ARTICLES - HOT OFF THE FAGGOT

Army General Sicced Crack Psy-Ops Troops on Defenseless, Stupid Senators

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John Cook


Army General Sicced Crack Psy-Ops Troops on Defenseless, Stupid SenatorsRolling Stone is trying to add another general to its head count: Michael Hastings, the reporter who dispatched Gen. Stanley McChrystal last year, is reporting that Gen. William Caldwell, who is in charge of training Afghan forces, used Army psychological operations troops to try to influence VIP visitors, including U.S. senators.

That's a no-no: psy-ops troops are strictly to practice their dark arts—including paying local reporters and generally fucking with peoples' minds—on foreigners. Lying to Americans is a privilege reserved for Army public affairs officers, and deploying military psy-ops and other propaganda efforts against citizens is illegal (although some of U.S. media outlets are happy to train psy-ops troops in how to lie more effectively).

Which is why Caldwell is in trouble. Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, an information operations officer who served under Caldwell, told Hastings that the general ordered him to prepare dossiers on a host of visiting bigwigs including Sens. John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin. Holmes and his team, Hastings says, were tasked with "refining our messaging" and telling Caldwell what to "plant inside [senators'] heads" to get them to authorize more troops in Afghanistan. When Holmes resisted, citing the whole law thing, Caldwell's chief public affairs officer Col. Gregory Breazile told him, "It's not illegal if I say it isn't!"

Holmes continued to resist, and eventually found himself under investigation for what Hastings describes as trumped-up charges of drinking alcohol and "using Facebook too much." Holmes was reprimanded, and eventually Caldwell rebranded his unit as a public relations operation tasked with "informing and educating U.S., Afghan and international audiences." In other words, bumped them down from psy-ops to PR.

You can read that story as one in which a desperate general tries to use propaganda voodoo to influence American politicians, or you can read it as a story in which a general decides that some psy-ops troops under his command would be better utilized doing routine public relations duties. It's probably a little bit of both, and I suspect that whatever lies were being fed McCain et. al. would still have been lies if it were public affairs officers, rather than psy-ops troops, doing the feeding. Either way, the Army announced an investigation into the charges just hours after Rolling Stone published the story.

[Photo of Caldwell via Getty]

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LIST OF HERESIES And HUMAN TRADITIONS ADOPTED and PERPETUATED by the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

LIST OF HERESIES 
And HUMAN TRADITIONS ADOPTED and
PERPETUATED by the ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH IN THE COURSE OF 1600 YEARS

  (Compiled by Rev. Stephen L. Testa).  
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jesus In John 8:32

Notice:-These dates are in many cases approximate. Many of these heresies had been current in the Church years before, but only when they were officially adopted by a Church council and proclaimed by the pope as dogma of faith, did they become binding on Catholics.

And doctrine to be true must conform to the Word of God. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."(Isaiah 8:20)

At the Reformation in the 16th Century these heresies were repudiated as having no part in the Religion of Jesus as taught in the New Testament.

_____________________________

A.D.

1. OF ALL THE HUMAN TRADITIONS taught and practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, which are contrary to the Bible, the most ancient are the prayers for the dead and the sign of the Cross. Both began 300 years after Christ....310

2. Wax Candles introduced in church about....320

3. Veneration of angels and dead saints about....375

4. The Mass, as a daily celebration, adopted....394

5. The worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the use of the term, "Mother of God", as applied to her, originated in the Council of Ephesus in....431

6. Priests began to dress differently from the laity in....500

7. The doctrine of Purgatory was first established by Gregory the Great about the year....593

8. The Latin language, as the language of prayer and worship in churches, was also imposed by Pope Gregory I, 600 years after Christ....600

The Word of God forbids praying and teaching in an unknown tongue. (I Cor. 14:9).

9. The Bible teaches that we pray to God alone. In the primitive church never were prayers directed to Mary, or to dead saints. This practice began in the Roman Church about....600

(Matt. 11:28; Luke 1:46; Acts 10:25-26; 14:14-18)

10. The Papacy is of pagan origin. The title of pope or universal bishop, was first given to the bishop of Rome by the wicked emperor Phocas, in the year ....610

This he did to spite Bishop Ciriacus of Constantinople, who had justly excommunicated him for his having caused the assassination of his predecessor emperor Mauritius. Gregory 1, then bishop of Rome, refused the title, but his successor, Boniface 111, first assumed title "pope. "

Jesus did not appoint Peter to the headship of the apostles and forbade any such notion. (Lk. 22:24-26; Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1: 18; 1 Cor. 3:11).

Note:-Nor is there any mention in Scripture, nor in history, that Peter ever was in Rome, much less that he was pope there for 25 years; Clement, 3rd bishop of Rome, remarks that there is no real 1st century evidence that Peter ever was in Rome.

