A Visit to a Catholic Bookstore

Visiting a Catholic bookstore to buy a few appropriate items might usually be thought of as a pretty safe, non-confrontational exercise.  Logically, where else would you go if you wanted to purchase something "Catholic" as a gift for a friend or family member?  That's a fairly non-controversial activity.

Or so one would think.  I visited a local Catholic shop the other day and upon entering I was greeted by a slew of statues, literature and other paraphernalia related to the Medjugorje phenomenon, all artfully laid out for the consumer who wanted to indulge in this "dicey" story. Interestingly, the store, and by implication its Medjugorje fixation, is wholeheartedly endorsed by the rather clueless Archdiocese of Milwaukee which apparently find nothing untoward about the promotion of this alleged Marian apparition, which has been soundly debunked not only by perceptive writers such as Frere Michael, Hamish Fraser and the late Brother Francis, MICM but by two local Bishops of the diocese of Mostar where these events are said to have occurred. That's the Milwaukee Archdiocese for you.  They are well aware that the store promotes these so-called apparitions but is unwilling to apply fraternal correction.  Of course there is the possibility that the Milwaukee Ordinary believes in it himself.

This all led me to believe that I was off to a bad start in the store.  But I decided to move on to another room only to be confronted by a life size photo cutout of Pope Francis glowering at me (a disconcerting sight at any time).

If I had had calm-down pills with me I might have taken a few at that moment.  However, we trudged on to locate and buy the items we wanted.  The store was filled with a combination of some lovely Catholic items and books sharing space with some of the more revolting pietistic junk which has become a commonplace in places like this: badly drawn pictures of Christ playing baseball with a "little leaguer" or chatting amiably with Santa Claus, pasty-faced Catholic writers whose books are nothing but the most puerile drivel adorn their book covers delighting in forcing us to read about their "encounters" with Christ, whatever  that is supposed to mean (I don't really want to know).  Atrociously designed and painted statues shared shelf space with one or two pleasing ones.  A few copies of the traditional missal were buried beneath a pile of current missals which one should never spend money on because a) they go out of date the minute some new update occurs to the liturgy specialists in Rome and, b) because most priests today don't follow even those restless rubrics anyway.  In a word the store was...depressing.

When taking the items we wanted to the checkout counter another and worse jolt was waiting for us. Prominently displayed on their "must buy" book shelf was a copy of a little horror titled "Gay and Catholic".  The author informs us on the book's cover that she is now at peace after having "accepted her sexuality" and continues to masquerade as a practicing Catholic.  This, one supposes, is what passes for uplifting Catholic witness today.

Having to be cast as the fly in the ointment yet again it is necessary to point out here that this poor woman who authored said book is living in a state of mortal sin and receiving Holy Communion in that state, and, if we are to take her at her word as noted in the book, no priest has bothered to have a chat with her about her disordered life or the sacrilege she commits every time she approaches the Communion rail.

As the store was becoming busy at that moment it did not seem like a good idea to start a discussion with the hapless clerk over the appropriateness of such a book available at an ostensibly Catholic bookstore.  A calmly written and friendly note to the proprietors would seem the prudent thing to do and certainly it will be an interesting exchange of letters when one considers how many endorsements of the book from various Catholic personalities appear on the book's cover.  Logistics permitting a personal chat would be even better.  How tragic it is that Catholics have to correct other Catholics on something so basic as the mortal sin of sodomy.

But the fact that a Catholic bookstore, and a conservative-oriented one at that, feels no qualms about presenting such a book for sale is a telling description of the state of the Faith today, a state made worse by a Pontificate that prefers to speak in banal generalities, without clarity and without a firm grasp of the needs of the Faithful to have the unchanging message of the Gospel presented to them in a solid and unambiguous manner. A Church incapable of spreading the teachings of its Divine Founder is a Church that will soon become an irrelevancy.  Our recent Popes indeed have much to answer for.

To keep our religion from becoming engulfed by the fuzzy thinking of the world it would seem that one of our (the laity's) tasks would be to find a way to sit down with our fellow Catholics who operate bookstores like the one described and engage in a tactful tete-a-tete, encouraging them to be courageous and to avoid a conformist attitude that would transform Catholicism into just another debating society.  A good place to begin would be to take this homosexual bull by the horns for once and not sit quietly while the world tries to warp us on this issue.

Catholic book stores or some websites or newspapers and magazines, and even Churches, have become a sort of vast wasteland where confusion and imprecision rule, a definite sign that the ship of Faith is, as one Cardinal hinted at, rudderless.  With no clear instructions from the Captain I don't see how it could have been otherwise.

Yes, Obama really said this

Self-Delusion Dept.

For sheer breathtaking, incredible arrogance, mendacity, self-delusion and, I'm afraid, lunacy, Mr Obama actually publicly said this in reference to Russia:

"America has never been in the business of colonizing other countries and grabbing their resources...we've never been in the business of bullying folks into doing things that we can't do for ourselves,"

Ahhh.....yeah.

This man needs serious psychiatric treatment, or some memory help, since he must have forgotten about Iraq, Afghanistan, Mexico, the Spanish-American War, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc............

And this doesn't include US-backed coups in Iran in 1953, Ukraine in 2014, Serbia, Georgia, etc., etc., etc.........

This is the dangerous individual that imagines himself "the leader of the free world".

Read the whole amazing story at RT Today. The only honest thing he said in the whole interview is his frank admission that it is the US behind the collapse of the oil price so as to weaken Russia (and Iran).  The whole world has been aware of that for months but it is good to know that he has come out and frankly admitted it.

Christmas Tid-bits

A few little bits of interest regarding the Great Holy Day and the various peoples who celebrate it:



A nice series of photos from Russia Today

http://rt.com/in-vision/catholics-world-celebrate-christmas/

And from Bethlehem:

                                                    "Christ is Born, Glorify Him!"


[Calligraphy by Adel Nasser, Bethlehem resident, courtesy of the Washington Report on the Middle East.]


And two Presidents weigh in on the Holy Day:

In his Christmas "tweet", Our Glorious Emperor in Washington failed to mention the Birth of Jesus Christ. Hardly surprising for a cut-rate Herod like Mr Obama, and normally would have been unworthy of notice, except that it came into stark relief when compared to the comments of Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran.

The President of Iran said this:

“May Jesus Christ, Prophet of peace & love, bless us all on this day. Wishing Merry #Christmas to those celebrating, esp #Iranian Christians.”


[With thanks to LewRockwell.com]

Рождество - это так прекрасно!: Christmas is so beautiful

Because the Child is born.

Nativity by Rembrandt

Our Lady of Kazan, pray for those who defend the Kingship of Your Son

A Blessed Christmas to all those who have so kindly visited this place on the internet and by their comments have shown this soul that the Faith is not dead.

