of already knowing the fount of truth’.” The quotation is from an address in 1980 by Pope John Paul II at the Catholic Institute of Paris.

Specific Norms

The entire document is well worth reading, but the most important juridical portion of it is contained in Article 2, “The Nature of a Catholic University”, which enumerates the following norms:

“A Catholic University, like every university, is a community of scholars representing various branches of human knowledge. It is dedicated to research, to teaching, and to various kinds of service in accordance with its cultural mission.”

“A Catholic University, as Catholic, informs and carries out its research, teaching, and all other activities with Catholic ideals, principles and attitudes. It is linked with the Church either by a formal, constitutive and statutory bond or by reason of an institutional commitment made by those responsible for it.”

“Every Catholic University is to make known its Catholic identity, either in a mission statement or in some other appropriate public document, unless authorized otherwise by the competent ecclesiastical Authority. The University, particularly through its structure and its regulations, is to provide means which will guarantee the expression and the preservation of this identity in a manner consistent with §2.”

“Catholic teaching and discipline are to influence all university activities, while the freedom of conscience of each person is to be fully respected46. Any official action or commitment of the University is to be in accord with its Catholic identity.”

“A Catholic University possesses the autonomy necessary to develop its distinctive identity and pursue its proper mission. Freedom in research and teaching is recognized and respected according to the principles and methods of each individual discipline, so long as the rights of the individual and of the community are preserved within the confines of the truth and the common good47.”

The U.S. bishops took nine years to develop a specific approach to the implementation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, and two more years to implement the norms. During this process there was considerable consultation with Catholic university administrators. This undoubtedly made the bishops more sensitive to some of the unique problems faced by American institutions, but it also gave them a preview of the excuses some universities are using to resist the process of regaining their Catholic identity. In any case, in addition to the broad outlines of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the bishops’ Application document emphasized a comprehensive list of specific points relating to the boards of trustees, administration, faculty and students, of which the following are a representative sample:

Each member of the board must be committed to the institution’s Catholic identity.

The university president should be Catholic and each member of the staff and faculty must be informed of the institution’s Catholic identity, mission, and practices, as well as encouraged to participate in the institution’s spiritual life as much as possible.

The university should strive to appoint Catholics to faculty positions and, wherever possible, the majority of faculty should be Catholic.

All professors must exhibit not only competence and good character but respect for Catholic doctrine.

Theology should be taught at each institution, and formal theological discussions and events should be planned to address key issues.

Both the university and the bishops have the right to expect theologians to present authentic Catholic teaching. Theology professors have a “duty to be faithful to the Church’s Magisterium as the authoritative interpreter of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.”

Catholics who teach theology must have a mandatum (a license or approval to teach) from the competent ecclesiastical authority.

Students should have the opportunity, and Catholic students have the right, to be educated in the Church’s moral and religious principles and social teachings and to participate in the life of faith.

Excuses

I mentioned that the bishops have had ample opportunity to become acquainted with the excuses various institutions would use to resist the process of Catholic reform and renewal. It may prove useful to review the four principal excuses here.

Academic Freedom: The first and most common is the claim that academic freedom necessitates the complete independence of professors in all universities from any prior intellectual commitment to truth, let alone submission to the Magisterium of the Church. This excuse misunderstands not only the nature of intellectual inquiry but the liberating effect that the proper understanding of some truths has on the effective exploration of others. Not even secular scholars start from a position of complete ignorance or agnosticism in examining each new academic question. If they did, they would be starting over with each new question—or with each new day and even each new moment—and they would never make any progress at all.

Moreover, once one grasps any given truth, that understanding becomes an important step in investigating and understanding other truths, which must always fit together in describing one seamless reality. In addition, Catholics recognize, as John Paul II put it, “the fount of truth”. There can be no more certain source of truth than Divine Revelation as authentically interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church. The truths brought to our understanding through Revelation shed a magnificent light on reality, and so ought to enable Catholics, all other things being equal, to make greater progress in exploring other aspects of reality than anyone else. Finally, it is naturally the defining note of a Catholic university that its professors generally start from a position of accepting and understanding Catholic doctrine, viewing this as an important foundation for a fruitful intellectual life. Thus academic freedom can never be properly cited either as a reason to avoid prior truth commitments or, in a Catholic institution, as a way of “protecting” oneself from the influence of truths known and taught by the Catholic Church.

American Peculiarities: The excuse most likely to be encountered in the second place arises from the so-called peculiarity of the American situation. The argument is that US law restrict something, or Federal policy requires something, or American custom demands something that prevents American universities from maintaining a Catholic identity. In general, however, these requirements relate either to the type of institutional governance required to grant degrees or the ideological disposition of programs which operate under governmental grants. (But in the latter instance academic freedom might well be threatened, and we have a right to expect a resistance which is only too often erroneously directed against the Church.)