11. The kissing of the Pope's feet began in....709

It had been a pagan custom to kiss the feet of emperors. The Word of God forbids such practices. (Read Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10; 22:9).

12. The Temporal power of the Popes began....750

When Pepin, the usurper of the throne of France, descended into Italy, called by Pope Stephen 11, to war against the Italian Lombards, he defeated them and gave the city of Rome and surrounding territory to the pope. Jesus expressly forbade such a thing, and He himself refused worldly kingship. (Read Matt. 4:8-9; 20:25-26; John 18:38).

13. Worship of the cross, of Images and relics was authorized in....788

This was by order of Dowager Empress Irene of Constantinople, who first caused to pluck the eyes of her own son, Constantine VI, and then called a church council at the request of Hadrian 1, pope of Rome at that time.

Such practice is called simply IDOLATRY in the Bible, and is severely condemned. (Read Ex. 20:4; 3:17; Dent. 27: 15; Psalm 1 15).

14. Holy Water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by the priest, was authorized in....850

15. The veneration of St. Joseph began in....890

16. The baptism of bells was instituted by Pope John XIV, in the year.......965

17. Canonization of dead saints, first by Pope John XV in....995

Every believer and follower of Christ is called saint in the Bible. (Read Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2).

18. Fastting on Fridays and during Lent were imposed in the year....998

Imposed by popes said to be interested in the commerce of fish. (Bull, or permit to eat meat), some authorities say, began in the year 700. This is against the plain teaching of the Bible. (Read Matt. 15:10; I Cor. 10:25; I Tim. 4:1-3).

19. The Mass was developed gradually as a sacrifice; attendance made obligatory in the 11th century.

The Bible teaches that the sacrifice of Christ was offered once and for all, and is not to be repeated, but only commemorated in the Lord's Supper. (Read Heb. 7:27; 9:26- 28; 10:10-14).

20. The celibacy of the priesthood was decreed by Pope Hildebrand, Boniface VII, in the year....1079

Jesus imposed no such rule, nor did any of the apostles. On the contrary, St. Peter was a married man, and St. Paul says that bishops were to have wife and children. (Read I Tim. 3:2,5, and 12; Matt. 8:14-15).

21. The Rosary, or prayer beads was introduced by Peter the Hermit, in the year 1090. Copied from Hindus and Mohammedan....1090

The counting of prayers is a pagan practice and is expressly condemned by Christ. (Matt. 6:5-13).

22. The Inquisition of heretics was instituted by the Council of Verona in the year 1184. Jesus never taught the use of force to spread His religion....1184

23. The sale of Indulgences, commonly regarded as a purchase of forgiveness and a permit to indulge in sin, began in the year....1190

Christianity, as taught in the Bible, condemns such a traffic, and it was the protest against this traffic that brought on the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.

24. The dogma of Transubstantiation was decreed by Pope Innocent III, in the year....1215

By this doctrine the priest pretends to perform a daily miracle by changing a wafer into the body of Christ, and then he pretends to eat Him alive in the presence of his people during Mass. The Bible condemns such absurdities; for the Lord's Supper is simply a memorial of the sacrifice of Christ. The spiritual presence of Christ is implied in the Lord's Supper. (Read Luke 22:19-20; John 6:35; 1 Cor. 11:26).

25. Confession of sins to the priest at least once a year was instituted by Pope Innocent III, in the Lateran Council, in the year....1215

The Bible commands us to confess our sins direct to God. (Read Psa. 51:1-10; Luke 7:48; 15:21; I John 1:8-9).

26. The adoration of the wafer (Host), was decreed by Pope Honorius in the year....1220

So the Roman Church worships a God made by human hands. This is plain idolatry and absolutely contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. (Read John 4:24).

27. The Bible forbidden to laymen and placed in the Index of forbidden books by the Council of Valencia in....1229

Jesus commanded that the Scriptures should be read by all. (John 5:39; 2 Tim. 3:15- 17).

28. The Scapular was invented by Simon Stock, and English monk, in the year ....1287

It is a piece of brown cloth, with the picture of the Virgin and supposed to contain supernatural virtue to protect from all dangers those who wear it on naked skin. This is fetishism.

29. The Roman Church forbade the cup to the laity, by instituting the communion of one kind in the Council of Constance in....1414

The Bible commands us to celebrate the Lord's Supper with unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. (Read Matt. 26:27; 1 Cor. 11:26-29).

30. The doctrine of Purgatory was proclaimed as a dogma of faith by Council of Florence in....1439

There is not one word in the Bible that would teach the purgatory of priests. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sins. (Read I John 1:7-9; 2:1-2; John 5:24; Rom. 8: 1).