The Christmas of those who mourn

I know, and am happy to know, that most Catholic bloggers and websites pray for their fellow Christians suffering in the world.  As Christians we lament when they lament; we mourn when they mourn.  It is therefore most encouraging for this writer to note an awakening in the Catholic mind to the results of the evil that has been engineered by forces from the Darkness.  The hatred of Christianity by the powers that be - financial, governmental, media - is especially virulent on the High Feast Days and whether it is bullets firing at them, or having them watch as their lands are stolen from them or having their beliefs ridiculed by the mass media the ultimate target is always Christ, His Kingship and His Order.

With that in mind I encourage you to read the following piece by Daniel McAdams, an astute judge of the ways of the powerful and their relentless, satanic pursuit of self-interest.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/12/daniel-mcadams/million-of-christians-are-in-mourning-this-christmas/

A quote:

"Many Americans, particularly those who rely on the mainstream media for information, will believe that the rise of Christian-killing ISIS and al-Qaeda in Iraq is the result of the US military’s departure from Iraq rather than from the US invasion of Iraq. Simple logic argues the opposite: if even the Washington Post admits that Christians thrived in Iraq until the 2003 invasion, how can it be argued that the invasion was not responsible for the decimation of Christianity in Iraq?"

At your Masses and at your manger scenes, mourn for them, please, and pray for them.

[An Arabic Christmas hymn, which Saint Benedict Center put on their website:


                    

Dear Holy Father, If I were a priest....

....and a same-sex couple came to me with a child to be baptized, I would have to deal with them in a very specific way.

You have said, Pope Francis, through the verbiage produced by your recent Synod, that we would need to find a way to be pastoral to these people.  I am not a little perplexed by these words from the Synod fathers, approved by you.  You and I wish these people to lead good lives so that they will enter Heaven after they die, not Hell.  So the way to deal with this situation seems to me quite simple, even though it is delicate.

We must first take this couple aside and tell them the plain truth about their unnatural situation, that they cannot claim to be Catholics in good standing while living in a state of grievous mortal sin, that they cannot mock God by calling an unnatural relationship a "marriage" without fear of condemning themselves, that for the good of their souls and the souls of the innocent child they are presenting to me they must cease committing this sin of sodomy and try to live a life as befits a Christian.  I would tell them quite bluntly that I would be unable to give them the Body and Blood of Christ until they confessed their sins in the confessional and amended their life.  I would tell them not to attend Mass together, so as not to scandalize the Faithful.  I would offer them every possible help I could to wean them away from this destructive manner of living and try my best to help them become better Catholics.

And what about the innocent child?

I, being a lowly priest of average intelligence would have to consult with the best moral theologian I could find to get his opinion on whether or not I would be able to baptize that child.  Surely in the case of danger of death there would be no question; I would have to baptize him.  But if the same-sex couple refuses to abandon their sin, how must I decide on what to do with this totally innocent infant who presumably is not in danger of physical death but is most definitely in danger of spiritual death, if it is to be brought up in such a perverse household?  On my own unless I was a brilliantly-trained moral theologian I am not sure what I would do.

You, dear Pope Francis, via your Synod, seems to be suggesting something other than what I have proposed above regarding unnatural unions.  If that is true then all I can honestly say is that if the Church were to just go along with the situation as it is then these two sinners would be on a straight road to Hell, and very possibly, so would the child when it is grown up after living in such a warped, dehumanizing situation.

The destruction of  child by forcing him to live in such a nightmare world is too terrible to contemplate.

You also say in a recent interview that if parents are suddenly confronted with the news that one of their children has fallen into the sin of sodomy that the Church has "to find a way to stand by their son or daughter".  I must confess I had to read that several times before it sank in.

What does Your Holiness mean, exactly, by "standing by them"?

You didn't mention Confession at all, Your Holiness.  How does a parent "stand by" a person in such a state of rebellion against God?  Surely you are not implying by this statement that this mortal sin is a permanent, unchangeable way of life for them.  You surely don't believe in that pseudo-scientific rubbish that suggests homosexuals are somehow born that way.  If so, what does your statement mean?

If I were a priest and two saddened parents came to me asking what they should do in such a tragic situation I would encourage them first to begin a serious effort at constant, daily prayer, especially the rosary.  I would tell them to love their child - but not in a sentimental, non-judgmental way.  Rather I would tell them to be very judgmental: firm in stating the truth, yet loving in as only a parent can be with their child.  If it was a girl in this state I would advise the mother to carry most of the heavy load but I would also tell the father that a strong talk with his daughter would also be in order.  With a boy it must be the father who takes command and who, along with the mother, works to bring the boy to his Catholic senses.  It must be assumed that if a child brought this up to his or her parents boldly, and dare I say proudly, then that would be a sign that the rot has already gone quite deep and that this will be a horribly tough battle.  On the other hand if it is a secret sin that the parents have found out about then that calls for a slightly different strategy.

In either scenario the child must come to me, as a priest, for help.  It will be harder for the proud, out-in-the-open sinner to come but ways can be devised to bring us together.  Then it will be up to me to be a true priest and work with all my might to lead the child away from their own self-destruction.

That is what I would do, Pope Francis, if I were a priest.

THE FOURTH OF ADVENT

                         

                      The central event in the history of the world is about to take place.

(courtesy forumeuropa.net

(In this lovely recording by Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort, the music starts in breathless silence until it builds and builds, in its begging Emmanuel to come.)

Fascinating History: a Stuart on the Papal Throne?

You might enjoy reading this fascinating historical tid-bit by Brian Kelly over at Saint Benedict Center:

http://catholicism.org/his-highness-was-almost-his-holiness.html

Imagine how the history of the world may have been changed had this man become Pope. Imagine how the history of Scotland might have changed, too.  As an old admirer of Scotland and its people I can only dream of the glories that could have been.

Enjoy!

American Farms: Time to regain what was lost

It was a long time coming.  Gigantic Business conglomerates from Rockefeller to Cargill to Monsanto all but destroyed the family farm during the years from the mid-1940s to the mid-1990s, building their obscene profits while decimating the quality of the food we eat.  But slowly, very slowly, the tide is shifting.  True, small family farms are still in a holding pattern, trying to hang on during these times of economic disaster and occasional bad weather.  But there is visible on the horizon a slow shift back to sanity in the heartland.

The catalyst for this shift is the forced emergence of GMOs.  A boon to giant multinational corporations but a detriment to our health, GMOs have finally been noticed on the radar so much so that consumers are now beginning to show a preference for real food, grown locally, free of chemical and genetic contamination.  Those small farms still in that holding pattern are beginning to see a small but encouraging upswing in their business.  Even the Public Broadcasting System has begun to take note of the trend and has been producing television programs about local, small farming concerns.

And more encouraging, there are now some families who have decided that going back to the land like their forefathers is a good idea.  Farms, small farms, are beginning to dot the land once again.  It is beginning in a small way but the trend is clear: people are fed up (pun intended) with eating junk food and are looking into the risky but potentially rewarding enterprise of owning and operating a small farm.  A culture shock for former city dwellers to be sure but those who have tried it are learning from their neighbors.  And they are not giving up.

Belloc and Chesterton and McNabb would be proud of them.