The requirements of institutional governance to grant degrees in the United States typically relate to keeping ultimate institutional control in a board of trustees rather than in the employees of the institution; this has nothing to do with what is necessary to maintain a Catholic identity. And any Catholic institution, if it is to maintain its integrity, must refuse grants which require it to compromise its institutional identity. This is true even if it means the sacrifice of an important program or of leadership in some particular area. It will undoubtedly be true that authentically Catholic institutions, in an increasingly militantly secular society, will operate at a disadvantage in one respect or another. But it can hardly help a Catholic institution to become less Catholic to gain a material advantage. The result would be to make society as a whole more militantly secular.

Elite Status: The third excuse is the need to maintain an institution’s “elite status”. Many allegedly Catholic universities (Notre Dame is a well-documented case) have made a point in recent decades of hiring a broad range of professors with non-Catholic (or even anti-Catholic) commitments, whether secular or alternatively religious, on the grounds that, first, the university is getting the very best people for each position and, second, the university thereby presents a truly diverse academic image to the world, which somehow makes it a better representative of what a university should be. Unfortunately, both of these reasons rely heavily on understandings of “excellence” borrowed from secular culture.

Clearly someone might have reached the status of a leader in his or her field as much for fitting in well with the prevailing secular cultural atmosphere as for truly being the one clear “best” practitioner of an art or science. And when it comes to seeking truth, there can be no intrinsic superiority in populating a faculty with people who hold as many different ideas and beliefs as possible rather than with those, primarily, who accept the Catholic Faith. To be sure, intellectual diversity can help in avoiding those academic pitfalls which arise from complacency or narrowness, but it can also set people back a good distance on the path of understanding reality, and this very frequently has enormous negative consequences for fruitful scholarship. Catholic universities should not allow “excellence” to be defined for them by secular approbation, which so often takes its cues from fads or the support of favorite causes; they should seek the best faculty to fulfill their own internal purposes; if they do so, their faculties will almost always be predominantly—though at times not exclusively—Catholic.

Theological Autonomy: The fourth and final major excuse is the demand for theological autonomy. Here it is argued that theologians have a vital role to play in the development of Christian understanding, and that this role will suffer enormously if the decisions of those outside the theological fraternity (that is, popes and bishops) have a controlling voice in the ongoing discussion. Theologians who think this way, and university administrators who agree with them, frequently talk about the absolute necessity that review and criticism be restricted to their theological peers. Of course by “theological peers” they mean other mostly Modernist academic theologians like themselves, not a group of theologians which professes complete obedience to the Magisterium of the Church.

Be that as it may, such theologians misunderstand the very nature of their craft. It is certainly true that a new theological idea or development can sometimes be misunderstood or unfairly mistrusted by those in ecclesiastical authority, who might in consequence wish to put the brakes on certain lines of thought. This has happened and it will happen again. But it is not nearly so damaging as the fundamental refusal of Catholic theologians to recognize that their very discipline depends on the existence of a deposit of Faith, in Scripture and Tradition, which can be authentically interpreted only by the authority of the Catholic Church. Lacking this, there is no basis for theology to be anything but idle speculation—or what Modernists would perhaps prefer to call the articulation of the religious consciousness of each particular age. This is an argument requiring no intelligence to resist. Courage to oppose the Lollipop Guild is all that is necessary.

Conclusion

A number of Catholic colleges and universities which had somewhat gleefully downgraded their Catholic identity during the heyday of secularist euphoria in the 1960’s and 1970’s have since begun to take seriously their need to restore that identity, especially since the promulgation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae. The Cardinal Newman Society monitors these developments, reports on them, and maintains a slowly growing list of institutions it thinks have gotten their identities back. The process is taking a very long time, of course, and that is probably mostly because the rest of the Church has not been healthy or strong enough to apply the necessary pressure.

But it is also true that Catholic universities, in the United States and elsewhere, tend to be tough nuts to crack. Most of them are now independent of direct ecclesiastical control, so it takes a long process of rebuilding relationships with university leaders and trustees to effect change. Some of them are in the hands of religious orders which themselves have deep, perhaps insurmountable, problems with fidelity to the Church; Jesuit schools are the leading example. Moreover, this year’s initiative of having each president meet with his local bishop will inevitably have spotty results, because the American episcopate is still so varied in its own degrees of fidelity and courage. Add to this that there is only so much that even the best bishops can do without the good will of the institutional leaders in question.

For all those reasons, the 2011 round of meetings will likely be simply one more small, incremental step. That may not be ideal, but it is still a good thing. It can only hasten the day when most Catholic universities will again derive their missions from and seek their successes within the living and infinitely fruitful fount of truth, which pours forth from the heart of the Church. Read more at www.catholicculture.org

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne21

Amplify’d from www.cathnewsindia.com

Jesuits’ leader urges priests not to go it alone

Jesuit superior general Father Adolfo Nicolas

Jesuits need to collaborate with others and not work alone, said Father Adolfo Nicolas, the Jesuit superior general during his visit to Thailand.

Nowadays due to the fewer number of priests, Jesuits cannot carry out their mission alone. Rather, they need to collaborate with various sectors, Father Nicolas told about 100 Jesuits and others involved in Jesuit ministries in Thailand during his Jan. 20 welcome at Xavier Hall, the Jesuit residence in Bangkok.

Jesuits need to cooperate with people who possess the human qualities of love, hope, joy and justice, said the superior general. Jesuit priests must not become isolated and uncommunicative with people, Father Nicolas said.