31. The doctrine of 7 Sacraments affirmed in....1439

The Bible says that Christ instituted only two ordinances, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. (Read Matt. 28:19-20; 26:26-28).

32. The Ave Maria, part of the last half in....1508

It was completed 50 years afterward and finally approved by Pope Sixtus V, at the end of the 16th century.

33. The Council of Trent, held in the year 1545, declared that Tradition is of equal authority with the Bible....1545

By tradition is meant human teachings. The Pharisees believed the same way, and Jesus bitterly condemned them, for by teaching human tradition, they nullified the commandments of God. (Read Mark 7:7-13; Col. 2:8; Rev. 22:18).

34. The apocryphal books were added to the Bible also by the Council of Trent in....1546

These books were not recognized as canonical by the Jewish Church. (See Rev. 22:8-9).

35. The Creed of Pope Plus IV was imposed as the official creed 1560 years after Christ and the apostles, in....1560

True Christians retain the Holy Scriptures as their creed. Hence their creed is 1500 years older than the creed of Roman Catholics. (Read Gal. 1:8).

36. The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in the year....1854

The Bible states that all men, with the sole exception of Christ, are sinners. Mary herself had need of a Savior. (Read Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Psa. 51:5; Luke 1:30,46,47).

37. In the year 1870 after Christ, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of Papal Infallibility....1870

This is a blasphemy and the sign of the apostasy and of the anti-christ predicted by St. Paul. (Read II Thess. 2:2-12; Rev. 17:1-9; 13:5-8,18).

Many Bible students see the number of the beast (Rev. 13:18), 666 in the Roman letters of the Pope's tittle: "VICARIVS FILII DEI." -V-5, I-1; C-100, I-1; V-5, I-1; L-50, I-1; I-1; D-500, I-1-Total, 666.

38. Pope Pius X, in the year 1907, condemned together with "Modernism", all the discoveries of modern science which are not approved by the Church....1907

Pius IX had done the same thing in the Syllabus of 1864.

39. In the year 1930 Pius XI, condemned the Public Schools....1930

40. In the year 1931 the same pope Pius XI, reaffirmed the doctrine that Mary is "the Mother of God".....1931

This doctrine was first invented by the Council of Ephesus in the year 431. This is a heresy contrary by Mary's own words. (Read Luke l:46-49; John 2:1-5).

41. In the year 1950 the last dogma was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary....1950

CONCLUSION

What will be the next invention? The Roman Church says it never changes; yet, it has done nothing else but invent new doctrines which are contrary to the Bible, and has practiced rites and ceremonies taken bodily from paganism. Some scholar has found that 75% of the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Church are of pagan origin.

Note:-Cardinal Newman, in his book, "The Development of the Christian Religion," admits that "Temples, incense, oil lamps, votive offerings, holy water, holidays and season of devotions, processions, blessing of fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure (of priests and monks and nuns), images ... are all of pagan origin..." (Page 359).

HERESIES are those doctrines and practices which are contrary to the Bible. They are also called "human "&dons" or "doctrines of men". Both Peter and Paul predicted and warned that In the later times "false teachers' I would rise within the Church and bring In "damnable heresies" and "doctrines of devils". (Read II Peter 2:1-3, and I Tim. 3:2-5). Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, for they transgressed the commandments of God by keeping their traditions. "In vain," He said, "they worship me by keeping for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:3,9).

The real heretics therefore, are the Roman Catholics and the true orthodox are the Evangelical Christians.

BRETHREN! The Word of God commands us to get out of Babylon, saying: "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of herplagues." (Rev. 18:4). All true Christians will remain faithful to the religion of Christ as taught in the Bible, and heed the warning of the Apostle Paul, who said: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8).

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    The Jesuit Oath


    The Jesuit Oath

    The Jesuit Oath of Induction is also recorded in the Congressional Record of the U.S.A. (House Bill 1523, Contested election case of Eugene C. Bonniwell, against Thos. S. Butler, Feb. 15, 1913, pp. 3215-3216) It can also be found in the book entitled, "Subterranean Rome" by Charles Didier translated from the French and published in New York in 1843. Dr. 

    The article below was taken from the book Subterranean Rome by Charles Didier, translated from the French and published in New York in 1843. Dr. Alberto Rivera escaped from the Jesuit Order in 1967, and he describes his Jesuit oath in exactly the same way as it appears in this book. After reading this, ask yourself the question: Is this REALLY the church of Jesus Christ???