Not all of us are cut out to be farmers but that doesn't mean we cannot support them.  There are undoubtedly local farmer's co-ops in your area that can be patronized.  Do this, for them and for yourselves.  Be cautious in your food-buying.  If it is non-GMO then buy it.  True, this requires a little research occasionally but that is what the internet is for.

If you need a little background on what has become of our food production you will find this excellent piece by F William Engdahl most helpful.  It might make you mad.  It should.

http://journal-neo.org/2014/12/11/why-rockefellers-aim-at-destroying-farmers-worldwide/

A quote:

The raising of hogs, dairy cows, beef cattle, chicken all became industrialized gradually after the 1950’s in the USA. The baby chicks were confined to spaces so tiny they could barely stand. To make them get fat faster, the owners would pump them full of antibiotics and feed them a diet of GMO corn and soya meal. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are for use on livestock and poultry, not humans. The majority are given to animals mixed in their food or water to speed growth. After all, time is money.

"
First appeared:http://journal-neo.org/2014/12/11/why-rockefellers-aim-at-destroying-farmers-worldwide/
There is definite evidence that the US economy may be entering a time of great decline, a decline far more severe than what we are now witnessing.  Catastrophically arrogant and stupid (and evil) decisions of our Emperors in Washington, and their handlers, are lurching us toward a time of great wealth for them and destitution for us.  But that kind of trajectory will not have a happy ending...for them.  Being prudent and preparing for some rough times ahead should be enough reason to make us take a second look at the value of farmers and farming.

Even city dwellers can have a garden...and some municipalities are now even allowing bee-keeping and chicken-raising in residential back yards.  This is the kind of thing that could be built on the ruins of America's misguided adventures.

The Catholic "back to the land movement" was a good idea in the past and it is even a better idea today.  Our health and survival may depend on it.

MID-ADVENT

Say to the fainthearted, take courage and fear not:
behold our God will come, and will save us.               (Isaias xxxv. 4)





Not without reason, Christmas and the majestic music of Miklos Rozsa seem to go together nicely.  Here he depicts the march of the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem.

(The film itself that Rozsa scored was not necessarily great, but the music is.)

The Eldest Daughter of the Church is about to commit suicide....literally.

From the same warped minds that shoved queer "marriage" down the throats of the French comes: "encouraged" euthanasia (That's a far more serene phrase than "cold-blooded murder"). How delightful to imagine that you have a murderer, sex trafficker and a lackey of International Finance as your head of state.  (Oh, that's right.  I live in America.)

Here's the story:

http://rt.com/news/213955-euthanasia-france-law-hollande/

It would be charming to have as your last thought on earth while being slowly murdered euthanized in France the visage of this grinning psychopath glowering at you.

A View from the Orthodox

We found this article very interesting in that it gives us a fairly clear picture of how many in the Orthodox Church look upon Catholics.  What is also interesting is the quotation from Pope Francis' November 5th address from St. Peter's.

The article is here:

http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2014/11/the-mutually-exclusive-goals-of-pope.html#more

It would be quite astonishing to expect the Orthodox, in their present state of mind, to find them in agreement with Francis if these words attributed to him at that address are accurate.  It is further astonishing that Pope Francis actually said the words attributed to him.  Dare we cheer about these quotes, which sound as if they came from an earlier, better era?  Has the Holy Ghost been tapping him on the shoulder of late?  It is difficult to know since he still appears, if news reports are strictly reliable, to have this weird fascination to lob hand grenades into the Church with some views on the divorced, the remarried and the sodomitical that cannot be reconciled with Catholic truth, let alone Catholic reality.  One militant Orthodox wrote to me how utterly shocked he was at some of Francis' public statements, calling them "blasphemy".  A harsh word, yes; but I cannot blame this Orthodox man for thinking this.

Francis is, according to one commenter who has been offering his comments on this blog of late, "wildly popular".  To this commenter this is a good thing.  Perhaps.  But this writer will be much more impressed with Francis when the world ceases loving him and starts to hate him.  When and if that day comes it will be an infallible sign that he is changing course and beginning to speak like the Popes of old.  Right now at this moment we have no reason to expect such a turnaround. Confusion abounds. As interesting as was that quote from the Pope quoted in the article the tally of general papal utterances so far leans heavily towards those of disastrous imprecision which is the reason that we have no cause to expect any major changes anytime soon.

This see-saw papacy, where one day something astonishingly shocking is uttered by Francis and the next day something relatively orthodox is stated, does tend to give one a migraine headache at times.  But with absolute certainty we can say that unless this Pope or the next one strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the real modern evils of our day (as opposed to the chimerical issues such as "global warming, cooling, climate change" to use one example of what concerns this pope) the Christians of this world will have much to suffer.

Perplexing.  But interesting.....

....if your definition of "interesting" is watching the Catholic Church under the Modernist scourge crumbling before your very eyes.

Advent, 2nd Sunday: a forewarning

The reeking stench of the Modernists now fills the Catholic Church to such an extent that despair comes easily to those trying to hang on for dear life to the Ark.  This writer is no exception.  Despair does come easily; far too easily.  But to be shaken out of this despairing mindset St Gregory provides some food for thought and contemplation.

In the explanatory notes for the Gospel of the Second Sunday in Advent the St Andrew Daily Missal tells us the following:

"The Gentiles will enter Heaven together with the people of God. Isaias foretold that the Messias would be known by His miracles, and when John the Baptist, himself, as the same prophet predicted, a messenger from Almighty God, sent 'to prepare the way' of the Messias, caused our Blessed Lord to be asked if He were indeed 'He who art to come', Christ proved His Divine Mission by the miracles worked by Him.  'But', St Gregory explains, 'after so many wonders the death of Jesus caused great scandal in the hearts of men faithless to God; and Christ Himself forewarned us against this stumbling-block to which the Jews fell victim'.

Something to ponder as confusion and scandal drops from the Church like snowflakes.

The Christ Child will come.

Gentle Giant Jesse Matthew

Oddly enough I am not seeing any marching, protesting, looting or any such thing going on over the case of this Gentle Giant (or "big teddy bear" as some airhead described him).

He murdered Hannah Graham.

And he has murdered before.

But the world doesn't seem terribly interested at the moment; they are far more concerned that a 300 lb gentle giant/teddy bear Michael Brown tried to wrestle a gun away from a cop (very smart).

Or they are getting worked up over a rape hoax at the University of Virginia, the same university attended by Hannah Graham.

Please tell me when the marching for Hannah Graham will start.  I want to attend.

[If you're in a grimly humorous mood this might amuse you:

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/12/01/mike-brown-never-had-a-step-dad-police-report- shows-lesley-mcspadden-and-louis-head-not-married-however-both-participated-in-physical-attack-during-october-robbery/  ]

"WE WILL SQUISH YOU LIKE A BUG"

The occupying power in Palestine does not like its misdeeds to be made public:

http://rt.com/news/167664-israel-camera-killing-teenagers

And if you are a news organization that gets a little too uppity, they might just pay you a little visit:

http://rt.com/news/167628-israel-raid-rt-office

Will "jihad watchers" like Dave Horowitz, his poodle Robert Spencer or Big Mama Pamela Geller take note of this?