The Jesuits in Thailand have been collaborating with various stakeholders, but there is room to strengthen this, said Father Paul Pollock, superior of the Jesuits in Thailand.

Father Adolfo is on a two-day visit to Thailand, before going to Cambodia and Singapore.

The Jesuit community in Thailand has 31 members, including 18 priests in Bangkok, Sam Phran and Chiang Mai. They work with refugees and migrants, prisoners, vulnerable children and students and conduct retreats. They also run a parish in Bang Saen, lecture at Saengtham College - the country’s major seminary and work with various NGOs on human rights issues.

Source: ucanews.com

Today's Indian News SC to examine dalit Christian quota Cardinal Levada, Nuncio felicitated in Bangalore SC upholds life term for missioner’s killers Report on Karnataka attacks to be submitted on Jan. 28 South Asia Nazareth nuns to go digital Read more at www.cathnewsindia.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bne1x

Amplify’d from www.digitaljournal.com

Opinion: Lady Warsi, Islamophobia and 'social acceptability'

Tory MP Baroness Warsi has set tongues wagging in Britain by saying that Islamophobia has “passed the dinner-table test” and is seen by many as normal and uncontroversial. Her speech was provocative, which is precisely why she was right to deliver it. Sayeeda Hussain Warsi was born to Pakistani parents who emigrated from Bewal, Gujar Khan, Pakistan to England and is now a Baroness, life peer, MP, Minister without Portfolio and current co-chairperson of the Conservative Party. She is also the first Muslim woman to serve in a British cabinet. Her remarks were given during a speech at Leicester University on Thursday in which she attacked what she considers to be growing religious intolerance in Britain, especially towards Muslims. After declaring that describing Muslims as being either "moderate" or "extremist can lead to misunderstanding and intolerance, she promised that she would use her influence to fight a "battle against bigotry." Examples she gave to illustrate her point included; “In the school, the kids say: 'The family next door are Muslim but they’re not too bad’. And in the road, as a woman walks past wearing a burka, the passers-by think: 'That woman’s either oppressed or is making a political statement’.” She also said - as she has often said in the past - that terrorist offences committed by a small number of Muslims should not be used to condemn all who follow Islam, and on the subject of religion as a whole she considered that ""the patronising, superficial way faith is discussed in certain quarters, including the media" for making Britain a less tolerant place for believers." The result was of course predictable. The Telegraph said that her speech was "selfish and wrong", arguing that of course there are moderate and extremist Muslims and that if she can criticize terrorists then why shouldn't the rest of British society be able to do so without being called racist? The Guardian finds that she should not have put so much emphasis on Islam at the expense of racism in general, and it too insists that it is unrealistic to claim that Muslims cannot be divided into moderates and extremists. The same kind of thing can be read in many papers, with comment and opinion raising questions about her suitability to talk about such matters given her privileged background and her sweeping generalities about Islamophobia being socially accepted. But although her speech was by no means perfect, she was quite right to make it because the criticisms (and I have one or two myself) are opening up like Russian Dolls to reveal other issues, issues that should be discussed, and in my view the most central of them involves separating Religious dogma from personal beliefs and faith. Although attacking Islam for actions carried out in its name is legitimate, using the pretext of Islam to criticize Muslims as a whole is not, just as criticizing Christianity or the bible is not a legitimate reason to attack Catholics or Jews as a whole. And this means that although attacks on Christianity as a faith by Muslims are not perceived to be menacing by many Westerners (as long as it is peaceful) Muslims must accept that others may criticise Islam or Mohamed without being called racist or without a Fatwa being taken out. Neither side can have it both ways. The difference is important because as soon as the lines become blurred racism sharpens its focus. People have the right in a free society to hold opinions on religions without having proselytism to contend with or accusing demands such as "Have you read the Koran?" or "Have you read the Bible?" shoved down their throats. I haven't read either since I was a boy and have no intention of doing so, but that doesn't stop me criticizing Islamic terrorism or the Pope and nor shall it. Religious bigotry exists and I am not going to fall into the trap of having to justify that position. Yes it is wrong that the Catholic Church abuses the guilt it instills in people, yes it is wrong to bestow the kind of power it does on priests that led to a worldwide pedophilia scandal, and it is appalling that the Vatican is one of the biggest stock market investors in the world whilst its flock are poor. But it is equally wrong to deny girls and women an education and jobs in some Muslim countries, just as it is wrong to kill people for blasphemy or hang homosexuals or bomb civilians for apostasy. These things need to be said and it is not being racist to say them. What is racist is to criticize Muslims for "taking our jobs" as is the case in Europe and to blame them for rising crime rates whilst at the same time refusing to employ them thus condemning them to relatively poor living standards. It is also racist to force Christians of foreign origin out of Baghdad and attack them. It is racist to accuse any religious or ethnic group of people as a whole of any supposed collective wrongdoing or antisocial behavior. The challenge here is to know how to draw the fine line between criticizing the excesses of religion without stigmatizing all of its followers, because that is the tipping point which leads to racist attitudes. Read more at www.digitaljournal.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bndx9