    "When a Jesuit of the minor rank is to be elevated to command, he is conducted into the Chapel of the Convent of the Order, where there are only three others present, the principal or Superior standing in front of the altar. On either side stands a monk, one of whom holds a banner of yellow and white, which are the Papal colors, and the other a black banner with a dagger and red cross above a skull and crossbones, with the word INRI, and below them the words IUSTUM, NECAR, REGES, IMPIOUS. The meaning of which is: It is just to exterminate or annihilate impious or heretical Kings, Governments, or Rulers. Upon the floor is a red cross at which the postulant or candidate kneels. The Superior hands him a small black crucifix, which he takes in his left hand and presses to his heart, and the Superior at the same time presents to him a dagger, which he grasps by the blade and holds the point against his heart, the Superior still holding it by the hilt, and thus addresses the postulant:"

    Superior speaks:

    My son, heretofore you have been taught to act the dissembler: among Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man. Among the Reformers, to be a reformer; among the Huguenots, to be a Huguenot; among the Calvinists, to be a Calvinist; among other Protestants, generally to be a Protestant, and obtaining their confidence, to seek even to preach from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the vehemence in your nature our Holy Religion and the Pope; and even to descend so low as to become a Jew among Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together all information for the benefit of your Order as a faithful soldier of the Pope.

    You have been taught to insidiously plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace. To take sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the means.

    You have been taught your duty as a spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among the schools and universities, in parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to be all things to all men, for the Pope's sake, whose servants we are unto death.

    You have received all your instructions heretofore as a novice, a neophyte, and have served as co-adjurer, confessor and priest, but you have not yet been invested with all that is necessary to command in the Army of Loyola in the service of the Pope. You must serve the proper time as the instrument and executioner as directed by your superiors; for none can command here who has not consecrated his labors with the blood of the heretic; for "without the shedding of blood no man can be saved." Therefore, to fit yourself for your work and make your own salvation sure, you will, in addition to your former oath of obedience to your order and allegiance to the Pope, repeat after me---

    The Extreme Oath of the Jesuits:

    "1, _ now, in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and all the saints and sacred hosts of heaven, and to you, my ghostly father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the Pontificate of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear, that his holiness the Pope is Christ's Vice-regent and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation and that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power I shall and will defend this doctrine of his Holiness' right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the now pretended authority and churches of England and Scotland, and branches of the same now established in Ireland and on the Continent of America and elsewhere; and all adherents in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome. I do now renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince or state named Protestants or Liberals, or obedience to any of the laws, magistrates or officers.

    I do further declare that the doctrine of the churches of England and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and others of the name Protestants or Liberals to be damnable and they themselves damned who will not forsake the same.

    I do further declare, that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his Holiness' agents in any place wherever I shall be, in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland or America, or in any other Kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my uttermost to extirpate the heretical Protestants or Liberals' doctrines and to destroy all their pretended powers, regal or otherwise.

    I do further promise and declare, that notwithstanding I am dispensed with, to assume my religion heretical, for the propaganda of the Mother Church's interest, to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels from time to time, as they may entrust me and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing or circumstance whatever; but to execute all that shall be proposed, given in charge or discovered unto me, by you, my ghostly father, or any of this sacred covenant.

    I do further promise and declare, that I will have no opinion or will of my own, or any mental reservation whatever, even as a corpse or cadaver (perinde ac cadaver), but will unhesitatingly obey each and every command that I may receive from my superiors in the Militia of the Pope and of Jesus Christ.

    That I may go to any part of the world withersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions of the North, the burning sands of the desert of Africa, or the jungles of India, to the centers of civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbarous savages of America, without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all things whatsoever communicated to me.

    I furthermore promise and declare that I will, when opportunity present, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition; and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants' heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus.

    In confirmation of which, I hereby dedicate my life, my soul and all my corporal powers, and with this dagger which I now receive, I will subscribe my name written in my own blood, in testimony thereof; and should I prove false or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the Militia of the Pope cut off my hands and my feet, and my throat from ear to ear, my belly opened and sulphur burned therein, with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul be tortured by demons in an eternal hell forever!

    All of which, I, _, do swear by the Blessed Trinity and blessed Sacraments, which I am now to receive, to perform and on my part to keep inviolable; and do call all the heavenly and glorious host of heaven to witness the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further with my name written and with the point of this dagger dipped in my own blood and sealed in the face of this holy covenant."

    (He receives the wafer from the Superior and writes his name with the point of his dagger dipped in his own blood taken from over his heart.)

    Superior speaks:

    "You will now rise to your feet and I will instruct you in the Catechism necessary to make yourself known to any member of the Society of Jesus belonging to this rank.