Probably not.

HUNGARY IN THE CROSS-HAIRS

We had hoped that our dire predictions about Hungary being the next target of the United States were premature.  We didn't think the USA would be brazen enough or arrogant enough to pull off this scenario again so soon after its success in Kiev in February. It looks as though that was wishful thinking.  The regime-change black operation has apparently now begun:

http://russia-insider.com/en/ukraine_opinion/2014/11/13/10-36-18pm/viktor_orban_threatened_maidan-style_protest_movement

That Hungary and its president, Victor Orban, quite unnecessarily played into their hands by introducing an internet tax, which was quickly abandoned, and which gave the US/EU regime changers a piece of ammunition that worked very well at first, is not the primary reason why pandemonium broke out.  That alone does not account for the violence of the demonstration nor the familiar chants uttered by the crowds.  The idea of 100,000 people suddenly congregating in Budapest over a tax that would have amounted to $24 per annum seems a trifle far-fetched.  Clearly something else is at play here and it is not hard to discover what and who is behind this sudden massive demonstration.  It looks very much like a replay of Ukraine, and for much the same reason.

One quote from the article stood out like a sore thumb:

"Orban is guilty before European democracy in a number of ways. As the father of five children, he resolutely opposes attempts to register the cohabitation of same-sex couples as ‘marriage’. He was also opposed to economic sanctions against Russia, calling them nonsensical, and saying they would do more harm to EU countries than to Russia."

How fascinating that the triumph of the homosexual perversion is so high on the regime changers' want list.  It is so high that any country or president who dares to say "no" to sex perversion is headed for destruction.  Bullying, indeed.

Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, it doesn't matter; their blood will be gleefully spilled by the Usual Suspects of America once again in their demented program of grabbing as much wealth as they possibly can, looting as many nations of their natural resources as they can and enriching the oligarchs and plutocrats as fast as they can.  And, of course, corrupting the populace with their constant, unrelenting promotion of sodomy, abortion and every other kind of moral evil that crosses their minds.

Our one wish is that our fellow American Catholics would take note of these kinds of events.  For we are involved in a true religious war which pits a powerful pagan empire against not only other countries which refuse to adopt its paganism but its own citizens as well.  All wars are religious, so the wise tell us, and this one certainly has a religious dimension.

This pagan empire now has its eyes trained on little Hungary.

St Stephen, pray for them.

[This just in:  The Official Senate Lunatic John McCain has just pronounced the death sentence of Hungary:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2014/Dec-03/279773-hungary-summons-us-envoy-over-mccains-dictator-pm-comment.ashx

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_opinion/2014/12/04/03-48-21am/do_you_really_want_go_there_john_mccain]

Cardinal Blaise Bernardin

Another hapless accommodater is inflicted upon the Church 

The ghost of Joseph Bernardin, High Churchman and sodomite, still haunts Chicago in the person if its new Ordinary.  Sacrilegious Communions will once again continue due to the fact that Blaise Cupich has trotted out the well-worn cliche that Holy Communion should not be "politicized".  In this attitude he joins not only with his dead predecessor but stays in tune with Cardinals like Wuerl, Dolan and others who have forgotten the Church's warning against receiving Communion unworthily.

I pity Chicago.  The whirlwind they will once again reap is shaping up to be as awful as the previous one, in which even murder reared its head.

My pen grows tired from recording these daily atrocities afflicting Holy Church.

But for Blaise Cupich it's just a small matter of committing sacrilege.  What does he care?

I wonder when Her heel will at last crush the serpent's head.

The night is passed

"Brethren, knowing that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep.  For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.  The night is passed and the day is at hand."



"Fear not, Mary, for thou has found grace with the Lord: behold thou shalt conceive, and shall bring forth a son."

ISRAEL SHAMIR REFLECTS: OUR LADY OF SORROW

Our Lady of Sorrow
[This was written after the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem, in March 2002].

In the Upper church of Annunciation in Nazareth, there is a striking collection of images,
the homage of artists to Mary: in a setting of blue-and-golden flowers, a dainty Virgin in a
colourful kimono holds her child in ceremonial Japanese royal robes; a naïve Gothic face of
Madonna, transferred from French Cluniac illuminations; a Chinese Queen of Heaven carved of
precious wood by Formosa devotees; a richly inlaid Cuban statue of Virgen del Cobre; a Polish
Black Madonna; a tender face of the Byzantine Mother of God, and a modernist, steely Madonna
from the United States all look from the walls of the church and unite us in one human family.
There is hardly an image in the world as universal and poignant as that of the Virgin and the
Child.

Wherever you go, from Santiago de Compostella in the far west of Spain to the golden
domes of Russia, from frozen Uppsala in Sweden to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, you will
find this adorable face. The best artists depicted her compassionate features, her love for her
child and her sorrow. Botticelli painted her with a pomegranate and among the Kings of the East;
Michelangelo and Rafael, Cimabue and Titian, van der Weyden and Fra Filippo Lippi were
inspired by her image. This unique mix of a young girl and mother, of vulnerability and
protection, of admiration and love, formed the spiritual and inspirational base of our civilisation.
She appeared to a Mexican peasant, and her flower-covered image arrested the strife and
united Native Americans and Spaniards in one nation. She gave her rosary to Saint Dominic and
a letter to Portuguese kids in Fatima. Prophet Muhammad saved and cherished her icon found in
the Mecca shrine, writes Maxim Rodinson. She appeared to a wealthy Jewish banker Alphonse
Ratisbonne, and he took orders and built the convent of the Sisters of Zion in En Karim. A
Palestinian Muslim in a refugee camp of Lebanon preserved the image he took from his native
Galilee, tells Elias Khoury in his novel Bab Al-Shams (recently translated into Hebrew by Moshe
Hakham and edited by Anton Shammas). Syrian astronauts asked for her protection in the shrine
of Seidnaya before the ir flight on the Soviet space shuttle1
.
In medieval legends, the Jews were often perceived as enemies of the Virgin. The
Talmud refers to her in most blasphemous and hostile way. A certain column-stump on
Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa marks the place of a legendary attack of Jews on her person, while in
Antioch in 592, Jews were found despoiling her image. These are old tales. And now some new
facts. This week in Bethlehem, a Jew shelled the Virgin. A Jewish soldier in the formidable tank Merkava-3, constructed according to US technology at US taxpayer’s expense fired a shell from
a distance of fifty yards at the statue of the Madonna a-top the Holy Family church in the
Nativity town.

The Virgin lost an arm, and her pretty face was disfigured. She became one of a hundred
Palestinian women shot by the Jews in the present outburst of war. This seemingly unnecessary
act of vandalism could not have been an accidental shot. No terrorist hid behind her gentle figure
on the pinnacle of the hospital church. At fifty yards, you make no mistake. It could have been
orders; it could have been a spontaneous expression of feelings by a Jewish fanatic. Our world
rewinds full speed back into the Dark Ages, and as Israel rekindled traditional Jewish hostile
rejection of Christianity, it can not be excluded.

After the shelling by the Israeli soldier

(Taken from Our Lady of Sorrow, The Collected Essays from the Holy Land by Israel Shamir, which can be ordered here.)

A little common sense about Ferguson somehow got slipped in

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, not one of my pinups, said this on national TV last night in a discussion about the riotous nonsense in Ferguson:


"The white police officers wouldn't be there if you weren't killing each other," Giuliani said.

Well, yes, that does seem obvious.  But how few people will come to that logical conclusion in the heat of passion.  And 93% of black murders are committed by other blacks.  The article which discusses Giuliani's statement can be found on the neocon rag Newsmax (a magazine/website that offers very little else other than war-mongering).  You can access it here.

President Puppet and Junior Emperor of the World is, of course. bloviating about the faults of the justice system, and not about the fact that 80% of violent crime is committed by fatherless young black males.

Meanwhile as we speak, Negro rioters and looters are all doing their Kwanzaa shopping early, and the little hamlet of Ferguson is turning into a hell hole.

God help the residents there.

At least someone is concerned about the fate of Christianity in Europe

In a recent discussion about various problems in the world a political leader brought up the touchy subject of the persecution of Christians and the silence of the European Union.  The article states in part:

"...EU officials are reluctant to speak about the persecution of Christians by Muslim militants in Iraq or Syria or elsewhere, because they fear that this would be perceived as politically incorrect.  Meanwhile there is a growing Christianophobia in the world, he said.

"Most of EU members avoid discussing the issue.  They are ashamed to pronounce it as they were ashamed to put a phrase acknowledging the Christian roots of Europe into the EU Constitution,:

"If you don't remember and don't respect your own roots and traditions, how can you respect the traditions of other people?"

Who made such a statement?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

http://rt.com/news/207927-russia-europe-business-usual/

Stan Freberg is My Hero

The darker the days become (and we're not referring to the approaching Winter months) the more we need a little dose of humor, just to keep our heads above water.  Those of my readers who are old enough should remember the delightful antics of one of our great Wits, Stan Freberg.

Freberg is a unique character.  Whether he ventured into radio, films, animated cartoons, essays or television he always had a knock for making us chuckle.  He started as a teenager doing voice work for Warner Brothers Cartoons and from that time on whenever crazy comedy was required Freberg was there to supply it.

For your amusement, then, we present to you one of his more famous radio skits.  Amazingly, he predicted the lunatic lengths to which political commissars would go to censor our thoughts and our speaking.  We believe Freberg saw all this coming back in the 1960s.



And if you would like to see what Freberg could do with a humdrum TV commercial, try this:




Happily Mr Freberg is still with us and still keeping smiles on our faces while imparting his wit and wisdom.

Neil Clark is STILL confused

Several months back we linked to a piece by Mr Neil Clark which posed some very interesting questions. He has subsequently followed up with another confession of his confusion:

http://rt.com/op-edge/172860-us-ukraine-nato-iraq-libya/

That was in July.

But he continues to be confused:

http://rt.com/op-edge/206643-confused-syria-democracy-election-uk/

To which I would reply, "Fear not, Mr Clark.  We're all still confused".

Just a note on the Cardinal Kasper African comments

Kasper in mufti

Regarding all the musings about Cardinal Kasper's famous remarks to the African episcopate that they should "not be telling us" what to do or think, which we have been reading about endlessly since the Bastard Synod, I am amazed that most people consider Kasper's fuming as an example of racism.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Kasper is not a stupid man.  Petty, dishonest and arrogant, yes; stupid, no.  We repeat: racism had nothing to do with his remarks.

What his remarks did have something to do with was sodomy, and everyone should have been able to see that quite clearly right away and not confront him with silly accusations of racism. The "racism" story only produced a needless red herring issue and took attention away from the homosexuals. The African Bishops have their heads firmly on their shoulders when it comes to sex perversion and can see what evils emerge from the mortal sin of sodomy...and want nothing to do with it. Kasper it seems wants everything to do with it, and that is the reason why he didn't want to hear what the African Bishops had to say.  And he wants to apparently give this mortal sin his blessings.  Why else would he be working tirelessly to see that the Holy Catholic Church blesses it as well?

The "racism" line was peddled by those who for whatever reason were not keeping their eyes on the ball. The more mendacious writers use the race card whenever they can so it is doubly important that we keep our minds clear on this.  Unwittingly, some good Catholics took the focus off buggery by calling Kasper's remarks racist.

While it is true the hubbub caught Kasper off guard at first he deftly handled it with his customary reliance on lying and changing the subject.

Krazy Kardinal Kasper.  Never underestimate the intentions of vile men.

Which is it, Cardinal O'Malley?

Cardinal O'Malley, we laymen would like to know: which is it?

On the one hand you want the Vatican to act against your brother-Bishop Flynn for supposedly hiding a homosexual predator priest, as stated here.

And on the other hand, you want the Church to accept sodomitical relationships, as stated here.

Just which is it, Your Eminence?  Do you want to protect the Church from an onslaught of homosexual men who are buggering adolescent boys, or do you want the Church to accept two sodomites living together who will have the legal right to "adopt" young boys who will be eventually buggered by them?

In lieu of an explanation we in the pews can only conclude one of two things.  Either you are losing your mind completely or you are engaging in the worst form of blatant hypocrisy it has been my misfortune to witness.

Which, exactly, is it, Your Eminence?

Either way, you are a disgrace to the cloth you wear and the Church you are shaming.

Resign.

The Great Father in Washington

I recommend to my readers this very amusing and very sensible article by Jack Perry over at LewRockwell.com.

A sample:

When there are no successes to point towards as a reason to be confident in one’s government, the Great Father can be counted on to use fear of a scary enemy to rally the people. A lie can go around the world twice before the truth has even tied its shoes. The Great Father knows this and he also knows that it’s best to have a few enemies waiting in the wings to distract the American people. To be sure, certain among the American people (the species Ovis aries americanus) will fall for this every time. Which is why it remains effective and American foreign policy infomercials succeed in selling wars without genuine objectives. In fact, were U.S. foreign policy a product, it would be sold on late-night infomercials along with spray-on “hair”, vegetable slicers, and compilation CDs of 1970s hits. And if you purchased it, you would get a few wars, absolutely free. Let’s have a look at some of the Great Father’s latest products.

First up, we see “frightening” reports from the Great Father and NATO (North Atlantic Tubthumping Oligarchy) that the Russians are getting frequent-flier miles close to NATO and U.S. airspace. Why, look at that! The Great Father and NATO were just minding their own business trying to lure Ukraine into the car with promises of candy when here came the Russians to interfere! Those Russian waskally wabbits are making NATO fighter aircraft look like Elmer Fudd! Excuse me, Great Father, but those are your enemies, not mine. Vladimir Putin and the Russians have not threatened me, nor are they saying they want me to live under the Russian government. Nor do they pick my pockets, which is more than I can say for you, Great Father. The reason Russian aircraft are doing this, Great Father, is because you are provoking them over in Ukraine. By the way, the Russians warned you against doing that. So Russian aircraft are lurking around NATO airspace, so what? Am I supposed to be afraid of this?