    In the first place, you, as a Brother Jesuit, will with another mutually make the ordinary sign of the cross as any ordinary Roman Catholic would; then one cross his wrists, the palms of his hands open, and the other in answer crosses his feet, one above the other; the first points with forefinger of the right hand to the center of the palm of the left, the other with the forefinger of the left hand points to the center of the palm of the right; the first then with his right hand makes a circle around his head, touching it; the other then with the forefinger of his left hand touches the left side of his body just below his heart; the first then with his right hand draws it across the throat of the other, and the latter then with a dagger down the stomach and abdomen of the first. The first then says Iustum; and the other answers Necar; the first Reges. The other answers Impious." (The meaning of which has already been explained.) "The first will then present a small piece of paper folded in a peculiar manner, four times, which the other will cut longitudinally and on opening the name Jesu will be found written upon the head and arms of a cross three times. You will then give and receive with him the following questions and answers:

     

    Question —From whither do you come? Answer — The Holy faith.

    Q. —Whom do you serve?

    A. —The Holy Father at Rome, the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church Universal throughout the world.

    Q. —Who commands you?

    A. —The Successor of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus or the Soldiers of Jesus Christ.

    Q. —Who received you? A. —A venerable man in white hair.

    Q. —How?

    A. —With a naked dagger, I kneeling upon the cross beneath the banners of the Pope and of our sacred order.

    Q. —Did you take an oath?

    A. —I did, to destroy heretics and their governments and rulers, and to spare neither age, sex nor condition. To be as a corpse without any opinion or will of my own, but to implicitly obey my Superiors in all things without hesitation of murmuring.

    Q. —Will you do that? A. —I will.

    Q. —How do you travel? A. —In the bark of Peter the fisherman.

    Q. —Whither do you travel? A. —To the four quarters of the globe.

    Q. —For what purpose?

    A. —To obey the orders of my general and Superiors and execute the will of the Pope and faithfully fulfill the conditions of my oaths.

    Q. —Go ye, then, into all the world and take possession of all lands in the name of the Pope. He who will not accept him as the Vicar of Jesus and his Vice-regent on earth, let him be accursed and exterminated."


    After reading these blood curdling oaths. Read Pope Benedict XVI's (Ratzinger) comments about these evil men (Jesuits)

    ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome


    ZENIT Code: ZE06050529
    Date: 2006-05-05

    Pontiff's Address to Jesuits
    "A Precious Spiritual Legacy That Must Not Be Lost"

    VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered April 22 in St. Peter's Basilica to the Jesuits on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter. 

    * * * 

    Dear Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Jesus, 

    I meet you with great joy in this historical Basilica of St. Peter's after the holy Mass celebrated for you by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, my secretary of state, on the occasion of combined jubilees of the Ignatian Family. I address my cordial greeting to you all. 

    I greet in the first place the superior general, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, and thank him for his courteous words expressing your common sentiments to me. I greet the cardinals with the bishops and priests and all those who have desired to participate in this event. 

    Together with the Fathers and Brothers, I also greet the friends of the Society of Jesus present here, and among them, the many men and women religious, members of the Communities of Christian Life and of the Apostolate of Prayer, the students and alumnae with their families from Rome, from Italy and from Stonyhurst in England, the teachers and students of the academic institutions and the many collaborators. 

    Your visit today gives me the opportunity to thank the Lord with you for having granted your Society the gift of men of extraordinary holiness and exceptional apostolic zeal, such as St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier and Blessed Peter Faber. For you they are the fathers and founders: It is therefore appropriate that in this centenary year you commemorate them with gratitude and look to them as enlightened and reliable guides on your spiritual journey and in your apostolic activities.
    St. Ignatius of Loyola was first and foremost a man of God who in his life put God, his greatest glory and his greatest service, first. He was a profoundly prayerful man for whom the daily celebration of the Eucharist was the heart and crowning point of his day. 

    Thus, he left his followers a precious spiritual legacy that must not be lost or forgotten. Precisely because he was a man of God, St. Ignatius was a faithful servant of the Church, in which he saw and venerated the Bride of the Lord and the Mother of Christians. And the special vow of obedience to the Pope, which he himself describes as "our first and principal foundation" (MI, Series III, I., p. 162), was born from his desire to serve the Church in the most beneficial way possible. 

    This ecclesial characteristic, so specific to the Society of Jesus, lives on in you and in your apostolic activities, dear Jesuits, so that you may faithfully meet the urgent needs of the Church today. 

    Among these, it is important in my opinion to point out your cultural commitment in the areas of theology and philosophy in which the Society of Jesus has traditionally been present, as well as the dialogue with modern culture, which, if it boasts on the one hand of the marvelous progress in the scientific field, remains heavily marked by positivist and materialist scientism. 

    Naturally, the effort to promote a culture inspired by Gospel values in cordial collaboration with the other ecclesial realities demands an intense spiritual and cultural training. For this very reason, St. Ignatius wanted young Jesuits to be formed for many years in spiritual life and in study. It is good that this tradition be maintained and reinforced, also given the growing complexity and vastness of modern culture. 