Among other things the author suggests wryly that the best solution to Emperor Obama's delusions of grandeur might be to have him engage in a martial arts contest with his bete noire, Vladimir Putin.

I believe I would enjoy watching that myself.

The Party of Sodomy and Abortion has lost; the Party of Usury and War has won.

Whoopie.

(And the winners won't do one single damned thing to act like statesmen and honest representatives by slowing down even a little bit the moral destruction of the nation.  So not only do we get more war and usury from the winners, we'll also get more sodomy and abortion, too. Isn't democracy just wonderful?)

THE U.S.S. LIBERTY, a Veteran's Day Lament

A story worth remembering:

http://chuckspinney.blogspot.com/2014/11/assault-on-liberty-revisited.html

Not necessarily related, but equally sickening:

http://forward.com/articles/206542/how-the-israel-lobby-set-beto-orourke-right/?p=all

And if vomiting is your pleasure, you could read this:

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2014/11/11/oligarchs-for-israel/

THE MORAL MENSHEVIKS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

In case anyone isn't noticing, the Roman Catholic Church is suffering from a crisis probably unprecedented since Christ told Peter that he was the Rock.  Many of the causes of this are known, many unknown.  But our purpose here at The Eye Witness is to bring the realities to the fore, face them and then encourage the laity to pick up the pieces of the nearly-completely shattered Church, and also to encourage those clerics who are at last beginning to see through the haze and are beginning to speak out.

We got into the blogging adventure because we woke up one day and asked ourselves, "What are we doing about this horrendous mess, other than griping about it?"   So we began The Eye Witness, not to compete with other fine blogs, but to take a somewhat different approach to them yet all the time working toward the goal we all share, namely: the restoration of our badly bleeding wounded Church.

To that end, in addition to our own writing efforts, it is our pleasure to alert our readers to the writings of those whose understanding of the situation is many times greater than our own.  We trust our readers will go to the links we provide and be informed and edified.  Brother Andre Marie over at Saint Benedict Center is one of those people whose writings are always well considered and based upon a clear understanding of the Catholic Faith.  We therefore link to another excellent article of his which appeared on the Center website:

http://catholicism.org/the-deliquescent-hermeneutic-of-moral-mensheviks.html

A quote:

"Today’s neo-conservatives in the Church — also called “neo-Catholics” — are the doctrinal, moral, and theological equivalent of Russia’s revolutionary Mensheviks. As Solzhenitsyn often said, Mensheviks prepare the field for Bolsheviks (as did the Girondins for the Jacobins)."

I cannot recall if the problem of certain popular Catholics has ever been more succinctly stated.  The revolutionary metaphor used by the author is apt and perfectly describes the present situation in Catholicism. And a complete understanding of this phenomenon is required if we are to keep our wits about us as we continue our bailout efforts on the sinking Ship the ultimate goal of which is to reverse the revolution.

Brother Andre's article confronts facts that others have spoken of but with a perspective rarely heard anywhere else.  That is why I like to read him.  In the above article he finds the Mensheviks and names them.

And now today he offers us yet another incisive discussion:

http://catholicism.org/ad-rem-no-238.html

What is one of the most significant maladies infecting today's teachers of the Faith?  Brother Andre spells it out:

"One undeniable hallmark of Catholic dogma has always been its clarity. The Church, as a good teacher, does not guide her children in halting speech. She is not vague or ambiguous. Indeed, to teach infallibly and thus bind the faithful under pain of grievous sin would absolutely require clarity. Since it is manifestly contrary to reason for a teacher to demand assent of the intellect to something ambiguous or vague, how can Christ’s faithful be bound in conscience to believe something ephemeral or given to a multiplicity of contrary interpretations?"

This article, too, I cannot recommend highly enough.

The good God has given us a few more brave souls who are beginning to speak out.  Brother Andre's efforts I believe have started to bear fruit in this arena.  He and others will help us to be prepared and be well armed and will help the timid, clerical or lay, to begin putting on the battle armor.

"Save us, ere we perish", cried the terrified Apostles to Christ at the raging storm at sea.  A little clarity from the See of Peter would go a long way to keep us from perishing.

The difference between Christ at that moment and the current pontificate is that Our Lord woke up and calmed the storm.  We here will do our bit to wake up the Captain.

BISHOP ATHANASIUS SCHNEIDER: May God give him strength

I wish to profoundly thank our friends at the Vox Cantoris blog for alerting us to this stunning statement by Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan.  This is the reason for blogging.  And this is the reason I hold blogs like Vox Cantoris in high esteem and why it is our great honor to link to them on our blog here.  Vox Cantoris has brought us the cool, refreshing drink of pure water by Bishop Schneider to wash down the choking dust and mould that has clogged our throats since that awful Synod.

This is a great man.  May God grant him health, strength and continued courage.

Read it here with the appropriate links:

http://voxcantor.blogspot.com/2014/11/fierce-wind-blowing-from-kazakhstan.html

Well does Vox Cantoris refer to this as a "fierce wind blowing from Kazakhstan".

THE SYNOD: WHAT NEXT?

Frankly, we are as sick of writing about this sickening Synod as most are of reading about it.  But as many have stated, the job was accomplished:  a world has been scandalized.  That was the intention, and that was the result.  I will not play the game of mental gymnastics when it comes to the Holy Father's participation in this scandalization operation; he is not a stupid man.  Incoherent at times, but not stupid.  He has unchained destructive forces.

Those forces were more or less kept at bay in decades past.  That is not the case now.

When the leader sets the tone, either directly or by silence, the generals tend to follow.  As the old but rather crude phrase has it, shit flows downhill.

We are told that at least 50 Cardinals at the Synod came out in favor of saying that a sin that cries to Heaven for vengeance is, rather, a gift.

Fifty Cardinals apparently believe that.

How many of those 50 are practicing sodomites themselves is anybody's guess; my guess would be quite a few.

The teachings of the Church took a terrible hit at the Bastard Synod.  And it has not recovered, nor will it recover for a long while, most likely decades.  But strange as it may seem to some we have among the losses seen a rather interesting gain: the scales are beginning to drop from the eyes of some formerly tepid Catholic writers and bloggers (and Cardinals?) whose hearts were/are in the right place but who could not bring themselves to believe that men at the top could actually be conniving for the completion of the Modernist Revolution in the Catholic Church.

That is a net gain which we should not take lightly.  I am not saying that this fact alone will save the Church from the next debacle being contemplated by the Gnomes of Vatican City but even a few new recruits cannot help but do good in what is shaping up to be a huge battle, if not a full-scale war for the very heart and soul of Catholicism.  A momentum has been built up that must not be squandered especially now since anyone with a shred of common sense has to realize that the wounded immoralists of the Synod are now regrouping and laying the groundwork for the next assault.  They have seen their enemy and they will be surely planning to circumvent another Catholic backlash from occurring at their next jamboree in 2015.  They are nothing if not clear-eyed people, acting in concert with a deliberate end in view.