    Another of his great concerns was the Christian education and cultural formation of young people: hence, the impetus he gave to the foundation of "colleges," which after his death spread in Europe and throughout the world. Continue, dear Jesuits, this important apostolate, keeping the spirit of your founder unchanged. 

    In speaking of St. Ignatius, I cannot overlook the fact that the fifth centenary of St. Francis Xavier's birth was celebrated last April 7. Not only is their history interwoven through long years in Paris and Rome, but a single aspiration -- one might say, a single passion -- stirred and sustained them, even in their different human situations: the passion for working for the ever greater glory of God-the-Trinity and for the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ to the peoples who did not know him. 

    St. Francis Xavier, whom my Predecessor Pius XI, of venerable memory, proclaimed the "Patron of Catholic Missions," saw as his own mission "opening new ways of access" to the Gospel "in the immense continent of Asia." His apostolate in the Orient lasted barely 10 years, but in the four and half centuries that the Society of Jesus has existed it has proven wonderfully fruitful, for his example inspired a multitude of missionary vocations among young Jesuits and he remains a reference point for the continuation of missionary activity in the great countries of the Asian continent. 

    If St. Francis Xavier worked in the countries of the Orient, his confrere and friend since the years in Paris, Blessed Peter Faber, a Savoiard who was born on April 13, 1506, worked in the European countries where the Christian faithful aspired to a true reform of the Church. 

    He was a modest, sensitive man with a profound inner life. He was endowed with the gift of making friends with people from every walk of life and consequently attracted many young men to the Society. 

    Blessed Faber spent his short life in various European countries, especially Germany, where, at the order of Paul III, he took part in the Diets of Worms, Ratisbon and Speyer and in conversations with the leaders of the Reformation. He consequently had an exceptional opportunity to practice the special vow of obedience to the Pope "regarding the missions" and became a model to follow for all future Jesuits. 

    Dear Fathers and Brothers of the Society, today you look with special devotion at the Blessed Virgin Mary, remembering that on April 22, 1541, St. Ignatius and his first companions made their solemn vows before the image of Mary in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. 

    May Mary continue to watch over the Society of Jesus so that every member may carry in his person the "image" of the crucified Christ, in order to share in his resurrection. I assure you of my remembrance in prayer for this, as I willingly impart my blessing to each of you present here and to your entire spiritual family, which I also extend to all the other religious and consecrated persons who are present at this audience. 

    © Copyright 2006 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]

    Read more at christian-truths2.blogspot.com
     

    Vestal Virgins: Temple Prostitution: Vatican: Priests Have Been Raping Nuns to Avoid Hookers with HIV

    Amplify’d from www.alternet.org

    Vatican: Priests Have Been Raping Nuns to Avoid Hookers with HIV

    Let us take a moment to recall Pope Benedict's view of what caused the Holocaust:

    As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a reductive vision of the person and his destiny.

    It was a ballsy statement coming from a man who was once a member of the Hitler Youth and now leads the Catholic Church, but the argument is not uncommon. 'What is morality to a Godless atheist?' is a common refrain among 'radical clerics' of every faith.

    The Catholic Church in Rome made the extraordinary admission yesterday that it is aware priests from at least 23 countries have been sexually abusing nuns.

    The Catholic Church in Rome made the extraordinary admission yesterday that it is aware priests from at least 23 countries have been sexually abusing nuns.

    Most of the abuse has occurred in Africa, where priests vowed to celibacy, who previously sought out prostitutes, have preyed on nuns to avoid contracting the Aids virus.

    Confidential Vatican reports obtained by the National Catholic Reporter, a weekly magazine in the US, have revealed that members of the Catholic clergy have been exploiting their financial and spiritual authority to gain sexual favours from nuns, particularly those from the Third World who are more likely to be culturally conditioned to be subservient to men.

    The reports, some of which are recent and some of which have been in circulation for at least seven years, said that such priests had demanded sex in exchange for favours, such as certification to work in a given diocese.

    In extreme instances, the priests had made nuns pregnant and then encouraged them to have abortions.

    I don't get how they could be so sleazily predatory without the moral relativism. 


    By Joshua Holland
    | Sourced from
    AlterNet


    Posted at February 24, 2011, 3:29 pm


    Read more at www.alternet.org
     

    Inquisition: Italy Arrests 6 Morrocans For Hate Campaign Against Pope Benedict XVI

    Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com
    Pope Benedict Xvi
    AP

    ROME — Italian police on Friday arrested six Moroccan men suspected of inciting hatred against Pope Benedict XVI for converting a Muslim journalist in Italy to Catholicism.

    Stefano Fonsi, head of Brescia police's anti-terrorism squad in northern Italy, said the suspects allegedly banded together and met privately with the goal of stirring up religious hatred against non-Muslims, including the pope.

    Investigators say they found literature exhorting Muslim immigrants against integrating into Italian society and saying the pope should be punished for having baptized the journalist during an Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.

    The investigation grew out of security checks ahead of a pastoral visit by Benedict to Brescia in 2009, but authorities insisted that their probe revealed no plot against the pontiff or other terrorism aims.

    Brescia Prosecutors Fabio Salmone said there was "absolutely no" indication that the group had attacks in mind. "I rule that out," he told reporters. "There wasn't even a plan" to organize attacks, he said.

    In 2008, Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam angered some Muslims by becoming a Catholic. After being baptized, he changed his name to Magdi Cristiano Allam. He had built a career in Italy as a newspaper commentator and author attacking Islamic extremism and supporting Israel.

    Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com
     

    Vatican confirms report of sexual abuse and rape of nuns by priests in 23 countries

    Amplify’d from machineslikeus.com

    Vatican confirms report of sexual abuse and rape of nuns by priests in 23 countries

    The Catholic Church in Rome made the extraordinary admission yesterday that it is aware priests from at least 23 countries have been sexually abusing nuns.

    Most of the abuse has occurred in Africa, where priests vowed to celibacy, who previously sought out prostitutes, have preyed on nuns to avoid contracting the Aids virus.

    Confidential Vatican reports obtained by the National Catholic Reporter, a weekly magazine in the US, have revealed that members of the Catholic clergy have been exploiting their financial and spiritual authority to gain sexual favours from nuns, particularly those from the Third World who are more likely to be culturally conditioned to be subservient to men.

    The reports, some of which are recent and some of which have been in circulation for at least seven years, said that such priests had demanded sex in exchange for favours, such as certification to work in a given diocese.

    In extreme instances, the priests had made nuns pregnant and then encouraged them to have abortions.

    Read more at The Independent.

    Read more at machineslikeus.com
     

    The 'Global Missal Dissent System' Who Needs A Roman Missal? 'Sola Scriptura' I Say! Bible! Bible Alone!

    The 'Global Missal Dissent System'
    By Louie Verrecchio *

    Over the past year, I’ve spoken with countless individuals – from regular lay folk to educators, deacons to bishops - about the great blessing that is coming our way in the new English translation of the Roman Missal, and it seems to me that the overwhelming majority of Catholics tend to share my enthusiasm for the forthcoming corrections to the liturgical text. (And we need to be honest; this is exactly what we’re awaiting in large measure; a long overdue attempt to correct the poorly done and unnecessarily rushed translations that have been in use over the last four decades.)

    I’ve also been keeping an eye on news items and blog posts on the topic as well, and wouldn’t you know it, the naysayers are getting more than their fair share of attention in some circles; so much so, that if one didn’t know any better it would seem that a major crisis is at hand rather than a great blessing.

    This is what I call the “Global Missal Dissent System” in action. Here’s how it works:

    Some small group of Catholic dissenters loosely organized under an official sounding name, or perhaps even a single left-leaning individual with an impressive pedigree (ideally clerical in both cases), raises a red flag or two about the new translation. In neither instance can the case be made that the opinions expressed are representative of the broader Catholic population much less the hierarchy, but undaunted, sympathetic media types seize the opportunity to create the illusion that some sort of popular uprising is in the offing.      

    Well, it’s “crunch time.” It’s time to begin preparing the way for the Roman Missal – Third Edition in earnest. It’s time to discern between the reasonable concerns of faithful Catholics and the petty delay tactics of foot-dragging progressives, and that means it’s time to address some of the more well-traveled opinions being expressed by those who are at pains to paint the new translation as a disaster in the making.

    Let me begin, however, by saying that some of the concerns being voiced about the forthcoming Missal may be entirely valid, even if the hyperbolic doomsday predictions that sometimes accompany them are not. It serves no one to pretend otherwise.

    For example, a number of well qualified theologians, Latinists and clergy covering a broad spectrum of ideological and theological orientations have expressed dismay over the process of the translation. Apparently, the text that we now await reflects changes that were made in 2010 by the Congregation for Divine Worship to some of the previously approved text that was submitted by the bishops’ conferences and the International Commission on English in the Liturgy in 2008. These changes (to the priest’s parts alone) are not necessarily “upgrades,” shall we say, in each and every case.

    To this I would simply point out that the work of translation can often be as much an art as a science, and in the present case, we’re talking about a monumental task that was undertaken by a diverse group of individuals with wide-ranging ideas and ambitions. It is entirely unreasonable, therefore, for us to expect that everyone will agree upon what makes for the “perfect” or even the preferred translation in all circumstances.