The Chinese call 2015 the Year of the Sheep, a note I provide for your amusement but not without a sense that maybe even the pagans have got something interesting to add to the discussion.

But what kind of sheep?  I hope the kind that will mention to their shepherd that it is better to steer clear of cliffs. If one of the shepherd's own Cardinals can remind him of this duty then certainly laymen can too.

(Here is his address in case you are interested:

His Holiness, Pope Francis 
Apostolic Palace 
00120 Vatican City

An airmail stamp to Europe from the USA is less than a buck.)

When I write to the Pope I will enclose a copy of the following photo:

Pray for these poor little children

[With thinks to Vox Cantoris for the image.  Please God that these little children will somehow be spared the horrors of such a monstrous situation.]

It is obvious that these bad ideas which came from this misbegotten Synod will be back next year with a vengeance and that strategies are being prepared to circumvent any Catholic counter response.  What, then, must be done?

Prayer, of course.  First and foremost.  Like countless others this writer offered his paltry prayers every day of the Synod, but with the knowledge that wounded animals are extremely vicious it would behoove us to enlarge upon those prayers to keep the wounded animals at bay in 2015.

And then there is penance, that remedy strongly suggested by God's Mother at the time of the celebrated Fatima visitations a century ago.  What kinds of penances?  Performing faithfully the duties of our state in life, for one.  And the Church would always add to that the balm of fasting.  But we know all this.  I don't want to sound like a schoolmarm reminding everyone of what they already know needs to be done.  Everyone reading this knows perfectly well what must be done. (I am not so much outlining a certain program as merely suggesting common sense.)

Catholics have been profoundly shocked and stunned in the last few weeks, be they layfolk, writers or lowly bloggers.  It is horrible to imagine that there are high personages in the Church who are our bitterest enemies.  Who would not be shocked if their mother suddenly turned to them one day and said that everything she has taught them for their entire lives is just so much rubbish.  But facts have to be faced.  The Synod fathers - and I mean a substantial number of them - have done just exactly that.  The example of a cheat and a liar like Cardinal Kasper should be enough to convince.  He is petty, dishonest, vengeful and powerful.  He has the ear and the confidence of the Pope.  Take note: to dismiss him lightly would be a serious mistake.  He is very much like a wounded, bleeding wolverine.

And the formerly complacent Catholic writers and thinkers - and Churchmen! - have awakened to some of the sinister machinations of the more repellent members of our suffering Church.  They have seen that what happened in Rome was a smoothly-run propaganda operation, superbly done by professionals who know how to get it done.

This awakening has been a long time coming and they have started at last to speak out.  It has also, to the delight of not a few, exposed the shallowness of the papolater crowd, the Weigels, etc.  That also is a net gain in this writer's opinion.  I choose my internet reading as carefully as possible so I tend to avoid the blowhard bloggers, the ever-reliable Pollyannas who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.  Since I don't waste precious time reading them or being concerned by their shallow thinking I reserve for them only the kind of pity that hopes they will one day see through their sophistries, papal adulations and doctrinally-challenged views.  I hope they will soon join others who are beginning to see through the fog.

Will God let true Catholicism win the next round against the clerical villains, or will He allow the rot to go deeper?  I honestly don't know.  Frankly, to be brutally honest, I am not optimistic.  I have only to look in the mirror to understand that God is holding Catholics, high and low, responsible for this due to their sins.

Despair, however tempting, is not in the cards, it must be said.  The Faith has made one or two gains in this diabolical debacle.  Scene Two of this nightmare begins next year (though there will be plenty of Modernist bilge flowing from the mouths of the well-known clerical bastards between now and then).  While they are preparing their assault we are preparing our defense.

I was edified by this recent piece by Brother Andre Marie, MICM.  Brother Andre can be said to be a Catholic realist.  When you read the article you will see why.  He is a defender as well as a realist.

It could be said that we need to be keyboard Cristeros just now.  And that would entail working with clarity, with charity, with firmness and a recognition of the job which has to be accomplished.

Can this be considered funny?

Well, yes, in a weird sort of way:

http://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2014/10/17/trial-ordered-woman-accused-killing-estranged-wife/

A new kind of "marital spat" I suppose, and one which illustrates that when people degrade themselves in an unnatural way murder cannot be far behind.

Will Hungary be next on the Kill List?

Hungary is showing distressing signs of wanting to cease being a lapdog.  In recent years it has been angering the US and the EU for its newly rediscovered moral backbone and its refusal to be another body supplier for the Perpetual War Machine headquartered on the Potomac.

It has been angering powerful financial interests too, which does not sit very well in certain circles.  In other developments not expected to win them too many friends among the world's plutocrats they are doing their best to free their farm lands from Monsanto.

They have banned sodomarriage.

They are becoming more pro-life

Now they are ignoring the US/EU/Israel Axis of Arrogance by helping Russia build the South Stream pipeline.

Oh, and they recognized Palestine as a State, too.

Naughty Hungary.  Their dear Uncle Sam might have to remind them of a few realities.

Do not be surprised if Hungary starts getting accused of all sorts of crimes in the big media press club. Do not be surprised if those ever-active lovers of Democracy (who should mysteriously be appearing any time now in major Hungarian cities) will be showered with millions from the US treasury to bring "power to the people".  The National Endowment for Democracy is undoubtedly already at work fomenting revolution and spreading out the money in major centres of the country.  And I would not put it past the powers-that-be to begin another of those famous "color revolutions" intended to oust their rightful leader and replace him with a puppet more to their liking.  The Ukraine under Yakunovich did far less than what Hungary has been doing of late and was promptly democratized by the US in the Kiev coup in February.  Perhaps the ubiquitous Victoria Nualnd (aka Victoria Nudelman, wife of neocon warmonger Robert Kagan), the little _itch [insert the letter "w" or "b".  It really doesn't matter], who orchestrated the thing for America, can be trotted out once again to work her magic in Budapest. I hope the rulers in Catholic Hungary are watching Kiev and taking note.

This is worrying in that the Powerful of the world do not take kindly to being told "No", therefore it would not surprise me in the least that Hungary will face the same horrors that Ukraine is now facing.  Ukraine is suffering because it opted to be closer to its neighbors and its people, even though Yakunovich was no Garcia Moreno.  Yet whatever the faults of this classically corrupt politician, the people of Ukraine are now being ruled by the very oligarchs that are ready and willing not only to do the bidding of the United States - which includes firing upon and killing its own people - but to bring it under the control of the George Soros-type billionaires who will gladly loot the country of whatever in it that is valuable and turn it to a profitable venture for themselves and their cohorts just as they have done elsewhere.

I hope the once-strong Catholic faith of its people will see Hungary through all this should my gloomy scenario turn out to be correct; I hope the spirit of the great Joszef Cardinal Mindszenty will keep them alive and vigilant.  For it is the same forces that destroyed Hungary under Communist dictatorship, the same forces that crushed the Hungarians in 1956 that are now alive and well in the "West", and who will unhesitatingly try to crush them when and if the time comes.

Hungary is going to need spiritual help now because unless we are totally mistaken they will be or already are on the Imperial Kill List.  Please God I am wrong about this.

May the Holy Crown of St Stephen protect the people of Hungary for what might be coming upon them.

How a Giant Search Engine Becomes Something Else.

Julian Assange has a few interesting things to say about a rather powerful search engine.  It behooves us to read what he has to say:

http://www.newsweek.com/assange-google-not-what-it-seems-279447?piano_d=1

THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST 1925-1975

This article written by Hamish Fraser was composed while Paul VI was still on Peter's throne and Communism was still menacing the world.  Yet Fraser's insights were remarkably prescient.

Both Pope Paul and the Soviet Union are gone but bad ideas never go away; they just find new bodies in which to colonize.  In this, therefore, let us take note and warning.

A quote:

"Today, paradoxically, Revolutionary Marxism's most flourishing 
clientele comprises Catholic theologians and prelates. Indeed, if it 
were not so incredibly tragic, the present grotesque state of affairs 
within the Church would be too funny for words - in that the 
Church has been completely overhauled in the vain hope of 
appeasing a regime whose very rulers already instinctively realise 
that it is doomed."

Communism was and is doomed, still creakily alive in some countries while the stain of it is being washed away in others.  Hamish died in 1986 so he did not live long enough to witness the amazing events of 1989.  While he would have viewed these events with that same careful eye he applied to other events in Church and State I feel convinced he would have noted the irony (as his son Tony did) of Comunism's worst aspects being adopted in other countries, most notably in the United States, and that its essentially virulently anti-monarchial mindset would have found a comfortable home in the hearts of a number of Catholic churchmen.  The article is understandably dated in one or two aspects considering its appearance in 1975 but there is much red meat here and it is well worth a read.

Our late friend and colleague Anthony Fraser put his father's article on his Apropos website, and you can find it in its entirety here:

http://www.apropos.org.uk/H%20%20Apropos%2025%20%20The%20Kingship%20of%20Christ%20v2.pdf

MH 17: The Untold Story

From RT Today:

While the world looks elsewhere.....

......the usual group of plutocrats, oligarchs and war-mongers are busy preparing for more death and destruction.

Case Number One:

http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2014/10/ukraine-mini-sitrep-very-ominous.html

Case Number Two, or Meanwhile, back in the Holy Land:

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/missingheadlines.html

This is an extremely dangerous situation.  While the controlled media highlights the horrors of ISIS, an organization created, developed, financed, armed and directed by the combined intelligence agencies of Israel and the United States, another round of murder is being prepared by the Holy Land's occupiers and, incredibly, the United States is directing its puppet regime in Kiev to provoke Russia into firing the first shot.

Pray.

THE DARK PHANTOM

Well worth watching (has English subtitles - hit the "CC" icon on the bottom of the video):




Please God these people will begin to jettison completely a terrible past.  With this, it seems they are beginning on the right path.

POPE FRANCIS AT THE BASTARD SYNOD: SILENCE BETOKENS AGREEMENT

As the Bastard Synod rambles on in Rome, many are wondering why the Pope maintains a silence in the face of some of the most outrageous and shocking statements spoken and/or written by certain well-known Princes of the Church, these Princes now acquiring the name of Fairy Princes.  As everyone knows even Cardinal Burke has made it clear to the Pope that he must speak out, and the sooner the better.

But what of this silence so far?  Perhaps I may be so bold as to remind the Holy Father of something.

In a memorable scene from the 1967 film masterpiece A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, the oily Thomas Cromwell (played by the great Leo McKern) tries to trap Sir Thomas More (brilliantly portrayed by Paul Scofield) into admitting that his silence on the matter of  the King's supremacy over the Church in England indicated denial.

Cromwell: Now, Sir Thomas, you stand on your silence.

Sir Thomas More: I do.

Cromwell: But, gentlemen of the jury, there are many kinds of silence. Consider first the silence of a man who is dead. Let us suppose we go into the room where he is laid out, and we listen: what do we hear? Silence. What does it betoken, this silence? Nothing; this is silence pure and simple. But let us take another case. Suppose I were to take a dagger from my sleeve and make to kill the prisoner with it; and my lordships there, instead of crying out for me to stop, maintained their silence. That would betoken! It would betoken a willingness that I should do it, and under the law, they will be guilty with me. So silence can, according to the circumstances, speak! Let us consider now the circumstances of the prisoner's silence. The oath was put to loyal subjects up and down the country, and they all declared His Grace's title to be just and good. But when it came to the prisoner, he refused! He calls this silence. Yet is there a man in this court - is there a man in this country! - who does not know Sir Thomas More's opinion of this title?

Crowd in court gallery: No!

Cromwell: Yet how can this be? Because this silence betokened, nay, this silence was, not silence at all, but most eloquent denial!

Sir Thomas More: Not so. Not so, Master Secretary. The maxim is "Qui tacet consentire": the maxim of the law is "Silence gives consent". If therefore you wish to construe what my silence betokened, you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.

What then are we to make of the deafening silence of so many Bishops, and now Popes, who remain studiously silent over outrage after outrage which become more virulent and threatening every day?  Let us consider just one example: the silence of the hierarchy in the face of the ever-more-blatant homosexual onslaught.  What brought this all to mind was not only the circus going on in Rome as we speak but also the recent piece by Marion Horvat found at Gloria tv: http://en.gloria.tv/?media=642117   If Thomas More is correct, and that the maxim "Qui tacet consentire" is the guiding principle, then we must conclude that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church are indicating their consent to an explosion of sodomy.

Oh, but some will say it is merely fear that restrains their disciplinary hand.  Let us suppose it is only this, fear of being pilloried and crucified by the world and their media, fear of losing powerful friends if they would put a stop to these hideous charades, fear of angry lapsed Catholic parishioners who will close their wallets when the collection plate is passed around.  But all available evidence suggests that something more than fear is at play here.

I have called this Synod the "Bastard Synod" because, as of right now at least, it stands illegitimate in the eyes of Catholics.  Yes, there are rumblings that some Cardinals are finding a new backbone they never thought they had but until we start hearing strong words from them we have every right to feel betrayed and back-stabbed and abandoned.  According to Britain's Catholic Herald the infamous statement in the realtio which says we must be "welcoming homosexuals" has been updated to "providing for homosexuals".  I am not convinced that that is much of an improvement if the Church refuses to warn them that this sin will lead them to Hell.  And of course the mid-term report says nothing whatsoever about sin, judgment or the Abode of the Damned.

Cardinal Burke, as most people know by now, has called on Pope Francis to immediately clear the air and at the same time state Catholic teaching clearly and unambiguously on marriage and families.

I am wondering if we will get nothing but silence from the Pope.   Or worse.