    Truth be told; it is entirely probable that some of the text we eventually receive will reflect, at times, what only a powerful minority of decision makers considered to be the best translation available. (Sound familiar?) To which I say, welcome to human affairs!

    There is no doubt that the new translation will have room for even greater improvement in some places, and guess what? That doesn’t mean the sky is falling. Neither does any evidence of flaws in the process or the human beings involved mean that the Church itself is flawed in Her authoritative structures as some commentators (and their friends in the media) would have you believe. 

    Among other noteworthy concerns receiving gratuitous media attention is a recent news item, disseminated the world over by a large Catholic news organization, reporting that the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland (ACP) “has made an urgent plea to the country's bishops to postpone the introduction of the new English translation of the missal for at least another five years.”

    The reasons behind ACP’s “urgent plea” were given considerable ink in the story; among them, allegations leveled by a priest who claims that the text is “archaic, elitist and obscure.” Another priest was quoted in the story as saying that the Missal “is not acceptable,” warning that “if these new texts are imposed, they could create chaos in our church.”

    The writer made it a point to let readers know that similar concerns “have been raised in English-speaking countries around the world, including the United States and Canada,” but for some reason she failed to offer even one solitary quote in defense of the new translation. This in spite of the fact that she has ready access to the U.S. Bishops’ Secretariat for Divine Worship and any number of its members who would have happily provided a much needed counterpoint. (Msgr. Anthony Sherman and Fr. Rick Hilgartner come to mind.)

    The ACP statement from which this story was presumably taken includes, though the writer chose not to report it, the time-honored whine that the new translation “will insult and offend women who will be rightly enraged by the continued deliberate use of non-inclusive language,” even though the sacred Magisterium has articulated its position on this matter rather clearly. (E.g., see Liturgiam Authenticam – 30, 31.)

    The unreported reality is that ACP is little more than a small left-wing splinter group of dissenters whose founding objectives include “establishing a Church where all believers will be treated as equal” (because clearly that’s not the case today?), a “re-evaluation of Catholic sexual teaching” (you can only imagine which ones), and placing “special emphasis” on such “teachings of the Second Vatican Council” as “the primacy of the individual conscience;” a canard that all but the truly delusional recognize as wholesale rubbish. (See here.)

    Long story short, had this story been reported responsibly, most well informed readers would have immediately recognized ACP’s “spirit of Vatican II” credentials and their utter lack of credibility in the matter. As it is, however, this lopsided “news” item was promptly reprinted by those anxious to create the illusion of a groundswell of opposition to the new translation. If one were not careful to consider sources, it might seem that all is doom and gloom when in fact it is not.

    Now that is not to say that the new English translation of the Roman Missal doesn’t represent a real challenge for us; on many levels, it certainly does.

    For one, it is a challenge to liturgical pride. After four decades of allowing our creative impulses and personal tastes to exercise undue influence on how we “do liturgy,” it’s going to take great humility and the assistance of God’s grace for us to willingly “subordinate ourselves to the Divine” at Holy Mass, but according to the Council Fathers this is exactly what the liturgy requires of us (cf SC 2). 

    It will be a challenge for many of us to embrace the fact that “the visible signs used by the liturgy to signify invisible divine things have been chosen by Christ or the Church,” including, of course, the language that we use and the words that we speak (SC 33).

    It’s not going to be easy, as Pope Benedict said, for many “to adjust to unfamiliar texts after nearly 40 years of continuous use of the previous translations.”

    Yes, it will be a challenge on many levels, but challenges such as these are nothing more than the gateway to God’s blessings. In fact, if you think about it; challenge and gift simply go together, don’t they?

    So the next time you encounter a news item or a blog post about the pending liturgical disaster and the altruistic, self-appointed saviors who are rising up to protect God’s people, regardless of the apparent credibility of either the protagonists or the news source, take a step back and remind yourself of what Pope Benedict said of the forthcoming Missal:

    “Through these sacred texts and the actions that accompany them, Christ will be made present and active in the midst of His people.”
     
    And for that we can all say, thanks be to God!

    Louie Verrecchio has been a columnist for Catholic News Agency since April 2009. In addition to And with Your Spirit – Recovering a sense of the sacred in the English translation of the Roman Missal – 3rd Edition, he is the author of the internationally acclaimed Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II Faith Formation Series, and Ten Things Every Catholic Should Know About Vatican II. A frequent guest on the Relevant Radio and Ave Maria Radio Networks, he recently appeared on the popular EWTN program The Choices We Face with Ralph Martin.

    Mr. Verrecchio’s work has been endorsed by Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia; Bishop Emeritus Patrick O’Donoghue of Lancaster, England and Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, IA, USA and others. For more information please visit: www.harvestingthefruit.com

    Read more at www.catholicnewsagency.com